PAYING
ATTENTION! WITH TOM DUGGAN
Lantigua
spends nearly $10K
on Office Renovations
TOM DUGGAN
When Willie Lantigua ran for mayor last
year he promised Lawrence jobs for
Lawrence people.
Then he hired Lenny Degnan from North
Andover to be his chief of Staff.
He also talked about the city of Lawrence
giving preference to Lawrence business
when dealing with vendors who want to
sell products or services to the city.
And since getting elected, Lantigua
has repeated his mantra about pinching
pennies and saving as much of the
taxpayers money as he can.
He even cited cost saving measures and a
reorganization plan when he was trying to
fire Mike Sweeney and while he was firing
Myles Burke.
He said that, even though he has not
presented or even drafted a
reorganization plan for the city.
Lawrence is so broke that the city has
closed two fire stations. Police officers
and laborers have taken work furloughs,
city workers have been laid off, given up
health benefits, the city is down to one
food inspector in the entire city, and
Lantigua has laid off or fired at least a
dozen city workers to save money.
But, while he has been blowing smoke at
the taxpayers about how fiscally
responsible he has to be in order to
justify his politically motivated firings
and layoffs, he is petitioning the state
legislature for the ability to borrow $35
million dollars for operating expenses.
He says he needs the money because the
city is broke.
But, documents obtained by
The Valley Patriot show that Lantigua
spent nearly $10,000 to have curtains and
new laminate floors installed in the
mayors office four days after being
sworn in.
Whats more, Lantigua bought his
office curtains at a store called Not
Just Curtains on Broadway in SALEM
NH!
Huh? Could that be right?
I mean Lantigua verbally attacked
Lawrence business owner Keith Wlodyka at
a council meeting last month saying,
If you lived in Lawrence I would
care what you think.
Yet Lantigua spent taxpayers money
on curtains in tax free Salem, New
Hampshire (see receipt).
Ironically, Lantigua himself voted to
increase the sales tax from 5% to 6.25%
last year before he resigned as State
Representative.
Doesnt the state need that tax
revenue Lantigua argued when he justified
his vote to raise the state sales tax?
Is there no one who sells curtains in the
city of Lawrence? Is there not one Latino
in the city who can provide these
services?
Is this what Lantigua meant when he said
he was going to help Lawrence businesses?
How does this stimulate the economy of
the great city of Lawrence?
So many questions so few answers.
According to the documents we obtained,
Lantigua spent $2,649 on window
treatments, $2,262 for materials
and another $4,571.56 on labor to install
a new laminate floor,
curtains and other amenities.
The city of Lawrence is a poor community.
The average median income in the city is
about $12,000 per year. Yet, Lantigua
spent equivalent to a full years
salary of a Lawrence worker in the City
of Lawrence to make his office look
pretty!
And he skipped over the border to avoid
the sales tax he voted to impose on the
rest of us in the process. Only in
Lawrence folks, only in Lawrence. But
Lantigua learned from the best. Just
remember right after Governor Deval
Partick won his election, he bought new
curtains for the governors office
too.
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Tom Duggan is the President of The Valley
Patriot, Inc. A former Lawrence School
Committeeman, and hosts the Paying
Attention! radio program at WCAP, 980 AM,
every Saturday morning from 10a.m - noon.
valleypatriot@aol.com
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