>>Valley Patriot>>

Foototes from
Tom Duggan's Notebook
(04/04/07)

Bill Kelly Takes Stipend, Breaks Campaign Promise
Two years ago when Bill Kelly was just a candidate for the North Andover School Committee, he ran his campaign on a theme of fiscal responsibility. And to get your vote back then, he made a promise to you - the voters - that he would not take the $2,000 stipend given to School Com-mittee members for their service. He repeatedly stated his position at debates, “I will not take the stipend,” and he printed it in his campaign literature where he touted his zeal for “Fiscal Responsibility.” He boldly wrote for all to see - or falsely believe - that he “Will not accept the $2,000 annual stipend paid to each board member.”  Though you’ve never read about it in the Trib or the NA Citizen, last August Bill Kelly decided to go back on that promise and started accept-ing the $2,000. And now that Bill Kelly is the new School Committee chairman, his pay has been bumped up to $2,500. Not bad for a guy who promised not to take a dime, huh? I wonder how he is going to explain this embarrassment when he comes up for reelection next year? Maybe he should be running for office in Lawrence instead of North Andover.

Sounding Off on Sound Off

It’s bad enough that the Eagle~Tribune can’t get the facts right when it comes to reporting legitimate news stories, but last month it printed a Sound Off from some disgruntled North Andover resident who attacked Ted Tripp and myself calling us the “premier bullies of North Andover” and congratulating liberal Selectman Rosemary Smedile for “standing up to Tommy Duggan and Ted Tripp from the North Andover Taxpayers Association and refusing to sign their taxpayers pledge.” Of course, not being a member of the North Andover Taxpayers Association and having NOTHING whatsoever to do with the taxpayers pledge, I sent off my own sound off to the Trib correcting the record - still shocked that they would even allow my name to be published in their paper these days. Anyone want to guess whether or not the Eagle~Tribune printed the corrected sound off which informed their readers that I am not even a MEMBER of NATA? Of course not. So, I guess we’ve all learned something here. Not only does the Trib steal material from our website, copy articles out of our newspaper and misrepresent facts in general news stories, but now you can’t even believe what you read in their Sound Off column.

Fielding Offended (A Correction)
Former Lawrence City Councilor Michael Fielding says he was very “offended” by a notebook item last month which stated that he and State Representative Willie Lantigua were on the outs and that Lantigua was not behind his campaign to unseat Marie Gosselin on the City Council. “I was very offended by that; I want to say on the record that Willie Lantigua is my friend and he IS behind my campaign,” Fielding said angrily. “I don’t know where you got that,” he continued, “but it just isn’t true.” So, for the record (and unlike the Tribune) I want to apologize to Mike Fielding and Willie Lantigua (as well as Siglo 21) for getting this one wrong. For the record, everyone, Willie Lantigua is running Michael Fielding’s campaign to challenge Marie Gosselin in the District “F” City Council race this November. Lantigua is also running a slate of candidates as he unsuccessfully tried to do two years ago and we suspect he will be just as successful this year when the voters find out who he is backing.

Get Your Own Slogan

You would think facing two credible opponents for mayor this year that Haverhill Mayor Jim Fiorentini would come up with a slogan of his own to help showcase his accomplishments over the last four years. But instead of being creative, Fiorentini is now using the slogan: Haverhill on the Move! Hmm. On the move ... sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Where have we heard that slogan before? Oh, that’s right, Lawrence Mayor Mike Sullivan has been using Lawrence on the Move for years, at least going back to Sullivan’s reelection campaign two years ago. Maybe Jim should have a contest to see what kind of slogan residents can come up with. He could post the contest and all entries on his website and ask the public to vote on it. If he takes my suggestion to have an online contest, I have a few suggestions: “Haverhill - Our Schools are Almost as Good as Lawrence! Or how about: Haverhill - We might not be Andover but we have a Starbucks! And my personal favorite: Haverhill - Where History Meets Tomorrow. One thing for sure, Mayor Fiorentini needs a slogan and it’s obvious that he needs YOUR HELP!

New Solomon Picture in the Trib

Methuen Police Chief Joe Solomon complained in The Valley Patriot two months ago that the Tribune was purposely running an old photo of him with a goatee to highlight his “Arab background” with every current story it ran. It was nice to see the Tribune showing a little sensitivity last week when it finally changed its standard Solomon photo to something a little more recent … without the goatee. I guess even the Tribune editors read The Valley Patriot.

Lawrence City Council Costs Taxpayers $234,000

At a time when Lawrence city councilors are whining about not having enough money to run the city (and at least a $2 million deficit in City Hall), you might  think that the Council would be itching to sell city-owned surplus property to the highest bidder so that the taxpayers can get a little financial relief. After all, the city needs every dollar it can get, right? I mean, to hear the Council President grandstand at every meeting about how many paper clips people in City Hall should use (in order to save money) and to listen to DiMarca and Gosselin talk about the “need for fiscal accountability,” you might assume these councilors would be fighting for every dollar when city-owned land is being sold off. But, once again, you would be wrong. In fact, the Lawrence City Council has cost the people of Lawrence hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional revenue, while at the same time (and sometimes at the very same meeting) these same councilors make long-winded speeches about how badly Lawrence needs money. So, let’s do a little math, shall we? Former Lawrence City Councilor Israel Reyes (who is no fan of mine) offered the city of Lawrence $55,000 for a piece of property on Market St. Being the high bidder on the land, Reyes said he was “stunned” when the City Council decided to sell it for $11,000 to soeone else, turning away $44,000 in pure profit for the taxpayers. Reyes also bid on property on Haverhill St., offering the city $105,000, but the council sold it to the Breen family for $20,000, passing up a whopping $85,000 in pure profit.

But wait, I’m not done. Reyes bid $65,000 for a piece of land on Hampshire St., only to have the council sell it to the LOW bidder, who paid the city $15,000 (a loss of $50,000). And then there’s the Jackson St. property Reyes bid $65,000 on, only to watch the hypocrites on the Council vote to sell the land for a mere $10,000 (a loss to the taxpayers of $55,000). If you are not doing the math at home, the Lawrence City Council cost the taxpayers of Lawrence $234,000 by selling just these four pieces of property to the low bidder. Now, I’m no fan of Mr. Reyes, but $234,000 could have paid for cops, teachers, road repairs, Andrea Traficante’s job to help neighborhoods or other city services. What a waste!

Tom Duggan is the president of Valley Patriot, Inc., a former Lawrence School Committeeman, and hosts the Paying Attention! Radio Program on WCAP, 980AM, every Saturday afternoon from noon-2pm. You can email your comments to Tdugjr@aol.com

 *Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The March 2007 Edition of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly Publication.
All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
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