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Sullivan to Demand
Cemetery Board Resignations
Published in Rumbo
on August 01, 2000
(The Eagle Tribune published this story on August 21st)
| City Councilor Mike
Sullivan is fed up. Only six months into his two
year term Sullivan has found an issue to get aggressive about and he is not backing down. It all started when Sullivan wanted to ban dogs at the Bellevue Cemetery. Cemetery board chairman Nick Kolofoles objected to what he called intrusion on the part of Sullivan and the Council, saying the Cemetery board is responsible for care and control of the grounds, not the council. Within a few weeks City Councilor Marie Gosselin made a move that was seemingly unconnected to the cemetery when she proposed an ordinance that would fine private property owners $100 a day for the poor condition of their property. The council passed the measure by a vote of 8-1. Nilka Alvarez was the only Councilor to vote against the ordinance. Shortly after the council passed the cleanup law the daily paper displayed front page pictures of disheveled city property showing that the city was just as delinquent as a landlord than any private property owner. One of the properties shown in disrepair was the Bellevue Cemetery, prompting councilors to overturn their vote on the clean up law. The condition of that cemetery is disgraceful” Mike Sullivan told Rumbo. “I have to answer to the voters and the people aren’t happy about the condition up there. I wanted to work with the cemetery board and see if we couldn’t sit down together and find a way to get this fixed, but all I have gotten from them is lack of cooperation” Sullivan has scheduled a council sub committee meeting on August third where he says he will be calling for the resignation of the cemetery board for “inexcusable neglect.” Sullivan said he refuses to accept excuses from members of the cemetery board who have claimed that it is impossible to keep up the grounds with the funding and manpower they are allotted. “The one thing I don’t want to hear is ’we can’t do it’. I didn’t get elected to be told things can’t get done. I expected the people who are in charge of that cemetery to welcome support from the council to clean up the grounds and fix this problem. Instead I am told that no one form the board will attend our council sub committee meeting. I am ready to call for a new board. We need a plan of action to get this resolved and I don’t excuse the Mayor ether. We have given her everything she wanted in her capital improvement plan. This is no attack on her or anyone else. But I want this to be addressed and resolved as quickly and effectively as possible. I have a job to do here and I don’t’ see any excuse for the way that cemetery looks with the amount of money we spend in this city.” School Committeeman Carol Bannon, who also sucks from the public trough at the inspectional services department in City Hall under Mayor Dowling is also member of the cemetery board and may be asked to resign by Councilor Sullivan on August third. Bannon has been on the Lawrence School Committee for more than 15 yeas and has overseen the loss of accreditation at Lawrence High School and the firing of Superintendent Mae Gaskins for mismanagement of funds while Bannon sat on the finance committee and signed all the bills. Now Bannon is on the board of the Bellevue Cemetery and indirectly under fire for not doing her job once again. “This has nothing to do with personalities, all I am saying is that we need to get some new people on that cemetery board who are going to do the work that needs t be done.” Sullivan said. “This has nothing to do with the individuals on that board. I want results and if this board can’t produce those results we need a new board. That seems pretty simple to me. It’s just common sense.” “If this meeting on the third (of August) doesn’t work I am calling for a turnover of the entire board, that’s all. If we allow this to continue, at this rate we will be talking about this issue for the next few years. That’s just unacceptable. Nothing is being done and it doesn’t seem like it will be done if we don’t act now. I’m here to get things done.” Sullivan concluded. |