Looking confident and ready to lead one of the largest cities in Massachusetts to new heights, Jared Nicholson delivered an inspiring inaugural address as he took office as the new mayor of the City of Lynn Monday at the Lynn Auditorium inside Lynn City Hall.
“It is my distinct honor and privilege to take office tonight as the 59th mayor of the City of Lynn,” said Nicholson.
Jared Nicholson, Judy Kennedy, Al DiVirgilio, David Phillips, and Thomas McGee.
A proud graduate of Princeton University, where he was a Division 1 college wrestler, and Harvard Law School, Nicholson thanked outgoing Mayor Thomas McGee “for your leadership over the last four years and over a lifetime of service to the City.”
Nicholson also thanked his wife, Katherine Rushfirth, his son, Henry, his father, Stephen Nicholson, and mother, Lindsay Nicholson, “for being here with me tonight and being there for me every step of the way.”
Following is the text of Mayor Jared Nicholson’s speech:
Ladies and Gentlemen, School Committee Members and City Councilors, Guests and Officials, thank you all for being here.
Gracias a todos por estar aquí.
Thank you to all our wonderful performers and participants for making this night so special.
Thank you to Katherine, Henry, my parents, and my entire family for being here with me tonight and being there for me every step of the way.
It is my distinct honor and privilege to take office tonight as the 59th Mayor of the City of Lynn.
Thank you to our outgoing Mayor Tom McGee for your leadership over the last four years and over a lifetime of service to this City.
To my colleagues on the School Committee and City Council, congratulations on your inauguration.
To those of you here on the stage with me and to everyone working for the City of Lynn, I look forward to working with you.
To the residents of Lynn, we recognize we have much work to do.
We’re committed to working together to build an administration that leads for all of us.
Estamos comprometidos a trabajar juntos para construir una administración que brinde liderazgo para todos nosotros.
I want to spend a moment reflecting on what we mean when we say, “all of us.”
All means all. It means every single person in the City of Lynn. Not because of something about them that makes them different, like where they were born or who they know, but because we are all human and here now.
We are all imbued with the basic dignity of humanity, ascribed by many to divine grace.
Todos nosotros estamos infundidos de la dignidad básica de la humanidad, atribuida por muchos a la gracia divina.
And we’re all required to recognize that basic humanity in one another. That’s what we mean by all.
And then “us.” What do we mean by “us”?
What we mean by “us” in the United States has always been heavily contested. But it’s a special leap forward in the history of humankind to say that “us,” at least in principle, is not fixed based on who’s already here, but open to those who want to live with our values, to live among us in democracy. The hypocrisies of who is considered one of “us” in practice due to race, class, origin, and more have been this country’s great challenge through this day.
But the “us” in “all of us” is even more meaningful in the City of Lynn. Because for all the places that embrace the idea and the promise of “us” being open in this country, Lynn is one of a diminishing few that can actually deliver on that promise. Where people no matter their background have a real chance at opportunity, whether it’s reaching from around the globe or back through generations of poverty.
Even in Lynn, that path to opportunity has gotten narrower. If it closes off here, where can it possibly exist? But, if it stays open for those of us who face the stiffest challenges, it will be that much smoother for every one of us.
We therefore have a special duty to keep the path to opportunity open. Fortunately, I think many of us recognize that we have real potential in this moment for the City to grow, and to grow in a way that includes all of us.
I can think of no nobler work than to practically deliver on those values that we cherish: true openness, true democracy, true opportunity. That work means embracing those values while getting right the basics of local government. Delivering city services effectively and respectfully, upgrading the city’s infrastructure with urgency and foresight, building trust through transparency and accountability. That’s the plan for our Administration.
As we do that, people should take notice of how hard it is to practically deliver on the promise of equal opportunity. How hard it is to maintain a community where people can succeed no matter where they’re from.
Where the price of housing doesn’t practically bar huge portions of the population from living there. Where there are genuine pathways to good jobs. Where the schools are not just technically open to all but practically ready to educate children no matter where they start from. Where people feel at peace in their community because it’s safe and because they feel accepted and embraced.
As we continue to work on delivering on the promise of a place that’s for all of us, we need to share that story. Because in 2022, as the country comes to terms with the glaring gap between the promise of equality and the lived reality of so many, we can be a shining example of genuine openness and opportunity.
A place that lifts all of us because we care about the fate of our neighbors and because we recognize that the fate of our neighbors is inextricably linked with that of our own.
We recognize that here in Lynn. Lynn shows up for one another. People here just aren’t interested in leaving people behind. I’ve talked to thousands and thousands of Lynners over the course of the last year and it’s one of the first things people mention when they talk about their pride in our community.
Knowing these values are shared doesn’t mean the work won’t be hard. I don’t pretend to come with all the answers. Rather, I come to ask for your help in delivering together on a vision of a better Lynn for all of us.
And, as we do that, to tell that story, to remind the Commonwealth and the country that the promise of a place that’s for all of us is meaningless without the ability to deliver. And that the ability to deliver on that promise should be the example we all aspire to in 2022. The modern version of the City on a Hill, where barriers to opportunity are actually overcome in practice, not just on paper.
The glow of that example of lived equality of opportunity is what can shine through the mists that currently surround us: the stigma others project on us, the real barriers of past and present racism and discrimination, and the ongoing crisis of a deadly pandemic.
So many have worked so hard to put us in this position where we have what we need to kindle the glow of our example of a city that’s truly for all of us. It’s the honor of a lifetime to lead the City in that work.
Muchísimas gracias a todos por su presencia y su apoyo a nuestra ciudad.
Thank you so much.