News Talk for the week of May 3rd

When the aldermen voted against Mayor Joe’s plan to institute a sort-of reverse 311 that would allow the city to quickly call residents, some of Mayor Joe’s top allies on the board voted against him. Most surprising was Ward 3 Alderman Tom Taylor’s vote. Taylor has been one of Mayor Joe’s most reliable lieutenants in the past and even used Joe’s old campaign sticks and signs (with Taylor logos taped over old Curtatone ones) in the last election. Taylor was also the swing vote Curtatone needed to win approval for his Assembly Square development plans. So why did Taylor vote against the mayor’s proposal? Maybe the crystal ballers on the web can clue us in.

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News Talk heard this week that a local challenger for a county wide seat once sued her 90 year old neighbor over a petty land dispute. Well, the 90 year old couldn’t handle the stress and strain of a law suit and died. Death by litigation. That’s a new one, even for local politics.

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We‚Äôve been reading, with some amazement, the commentaries by Bill Shelton on the Assembly Square Mall and his version of the chain of events that either happened or didn‚Äôt happen. The last issue of the paper on the 26th he basically went after and attacked Mike Foley the former head of Inspectional Services Department. We read it and reread it and, especially to those of us who know Mike, were astounded that he wielded so much power in the city. So much power in fact, that after he resigns from his position he can pick up the phone and demand that the mayor ok those permits, we didn‚Äôt know Mike was more powerful then the Mayor or even acting mayor. We think that Bill Shelton might have chewed off more then he can handle with his comments on various people in the city.   
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Mike Buckley, Stan Koty and everyone at the Department of Public Works did a fine job installing a memorial bench on Elm St. in remembrance of the late Scott Horvath. The bench looks great and it was finished in what seemed like a matter of minutes.
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It seems that Senator Jarrett Barrios has his hands full with Councilor Anthony Galluccio in this year’s most exciting state election in Somerville. After the quick bail out of the D.A.’s race by Barrios, Galluccio is not giving in a bit but actually gaining ground and going for broke. Speaking of these guys, how would you like to be a fly on the wall at Senator Barrios’ home when he heard what they did at the closed door hearing on Galluccio’s latest problem?
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We still see and hear about those strange van‚Äôs down at McGrath & Broadway. We heard those van‚Äôs just might be IRS agents not after the illegal but more interested in who‚Äôs picking up and hiring them for a day. Lately its hundreds of day workers, some say illegal.    
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Still no results on the investigation of the Traffic & Parking Department missing money.    We still see the meters in Davis Square haven‚Äôt been changed either, they‚Äôre still 25 cents for 15 minutes. We‚Äôre starting to get the feeling that at the Traffic & Parking Department things move very slowly. Except when its street sweeping or snow removal time, then they can raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in hours for the city. Speaking of the Traffic & Parking Dept, the rumor going around at Sunny‚Äôs Deli in Union Square is that former parking control officer Buddy Andrews (we normally would say Meter Nazi‚Äôs but Buddy was a nice guy) is considering moving back to Somerville to run for Mayor, Buddy has been heard to say that he‚Äôs sick of the direction of the city with Mayor Joe.   Heck we know a few others that aren‚Äôt happy with the direction either.   
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There‚Äôs speculation out in the streets that the ‚ÄúMule Kicker‚Äù that has been kicking in the doors and burglarizing some stores on Highland Avenue is connected somehow to the Traffic & Parking heist along with the mystery of the missing Vietnam War era explosive detonator that disappeared from the DPW yard a while back!   So be on the lookout for a big boned person, possibly a DPW worker wearing combat boots and carrying a duffle bag with TNT and curlers in it, and is never around when it comes time to be interviewed or given a lie detector test! This person could also be hiding out in either New Hampshire or Florida once in a while.
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Don‚Äôt forget Alderman Sean O‚ÄôDonovan‚Äôs fundraiser in Ball Square‚Äôs El Guapo Mexican restaurant tonight Wednesday the 3rd at 6pm.  Also coming up is Gene Brumes 22nd annual breakfast at Anthony‚Äôs in Malden Sunday morning 9a.m.