HOUSING FOR ALL - Housing continues to be the dominant issue facing our communities. Bad contractors, bad developers, and bad deals for our city continue to be the norm. We know we can do better. We support the preservation of the housing that we have now and the development of new housing priced for all of Lynn’s income levels, not just the wealthy. This includes (but is not limited to) an Inclusionary Zoning ordinance, which would require that 20% of new units are affordable to Lynn’s lower and middle incomes. We further support efforts to ensure that a majority of all new development jobs and 80% of all new units developed give first preference to Lynn residents.
SAFETY FOR ALL - Lynn has a reputation as a high-crime city. We know that reputation is often tied to racist ideas about people with lower incomes, but we also know that we are not all safe. Violent crime continues to plague our neighborhoods. As a city of immigrants, many of us fear being arrested by ICE for simply showing up to work, to school, or to the hospital. A recent increase in graffiti targeting our Immigrant, Black, and Jewish neighbors has left many feeling vulnerable. We support community efforts to deter crime, and we also support misguided or desperate people. We will resist policies at any level of government that target any part of our diverse community. New Lynn Coalition will continue to fight white supremacy in all our work.
GOOD JOBS FOR ALL - Across employment sectors, wages are not keeping pace with the rising cost of living in Lynn. Lynn workers are paid less than workers in neighboring cities and the state average. Construction and other types of short-term employment often bring in out-of-town contractors with bad practices – unsafe workplaces, unpaid workers, and unclean environments. Many of these jobs do not have the protections guaranteed by union membership. Lynn passed a Wage Theft ordinance last year that requires all employers treat Lynn’s workforce fairly and with respect, yet due to legal loopholes, this ordinance is not being enforced. We support expanding and strengthening the city’s wage theft ordinance to ensure that all employers in Lynn have a level playing field, to give preference to local and union work whenever legally possible, and to expand union training and recruitment programs so that all jobs in Lynn are good jobs.
COMMUNITY BENEFITS FOR ALL - Lynn has given too many tax breaks to too many big developers without any guarantee of community benefits. New Lynn Coalition wants every tax break to require significant benefits to our daily lives, not just vague promises of taxes down the road. We know that developers can contribute more to our city because we have done it – the Gateway North development funded the Lynn Community Enrichment Program at Lynn Tech. We want real investment in job training, new and improved green spaces, and services and amenities for elders, youth, and those most vulnerable among us.
REPRESENTATION FOR ALL - Only 36% of the city’s population is white, yet this demographic holds over 80% of municipal jobs. We know how hard it is to go into city hall when nobody looks like us, talks like us, or shares our cultures and concerns. We know how hard it is for young people when their teachers and mentors don’t look like them. And we know how hard it is to bring our concerns to officials who don’t understand our many cultures. This lack of diversity limits our potential. New Lynn Coalition supports the creation of a strong diverse hiring standard for the City of Lynn and the Lynn Public Schools, with significant community oversight, so that everywhere our city serves, it serves all of us.
