With several
law enforcement agencies investigating
the finances and political dealings
of Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua, and
the Boston media finally waking up to his
political shenanigans, the question most
people are asking is: can Lantigua
survive?
Let me start by saying that I’ve
known and studied the political genius of
Willie Lantigua for about twenty years
now.
I’ve watched him go from a gadfly in
city hall who cried racism at the drop of
a hat (not much has changed on that
front) to political king maker behind the
scenes who ran slates of candidates at
election time, most of whom won because
of his expertise.
He went from being laughed at to being
feared. From being dismissed, to being
sought out by the power brokers in The
Valley long before becoming mayor.
How Lantigua came to power
Willie Lantigua created City Councilor
Jose Santiago. He recruited Jose, ran his
campaign, and through his efforts pushed
Santiago to the State House as a State
Representative.
I worked on several of those campaigns
and watched as Willie laughed at
conventional wisdom which said his
candidate couldn’t win over an
immensely popular, white incumbent
Representative M. Paul Ianucciello.
Lantigua always flew under the radar and
he would raise money by putting empty
jars in shops and bodegas all over Latino
neighborhoods in Lawrence for people to
put their loose change in. Change he
later collected and used for campaigns he
was working on.
While other politicians were raising
money at $50 per person fund raisers and
spending that money on radio commercials,
newspaper ads and mailings, Willie was
getting volunteers to run off Xerox
copies of hand made fliers where they
worked. He was getting neighborhood kids
to drop them in people’s doors to
save postage and buying them pizza in
return with all that change he was
collecting in shops and bodegas.
Willie Lantigua spent years doing favors
for people and refused to accept anything
in return, knowing someday that all the
good will he had built up in the
community would pay off.
He slowly earned a reputation, especially
in the Latino community, as a guy who
could get anything done, no matter what.
Eventually, he turned on his cretion,
State Representative Jose Santiago and
successfully ran against him, given that
most of Santiago’s supporters were
really supporters of Lantigua.
In a nutshell, that is how Willie
Lantigua came to power.
And once he achieved that power, he was
swift and brutal with anyone who stood in
his way.
Candidates or elected officials who were
his best friends and confidants one day,
would only need to disagree with him once
to find themselves out of politics, out
of a job and sometimes even out of the
city by the time Lantigua was done
destroying them behind the scenes.
As a state representative he curried
favor with non-profits, night club
owners, The Secretary of State, the
Attorney General, The Essex County DA,
The Governor, and anyone else who could
help him at a later date when he needed
them.
So why am I giving you this readers
digest version of how Willie Lantigua
operates? What does this have to do with
the question at hand: “can Lantigua
survive the media and law enforcement
onslaught?”
The Answer
The answer is, Willie Lantigua is not
just a man, or a single politician who
was lucky enough to win an election.
Wilile Lantigua is a machine. A machine
he always keeps well greased. Democrats
who want to get elected at the state
level know they need Lantigua’s
guaranteed block of votes in Lawrence to
do so, and in return he always gets a
heads up when trouble is coming. He
always seems to be ahead of the
curve.
And it’s evident by the silence of
Secretary of State Bill Galvin when
election fraud was alleged against
Lantigua year after year. It’s
evident by the silence of Attorney
General Martha Coakley (who ran her last
campaign out of Lantigua’s office on
Essex Street) and it’s evident by
the crickets we’ve heard coming out
of Essex County DA John Blodget’s
office.
But with all the favor’s Lantigua
has banked throughout the years, there is
one thing he didn’t count on and in
my view, till hasn’t take seriously
enough.
Willie Lantigua has underestimated the
integrity of the Lawrence Police, (some
of whom have silently watched him for
years). He taunts federal law enforcement
officials thumbing his nose at them,
while professing his innocence and
honesty, all the while continuing his law
breaking.
Can Willie Lantigua survive?
Vegas odds say no.
He has arrogantly flaunted his misdeeds
in public and even after learning of law
enforcement investigations has not
changed his behavior one bit.
But, remember, without a recall petition
by the voters to remove him, there is
nothing in the Lawrence City Charter that
says he must resign or can be removed if
he is indicted or even if he is convicted
and serving time in jail.
Personally speaking, Lantigua seems to be
on borrowed time, as it looks like the
feds are closing in with real evidence of
real wrongdoing.
But, politically speaking Willie Lantigua
could very well be charged with a crime
and be out on bail and there is nothing
anyone can do to make him step down.
Sure he would suffer financially, he
could lose his freedom temporarily, but
he would still be the mayor of Lawrence,
continuing to bring shame on a once proud
city.
And make no mistake about it. If Lantigua
were to be indicted and convicted of a
crime tomorrow, he would refuse to resign
as mayor and serve out the rest of his
term collecting his $100,000+ mayors
salary (with benefits) while sitting in a
jail cell.
On top of all that, there’s a very
real chance that the majority of the
people who voted for him in the last
election would vote for him again,
whether he is sitting in a jail cell or
not.
So, unless the feds have proof of
something so serious that Willie faces
life in prison, odds are that when all
this is over, Willie Lantigua will do
just fine and will still be working on
his ultimate goal of becoming President
of the Dominican Republic.
Tom Duggan is president of Valley
Patriot, Inc., a former Lawrence School
Committeeman, former political director
for Mass Citizens for Marriage, a Police
Survivor and hosted the Paying Attention!
Radio Program from 2001-2011. You can
email your comments to valleypatriot@aol.com .
With several
law enforcement agencies investigating
the finances and political dealings
of Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua, and
the Boston media finally waking up to his
political shenanigans, the question most
people are asking is: can Lantigua
survive?
Candidates or elected officials who were
his best friends and confidants one day,
would only need to disagree with him once
to find themselves out of politics, out
of a job and sometimes even out of the
city by the time Lantigua was done
destroying them behind the scenes. 
