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Hey
Councilors, You’re Not the Mayor
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Valley Patriot Story Prior Valley Patriot Editorials Prior Columns by ... Tom Duggan Patrick
Blanchette |
(and behind the
scenes). Under the city charter, the mayor of Lawrence is
in charge of hiring and firing city employees, runs the
day-to-day operations of each city department and is the
chief financial officer of the city. The City
Council’s function is (with a few exceptions) to
vote on budgets and city ordinances, and not to evaluate
city employees, not to dictate to the mayor how he runs
each city department and not to interfere with personnel
investigations of city workers. But you would never
know it the way Blanchette (and some of his colleagues)
has been throwing his weight around City Hall. As I sit
through each City Council meeting, I have to wonder to
myself, “do these people really know what their job
is?” It’s evident that the City Council has no
clearly defined goals, and no effective plan to achieve
said goals. It is also evident that for the last two
years the City Council has haphazardly moved on from
issue to issue, complaining about the Sullivan
administration (no matter what it does), but doing very
little (if anything) to solve the city’s long term
problems. When was the last time the City Council had a
“goals” meeting to set a plan in place to
achieve something ... anything? Does the City Council
have a clear direction for the city and a plan to bring
us there? Or are they just a group of nine individuals
who pull in nine different directions every time an issue
comes up at random? Is the City Council even capable of
coming up with solutions on its own or is it stuck in the
quagmire of reacting to everything the mayor does or a
daily headline in the Tribune? One thing for sure,
Patrick Blanchette may think he is the anointed successor
to Mayor Sullivan, but if he cannot do the job of council
president adequately, how is he going to handle being CEO
of the city?
I don’t want to
pick on Patrick Blanchette too much this month, but if
there is one thing that never ceases to amaze me
it’s when an elected official lies when he really
doesn’t have to. Never letting facts or current
events get in the way of spinning his political agenda,
Lawrence Council President Patrick Blanchette laughingly
insulted our intelligence again last month. He
surprisingly praised fellow Councilor Nilka
Alvarez-Rodriguez “for all the hard work you have
done” in helping the Berroa family acquire land on
Bromfield Street. While it is true that Councilor
Alvarez-Rodriguez has been on the forefront of many
disability issues in the city (sometimes to the point of
overkill), the fact is, Nilka Alvarez-Rodriguez tried her
best to STOP the Berroa family from purchasing the
property at 2 Bromfield St., where they wanted to build a
single-family home with wheelchair ramps for their
disabled son, Rodrigo. Alvarez- Rodriguez even went so
far as to lobby the Berroa’s neighbors to have them
circulate a petition to put a playground on the site the
Berroas were trying to purchase. When that didn’t
work, Alvarez-Rodriguez accused the Berroa Family (at a
public meeting, no less) of making some kind of back room
deal with other councilors to obtain the land illegally.
What’s worse, Council President Blanchette and
Councilor Alvarez shamelessly used procedural maneuvers
to stall the process for weeks while the Berroas were
left twisting in the wind waiting for City Council
approval so they could build their dream home for little
Rodrigo. The Berroas themselves have said publicly that,
despite the roadblocks thrown in their way by Councilor
Alvarez-Rodriguez, they were very grateful for the help
they received from Mayor Sullivan, the planning
department, and councilors Grisel Silva and Jorge
Gonzalez. What is sad about all this is that councilors
Blanchette and Alvarez-Rodriguez would willingly try to
block or delay projects like this that are good for the
city because they are so filled with hatred for those who
did the work and deserve to get the credit. And at the
end of the day, they try to take credit for the project
going forward despite their back room dealings to try and
stop the project. 
seeking reelection
and that it is “Willie Lantigua” who has
recruited former Councilor Michael Fielding to run for
the “open” seat. Siglo21 lamented that no other
qualified candidates are on the horizon to challenge
Fielding, specifically “Latino” candidates.
First of all, don’t believe for one minute that
Councilor Gosselin will be bowing out of a reelection
race. Marie Gosselin has professed not to be
seeking reelection every year for the last ten years and
yet she runs in every election anyway. Secondly, the
alliance between Michael Fielding and state
Representative Willie Lantigua is long over. Michael
Fielding, as you may remember, lost the at-large council
race in ‘05 (going from second to fifth) because of
his alliance with and endorsement from Willie Lantigua.
According to Fielding supporters, Lantigua’s help
and endorsement are not welcome this time around as he
contemplates defeating Marie Gosselin once again for the
District “F” seat on the council. 
Valley
Patriot Welcomes Cartoonist David Sullivan! 
the chancellor’s job, The
Valley Patriot posted the story on our website, complete
with the names of local pols who were gearing up to
replace him. Within 24 hours we received a phone call
from Meehan’s office emphatically denying the story
and asking us to take the posting down. Three days after
our posting, Fox 25 News and the Lowell Sun were
reporting that, lo and behold, Marty Meehan was in fact
looking to jump ship as a congressman and would be
interviewing with UMass. 
Lawrence City
Attorney Charles Boddy has confirmed that a court
challenge to claim Jacques Pond from tax foreclosure has
ended with the city of Lawrence retaining ownership. Now,
the planners of Jacques Pond must go to work. The first
point is to update any information for the Friends of
Jacques Pond Committee, a subcommittee of the Mt. Vernon
Neighborhood Association. 
Councilor Julia
Silverio approached one of our reporters and began
yelling, “You are not invited, I am the treasurer of
the Lantigua campaign and if you want to stay, you have
to pay.” We found it funny that Silverio would
portray herself as Lantigua’s treasurer when
Lantigua himself has former Councilor Michael Fielding
listed on his January campaign finance report as his
official treasurer. 
