>>Valley Patriot>> |
Lawrence’s Own Robin Hood? Michael Fielding According to
Lawrence’s number one senior-citizen activist, John
Dmytrow, Lawrence City Councilor You call that Reporting? Anyone listening to to the local radio station for objective news analysis and election coverage last month got to hear Pat Costa’s version of fair and balanced reporting. With Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan running for reelection, it was more than inappropriate for Costa to have Mayor Sullivan’s brother (and former mayor) Kevin Sullivan, Sullivan’s Assistant City Attorney Rick D’Agastino and Sullivan supporter Michael Sweeney on the air to analyze the election results. Come to think of it, the election night “news” coverage was sponsored by none other than Sullivan Insurance, owned and operated by the Sullivan family.
Do as I say, Not as I do Anyone who
has had the misfortune of hearing Dalia (publisher of the
Willie Lantigua Newsletter) So last week Diaz had a chance to put her money where her mouth is when someone she admittedly “hates” called into her radio program to discuss the election results. Given that she is the foremost authority on free speech, I expected her to welcome the call and encourage debate even though she cannot stand the person. Instead, Diaz ordered the producer to hang up on the caller in mid–sentence, pretending that the call was “cut off.” And when the person called back he was put on hold for more than 20 minutes while Diaz took other phone calls (in a studio that has only two on-air phone lines), never letting the person on the air to finish his point. I guess censorship and stifling free speech are only wrong when Dalia is the subject of them, otherwise ... not so much! Willie’s Candidates Crushed
Former Lawrence School Committeeman Ralph Carrero is in court this month as he is being sued by City Councilor Barbara Gonzalez for child support. Carrero was originally supposed to take a DNA test last month, but after agreeing to do so he changed his mind and will force the court to order him to take the paternity test. We expect the results of that test to be available before our special election edition of The Valley Patriot on October 24th and will have a full report on the results. Speaking of Ralph Carrero ... oh, wait ...we are saving that one for the next edition as well. Sorry, kids, no previews It seems as though the Tribune likes to pick up our stories without giving credit, so we don’t want to tip our hand. Patricia Sanchez Patricia
Sanchez is running for school committee in District
“C” and she is running unopposed. There An Apology
Here’s a little trivia for you! You might think you know the answer to this one right away, but let me assure you that it’s not who you might think. Of the following people, who do you think will lose their position with the city first: Wilfredo Laboy, Carolyne Ganley, Michael Sullivan, Frank Bonnet, or Tennis Lilly? Start humming jeopardy theme now… A Top Endorsement
Porten in School Committee Rematch? There are two
new members of the North Andover Finance Committee, Eva
Hamori of 27 Young Road Willette vs. Campbell for State Rep? Methuen insiders say that Linda Dean Campbell may not be the only councilor looking to run for the state representatives position being vacated by Arthur Broadhurst, who says he will not seek reelection next year. Sources say that if Ken Willette (Broadhurst’s aide at the State House) tops the ticket in the at-large council race this year, he is going to throw his hat into the ring against Ms. Campbell next year. Lights Out on Pop Warner With nearly 200 million dollars in the city of Lawrence’s municipal budget, you would think that the city could come up with $5,000 for lights at the Mount Vernon field for children who play Pop Warner Football. Unfortunately for the children, the lights that were at the field were taken out last week because the city says it cannot afford them. Pop Warner has already signed a contract with the city and now there is no place for them to practice or play. Gonzalez Votes “NO!”
All in the Family With School Committeeman Jorge Gonzalez on the ballot for the District “C” city council seat in November, and current councilor Barbara Gonzalez also on the ballot as his opponent, some voters have been quite confused as to who Jorge is running against. You see, Jorge Gonzalez’s wife is also named Barbara Gonzalez, but she is not the one on the ballot. On Election Day a Valley Patriot reporter overheard one confused voter saying that he wanted to vote for Jorge, but didn’t want his wife to kill him when he got home for defeating her. All in the Family II Most people may not know that Lawrence public schools transportation director, Kevin Clement’s son, is a manager at a bus company that has contracts with the school department. I bet most people also do not know that the contract calls for full-size buses, while the bus company is only providing small vans to transport students. But what is really shocking is that we heard that the bus company (from reading) is now looking for more money in the contract to pay for the high price of gas. I guess all politics really IS local. All in the Family III School Committeeman Jimmy Vittorioso requested a list of administrators/teachers working in the school system who have yet to receive their certification. Upon reviewing the list, one name jumped right off the page. Guilmette school fifth-grade teacher Tara Laboy was still on the list of people whose certification is still pending. Tara is, if you haven’t guessed by now, the daughter of Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy. *Send your questions
comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com |
Michael Fielding has been quite
good to the seniors. Recently, Dmytrow appeared before
the Lawrence City Council to thank Fielding for donating
$500 to Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley. “He
is the Rita Mercier of Lawrence,” Dmytrow said,
comparing the District “F” Councilor to former
Lowell Mayor Rita Mercier. 
I say KUDOS to the Sullivan family
for being able to pull off such an advertisement and
public relations media coup (though it helps to have the
Tribune in your corner). It was a brilliant move on their
part and quite frankly we admire them. But if Costa
thinks that this was fair and balanced news coverage of a
muni-cipal election, then it is no wonder the station is
a shell of its former self. I can just see it now, come
November, the final election coverage could feature Mike
Sullivan’s former baby-sitter, his first grade
teacher, his mother, his top aide Myles Burke, or maybe
Mike should just do it himself. 
whine and complain about censorship
in the city of Lawrence will love this little tidbit.
Dalia, who constantly elevates herself as the poster girl
for free speech and open dialogue, is well known for her
personal beef with Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy because
he will not allow her newsletter to circulate in school
buildings. She has often chastised Laboy for
“stifling free speech” and pretends to hold the
moral high ground when it comes to “encouraging
dissent.” 
Much has been made of the political
power of State Representative Willie Lantigua at election
time, but it seems like his stock is plummeting fast.
Lantigua publicly endorsed Carlos Matos for Mayor, but
Matos finished third out of four mayoral candidates. He
endorsed Councilor Israel Reyes, who not only came in
fifth out of six at-large candidates, but then resigned
from the race. He endorsed Ruth Rojas who came in second
out of two candidates for District “B” city
council. He is rumored to be helping Frank Fernandez who
came in last in a two-man race on Tower Hill (though we
suspect that has more to do with Alex Veras running that
campaign). The only candidate who did well despite
Lantigua’s public endorsement was District
“F” City Councilor Michael Fielding, who is
running for one of the three at-large seats (Fielding
came in second out of six candidates). So, while he may
have his wife on the zoning board to help him do his
bidding, it looks as though Lantigua won’t have too
too much influence over the city council after the
November 8th final election. 
Carrero Goes to Court
really is nothing to say at all
about Ms. Sanchez - I was just looking for an excuse to
put her picture in the paper again. 
Last month I interviewed District
“E” school committee candidate Peter Larocque
for a candidate profile, but because of space
restrictions we didn’t have the room to print it in
our September edition. So this month we promised Mr.
Larocque that we would feature his story as well as a
column, but at the last minute we were blessed with four
more first-time advertisers, and again we had to pull Mr.
Larocque’s article for space. So, I apologize once
again to Mr. Larocque. Rest assured that we will be
featuring Peter prominently in the special election
edition (October 24th), along with all the candidates in
Lawrence, Methuen, and Haverhill. 
Methuen’s Central District
Councilor, Kathleen Corey Rahme, held a spaghetti supper
fundraiser last month at the Methuen VFW with a very
special guest on hand, Methuen Mayor Sharon Pollard.
Pollard is endorsing Rahme in the at-large city council
race and spoke highly of her at the event saying she was
proud to support her “friend.” More good news
for Rahme came a few days later when the councilor won
the random lottery for ballot placement in November.
Rahme was assigned the top spot on the ballot, a natural
advantage for any candidate. 
and Mike Giarrantano of 59 Sandra
Lane. They have replaced “B” Fink and Paula
Porten. Speculation in town is that Paula Porten stepped
down to run for school committee next year (in North
Andover, you cannot sit on one board while running for
another board). When asked if she was planning on
running, Porten stated, “I will not run against
Chuck Ormsby. However, I will not rule out a run next
year against Al Perry. Porten also wished the new FinCom
members good luck as they try to accomplish their task
with “the wolves at the door.”
Lawrence School Committeeman George
Gonzalez voted against the $155,000 contract between the
Lawrence School Department and Sal’s Pizza. As
reported in last month’s Valley Patriot,
Superintendent Laboy signed the contract with Sal’s
before the school committee had a chance to approve it (a
definite no-no!). When the contract finally came up on
the agenda for school committee approval, Gonzalez was
visibly irritated that the space had been leased before a
school committee vote.