Issues | Gonzalez for Mayor

The Issues:

Public Safety:

Manny believes Lawrence deserves a mayor that will work to address the root causes of crime rather than a sole focus on enforcement. There are social, educational, and economic gaps in our city which contribute to the perceived increase in criminal activity for example lack of affordable housing, limited access to mental or behavioral health services, and substance abuse. Still, neighbors have a right to feel safe, and as things stand now our young people are exposed to abnormal and sometimes violent activity with alarming regularity. Lawrence must be a city that invests in public safety:

As a firefighter, Manny works every day with members of Lawrence PD. We can support them by offering better mental health counseling options for first responders and investments in de-escalation training.

Foster a city environment that develops strong community-police relationships built on trust and mutual respect.
Clean courts, playgrounds and fields will help keep kids on the right path

Robust sports, arts, and music programs should be available to our students and children.
As Mayor, Manny will place strong leaders in the Police Department and at City Hall that reflect the hard working men and women in public service.

Ensure the most qualified, and not the most politically connected candidates are hired.

Education:

If we were to give the current mayor a report card for how he’s done with our schools, he would get an “F”. The mayor replaced three elected school board seats with his own lackeys. Our schools are still in receivership with no path to recover them. The new schools we built? Teachers are getting tickets for parking at the new schools because the city didn’t plan ahead, and the classrooms are already overcrowded. These are the issues with a part-time mayor who hasn’t finished a single big project for our city. As mayor, manny will

The current mayor “leads” the school committee but often fails to show up. Manny will lead from the front, and engage with the public, teachers, students, and administrators to improve the quality of our schools.
Innovative programming in the schools can ignite the desire to learn for students.
Resident/employee parking stickers during school hours, removal of meters in the area all together, let’s just solve this problem so our teachers can do their job.

Housing:

Housing in Lawrence is a problem and has been for some time. Manny believes we can make changes that make our city healthier and put the people of Lawrence first. When we build new, low-cost housing, we should make sure that people in Lawrence who live in old, run-down places get to move in first. If we work together with community groups and property owners we can keep making our affordable housing options better for Lawrence residents.

We should make sure that people in Lawrence who live in mismanaged properties get to move in first when affordable units come to market.
Manny will use empty buildings owned by the city and build affordable housing where appropriate.
For too long the mayor has been an obstacle for local organizations trying to make an impact on housing. In Manny’s administration, they will be participants in the process.

Fiscal Responsibility:

We need to make city government more accessible to members of our community. Neighboring municipalities use digital tools to help residents understand the city’s finances and find answers to questions they have about their local government on their own. Lawrence needs transparency.

The public has been in the dark for too long. Let’s conduct a forensic audit of city books and ensure we understand the full picture.

Determine areas where funds are being mismanaged.
Will allow residents to see revenue and expenditures of city funds in real time.

Total Transparency
The vast majority of city hall staff are genuine public servants earning wages commensurate with staff in other major cities.

The budget for the Office of the Mayor has exploded to over a million dollars spent on a few individuals without the adequate qualifications to warrant the bloated salaries.

Public Health & Homelessness

Manny is a Lawrence fire fighter who deeply appreciates the work of public health professionals, front line health care workers, and all first responders in the city of Lawrence who play a role in promoting good health practices in the city. Unfortunately our current mayor misunderstands his role, and the role of the public health department. As mayor, Manny will ensure our public health professionals are allowed to actually do their job and keep the public healthy.

In a public meeting, the mayor’s public health staff advocated for hookah licenses in the city. As mayor, public health professionals will communicate accurate information.
This will ensure support is streamlined and accessible for those in crisis.
Good constituent service means learning how to engage people where they are.

Immigration:

The most important job of the mayor is to keep people in our city safe. This includes how we handle immigration. The issue is important for us here in Lawrence, and for our whole country. Federal immigration enforcement must follow due process, and the mayor must keep residents informed. Lawrence has limited resources and we need those resources to focus on what we can do to make the city government in Lawrence work better for residents.

Manny will not stop federal officers from doing their job if they follow the rules but Lawrence Police will remain focused on their mission to serve and protect the city of Lawrence.
Most important job of the mayor is to keep people in our city safe. Manny will keep residents informed and work with service organizations to mitigate the impacts we can.
The role of city government does not involve federal immigration enforcement. We must be laser focused on what we can control: Improving city services for residents.

Traffic Congestion:

Residents across Lawrence deal with frustrating traffic jams, dangerous intersections, and inconsistent traffic patterns- especially during school drop-off, rush hour, or downtown events. As a parent and small business owner, or even first responder, traffic congestion is impacting our daily life, our safety, and our ability to move freely around the city. Lawrence can do more to alleviate these conditions, like:

The city pursued funds to modernize traffic signal timing but failed to execute on any change that makes a positive impact on traffic or travel times.
This can be done without major infrastructure investments.
By better managing beginning and end of day traffic delays, the City can improve traffic conditions city wide, again without major investment.
As it stands traffic management has not kept up with the growth of our city. Manny will push for practical, data driven solutions that make our streets safer and more efficient for everyone.

Parking Meters:

The current negotiated contract with Lawrence’s parking meter vendor should be reconsidered and amended. The status quo is unfair for Lawrence residents. Parking enforcement is a considerable source of revenue for the city, but these small changes would strike a better balance for Lawrence.

Amend enforceable times to later in the morning and earlier in the evening

Free parking on weekends to help small business

Free parking on holidays and through the month of December

Offer grace period for expired meters
The current contract expires in 2.5 years, if our needs aren’t met by the current vendor the committee should create a competitive process for its replacement.

Reconsider the need for metered parking all together.

Community Garage for Lawrence:

One of the topics Manny hears most when out in the community is the desire for a new public garage. Downtown Lawrence continues to struggle with accessible parking, especially when we are trying to attract more small businesses, restaurants, and community events at the same time. We owe it to our residents to build the right garage, in the right location, while being responsible with public dollars. The process can be lengthy, but it can’t start until it starts.

As Mayor, Manny will propose:

Evaluate traffic flow, small business access, multi-modal public transportation and walkability of potential sites.
From site selection through project completion, the city will seek input from residents to provide context and local knowledge to the study's recommendations to the city.
Once a site is selected and the project moves forward, Manny’s plan will boost foot traffic downtown, support equitable access to public services, and encourage investment from employers and developers while helping to reduce traffic congestion in residential areas and providing good jobs to the Lawrence Community.