Mayor of Lynn

In 2021 Nicholson was elected mayor of Lynn defeating City Council President Darren Cyr in all 28 precincts of the city.^[14] The Mayor also serves as the Chairperson for the School Committee for Lynn Public Schools.^[15]

One of Nicholson’s first accomplishments in office was to reform the City’s development process, working with the City Council, to allow for a more coherent and coordinated review by City officials.^[16] The streamlined process soon yielded a historic contribution by a developer on a major project to affordable housing.^[17] To implement his Administration’s goals for affordable housing, Nicholson created an affordable housing trust fund with the City Council.^[18] Property tax relief programs for senior citizens were also increased early in Nicholson’s administration.^[19] In his first year in office, Nicholson delivered on a campaign commitment to deliver inclusionary zoning, working with the City Council, that was calibrated to encourage continued growth while also creating affordable housing for Lynn residents.^[20]

Nicholson has made the conditions of Lynn’s schools a top priority.^[2] To alleviate overcrowding, Nicholson is leading a multi-year process to build a new middle school.^[21] He has also focused expanding access to quality pre-K education, with Lynn Public Schools adding a significant number of seats for the 2023 school year.^[22] The schools also opened the Frederick Douglass Collegiate Academy on North Shore Community College’s campus, a pioneering partnership between the Lynn Public Schools and North Shore Community college that gives high school students the opportunity to attend college-level courses at no cost to them while still enrolled in high school.^[23]

Nicholson has pushed to bring good-paying jobs to Lynn and connect Lynn to the region’s innovation economy, achieving an upgrade in MassBIO’s designation of Lynn’s readiness for life sciences growth from bronze to platinum,^[24] bringing a high-tech manufacturer with over one hundred jobs to Lynn’s downtown,^[25] and working with the City Council to rezone key parcels to facilitate job growth.^[26]

Nicholson has led an effort to improve language access to city services for multilingual residents, hiring a team of interpreters.^[27]He has announced plans for the City to launch an independent, unarmed crisis response team to address mental health needs and further racial justice.^[28] The schools have dramatically increased their mental health support for students through the hiring of social workers and clinicians.^[29] Nicholson has also sought to increase the availability and utilization of lifesaving Nalaxone as part of the efforts to combat the opioid crisis^[30] as the City has experienced a promising downward trend in opioid overdose deaths.^[31]

Nicholson has also focused on improving the City’s infrastructure, including streets,^[32] parks,^[33] litter,^[34] and a new senior center,^[35] as well as financial stability, attaining a credit rating upgrade from Standard & Poor’s from A to A+.^[36] Nicholson also led the creation of the City’s first comprehensive plan, “Vision Lynn.”^[37]