>>Valley Patriot>> |
Tom Duggan's Notebook If Only Your Attendance Was That Good... I
couldn’t help notice former School Committeeman
Carlos Ramos (who is now a proud DPW Juan Pablo Duarte While the effort by the Dominican Consulate to rename sections of Broadway in Lawrence to Juan Pablo Duarte Boulevard was defeated by the Lawrence City Council’s subcommittee, an effort is now under way to put up signs in honor of Juan Pablo Duarte underneath the signs that say Broadway. If the measure passes, I am going to petition the Council to put up signs on South Broadway honoring Ireland’s Jerry Adams of Sinn Fein. RUN MARCOS RUN! - Devers to challenge Lantigua?
***MEDIA WATCH*** - Trib Gets It Wrong Last month The Eagle~Tribune left us all with the impression that School Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy and/or School Committee member Amy McGovern cost the city $10,000 for legal bills, stemming from the court battle between the two of them. But according to Mayor Mike Sullivan (who says he was misquoted), McGovern paid for her own legal bills and didn’t cost the city any money. As an employee, Laboy’s bills will be paid for by the city. Doctor Laboy?
The Housing Committee of the Lawrence City Council (Nilka Alvarez-Rodriquez, Jorge Gonzalez, Nick Kolofolos, Pat Blanchette) voted to sell three real estate lots for a total of $200,000. These will be sent up to the full Council for a final vote on March 7th. Can you imagine if Lawrence starts to auction off hundreds of properties all at once?! ***MEDIA
WATCH*** Far be it for
me to criticize other media outlets for getting it wrong
without holding The Valley Patriot to the same standard.
Last month I reported in this column that Mayor Mike
Sullivan refused to add items to the School Committee
agenda after the Com-mittee took a legal vote to add the
items. I relied on a member of the Committee to give us
accurate information and didn’t check my facts as I
usually do. My apologies to Mayor Sullivan and the
readers for the mistake. From time to time someone from The Valley Patriot asks a prominent person to pose for a picture with the newspaper because we like to show the lighter side of local politicians, newsmakers and even celebrities. To date we have been lucky enough to get national radio host and columnist Dennis Prager, Governor Romney, state and local politicians, and other newsmakers. Only once has someone turned down a request to pose with The Valley Patriot (state Rep. Willie Lantigua) ... that is until now! Deval Patrick, candidate for governor, was asked recently at a Democrat breakfast in North Andover if we could get a picture of him with the paper and he, like Lantigua, declined. File this one under the category of people who are deluded into thinking they are far more important than they really are! Cameras in Methuen Going Down to Defeat? Even though the Methuen City Council voted (6-1) to support Chief Solomon in his bid to have video cameras installed at dangerous intersections, word is that the measure will be delayed, maybe even reconsidered, because of the strong opposition of state Senator Steve Baddour. Baddour is on record for publicly opposing the cameras for (now, don’t laugh) “privacy reasons.” Memo to our friend Senator Baddour (who is a lawyer and should know better): you have no expectation of privacy while out in public driving in your car. Caggiano Sees the Light
Maybe it is an honest conversion by Caggiano, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume he is suddenly becoming more conservative because he is up for reelection. Let’s hope it is an honest conversion just in case Caggiano gets reelected. Charles in
Charge What a
difference a few years makes. Dr. Chuck Ormsby (part
owner of The Valley Patriot) was a voicein the wilderness
three years ago when he first took office on the North
Andover School Committee. Bucking the insiders, Ormsby
was often found voting alone on educational issues,
getting attacked by his fellow colleagues for
“micro-managing,” while trying to reform the
school system. But now, Dr. Ormsby seems to have gained a
little more respect from his colleagues as he has been
elected vice chairman of the Committee. *Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com |
employee for the city of Lawrence)
in the audience attending School Committee meetings over
the last few months. By official count, I believe Ramos
has now attended more meetings this year than when he was
an elected official. 
The Latino Community is abuzz
lately over the prospect of former Mayor Marcos Devers
taking on state Representative Willie Lantigua in
November. Devers was a finalist last year for mayor and
served 6 years on the Lawrence City Council. For months,
activists in the district have been searching for a
candidate who has the political experience and personal
drive to take on the current state rep. Lantigua’s
campaign account is cash poor and his negatives are very
high. But he will not be so easy to beat as he is clearly
a political mastermind and knows how to run an effective
and intense campaign. If Devers were to run, he might
just have what it takes to topple Lantigua - but he will
have to raise the money. One thing for sure, he will have
just as much if not more support, than he had for mayor.
Just imagine ... state Representative Marcos Devers ...
kind of makes you feel all warm and good inside,
doesn’t it! 
Critics of Lawrence Superintendent
Wilfredo Laboy are always quick to point out that he does
not have a doctorate degree (some even complain when he
wears doctoral robes during Lawrence graduation
ceremonies), but those constant critics won’t have
much to complain about much longer. Laboy is in the
process of finalizing his doctoral thesis. Sources in the
purchasing office say that Laboy has not billed the city
under professional development for his continuing
education. 
Long considered the most liberal
member of the North Andover Board of Selectmen, there may
be a ray of hope for Mark Caggiano. During the
North Andover Democrat Breakfast last week, Caggiano put
together a platform which included asking each and every
municipal employee, retiree and elected official of the
town to agree to increase the amount they pay in health
insurance by 5% (WOW!). Caggiano estimates that such an
increase would save the town about $500,000. Caggiano is
also the only candidate for selectman who is discussing
the issue of “smart growth” and criticizing the
way the Lucent/Orit Goldstein project was being handled
by town officials. 