>>Valley Patriot>>
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Tom
Dugggan's Notebook
(07/03/07)
Three
Cheers for LeeAnn Condon & Charlie Daher
LeeAnn Condon, new recreation/event coordinator for the
city of Methuen has already raised $12,000 in private
funds to pay for the Methuen tree lighting festivities. A
special thanks to Tibo Lumber and Amore Electric for
their donations to the tree lighting ceremonies and
LeeAnn Condon for all the hard work she is doing to save
the city of Methuen badly needed funds. Condon said she
wanted to thank Charlie Daher of Commonwealth Motors in
Lawrence for being a community partner and underwriting
the 4th of July celebration. The Valley Patriot has also
signed on as a Community Partner for a future event.
Rumbo printing John Birch
Society press releases! Huh?
I was quite surprised to see that Rumbo (the sometimes
bilingual newspaper in Lawrence) was printing press
releases from The John Birch Society (JBS) …
did I see that right? The press release discussed
freedom and the 4th of July and advocated donating to and
joining the Society. What the press release failed
to mention, but the JBS website does, is that the Society
stands for “No illegal Immigration, No Amnesty and
No Guest Workers” According to
Sourcewatch.org “JBS advocates … the
repeal of all civil rights legislation, which it sees as
being Communist in inspiration.” With Rumbo
attacking Superintendent Wilfredo T. Laboy for what they
call “segregation” because he has decided to
place newly arriving non-English speaking students in the
“old” high school, I wonder how the Rumbo
editors can then print a press release from the JBS,
which advocates repealing all civil rights. As the
caveman in the Geico commercial says … duh…
WHAT?
Congratulations to the
Massachusetts Senate & State Senator Steve (Mr.
Microphone) Baddour
I want to recognize a vote of 34-0 in the Massachusetts
Senate banning the practice of Internet hunting.
Anti-hunting Groups such as the Humane Society of the
United States paired up with pro-hunting groups of the
National Rifle Association and the Safari Club
International in opposing the practice of Internet
Hunting. Internet hunting involves sitting at your
computer, picking a deer or other animal and then with a
click of the mouse, the animal is killed and the “trophy”
is shipped to your home. The NRA opposes Internet
hunting stating “it has nothing to do with hunting.”
The bill now goes to the House of Representatives for
their vote. 
Councilor Leahy Miffed
Methuen City Councilor Phil Leahy attended a fund-raiser
last month for his colleague Steve Zanni at a local
restaurant (which does not advertise with The Valley
Patriot). He said he came to show his support for the
council president. But as Steve Zanni took the podium to
thank his guests, Leahy got quite the surprise. “I
think what the City Council did last week, the way a
certain individual was treated, was just wrong. We need
to treat people better,’ Zanni said. The Council
President was talking about the way the City Council red
lined the Human Resource Director’s position out of
the budget, leaving David Baine without a job. Leahy was
the deciding vote to terminate Baine, who was hired as
the Human Resources Director by former Mayor Sharon
Pollard. Sources in Mayor Manzi’s office tell The
Valley Patriot that Baine will not be off the city
payroll, however. Manzi is planning on appointing Baine
as a temporary replacement for Veteran’s Services
Director Ed “Hoppy” Curran. For his part, Leahy
stormed out of the event saying he was deeply offended.
“I think I was just insulted,” Leahy said.
Children denied use of Town
Fields
The North Andover Board of Selectmen voted to close
town-owned fields on the first day of Town Meeting
because they think government interference with sports
will make the town care more about the politics of town
meeting. Even Republican Jim Xenakis supported the
measure spearheaded by outgoing finance committee member
Melinda Coppa. Tom Zahoruiko was right in his opposition
to this measure. Closing the town fields (and, by the
way, not the school fields) will not encourage more
participation at town meeting. It will only deny children
of families who have no interest in town politics the
opportunity to enjoy the fields.
 North Andover Officials Stepping
Down
Several of North Andover’s elected and appointed
officials have made it known that they are not returning
to public service next year when their terms expire.
Selectman Tom Licciardello respectfully announced last
month that he will not seek a second term to the board,
citing financial losses and the “incredible burden”
that being an elected official has had on his time with
his family and his business. Also not returning to the
Board of Selectman next year is Jim Xenakis (who saw fit
to tell the Eagle Tribune before telling us). Xenakis
will be sorely missed, as he has been one of the very few
real conservatives the board has had in the last 10
years. Melinda Coppa, member of the Finance Committee,
says she is not going to seek reappointment next spring
and School Committee disaster Tim Pybus has seen fit to
follow in the footsteps of his mentors Dan Murphy and Al
Perry by not seeking reelection next March. Why so many
officials jumping ship all at once? I really don’t
know. I just hope that we can recruit responsible,
conservative candidates to replace them, otherwise …
well … Diane Huster is still desperately trying to
be relevant in town and I don’t think anyone wants
to see her ascend back into the spotlight simply because
there are no other qualified candidates. Bubble, bubble,
toil and trouble ….
Dave Abdoo to Run for City
Council … Murphy Could Jump In
Lawrence planning board member David Abdoo, who lives in
the Mount Vernon section of South Lawrence, has taken out
nomination papers to run for city council.  Abdoo, if successful, will
replace outgoing Councilor Gilbert Frechette who is not
running for reelection. Abdoo may face a crowded field
with Matty Brien (Lantigua’s candidate) and Dan
Rooney (nobody’s candidate) already taking out
papers. Former Lawrence police officer Thomas Murphy is
reportedly giving “serious consideration” to
jumping into the race as well. While there is going to be
a very tough fight for that third at-large spot on the
city council, this District “E” race to
represent South Lawrence West will certainly be the one
to watch. (Editors Note: Tom Murphy will not seek
election to the Council)
Grisel Silva’s Public
Behavior
To those of you who call and email me regularly saying
that I “control” City Councilor Grisel Silva
(sometimes even calling to yell at ME for the votes SHE
takes) I wonder what all of you thought about her
ridiculous vote and her bad behavior last week when she
almost single handedly shut down the city of Lawrence
with her vote against the emergency 30 day budget? For
the record, I lobbied councilors hard to support the
emergency measure to prevent an interruption in city
services and to make sure city employees get paid after
July 1st.. So I say again, anyone who thinks that I or
anyone else can “control” City Councilor Grisel
Silva (including herself) obviously doesn’t know her
very well.
Political Stocks: Who’s
Up and Who’s Down Since Our Last Edition
 DOWN: Andover State
Representative Barry Finegold. Barry was well on his way
to chipping away at Niki Tsongas’ double digit lead
in the 5th congressional race when he was asked why, if
he is pro-abortion, that he would sponsor a bill
mandating women who are seeking an abortion receive
medical information on the risks of the procedure.
Instead of using the issue as a chance to distance
himself from the other candidates and take a more
moderate position on the abortion issue Finegold balked
and retreated from the bill. Instead of explaining to the
public that anyone who has any medical procedure should
be informed of the risks, he said he didn’t know how
his name was added to the list of sponsors. Then, to
prove how pro-abortion he really is, Finegold had his
name removed as a sponsor of the bill, thereby denying
critical medical information to women who are struggling
with their choice. My only question to Finegold and the
rest of the pro “abortion on demand” crowd is
this: isn’t “choice” irrelevant when you
do not have all the information about the choice you are
about to make? Just wondering.
UP: Lowell City Councilor Eileen Donoghue. You would
think that Finegold’s blunder on the abortion issue
would benefit the front runner Niki Tsongas, but
according to internal polling figures leaked to the
Valley Patriot it is Eileen Donoghue who is picking up
support among voters. In the end, the abortion issue is
completely irrelevant in this race because there is
absolutely no difference between any of the candidates’
positions except one: Jim Miceli, who is pro life …
and he can’t win.
UP: Jennifer Kannan. Candidate for city council at large.
Jennifer Kannan has been turning heads on the political
scene in Methuen since she announced her intentions to
run. Insiders are very excited by Kannan’s candidacy
and a quick poll of the movers and shakers in Methuen has
me calling her the front runner in that race.
 UP: Lawrence City Council
President Patrick Blanchette. Blanchette was able to put
aside his hatred for Mayor Michael Sullivan and fight for
a 30 day emergency budget last week instead of continuing
with the recent mantra of personal insults and
obstruction tactics at the council table. Patrick is
still not happy with the submitted FY08 budget and is
sure to pick it apart piece by piece when it is discussed
later in the month, but that’s what he and his
fellow councilors were elected to do. What I expect of
Blanchette and the rest of the council is that, when it
really counts and it’s going to affect the lives of
city workers (and residents), that they put aside
personal feelings and do what is right for the people. It
is sad that Councilor Grisel Silva could not do that.
UP: 5th District Congressional Candidate Niki Tsongas.
Let’s face facts, Tsongas is a pro and her campaign
team is outstanding. The first television commercial
touting Tsongas’ commitment to American servicemen
returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan was perhaps the
most effective tv commercial any candidate for office has
run in the last four years.
While I disagree with Tsongas on 90% of her issues, from
a strategy standpoint, this commercial was hard hitting,
it was positive, it was emotional and it grabbed your
attention right away. The fact that her father survived
the attack on Pearl Harbor and is featured prominently in
the ad goes to show just how good her consultants are ...
now if only we could get some of those advertising
dollars!
Selectmen’s Spin
 Members of the North
Andover Board of Selectmen were pretty upset by our lead
story last month detailing how their property values went
up while their tax bills went down. The story detailed
how the majority of the pro-override selectmen would
barely be affected by the proposed override (which
passed). So, they decided to put a hilarious “spin”
on the story suggesting that the reporter (Paula Porten)
who wrote the story was insinuating that there was some
kind of wrongdoing or illegality going on, which was
clearly not the case. The fact is, and cannot be disputed
no matter how many times they cloud the issue, the
majority of the pro-override selectmen had a decrease in
their taxes while their property taxes went up. Shame on
the selectmen for lying about what the article clearly
stated “An investigation by the Valley Patriot has
found no wrongdoing or illegality.” For the record,
Paula Porten supported the override and did not write the
story to hurt the override effort.
Still Waiting for Sue
Tucker
Andover State Senator Sue Tucker has yet to make an
endorsement in the 5th congressional race. Tucker said
back in March that she was going to endorse a “woman”
because, she said, “We need a woman in congress.”
This is about as absurd as it gets. Using a person’s
gender as the main criteria as to who should or should
not be elected is as prejudice as choosing someone
because they are white, or male or Catholic. Since there
are only three candidates without male appendages in the
race for congress I am still wondering if she is going to
support Eileen Donoghue, Niki Tsongas or Jamie Eldridge?
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The July 2007 Edition of
the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
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