Gerry: Random thoughts while hoping Jim Leary’s blood pressure came down after last nights meeting.

Don’t write off Chris Doherty just yet. IF he come out in the next week and admits he commissioned the poll, handled the questions about the poll badly and apologizes for denying it, then he can move on and discuss real issues. If he doesn’t he’s hurting himself and it will not go away. It will come back in September to haunt him. He already blew a great chance this week to set himself apart from Eileen.

Because of his denial over the poll, Eileen Donoghue’s NOT answering the question on her support for the City of Lowell Home Rule Petition went largely ignored. On WCAP she said something to the effect that “Doherty’s non answer on the Poll question , certainly seems to answer it.” I guess we can say the same about her non answer. Chris and his advisors blew this opportunity and lost out on what could have been a great Lowell issue.

I spoke with former City Manager Jim Sullivan and offered him the chance to post a response to City Manager Lynch. He is a very knowledgable man who still can rattle off numbers and facts at a very fast pace. I enjoyed our conversation and he has a free reign to post anytime on anything he wants. I set him up to be able to post has a contributor directly. The same option I have given Paul Georges who claims that the public doesn’t know everything the teacher’s have given up. Here’s your chance to tell us Paul, unedited and unlimited space is yours.

I think principals should be held accountable for knowing how much their school has spent on subs..I also think the School Committee should STOP giving teachers 15 sick days a year. In the private sector 5-7 is the norm and that is based on an average of 235 working days a year (allowing 10 holidays and 3 weeks vacation). While you’re at it cap carryover’s at 90 days max. after that you lose them same as we do in the private sector.

No doubt Paul Georges will NOT grant permission to share negotiation information with the public. He wants to be able to leak only his side to the Sun and attack anything that favors the School /City side.

Maybe the School Dept. will comply with the Open meeting Law for the Aug. 4th meeting and post both the notice and agenda in the required 48 hour time frame.

Congratulations to outgoing Asst. City Manager T.J. McCarthy on his new position at ULowell. I only dealt with TJ once or twice. Once was when the city set up the Senior Center as a shelter when my mother’s building had a carbon monoxide leak. The emergency responders and coordinators under TJ did a great job getting the elderly situated and keeping everyone informed and accounted for.

Congratulations also to State Rep. Tom Golden who worked very hard getting the drug monitoring bill through the House. Rep. Golden has championed this effort for over a year and has worked with the community to discuss the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

The City wants to crack down on unkept property but ignores their own unused property. The Varnum School on Sixth St. has trash in the yard, overgrown skunk trees, a hole in the sidewalk on the Beech St. side and gates that should be fixed and the yard locked at night to keep kids from hanging around. It is a neighborhood blight and my mother in-law who has lived next door for over 40 years is frustrated at the lack of response she has received from the city.

I’m 48 and have lived on Christian Hill for most of those 48 years. I always remember a Water Tower on top of 10th St. at Mt. Pleasant. The City has done a great job working with the neighborhood group and is trying to appease the direct neighbors on the new tower. However, there comes a time when no matter what you do, you can’t please everyone and the City should just build the tower and move on.