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Mayor mockery

Posted: December 31, 2011 | Author Phelps RePhlections

Not to sound too much like Alec Baldwin, but a few weeks back I said I’d move out of Lowell if Patrick Murphy were to be selected mayor.
Looks like I’d better start looking for a good real-estate agent.
The mayor will be selected by the City Council this Tuesday, Jan. 2.
Murphy is a one-term city councilor. The other councilor who put his hat in for mayor is Rodney Elliott, who is starting his eighth term and has never been mayor. He was a councilor when Murphy was in diapers. And Elliott came in second — second — in the November election behind Rita Mercier, who may just be able to lay claim to the title “most popular Lowell city councilor ever.” Murphy came in a very respectable fourth — but not second.
If the voters elected the mayor, who do you suppose would get it?
In Lowell, the title of mayor is largely ceremonial. You’re expected to show up at all the ribbon-cuttings and parties and whatnot, and you make a few more bucks than the other eight city councilors. That’s really about it. Oh, and you chair the School Committee, which is where the real power the mayor lies.
Apparently, though, some councilors have had their feelings hurt by Elliott, who is known to ruffle feathers, especially those of City Manager Bernie Lynch, which is a no-no for some councilors.
This is Elliott’s comeuppance. It’s his fellow councilors’ way of saying to him, maybe if you voted with us more often and didn’t make so many waves, we’d support you for mayor. And that’s just plain wrong.
Most disappointing is that two of the three new councilors — Marty Lorrey and Vesna Nuon — have pledged their support for Murphy. It remains to be seen if this is a good move by Lorrey and Nuon.
So will I really move out of Lowell if (when) Murphy is selected mayor? No. I’ll do like Baldwin and stay put. I promise, however, that I’ll never refuse to turn my cellphone off on an airplane because I’m playing a game.