Tom Duggan's Notebook

Shannon Complaint Dismissed  

Former Lawrence School Committeeman Noah Shannon's troubles with the law seemed to have fizzled out as quickly as they began. Sources at the Lawrence police department say that a 209(A) complaint against Shannon was vacated when his (ex?) girlfriend Ledamy Corea dropped her allegation that he violated a restraining order last Friday.  

Don't Count Your Chickens!  

North Andover Selectman Rosemary Smedile is campaigning hard for reelection. The North Andover election is to be held on Tuesday, March 30th. Voters who support her might be interested to know that Smedile is already looking to abandon her seat on the board (which she has not yet been reelected to), in order to run for Governor's Council in the fall. The one term selectman - who supported a $4 Million override 2 years ago - is, in my opinion, perpetuating a fraud on the voters of North Andover. She is running for reelection and not telling the voters that she has every intention on seeking the Governor's Council seat currently held by a very popular and effective Mary Ellen Manning, (D) Peabody. Smedile is facing a tough reelection this year and should probably not take her reelection for granted. Reports from the North Andover Republican Committee say that Smedile was extremely upset when she learned this week that another Republican is only a few hundred votes short of getting the required signatures to run for the Governor's Council seat. My Paying Attention! column in the April edition of the Valley Patriot will address this topic in depth.  

Hold Your Ground Mr. Mayor!  

Mayor Michael Sullivan is at war with Congressman Marty Meehan (boy, how do you take sides there?). At issue is Meehan's desire for the Mayor to use city money to tear down the privately owned "Lincoln Foods" building while Mayor Sullivan believes that city Money should not be used for demolition of privately owned structures. Sullivan took a political hit 2 years for trying to use public funds (from the stadium restoration account) to knock down the old Essem Plant for another developer. Apparently Sullivan has learned his lesson and is, so far, not giving in to Meehan. No Matter, Congressman Meehan is still pushing for the Lincoln Foods building demolition with public funds and is making the Mayor's life miserable for his stance against it. HOLD YOUR GROUND MR. MAYOR! Charlie Daher may be a great guy and he is certainly an asset to the city but he deserves no special treatment, friend of Meehan or not!  

Elect a Board of Health in Methuen  

I can't imagine something more important and innovative than the proposal in Methuen to elect the Board of Health. Boards of Health in Massachusetts have enormous power. They answer to no one. Most often they are filled with activist, liberal, health care professionals who care nothing about the Constitution and have such an elitist attitude that they abuse their authority to push regulations on people "for their own good" Let me reiterate, there is NOTHING more important for the people of Methuen than to elected their board of health. Especially after the fluoride debacle three years ago.  

Lantigua gets it Right

Lawrence State Rep. Willie Lantigua was the only Lawrence Legislator and the only one in the valley (save Arthur Broadhurst) to vote in favor of keeping traditional marriage in Massachusetts. Finegold, Tucker, L'Italien and Torrisi all voted in favor of Gay Marriage.

HUD Audit to Begin in Lawrence  

A Housing and Urban Development Audit is scheduled to begin in the City of Lawrence to determine if federal dollars were properly used by the Office of Planning and Development. It was originally scheduled for two weeks ago but has mysteriously been pushed back. Mayor Sullivan coincidentally cleaned house at the Office of Planning and Development a few short weeks ago touching off speculation that he didn't want HUD to talk to certain individuals who would be able to reveal some of the "mistakes" made in the past few years. www.tommyduggan.com will be keeping a close watch on the activity at OPD and will pass along (via the Valley Patriot and this website) any information we can confirm.  

Andover Complaints  

Several Andover residents called Tommyduggan.com on Tuesday to complain that write-in School Committee candidate Debra Silberstein violated election laws when she was allowed to set up a table outside the only polling place in the town, Andover High School. Election laws dictate that candidates may not leave unattended signs or campaign tables, etc. A picture was forwarded to us showing Silberstein had a table with signs and write-in stickers outside Andover High on election day. Sources say an official complaint will be lodged this week with the Secretary of State's office because write in candidates from previous years were told by police that they were not allowed to set up outside Andover High.  

Torrisi's Poem  

Now that State Rep. David Torrisi is an available man again, rumors were flying all over the hall at the Saint Patrick's day luncheon when he read a "poem" or what he called a "ditty". What was the rumor? Oh I couldn't make this one up if I tried! "Maybe Dave is trying to impress Jarret Barrios?" one observer quipped. Barrios is an openly gay State Senator who is fighting for gay marriage at the state house. Torrisi, who had publicly taken a stand against gay marriage in previous elections now adamantly supports it and has been viscously attacking the Catholic Church in the press. I will be doing a tribute to Dave Torrisi's "ditty" on the Paying Attention radio program next Saturday on WCAP (980AM) from 4-6pm.  

Reyes Impressive  

As much as I hate to admit it, newly elected Lawrence City Councilor, Israel Reyes has made an impressive performance in his first 3 months on the council. While it is obvious he is being coached by fellow Councilor Carlos Matos, Reyes has risen far above expectations and not only behaved himself at meetings, but also has made some very important contributions to council decisions. One such contribution was his motion to put restrictions on the Gateway project to protect the investment of the City of Lawrence. HERE! HERE! Since I am the first one to whack Reyes when he is wrong and behaving badly, it is only right that he get the accolades when he does well. I want to urge my readers to contact Mr. Reyes to congratulate him for a job well done. Maybe the positive reinforcement will urge him to continue doing what he is doing and the people of Lawrence would certainly benefit from that.          

BACK