>>Valley Patriot>> |
Nunzio
DiMarca, A Sad Reality I didn’t support him so
that he could (once again) play the race card to divide
people in an election year in a desperate attempt to get
votes. No, I supported Nunzio two years ago because I was
given personal assurances that the days of conflicts of
interest, playing race politics and making deals for
personal gain were over. But since the passing of
his campaign manager last year, DiMarca has gone right
back to the days of old. He was thrown off the Council by
voters in 2003 because of his arrogance and shameless
conflicts of interest and now he is about to be defeated
again for the very same reasons. When Councilor DiMarca
loses this November, I only hope that he will look in the
mirror to find the person responsible for ending his own
political career. It wasn’t a conspiracy by Police
Chief John Romero. It wasn’t a plot by Mayor Mike
Sullivan or the people in his sinister administration. It
wasn’t even Patrick Blanchette. It hurts me to say it, but
the truth is, Councilor DiMarca is a divider not a
uniter, as he was when he got elected in 2005. His
reckless, phony accusations against the Lawrence police,
Mayor Sullivan and Chief Romero have caused immeasurable
damage to the city and its reputation. No, I will not be
supporting Councilor Nunzio DiMarca in November and it is
a crying shame. Until he began his crusade against
Lawrence police officers, he was well positioned to get
reelected. But, gleefully carrying the mantle for the
ACLU and the racists who believe in a “Latino
Agenda,” he has completely blown any chance he had
at a political future. Not only will Nunzio DiMarca not
be a contender in 2009 for the mayor’s race (as he
has convinced himself that he is), he will most likely
come in last in this year’s at-large City Council
race. *Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com |
Valley Patriot Story Prior Valley Patriot Editorials Prior Columns by ... Tom Duggan Patrick
Blanchette |
is, I didn’t support Nunzio
DiMarca two years ago so that he could abuse his position
to get jobs for his friends and family (jobs that were
never posted). I didn’t support Mr. DiMarca to
harass the mayor, take cheap shots at the mayor’s
administration or stand in the way of progress. But most
importantly, I didn’t support Nunzio DiMarca so that
he could sit at the Council table and bash police
officers, or make the Lawrence Police Department look
like a bunch or racists thugs (a slap in the face to both
me and my family). 
No, it was
Councilor Nunzio DiMarca himself who behind the scenes
got his family member a city job. It was Nunzio DiMarca
who embraced the racists and cop haters at the ACLU
meeting last month. And it was Councilor DiMarca who
placed an item on the City Council agenda entitled “police
brutality” so that he could pander to the race
hustlers in an election year. It is clear to me now that
Mr. DiMarca has such hatred for the cops in
Lawrence (and, in particular, Police Chief John
Romero) that he is incapable of objectively voting for
what is best for Lawrence. DiMarca has shown by his own
actions that he is too obsessed with settling vendettas
against the chief to see that he is slandering an entire
Police Department. 
the director of The
Valley Patriot, the only member of the Anglo-American
press present at the gathering with the ACLU, reported
the event on his web page with the following words:
“And all the criminals, cop haters and social
malcontents came out of the woodwork to tell their sad
and sordid tales of victimization at the hands of the
evil, white, racists at the Lawrence Police Department.”
With those remarks, Duggan dismissed the complaints as
claims coming from Latino delinquents taking advantage of
the racial conflict to justify their antisocial behavior.
To validate his point of view, the director of The Valley
Patriot forgot to mention that there were “white
Americans” at the meeting who gave their testimony
regarding police violence. Mr. Duggan also failed to
mention in his initial report that some of the victims
pointed to Latino policemen as part of the abusive
officers. The only problem here is, this is a blatant
falsehood (lie?). There was only one “white American”
who spoke at the ACLU meeting among all the cop bashing
that went on and it was Kurt Charenza. Charenza, a
decorated military man, did not speak one word about
police abuse, racism or police brutality. His beef (the
only one who seemed to have a legitimate complaint that
night) was that he was stabbed and beaten by civilians to
the point of having permanent nerve damage to his face
and that the Lawrence police refused to investigate the
crime. This is a far cry from being a “white
Americans” at the meeting who gave their testimony
regarding police violence.” It is sad, yet
predictable that the Spanish language media cannot give
an accurate portrayal of what happens at meetings like
this because they are so beholden to an agenda of
promoting fear and distrust among Latinos towards the
police. The only “Latino policeman” mentioned
at that meeting was by Mr. Charenza who mentioned a
“Latino” police officer he spoke with while
trying to get his case resolved. Mr. Charenza did not
ever make an allegation that he was abused by Lawrence
cops and the fact that Siglo21 would promote such a lie
only goes to show what lengths people will go to promote
hate. 
Are
things THAT bad at the Eagle~Tribune that they need to
dispatch City Council President Patrick Blanchette to
sell ads for them at the Council table during Council
meetings? I mean, I know the Trib is bleeding money every
month (and with the impending departure of Ken Johnson,
Al White and Taylor Armerding), people are very nervous
about their futures over on Turnpike Street. But I didn’t
think that the Tribune was capable of stooping so low as
to have an elected official shill for their advertising
department while conducting city business. Yet, there it
was. Last month at a personnel subcommittee meeting of
the Lawrence City Council, Patrick Blanchette attacked
Personnel Director Frank Bonet for advertising in The
Valley Patriot and “not the Eagle~Tribune, in
violation of the city charter.” My question for
Blanchette is this: Where in the charter does it say that
the city has to advertise in the Eagle~Tribune? Just
because “reporter” Mark Vogler has been acting
as Blanchette’s own personal press secretary and
only prints his point of view on any given issue, that
doesn’t give Blanchette the right to shill for their
ad department as a quid-pro-quo to funneling advertising
dollars back to the paper. It is a sad state of affairs
for both Blanchette and the Trib. But it does explain why
Vogler spins every story coming out of City Hall to
benefit his pal Patrick Blanchette. I’m just not
sure it’s ethical. For the record, The Valley
Patriot has a much better advertising value for your
buck, delivering more than 12,000 papers monthly to
FOURTEEN different communities and that’s not
including the thousands of readers who download the paper
on-line each month. Plus, advertising in The Valley
Patriot gives you an entire month of exposure for one
tenth of the price the Eagle~Tribune charges for ONE DAY.
I wonder what Council President Patrick Blanchette would
say if another councilor was trying to redirect city
funds to The Valley Patriot from the Council table during
a meeting? Anyone want to bet he would be screaming
“conflict of interest”? I guess it just depends
on who is doing the advocating and who gets the benefits.
First, she supported David
Camasso for comptroller despite the fact that she
received a lot of pressure from racist Latinos in the
Latino Agenda Crowd who insisted she vote against him
(Camasso is not Latino). Second, Alvarez was the deciding
vote to stop giving waivers to non profits when they
apply for construction permits in the city. This, despite
the fact that Alvarez is a big supporter of Poverty Pimps
like Law-rence Community Works and has been one of their
biggest advocates in granting those waivers. “If the
city of Law-rence wasn’t in such bad shape
financially and we could afford to give waivers, that
would be one thing, but we need the money,” Alvarez
said. “I have to vote for what is best for the
people of Lawrence,” she emphasized. It took great
courage for Councilor Alvarez to take such positions and
the public has been well-served and taken notice. 
not unusual for Cindy because
she speaks during every public participation. But this
time it was different. She said that she was
speaking not as a parent, but as an employee of the
school system. What? Did I hear her right? She’s
an employee of the school department? The override
advocate and North Andover’s own desperate housewife
is now working in central office overseeing the budget.
What line item in the budget is she being paid from and
is the override needed to keep her position? Isn’t
this scenario like the fox watching the hen house?
After all, wasn’t Cindy denied a spot on the Finance
Committee for being too polarizing? 
