Voters Choose Blanchette, Vittorioso

		>>>>>>>
>Blanchette>	Vittorioso		>Shannon>	Parthum

Victorious>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Defeated>>
Why Did the Voters on Prospect Hill Reject one
incumbent and Overwhelmingly Support the Other?

The City Council and School Committee races on Prospect Hill had some eerie similarities Tuesday. Incumbent City Councilor Patrick Blanchette faced a challenger (Rick Parthum) who was older, more educated and very well known in the city.
 
School Committeeman Noah Shannon also faced a challenger (Jimmy Vittorioso) who was more educated, older and more experienced and well known in Lawrence politics. Both Blanchette and Shannon were elected with no opposition the first time they ran for office. Both are in their 20's and both faced challengers who are veteran educators in the Lawrence Public Schools.   

Yet one incumbent, Patrick Blanchette, achieved a sweeping victory over Parthum while the other, Noah Shannon, lost every precinct and the final vote to Jim Vittorioso.  

With so many similarities (politically anyway) one would assume similar outcomes in Tuesday's election. But that's not what happened.

Former School Committee members Jim Vittorioso shocked political insiders (those who do not read my column, I assure you) when he garnered more votes on Prospect Hill than incumbent School Committeeman Noah Shannon.  

In the City Council race Patrick Blanchette overwhelming beat veteran educator Rick Parthum in the very same neighborhoods and polling precincts that Shannon lost to Vittorioso.

So, why did the voters choose the younger Blanchette for City Council and the more experienced Vittorioso for School Committee?

Why did the voters choose one incumbent and one challenger instead of both challengers or both  incumbents? Why did one retired school employee win and the other lose so badly?  

#1) One answer can be found in the way both Shannon and Blanchette approached their duties as elected officials and the way each decided to exercise their authority when it came time to holding City Employees (and officials) accountable.  

City Councilor Patrick Blanchette has called Mayor Sullivan to task over his questionable hiring practices. He refused to support budgets that were not balanced, proactively tried to root out nepotism and patronage in City Hall and was willing to make unpopular decisions to affirm his basic philosophy on government: that elected officials are there to serve the public not the other way around.  

Shannon on the other hand, sat on the School Committee for two years and never once tried to hold Superintendent Laboy accountable for poor test scores, lavish spending and out of state trips. He even praised Laboy in a public show of support when it was learned (from the press not the Superintendent himself) that he had failed a mandatory State English test (three times). Shannon actually voted to extend the superintendent's contract (with more raises and perks) all the while painting himself as an independent board member who disagreed with Laboy.  

While Blanchette fought for more public hearings at the City Council level, Shannon silently sat by as people who signed up for public participation were denied the right to speak at School Committee meetings.   

In short, Shannon used his two years on the School Committee to make political deals for himself and cozy up to the political insiders (often trying to play both sides for political advantage) while Blanchette made unpopular decisions (gaining him respect even from those who disagreed with him)  and took on Wilfredo Laboy, Mike Sullivan and refused to make deals behind the scenes for votes on the council.  

#2 The other reason for a Blanchette victory and a Shannon defeat was the Superintendent himself.
 

Both Shannon (who lost to Vittorioso) and Rick Parthum (who lost to Blanchette) are perceived by the voters (fairly or not) as supporters of Wilfredo Laboy who will support his call for more school spending as the state cuts back on aid to Lawrence Schools.  

And while Shannon is blaming others and looking for external reasons to explain his defeat on Tuesday, he has only himself to blame for the political thrashing he took at the polls.  

With so many more people expected to vote in November, will the final election show different results?  

Looking at the people who left the District "A" School Committee ballot blank (77 in all) and the 57 vote difference between Vittorioso and Shannon (see above) it is statistically possible for Shannon to win in November.  

But, that isn't likely to happen.

Even with a dedicated campaign staff (which Shannon does not have) an influx of cash (which he is not capable of raising) and a high visibility campaign in the next six weeks, Vittorioso is more likely to win by a wider margin in November because of the Laboy factor.  

Blanchette is also expected to duplicate his win in November. The voters know that he is responsive and independent. The voters (at least the ones on Propsect Hill) know he will support school measures that are cost effective and well planned but also know he will not support paying teachers who can't speak English and will reject lavish spending measures.

The voters on Prospect Hill have proven that they pay very close attention to what their elected officials say, but more importantly, whether they do what they say and "walk the walk" after "talking the talk."  

The people of Prospect Hill should be congratulated for their diligence at the polls as well as Patrick Blanchette and Jimmy Vittorioso for their victories on Tuesday.