Lynn Sets Course for Year-Round Ferry Baker Brings Home the Bacon
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DEAL OF THE $DAY$ PG. 3 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 DEAL OF THE CAMPAIGN NOTEBOOK Baker Lynn $setsDAY$ Voters brings home coursePG .for 3 aren’t the bacon year-roundDEAL down for By Thomas Grillo OF THE ITEM STAFF ferry$ $ the count SWAMPSCOTT — Naomi Dreeben took DAY a moment during a community event here PG. 3 LYNN — There’s a giant lawn By Gayla Cawley Wednesday to thank the governor for stand- ITEM STAFF sign in Berwick, Maine, that I pass ing up to President Donald Trump. on my way up north that says “If The chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen LYNN — Ferry service from Lynn to you can vote, but don’t vote, you told Gov. Charlie Baker she was grateful to Boston could soon become a year-round don’t count, right?” him for speaking truth to power. option for commuters. Based on Tuesday’s results, lots “There have been lots of things on the na- Earlier in the week, DEALstate Sen. Thom- of people don’t count. tional level that have been rather dif cult for as McGee (D-Lynn), stateOF Rep.TH BrendanE In Lynn, a paltry 11.5 percent of our commonwealth in terms of words of intol- Crighton (D-Lynn) and James Cowdell, the voters came out on a beautiful erance and hate,” she said as Baker looked on Economic Development$ and Industrial$ fall day for the preliminary elec- and the small crowd in front Town Hall ap- DAY Corporation of Lynn executivePG. 3 director, tion. That’s just 6,043 of the city’s plauded. “I do appreciate that you stepped up proposed a new year-round ferry pilot pro- registered 52,418 voters, the low- and stayed true to our values in the state of gram from Lynn to Boston to the Mass- est turnout in the city since the Massachusetts.” DOT Board of Directors and MBTA Fiscal 2011 primary. Last month, Baker said he was “deeply dis- Management and Control Board. If you dig a little deeper, more appointed” with Trump’s response to the vio- McGee cited the success of the Hingham than 17,000 of Lynn’s citizens ha- lence at a white supremacist rally in Virginia. ferry, which he said started with only 75 ven’t even bothered to register. “When it comes to denouncing evils like DEAL daily riders and one round trip per day What’s going on? white supremacy and neo-Nazism, it is vital and now provides moreOF than TH 30E depar- In interviews with two dozen public of cials speak clearly and forcefully, customers Wednesday, the day af- and I am deeply disappointed in the presi- ITEM PHOTO | OWEN O’ROURKE tures per day and averages 65,000 pas- senger trips per month,$ whileDA makingY$ the ter the election, at Starbucks and dent’s words today,” Baker said at the time. Gov. Charlie Baker watches case for year-round service PGwith. 3 commuter Dunkin’ Donuts on the Lynnway, Baker spent a portion of the afternoon in his as Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito signs not one person had voted. hometown celebrating the signing of the lat- rail pass connectivity and a more robust the Community Compact at schedule. One 25-year-old man from Ward est Community Compact. Swampscott Town Hall. 2 said he knew there was an elec- The program offers cash incentives and tech- “The average number of daily passen- tion, but didn’t know the coun- nical assistance to municipalities that partic- ger trips when the Lynn (ferry) began in cil or mayoral candidates well ipate. The goal is to implement best practices 2014 was double that of what Hingham enough to vote. A school bus driv- that promise to improve the operations of lo- saw initially,” McGee said in a statement. er said she didn’t have time, but cal governments. “We know that to encourage mode shift hopes to vote in November. One man said “There was an election?” BAKER, A7 FERRY, A3 while another told me: “My vote doesn’t matter.” It wasn’t much better in Pea- body where one City Council seat was up for grabs. Of the 6,578 reg- Flags day in Lynn Mayors istered voters in Ward 6, only 760 or 11.6 percent showed up. And while there are 34,840 registered state case voters in the city, about 14,000 folks don’t care enough to register. Medford wasn’t much different. for region’s Less than 10 percent of the 37,547 voters came out for the primary, and there are 14,000 residents needs who haven’t registered. By Bridget Turcotte David Hopkins, an associate ITEM STAFF professor of political science at Boston College, said there are rea- DANVERS — Mayors of the sons why turnout is low and why North Shore sounded off on every- many folks are absent from voting thing from water transportation to altogether. the opioid epidemic at Wednesday “Primaries tend to have the low- morning’s State of the Region Ad- est turnout, especially at the state dress. and local level,” he said. “Those In a packed ballroom at the Dan- races don’t get much media atten- versport Yacht Club, Salem Mayor tion compared to general elections. Kim Driscoll, Peabody Mayor Ed- So, many voters either don’t know ward A Bettencourt Jr., Newburyp- there’s a race, and don’t know the ort Mayor Donna Holaday, Glouces- candidates or the issues.” ter Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, Another factor that contrib- Danvers Town Manager Steve Bar- utes to low turnout, he said, is tha, and Beverly Mayor Michael the Democrat and Republican Cahill each spent their ve-minute parties remain neutral until the time allotment updating more than final. As a result, it’s up to the 300 local business owners on devel- candidates to mobilize the vot- opments in their communities. ers on their own and they typ- Lynn Mayor Judith Flanagan ically don’t have the capacity Kennedy, who was listed as a speak- to do that, he said. In addition, er, was not present. Hopkins said voters don’t per- John Krol, Kennedy’s chief of staff, ceive much difference between said the mayor never committed to candidates in the same party. the event, and he didn’t know why But what about people who fail the North Shore Chamber of Com- to register? merce listed her as a speaker. Krol “There’s a feeling among many said that when the of ce received people that their vote doesn’t mat- an email about it last week, he told ter,” Hopkins said. “And for the Stephen Crowder, vice president of rest, politics is just not important the chamber, that Kennedy had a to them and they are out of the prior commitment and would not be loop.” there. “We said we could send someone Thomas Grillo can be reached at from EDIC — they said ‘no, this is a [email protected]. mayoral event,’” said Krol. Crowder con rmed that Kenne- dy canceled prior to the start of the breakfast, but said he believes it was INSIDE with only one or two days notice. “She canceled last minute,” said In Swampscott Crowder, who added that she didn’t Dennis Kohut is named provide a reason as she “usually assistant principal at doesn’t.” high school. A2 In an interview Wednesday after- noon, Kennedy said that if she had In Lynn been able to attend, she would have GLSS sponsoring reported that a lot of businesses wellness festival. A3 and real estate developments are • coming to Lynn, including Gateway Lynn Museum hosts North and The Vault. abolition discussion. A3 “Kettle Cuisine brought in 100 In Opinion jobs when they rst came to Lynn In enemy territory. A4 and have hired 100 more (people) over the last several years and, In Sports ITEM PHOTO | OWEN O’ROURKE most recently had a job fair where St. Mary’s soccer splits Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy carries the city’s ag as she heads they were looking to hire 56 more,” against Fenwick. B1 to the Guatemalan ag-raising ceremony outside City Hall Wednesday she said. “Home values have gone with Daynalee Lopez, left, and Rolby Nmorles. up and Lynn was named by Sunday MAYORS, A7 OBITUARIES ..............................A2 POLICE/FIRE .............................A6 COMICS/DIVERSIONS ........... B4-5 HIGH 82° VOL. 139, ISSUE 237 LYNN .........................................A3 LOOK! .......................................A8 CLASSIFIED ........................... B6-7 LOW 65° OPINION ...................................A4 SPORTS ................................ B1-3 ENTERTAINMENT .......................B8 PAGE A8 ONE DOLLAR A2 THE DAILY ITEM THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 OBITUARIES Dennis Kohut is named the assistant Joseph J. Tribendis 1953-2017 principal at Swampscott High School SWAMPSCOTT — Jo- with his family and ITEM STAFF REPORT at the high school for 11 Angelakis said: “Dennis seph James Tribendis, friends and support- years, and was named the will be a valuable addition of Swampscott and ing his children in SWAMPSCOTT — Den- English department chair to the leadership team at nis Kohut has been named formerly of Pittsburgh, their sports endeav- in 2016. He has a master’s Swampscott High School. the assistant principal of Pa., passed away un- ors. He also enjoyed degree in school admin- He is highly regarded by expectedly on Sun- drinking his morning Swampscott High School istration from Endicott the school community and day, Sept. 10, 2017. coffee with his Star- after teaching at the College and a master’s in well prepared to step into Joe, son of Joseph bucks crew, watching school for more than a de- and Marjorie Tribendis Pittsburgh Steeler cade. education from UMass this role.” of Luzerne Co., Pa., games with fellow Kohut replaces Frank Boston.