>>Valley Patriot>>
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TOM DUGGAN'S NOTEBOOK
07/05/06
 You No
Takey No Photo...You No Takey No Photo OF ME!
Milagros Dominguez at LATINO NEWS has been caught
stealing copyrighted photographs from the Boston Globe,
Valley Patriot.com and Grisel Silva.com. Dominguez, who
uses a fake drivers license with the name Dirma Espada,
was so infuriated by the fact that The Valley Patriot
printed her fake license last month that, when she saw
one of our photographers at Hispanic Week, she blew her
stack. “You no takey no photo...!” Espada
screamed. “You no takey no photos of ME!” Of
course, we couldn’t resist snapping her picture in
mid-scream. Apparently, Espada (Dominguez?) likes
publishing stolen pictures from other newspapers and Web
sites much more than she likes having her own picture
taken! My only question is: Why haven’t the Lawrence
police arrested her yet for identity theft?
Battered Councilor Syndrome
I am always perplexed by Lawrence Councilor Nilka Alvarez
(whom I have ad-mired for years) and what motivates her
to be on the losing side of so many issues. A most recent
example is her vote to oppose the Northern Essex
Community College plan for a $20 million Health &
Technology Center because the “Latino Agenda”
crowd supported Benny Espaillat, simply because he is
“Latino.”
 This is so puzzling
because every time Alvarez runs for office, this same
Latino Agenda crowd (Julia Silverio, Willie Lantigua,
Pedro Payano, etc.) put up candidates to defeat her. They
call her a “traitor to her race,” a
“Dominican wannabe,” they lie about her record,
they distort her issues and they attack her personally.
Yet, like an abused child or a battered woman who always
seeks out the approval of her abusers, Alvarez slobbers
all over herself trying to curry favor with those who
will definitely abuse her in the next election. No mater
how many times Alvarez goes to bat for one of their
racist (Latino only) causes, they always end up bashing
her publicly in the next election. What’s really too
bad is that Alvarez has lost most of her support on the
south side of the city, leaving her extremely vulnerable
in the next election when Lantigua and Silverio recruit
“Latino” candidates to defeat her in the north.
When will she learn that she can pander to this racist
and self-serving mob all she wants but, in the end, like
all abusers, Lantigua and company will come out swinging.
I’m completely convinced she has battered councilor
syndrome!
Ralph Carrero’s Huge Ego
Talk about an ego! Former School Committeeman Ralph
Carrero’s ego is so huge that when he saw a Valley
Patriot reporter taking pictures at the Hispanic Week
dinner last month, he actually thought our reporter was
there to get a picture of him! So, Carrero lost his cool
and got in our photographer’s face, threatening,
“If you’re here to take pictures of me,
I’m warning you right now, I will drop you right
here.” Apparently, Carrero is a student of old
school Dominican politics where threatening reporters is
commonplace. When the reporter tried to take his picture
in mid-scream, he assaulted the reporter. If we
didn’t pity Carrero so much, we would have filed
charges with the police, but Carrero has enough legal
troubles these days as he has refused to pay
court-ordered child support to former City Councilor
Barbara Gonzalez after DNA testing proved he was, indeed,
the father of her child. A child he had denied was his
and had not paid a dime to support.
Gary Marcoux & Unethical
Behavior
Methuen School Committeeman Gary Marcoux may have been on
the right side of the issue, but when he appeared at a
meeting to support Arthur Nicholson for superintendent
before the hearing and before the vote I couldn’t
help wonder: Isn’t it unethical to publicly declare
your support for one candidate before all the interviews
are finished and the selection committee makes its final
recommendation? I’m no fan of search committees, but
that doesn’t change the fact that Marcoux acted
unethically by not keeping an open mind before the
process was finished. I guess he was just
“drunk” on all that adulation he received by
supporters of Nicholson and wasn’t thinking
straight.
Bill Ryan Driving Away Small
Businesses in Haverhill
Newspapers and other publications (like real estate and
car guides) may have to start paying the city of
Haverhill to do business if Councilor Bill Ryan has his
way. Ryan wants to charge a fee to companies that
distribute publications by using outdoor newspaper boxes.
This will drive many small publications out of the city.
Ryan, who pretends to be a Republican but has a record of
being anti-business and campaigns for Democrats, has
introduced the new bylaw and convinced his fellow
councilors to support it. Haverhill Mayor Jim Fiorentini
vetoed the proposal, but Ryan and the Council overrode
that veto last week. The Trib has threatened a lawsuit,
prompting the Council to recommend that Fiorentini not
enforce the new ordinance for 6 months while it meets
with the Trib lawyer to see if the issue can be resolved
in some way.
Big Spender Wants to Join Taxpayers
Association
Here it is, the funniest item of the month. Do you
remember Jack Watkins from the North Andover Finance
Committee? Jack never met a tax increase or Prop 2 1/2
Override he didn’t fall in love with. He is perhaps
best known as spokesman for the Financial Task Force that
recommended an unbelievable $10 million tax override that
went nowhere back in 2002. Most of his career on the
FINCOM has been spent trying to scare taxpayers into
spending more and more money for the schools. Remember
“The wolves are at the door”? That was JACK!
Remember “48 teachers will be laid off if we
don’t support the $4 million 2002 override!”
That was Jack, too! Of course, when that override failed,
NO teachers were laid off, but that didn’t stop
ol’ Jack the following year when he proposed budget
cuts that “would hurt” enough to get public
support for even more overrides. Remember all the vicious
attacks launched against Ted Tripp (president of the
North Andover Taxpayers Association) and those who
opposed the overrides? That was Jack, too! So it was the
height of amusement last month when big spender JACK
Watkins quit FINCOM and tried to join the North Andover
Taxpayers Association (who oppose all overrides). Jesus,
you just can’t make this stuff up!
Chet Sidel and the Parasites
You have to hand it to Chet Sidel and his pals at
Lawrence Community Works. After getting $1 million from
the state for their project at St. Lawrence’s
O’Toole, and $30,000 from the Lawrence City
Council to run art festivals, now Sidel and the poverty
pimps want to hold a taxpayer-funded Jazz Festival on
Appleton Street. At a time when Lawrence is cutting
positions and slashing its budget, leaders in the city
have no shame at all when they hand over thousands of
dollars to these people.
But, who knows, maybe Sidel and his friends at LCW will
start their own jazz band. They can call themselves,
“Sidel and the Parasites.” Their first number
will be, “Brother Can You Spare a Dime.”
Secretary of State Who?!?
Word on Haverhill Street (the city of Lawrence’s
Community Development office) is that a high ranking
member of Secretary William Galvin’s Office, who
identified himself as such, read
Michael Sweeney the riot act last week about the need to
get a friend of Galvin’s some city-owned property.
Sweeney, once he realized what the call was about, told
him to “go pound sand and to call back when Galvin
is governor,” an exact quote as heard by one of the
employees at Haverhill Street. Apparently, this overpaid
state worker was upset when Sweeney refused to break the
law. While he issued a harsh “no comment!” and
hung up the phone, Planning Director Sweeney needs to
remember that the walls have ears. Our question to
Secretary Galvin is this: Do your employees have anything
better to do on the taxpayer’s time than play
real estate broker? Stay Tuned!
Stadium Ceremony
Special thanks to Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan, Tommy
Schiavone and Planning Director Michael Sweeney for
putting together a wonderful dedication ceremony for our
deserving veterans at the re-dedication of the Veterans
Memorial Stadium last month. I also want to thank them
for enduring the usual Lawrence pettiness that always
seems to prevail whenever something positive is being
done in the city. For years, Lawrence mayors promised to
fix the stadium when they ran for office and for years
those mayors (Kennedy, Kevin Sullivan, Dowling, etc.)
took stadium restoration funds and diverted them to pet
projects. But Mike Sullivan actually got the job done.
Once again, Lawrence has a monument to our deserving war
veterans that is worthy of their sacrifice. Now Sullivan
has another task before him and that is to establish a
public-private partnership or commission to oversee its
funding for stadium maintenance.
Prayers Needed
The Valley Patriot has learned that two active members of
the community are not feeling well and are in need of
prayers. We hope both Mike and Alfredo are feeling
better as quickly as possible. We also ask that you keep
them in your prayers.
Mayor's Budget Includes $30,000
Giveaway to Community Works...SWEENEY ON BOARD?
While the Lawrence City Council grapples with raising
taxes sewer and water rates, cutting staff positions in
city hall and a budget that is out of balance, Mayor
Sullivan has the nerve to propose a $30,000
giveaway to the poverty pimps at Lawrence Community Works
(anyone see them helping out during the flood?) The money
will go to pay for a two day a week position whereby the
employee, selected by Chet Sidel and Bill Trainor, will
not answer to the city, but to Trainor and Sidel. What's
more, the position will be a six month position to
organize festivals! And by the way, wasn't it LCW who
received $30 grand last year from the City of Lawrence to
increase public participation in the city budget process?
Because, last month there was no sign of Community Works
or the general public to speak at the publicly posted
budget hearings! So, let me see if I have this
right... $30 grand was WASTED on LCW last year with ZERO
results for the money they were paid off, and now
Sullivan wants to hand over another $30 grand?? Who could
make this up? Here’s the best part... word in city
hall is that Lawrence Planning Director Michael Sweeney
has worked out an agreement to help the poverty pimps get
their $30,000. I cannot wait for Sweeney to explain that
one!
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The June, 2006 Edition
of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2006, Valley Patriot, Inc.
We publish 8,000 newspapers and distribute in Andover,
North Andover, Methuen, Haverhill,
Lawrence, Dracut, Tewksbury and Lowell.
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Valley Patriot Archive
Prior columns by TomDuggan
Classroom Credit to Support
Terrorism?
Editorial
1
Trash Talk in N. Andover
Editorial
2
The NY Times & Treason
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