Methuen Ballot Questions
Thanks to a grassroots group in Methuen
there will be four nonbinding ballot
questions before voters when they go to
the polls in November. Citizens for a
Better Government is a group of activists
who are trying to put various issues
before the voters in order to change
their city charter and make it more
effective, particularly to make city
government in Methuen more accountable to
the voters. They have been tagged as a
“hate group” by some political
insiders because many of those steering
the committee are politicos themselves.
But this group of activists is doing it
right, they are a fantastic example of
what grassroots activism is all about.
While I disagree with many of the changes
they want to make to the Methuen charter,
their goal is to have a process whereby
all charter changes will have to go
before the voters no matter what the
mayor, city council or state legislature
has to say about it. The four ballot
questions for Methuen voters to decide
are as follows:
1. Which of the three types of
governments listed herein does a voter
prefer - 1) The Mayor and City Council
form of government - 2) The Town Manager
and Town Council form of government - 3)
The Selectmen, Town Meeting and Town
Manager form of government
2. I support lifetime term limits for the
Mayor, School Committee and City
Council... Yes or No?
3. I want all boards and committees of
the community to be elected at the
regular municipal elections....Yes or No?
4. The Methuen Home Rule Charter shall
not be changed without the consenting
vote of the citizenry at a regularly
scheduled local election ..Yes or No
To find out more about Citizens for
Better Government you can visit them on
line at mymethuen.org
 Blood drive
in Georgetown
The Knights of Columbus are providing a
public service by scheduling a
bloodmobile from Children’s Hospital
for Saturday the 12th of July. The
bloodmobile will be at St. Mary’s
Church on 94 Andover Street (Rte 133)
from 9 AM to 3 PM. The nurses will need
to take a lunch break from 12 to 1. The
bloodmobile is capable of serving 10
donors per hour. You may schedule your
donation time by calling Paul Mc Donough
at 978 352-5282. Donations to Children’s
Hospital help to serve four children for
every pint that is donated. We urgently
need donors, if you cannot give, could
you let others know of this important
event.
National Night Out in Methuen
The Methuen Police Department will be
involved in National Night Out on
Tuesday, August 5, 2008. It will be the
25th Annual National Night Out and it is
a crime prevention event sponsored by the
National Association of Town Watch. It is
a campaign that involves citizens, law
enforcement agencies, civic groups,
businesses and neighborhood
organizations. It is designed to promote
crime and drug prevention, encourage
participation in anticrime programs and
strengthen police and community
partnerships. The programs involve
citizens who organize there own
neighborhood block event and coordinate
it with the police department. It is
there that you will meet and interact
with other neighbors, police officers and
possibly other groups previously listed.
The neighborhood programs will be
starting at 6:00 PM and ending at 8:00 PM
on August 5, 2008 and we encourage
community involvement. For more
information, contact Sgt. Stephen Debs at
the Methuen Police Department at (978)
983-8689.
Area Residents Save Big at
Charity Book Sale
Why pay inflated prices for books at
those big name chain stores when you can
choose from thousands of titles for just
$1 and help out community groups while
you’re at it? Your solution is here:
local organization Got Books is proud to
announce its new warehouse location in
Lawrence! Got Books is a local
organization which is dedicated to
finding new purposes for used books. Got
Books also helps to raise money for
community groups with their fund-raising
program and the weekly Charity Book Sale
held at their warehouse. Got Books is
aiming to make community connections in
their new neighborhood, most notably
through their Charity Book Sale in which
they will partner with Lawrence nonprofit
groups for fund-raising. Got Books will
be raising money for these groups,
including their new neighbor American
Training, and others through the sale
which is held at their Lawrence warehouse
on 104 Glenn Street (exit 45 from I-93 on
the Andover line) every Thursday and
Friday from 9:00AM-6:00PM and every
Saturday from 9:00AM-4:00PM. The Charity
Book Sale will celebrate its Grand
Opening Weekend on July 10th, 11th, and
12th. Books, videos, and records sold at
the sale are in great condition and
priced to sell. All items are just $1.
There are over 50,000 new and used items
at the sale which are regularly rotated,
ensuring a fresh supply each time you
visit. Competitive prices and an
abundance of visitors mean that items
move quickly, so check back often for
great books and great deals. Half of all
profits made at every sale will benefit
one of the book sale partners, including
several Lawrence-based nonprofit groups.
Got Books accepts donations of new and
used books, CDs, DVDs, videos, and audio
books which are intended for reuse. Their
free pick-up service is offered to
residents and businesses in most areas of
Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire.
Drop-off sites are in many areas, as
well, and can be located through a
directory on the Got Books website. For
more information about Got Books and
their services visit www.GotBooks.com or call
978-396-6026.
Methuen Muslims
I want to take a moment to thank the
Muslims in Methuen for inviting me into
their Mosque and spending an afternoon
letting me interview them. It was an
educational experience for me and though
I have some very different views and
perspectives on the issues we discussed,
it is my belief that the interview was
quite educational for our readers as
well, as evidenced by the dozens of mail
and email we have received on the
article. I only hope this is the
beginning of a dialogue between Muslims
and non-Muslims in the community.
The NEW Sunday Tribune calls
their readers racist
Some things new, some things not so new.
The editors at the Alabama~Eagle are
touting a “new” Sunday Eagle
Tribune and this time they have lots to
crow about. Instead of a cartoon outline
of an eagle, their new mascot is a
picture of an eagle (WOW!) and if that
isn’t new enough, in last week’s
Al White column he calls the Tribune
readers racist (only the ‘non-Latinos
of course)! What isn’t all that new
is how they continually misinform their
readers and never correct the record. In
Jill’s Harmacinski’s “news”
piece on the passage of the city budget
by Lawrence City Councilors last month
she quotes Grisel Silva as saying “I’m
psyched” about the budget being
passed. But nowhere in the article did
she say how Silva voted because if she
had, the entire article would have made
no sense. For the record, Grisel Silva
voted against the budget so I’m not
sure what she was “psyched”
about but a real reporter probably would
have included who voted for and against
the budget in their news piece ,
especially when quoting people who vote
no as being “psyched”. Well,
like I said, some things new, some things
not so new.
Hispanic Week
I know, I know I let you down. In past
years I have raised your expectations to
an unrealistic standard by posting the
“Women of Hispanic Week” on the
website and then publishing a full page
collage of Hispanic week events in the
paper. But this year I have finally given
up. You will never find anyone who
has promoted the Hispanic Week events in
the city of Lawrence as enthusiastically
as I have and I am not a member of the
Spanish language press. Still, every year
the leaders of Hispanic Week simply
refuse to send a schedule or promote the
events in the English language press. For
more than 20 years I have promoted
Hispanic Week for free both on the radio
and in print (not to mention the website)
and have never once asked for a dime in
advertising. With the Valley Patriot
expanding every month and with so many
organizations looking to promote their
events I’ve finally gotten just too
tired to keep chasing Hispanic Week
organizers to help them promote their
event. So, this year do not send me your
email complaints that the Women of
Hispanic Week feature is missing,
send your complaints to Bryan DePena and
the Hispanic Week organizers.
Howie Carr reads The Valley
Patriot
A big Thank you to Howie Carr of the
Boston Herald and Russ Contreras of the
Boston Globe for helping to promote the
Valley Patriot as a legitimate news
source in the Merrimack Valley. In Carr’s
column last month he cited the VP as his
news source on the latest Grisel Silva
scandals and even gave a plug to our
website. As for Russ Contreras, a
reporter with more integrity and sticker
for accuracy you cannot find in any news
room.
Glocester’s Mayor Kirk and
the Alabama Eagle
It has been widely reported that
Glocester’s Mayor Kirk has thrown
the principal of Glocester High School
under the bus during the pregnancy
scandal that was broken in Time Magazine.
And while the pundits have had a field
day questioning Kirk’s honesty (or
dishonesty as it were) nobody is talking
about how Mayor Kirk’s husband Bill
is the Alabama Eagle’s business
editor. Yes, the same Alabama Eagle that
owns the Glocester Daily newspaper. How
about that? The mayor’s husband
works for the newspaper that owns the
daily paper in the town where the Kirks
came to power. And, by the way, this is
the same Bill Kirk who co-write the bogus
story about Bob Ansin’s Monarch on
the Merrimack claiming he “witnessed”
men in “tyvek suits removing
asbestos from the building.”
According to Ansin the bogus story cost
him a $40 million dollar investment and
lead to the shut down of the project. So
let’s review, Bill Kirk cost
Lawrence a $200 mill project and his wife
has cost the city of Glocester millions
in bad press. I guess the family that
lies together stays together.
Campbell v. Solomon?
With the state rep. race in Methuen
gearing up between Linda Dean Campbell ad
Chris Dibella both candidates are already
holding fund-raisers and trying to shore
up support among local officials.
Campbell has Methuen Mayor Bill Manzi and
Steve Baddour in her corner and according
to some in the Campbell camp, DiBella has
former Police Chief Joe Solomon in his
camp. Supporters for both candidates say
that their candidate is going to “crush”
the other but if this race comes down to
pro Solomon vs. anti Solomon support in
the community you can bet that the
Alabama Eagle is going to weigh in
heavily on the anti-Solomon side.
Speaking of Joe Solomon
Word among Joe Solomon supporters is that
the former chief’s hearing before
civil service will be in October and the
Solomon camp is predicting that the Civil
Service Commission will reinstate the
former chief. If that were to happen, I
wonder what would happen to newly
appointed Chief Lavigne? Would she then
be able to sue for chief’s pay as
she was legally appointed to be the chief
of police for Methuen? We would ask mayor
Bill Manzi but he’s a little busy
meeting with the Alabama~Eagle’s
editorial board.
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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 .
All pictures and material are
(C) copyright, Valley Patriot, Inc., 2008
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