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Voters show
discontent
with city council
Tom Duggan
District
A - Council president survives ... barely
Lawrence city council president Patrick Blanchette
rightly brags that his family name has been on the ballot
in the Prospect Hill section of Lawrence for more than 25
years.
However, the embattled District A councilor
nearly lost his seat on the council this month when he
placed only 113 votes ahead of first time candidate April
Lyskowsky, in one of the dirtiest campaigns this election
season.
Blanchettes waning support on Prospect Hill over
the last two years was clearly the result of the numerous
controversies he created when calling for the firing of
numerous Sullivan administration officials, the
disbarring of a city attorney and his obsession with
using his council position to attack and humiliate anyone
who stands in his way.
Blanchette has had his sights set on the mayors
office for the 09 election for over two years and
positioned himself as the most vocal critic of Mayor
Michael Sullivan.
Blanchette won all four precincts on Election Day,
pulling out all the stops and campaigning chiefly on his
family name instead of his accomplishments or his record
on the issues facing the people of his district.
After a close primary win in September, Blanchette called
on his family for help having his mother send out
campaign literature and his older brother Kevin, the
former State Representative, greet voters on Election Day
at the Parthum School, asking voters to cast their
ballots for his younger brother.
When it became clear on election night that Blanchette
had defeated his toughest political opponent in the last
five elections, he and his supporters, lead by former
city employee Andrea Traficanti, stormed city hall
chanting Pat is back! a reference to his
campaign theme and political signs that read Bring
Pat Back. Blanchette has been on the council for
eight years.
The council president then took cheap shots at his
opponent as he introduced his girlfriend to the crowd of
supporters in city hall, who were strategically placed on
the second and third floor balconies reminiscent of
previous mayoral victories.
With Blanchettes win on election day, the councilor
may have retained his seat on the city council, but his
reign as council president is all but over as most of the
city councilors who were in the Blanchette
camp in the last two years were defeated. A quick
poll of the city council candidates who were victorious
on election night shows almost no support for returning
the controversial council president to any leadership
position on the city council in January.
Despite his weak showing at the polls on Election Day,
however, Blanchette is automatically in the running for
mayor in the 2009 election, and to date is considered the
front-runner as Mike Sullivan cannot run again due to
term limits. The only other candidate to emerge for the
corner office in 09 has been former city councilor
Israel Reyes. Blanchettes weak showing in this
district race will have little or no effect on his
chances to take the corner office in two years and as has
been evident for the last two, Patrick Blanchette is off
and running.
District B - Grisel Silva wins tight
race, expected to win recount
District B Councilor Grisel Silva won
decisively two years ago against Ruth Rojas of Lawrence
Community Works. This year, Silva barely defeated Rojas
by a twenty-six vote margin. Ruth Rojas is the hand
picked candidate of State Representative Willie Lantigua.
Like Blanchette, Silvas popularity and political
support has dwindled significantly after two years of
controversy as she has engaged in personal attacks
against perceived political enemies, fellow councilors,
members of the Sullivan administration and Lawrence
Police Chief John Romero.
Silvas outbursts and unprofessional behavior at the
council table, combined with her advocating a $3 million
cut in the city budget that would have resulted in
firefighters, police officers, and DPW workers being laid
off, all took their toll on Silvas campaign. The
numbers on Election Day bear out the damage done to the
first term councilor. Months of manufactured scandals
published in the Eagle Tribune and broadcast on Spanish
language radio programs did little to ingratiate Silva
with voters.
Silva will face a recount in this race, but will most
likely survive the challenge by Rojas as it is nearly
impossible to pick up the 26 votes in a district race.
Insiders say they do not expect Silva to serve out the
entire two years of her next term, which begins in
January. Should she stay on the council through her term,
however, Silva supporters say this will be her last term
serving the voters of the North Common Neighborhood.
District
C - Jorge Gonzalez Reelected to 2nd Term
Incumbent city councilor Jorge Gonzalez defeated former
City Councilor Barbara Beals-Gonzalez for the second time
in as many years, edging out Beals-Gonzalez by only 30
votes, but winning three of the four precincts in his
district.
Jorge Gonzalez voted with Councilors Nunzio DiMarca and
Marie Gosselin on the budget and the water rates,
opposing Mayor Sullivans efforts to raise
taxes. The difference between Gonzalez and the
councilors defeated on election day is that Jorge
didnt fight with fellow councilors, attack Mayor
Sullivan and his administra-tion, or engage in name
calling and screaming matches at the council table.
The two Gonzalezs ran a very low-key campaign and
despite the fact that neither of them raised any
significant amounts of money, both candidates were
visible in the neighborhood and both ran a grassroots
campaign.
For the most part, this was a very clean race where the
candidates preferred to campaign on name recognition
rather than issues or personalities. Rumors that Barbara
Beals-Gonzalez may call for a recount will most likely be
a waste of time as thirty one votes is nearly impossible
to make up with the new electronic voting machines.
District D - Kolofoles handily
defeats Franklin Fernandez
Incumbent city councilor Nick Kolofoles won an easy
reelection against Franklin Fernandez, taking all four
precincts and putting to bed any speculation that he is
in trouble with the voters. Kolofoles is one of the few
city councilors who won by a wide margin on Election Day
and despite the fact that he did so well, supporters of
the Tower Hill councilor say this may be his last term on
the Lawrence City Council. Kolofoles had a well-organized
campaign team headed by Keith Wlodyka, (formerly of Tower
Hill Variety).
For his part, Fernandez, a substitute teacher at Lawrence
High School, is now in trouble with his superiors in the
school department for using city owned computers and a
City of Lawrence e-mail account to send out campaign
press releases. Sources in the school department say
Fernandez will be disciplined for his improper use of
city e-mail accounts to send out campaign material.
District
E - Newcomer David Abdoo to replace outgoing
councilor Gil Frechette
Lawrence City Councilor Gil Frechette is being replaced
by Planning Board Chairman, David Abdoo. Abdoo defeated
Mill City Maulers co-founder Matty Brien by 598 votes in
one of the most civil campaigns in the city.
Abdoo enjoyed the support of the outgoing District
E councilor as well as the president of the
Mount Vernon Neighborhood Association. The incoming city
councilor is a favorite among newly elected (or
reelected) city councilors to replace Patrick Blanchette
as the city council president. Abdoo himself has not
indicated whether he is interested in the position, but
campaign supporters say Dave is ready to take on
whatever position his fellow councilors bestow upon
him.
District F - Fielding defeats
Gosselin ... Again
Four years ago, City Councilor Marie Gosselin was
defeated by newcomer Michael Fielding, retiring the
five-term incumbent in what she said was her last
campaign. Two years later, Gosselin came back to reclaim
her seat as Fielding decided to abandon his district seat
on the council to run at-large. Upon winning her sixth
term in 2005, Gosselin again reiterated that she would
not be seeking reelection in two years, but true to form,
Gosselin ran again this year and the results were almost
exactly the same as they were in 2001.
This year, Fielding came back to repeat his trouncing of
Gosselin in South Lawrence East section of the city,
beating the incumbent councilor by 72 votes. Gosselin
lost three out of four precincts, winning only the
Colonial Heights section of the district by 14 votes.
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The November 2007
Edition of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
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All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
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