Lynn Mayor Judith Flanagan-Kennedy has said she is disappointed with a culture of cronyism that is prevalent in Lynn. She believes the appointment of a Lynn man as the city comptroller is somehow compromised by the fact that he is from Lynn and that he knows Lynn politicians.
This the type of culture the mayor is opposed to and which she says she is trying to change.
But if she changes this culture then she will put herself out of a job.
After all, it is this Lynn culture that allowed her to get elected mayor.
If it had not been for the dozens upon dozens of loyal Chip Clancy supporters who dumped him for her she would never have been elected.
Nearly everyone in city government she deals with on a daily basis is connected with Lynn families who have lived here and voted here for years – and many of those family members voted for her and she knows them.
Is it wrong for those people to vote for her?
Of course not?
So what is the mayor complaining about when it comes to the selection by the city’s chief financial officer of a Lynn man for the comptrollers position?
Nearly everyone in city hall understands the mayor is upset that the CFO is getting his way and she is not.
That is the clear reason the mayor is decrying the CFO’s choice as cronyism.
It is not cronyism.
The choice made by the CFO is a good one.
It is made all the better because the man he chose is not only qualified but he lives here and he knows this community and many, many people in it.
Knowing the people of this community is not yet a crime if you get appointed to a job at Lynn City Hall.
It is not even an act of bad judgment and it doesn’t rise to the level of a culture of cronyism.
If we removed from city government every aspect of long time friendship between families who have know one another for a century or even longer; if we removed from the fire and police departments every relative and relative of a relative who has served in those two places; if we take every friend and relation out of their jobs at city hall – there would be nothing left, really.
Municipal government in Lynn isn’t about cronyism.
It is naturally about Lynn people with long relationships with each other and with this city.
It is about caring for this city and about this city.
How could it be any other way.
Is the mayor implying that our municipal work force should not be made up of Lynn people but rather of people from other cities?
It sound like it but we can’t believe that.
Why? Because thinking like that makes no sense.