Tom Duggan's Notebook

Do as I Say, Not as I do
When Former North Andover Selectman Susan Haltmaier’s daughter Emily stood at the microphone during town meeting, she chastised the voters of the town for not attending town meeting. She was opposing direct democracy and referendum petitions (article #33) as her mother had done moments earlier.   The younger Haltmaier said that if someone young like her could show up to participate in town meeting, those who do not attend should have no right at the ballot box to undo the spending decisions of town meeting. She went on for several minutes about how important it was for residents to participate in the various articles before the town. When Article #33 was defeated, however, she promptly left the building. A dozen or so articles were then discussed and voted on without the participation of Ms. Emily Haltmaier.  

School Committee Trip Also Included Stay at Universal

Last month, The Valley Patriot ran a front-page story about the Lawrence School Committee’s trip to the National School Board Association’s annual conference where Mayor Sullivan and Super-intendent Laboy stayed at Walt Disney World, Florida. After we sent the paper to print, however, it was learned that School Committeemen Carlos Ramos and Jorge Gonzalez stayed at an even more expensive hotel, The Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Studios, Orlando Florida.   The Valley Patriot has submitted a Freedom of Information request for the hotel bills and will follow up on the story in our next edition.  

Unhappy Democrats

You just never know who is reading The Valley Patriot! Last month someone from the Massachusetts Democrat Party contacted one of our advertisers to try and get the company to stop supporting the paper. Surprised by this, the advertiser said he was pleased that members of the State Democrat party were even reading The Valley Patriot and renewed his ad and his subscription.   Given the fact that The Valley Patriot has offered free access to candidates of both parties to write guest columns and does not discriminate against Democrats, we were puzzled that they would try to suppress free speech by attacking our advertisers.  

Ethics Commission Investigation
In our first edition of The Valley Patriot we broke the story of how Lawrence School Board members were dining on steak, veal, etc., at the One Mill Street restaurant and billing the taxpayers for their largess.   Since then, we learned that a complaint has been filed with the State Ethics Com-mission and an investigation is underway against former committee members; Suzanne Piscitello, Pedro Arce, Nancy Kennedy, Noah Shannon and current member Jorge Gonzalez. We will keep you posted when the Ethics Commission releases its findings  

Mary Claire Loses Again!

Former Lawrence Mayor Mary Claire Kennedy ran for the local Republican State Committeewoman's seat last month. Maria Marasco, who held the seat for the past two years, stepped down to run for State Representative.   Kennedy, who has been the hostess at the Cedar Crest Restaurant since losing reelection in 1997, lost her bid for the Republican seat to newcomer Debra Jones.   And Then There's Semi-Republican Mike Sullivan   Lawrence Mayor Mike Sullivan may be a registered Republican, but two years ago he refused to support Republican candidates for State Senate and State Representative despite promising to do so. The reason, he said at the time, was because as Mayor he had to work with incumbent Democrats and didn't want to jeopardize the City of Lawrence with partisan politics.   So, it was more than ironic that Mayor Sullivan put his name in the running for Republican State Committeeman last week.   Sullivan has done little to advance Republican causes. He raised taxes in Lawrence, used his office to support  liberal causes (government programs for the homeless, free lunch programs, etc.) and has endorsed Democrats at the local level who champion anti-Republican issues. None-the-less, he was elected as  Republican State Committeeman because he ran unopposed. It will be interesting to see if Sullivan will now start supporting Republican candidates, even though he is still the Mayor of Lawrence and still has to work with incumbent Democrat legislators.    The Valley Patriot will be watching closely to see if Sullivan does his job and campaigns for Republicans or is using this title to climb the ladder of the State GOP.  

N.A. High Principal Susan Nicholson Should be Removed

Susan Nicholson wrote a report to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges that resulted in the High School being put on warning of losing accreditation. If the report was accurate and written with the best interest of the town and the school in mind, I would welcome such revelations. But, Nicholson’s report was, at best grossly misleading and at worst, a designed report to aid her friend Diane Huster, who is seeking to use this issue to run again for School Committee next year. Superintendent Harry Harutunian has been here long enough to see how the cancer of politics has infected education in North Andover. He needs to send a clear message to the employees of the North Andover School System that hurting the kids for political gain will not be tolerated!  

Clueless

Lawrence School Committeeman Carlos Ramos may be known for his easy going personality, but more than a few bizarre public statements have voters wondering if he is also a bit clueless. Ramos told the public at one meeting that attention deficit disorder was caused in children "when their parents don't show enough love. So love your children!" At another meeting, his only question about the $110 million high school was "what if terrorists try to blow it up?" Anthony Pruner from Heery International politely told him he didn't understand the question and moved on.  

Truell Developers Shunned

Developers Richard Derosas (president of Paramount Construction) and Kenneth Rocket (of Rocket Industries) were seeking to purchase the Truell Building on Essex Street from the City of Lawrence. They were also seeking money from the city to renovate the structure. But some councilors were upset because these same individuals purchased the Blakely Building, also on Essex Street, two years ago and never made good on their promise to renovate that structure.   Records show that as of April, an IRS tax lien had been levied on the Blakely building for unpaid taxes by Desrosas.   When the developers showed up at the  council meeting and started setting up drawings of the project, the City Council skipped over their item and adjourned the meeting.   “I didn’t even know they were here,” Council President Patrick Blanchette said after the meeting. “I didn’t see them.”  

The item remained  tabled until last week, when it was taken off the table for a vote. Several Lawrence residents who waited through the four hour meeting to oppose the project vowed to return until it is defeated. Lawrence resident Ann Clugg told the council that she opposed “cramming more low income housing into Lawrence.”   Two weeks later Mayor Michael Sullivan tried to bluff the council, offering them an ultimatum. He told them to either approve the Truell project or tear down the building. City Councilors, after hearing from residents who opposed more low income housing, called his bluff and voted to tear down the building.              

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