>>Valley Patriot>> |
Former Lawrence 911 dispatcher Judy Brito has found another job as a 911 dispatcher in Florida. Brito was fired from the city of Lawrence after being caught on video tape snorting cocaine, drinking beer and engaging in sexual relations at the Bodwell Fire Alarm. But when her new employer called the city of Lawrence for a reference, Lawrence Personnel Director Frank Bonet said that state law prohibits him from informing potential employers as to the conditions surrounding Brito’s firing. AMAZING! “Under state law we can only tell them when she worked here and what her job duties are.” Maybe it’s time for our state legislators who get on the ball and change the state law! Reyes Won't
Benefit from Pay Raise Lawrence City Councilor Israel Reyes may have voted in favor of a pay raise for the council but if Reyes gets reelected he won’t benefit from the raise. Though Reyes is not exactly known for being humble, it seems that he has a little known secret which sources in the city treasurers office have confirmed. Reyes do-nates his paycheck from the city of Lawrence every week to various charities throughout the city. Santiago to Run At-Large?
Lantigua Files Legislation to give Raises to GLSD Lawrence State Rep. Willie Lantigua has filed legislation to help out his friend Lenny Degnan on the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District. You may remember Lantigua com-ing to North Andover last March to campaign for Degnan, (a former Lawrence City Councilor) while he was running for the “DA VOKE” School Committee. Now, despite a SLIGHT conflict of interest, Lantigua wants to give all the members of the GLSD board a big fat happy raise. Speaking of
Lantigua Speaking of State Representative Willie Lantigua, you might think that the Lawrence State Representative would be a little more diligent in filing his campaign finance reports and ethics reports given the amount of money he has received from businesses in Lawrence that receive special help for the state representative. But, as of our deadline date for The Valley Patriot, Mr. Lantigua has yet to declare his financials in full. Maybe he is still trying to calculate the value of that new +$40,000 SUV he recently got at Commonwealth Motors. Quite the Ego for a Wanna-be “Minister”
Harutunian’s Brilliant Moves Parents in North Andover have been speculting about Superintendent Harry Harutunian's motives for moving Woodridge children from school to school three years in a row. One theory is that the "No Child Left Behind" regulations call for a school with falling test scores three years in a row to be considered a failing school. With Woodridge students at the botttom of the test scores, keeping them in one school for three years in a row would certainly skew the scores downward and result in a "failing school" rating in Noth Andover. If that is the case, moving the (let's say-less affluent) students from Wood-ridge each year to keep the scores from falling three years in a row is not something to criticize. I find it to be quite BRILLIANT! Stokes on the Move Perennial candidate for City Council District “F” James Stokes of Lawrence has been hard at work lately in his never-ending quest to represent his South Lawrence East district on the city council. Surprisingly, Stokes’ campaign signs are popping up all over the district. Last week a reporter for The Valley Patriot spotted no less than half a dozen Stokes bumper stickers while driving around South Lawrence. I have to wonder if it’s possible, (in a three way race between Stokes, former councilor Marie Gosselin and Colonial Heights Neighborhood president Jim Hoole), if Stokes will defeat Gosselin and win his first contested primary? Incumbent councilor Michael Fielding is expected not to run for reelection. The primary is Tuesday September 27th. Could we see a surprise come September? Stranger things have happened!
Former Lawrence City Councilor Nilka Alvarez-Rodriguez got a boost to her campaign for At-Large City Council last month when local activists; Jose Alfonso Garcia, Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan, Police Chief John Romero, activist Gloria Swartz, Methuen’s Larry Giordanno, and a host of other local activists packed a small room on Essex Street to support her as she declare her candidacy. Methuen Term Limits Supporters of Methuen's Term Limits for council and school committee never thought about what would happen when the pool of local candidates became exhausted, but here we are. Most of the council and school committee races are uncontested and good councilors and school board members are being forced out with nobody in the wings to pick up the slack. With so little public participation in local elections to begin with, voters would be wise to let the ballot box be the only term limit for an elected official. It's called Democracy! Birchall to Challenge McGovern? Sharon Birchall is no
stranger to Lawrence politics. Besides being the
girlfriend of Lawrence Police Chief John Romero and
attending
With Lawrence Mayor
Michael Sullivan seeking reelection, and Birchall being
on the Sullivan “team” it could create a strong
block of either pro-Sullivan or anti-Sullivan voters in
Mount Vernon on election day. A big win for Amy McGovern
will certainly weaken the Mayor in his own neighborhood,
leaving him vulnerable to defeat in the rest of the city.
Regina's Tax Break Lowell School
Committeeman Regina Faticante was shocked recently when
she opened a letter from the IRS to find a “huge
refund check” in it. She debated on her afternoon
radio program on WCAP whether or not to cash it or send
it back because, as she said it was a VERY big check. My
only advice to her is that she should thank president
George W. Bush for passing enormous tax breaks last
year even though she, “as a woman, felt
obligated to vote for John Kerry.” *Send your questions
comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com |
If
you’d like cocaine please press #1
Former Lawrence State Representative Jose
Santiago told the Valley Patriot last week that he is
considering a run for City Council At-Large “If, for
no other reason but to take votes away from Israel
Reyes” he said. Santiago and Reyes have long
been political adversaries since Reyes ran against
Santiago for State Rep-resentative four years ago.
Spanish language media is re-porting that Santiago is
serious about making a run for an At-Large seat. Voters
will elect three city-wide (At-Large) councilors in
November as well as six district councilors. A full
can-didate update will appear in the August edition of
the Valley Patriot (to be delivered August 2nd). Declared
candidates for City Council At-Large are: Joe Parolisi
(I), Israel Reyes (I), Nunzio Di-Marca, Nilka Alvarez,
and Angel Rivera. Six candidates are nom-inated in
September (still room for one more-the deadline for
nominations is August 1st) Three candidates are elected
in November.
Ultra-liberal Selectman Mark Caggiano of
North Andover is getting loads of positive press these
days because he is studying to be a “minister”
in the Unitarian “Church”. The media loves to
trot out Unitarians whenever public discussions about
social issues take place because Unitarians (a fake
religion) have no central doctrine or belief system and
tend to promote immorality under the guise of religion
(some Unitarians worship rocks and trees). But for a guy
who is supposed to be so “religious” Caggiano
seems to have let his ego get a little ahead of him. Last
month when Caggiano was trying to convince his fellow
board members to elect him as chairman of the board, one
selectman suggested that, while he wouldn’t support
Caggiano as chairman he would support him for
vice-chairman instead. Caggiano responded saying
“No, that’s beneath me!” Can you say
“GOD Complex?” Or maybe I should say "rock
and trees complex!" 
Alvarez Kickoff
neighborhood meetings with him, she has
been politically active in her own right for the past
several years (two years ago she campaigned for City
Council candidate Joe Parolisi). 
Now Birchall has taken out nomination
papers to challenge embattled Amy McGovern in the Mount
Vernon race for School Committee. Sources close to
Birchall say that Chief Romero was “disturbed”
when he found out that Birchall was thinking about
running, but Lawrence Mayor Mike Sullivan, who has
promised to recruit a candidate to defeat Mc-Govern,
seemed almost giddy when he was asked about
Birchall’s chances. Birchall herself said that she
has not yet decided whether or not she will return her
nomination papers. But if she does decide to run, this
might be the race to watch come November because it has
implications on the mayors race.