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Houle to run for District “F” It looks like there’s another hot race in Lawrence besides the Mayoral contest between Mayor Mike Sullivan and City Councilors Marcos Devers and Carlos Matos. With incumbent City Councilor Michael Fielding facing former City Councilor Marie Gosselin in District “F” (whom he defeated in a close race two years ago), another credible contender for the seat has emerged: Jimmy Houle. Houle is president of the Colonial Heights Neighborhood Association and could garner just enough votes in the primary to prevent a rematch. Blanchette Out! Lawrence City Council President Patrick Blanchette sent out a press release last week, ending months of speculation about his possible candidacy for Mayor. Blanchette will not be a candidate for the corner office and is expected to seek reelection as the Prospect hill District “A” City Councilor. Gun Buyback Program
Just imagine, a gun used in a robbery is tossed into an alley and found by some passerby. He can either sell it on the street for a quick buck (almost ensuring that it will be used again for unlawful purposes) and make himself an accessory to whatever crime is committed with it, or he can turn it into police for a cash reward. Besides having one less gun on the street, police can match up the weapon to unsolved crimes. Whatever the price may be for a gun buyback program, it is hardly comparable to the price paid if that gun falls into the wrong hands and is used to take the life of a police officer or civilian who might just be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Haverhill Should Hire Scully After being wrongfully fired as the Superintendents of Schools in Lawrence back in 1997 (and beating the city in court for wrongful termination), Jim Scully was later hired by outgoing Haverhill Superintendent Arthur Tate as the principal of Haverhill’s Consentino Middle School. With Tate leaving for greener (or a least warmer) pastures, members of the Haverhill School Committee would be wise to follow Tate’s lead and elevate Scully to the Superintendent’s position. As a former School Committee member in Lawrence, I had more than my share of battles with Mr. Scully and more times than not, I was the lone dissenter for some of the spending that was later questioned. But, as a Superintendent, Jim Scully always sought the consensus of the School Committee before he spent education dollars and had (on the record) approval from the majority of the School Committee for every single dollar he spent. Scully also has quite the list of educational accomplishments as the Superintendent of Lawrence. Among them: the South Lawrence East School was constructed on time and under budget, the only one in the state at the time. Millions of dollars in education flowed into the classrooms of Lawrence and test scores rose each year he was at the helm. Mayor Fiorenitni and members of the Haverhill School Committee would be foolish to overlook Scully in their search for a new superintendent. With financial troubles dogging Haverhill, Scully would take control and turn things around in a very short period of time. Sound at Town Hall If you have tried to attend a meeting of the North Andover Board of Selectmen since the new Town Hall facility has opened, you will be hard pressed to hear anything if you sit in, or behind, the second row. Microphones set up in the meeting room broadcast to those watching the meeting on cable at home, but there is no sound system for those who are brave enough to attend. You would think that, having spent millions of dollars on the new town hall facility, someone would actually DO SOMETHING about the lack of a sound system in the selectmen’s meeting room. But alas, that would require work! The School Committee in North Andover has the opposite problem. People attending the School Committee meetings have no trouble hearing what is happening at the School Committee table, but those trying to watch at home are inundated with poor picture quality, abysmal audio quality and, I might add, all this after spending $60 million on a new High School facility. Don’t Choke on That
Barrios could barely get the word out the first time he tried to say it but then used the word repeatedly Starting off with what he called Democratic core “values”. He spoke about how important his “ values” were and why democrats must fight for their “values”. He added that "we all care about our values", but never once mentioned exactly what those “values” were. Given that the core “values” of the state Democrat party include gay marriage, abortion on demand with no limit, higher taxes, teachers unions, class warfare, free benefits for illegal aliens and race-based quotas, it's no wonder why Barrios was a little vague while addressing rank and file democrats in North Andover.
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Chalk
one up for Lawrence State Representative Willie Lantigua.
Lantigua is pushing for a gun buy-back program
which would help get hand guns off the streets. The
amount of money to be paid for each gun turned into
police has yet to be determined, but price of not having
a gun buyback program could be immeasurable.
State
Senator Jarred Barrios (of all people) spoke about values
to North Andover Democrats during their annual breakfast
last month. 