Newstalk for August 24th 2005

The debate was well attended with many of the same old crowd.  There was one notable showing – former State Senator Sal Albano along with his son Michael – who is a popular Chelsea zoning board member.  They were there to show their support for State Rep. Pat Jehlen, who had many supporters present.  The debate was well attended with over 500 supporters and citizens who wanted to see how the candidates did on the issues.  Even though we personally thought Mike Callahan and Joe Mackey performed better than we expected, we also thought that under the circumstances Pat Jehlen did a decent job.  Hey, does anyone know what planet State Rep. Paul Casey comes from?  We think he seriously needs to cut down on the Starbucks visits.

On the local front we see that both Ward 5 Alderman Sean O’Donovan and his opponent – John L. Sullivan have been crisscrossing the Ward 5 boundaries knocking on doors.  We heard that one day Sean was followed street by street by John L. very close behind.  John has his unofficial campaign manager out there with him – former mayoral candidate Tony Lafuente – who has been seen going door to door with John L.

We hear a lot of rumors that both Mackey and Jehlen are picking up support from other parts of the district.  It was a tough choice for us, but when it came down to it we made the decision to go with a Somerville candidate who best embodied the legacy of the late Senator Charlie Shannon – who demonstrated the ability to reach out to all constituents regardless of their political beliefs – and he tried to help everyone equally.  We feel that Joe Mackey is that candidate – someone who will reach out to different groups and work with everyone equally.  Whoever wins has big shoes to fill, that’s for certain.

The rumor mill has been grinding and we have heard from some fairly reliable sources that Mayor Joe is going to be making some changes soon.  We wonder if he’s going to pick up the tradition that Mayor Dorothy started – wait until they’re on vacation and fire someone.  We have heard strong inner circle rumors that some people in the administration, one in particular, have no idea they’re about to get the axe.  We wonder how many more people the mayor can offend or how many more people he can forgot helped get him there.  Being mayor isn’t for life – ask the last mayor – we still think there’s something in the water in the Mayor’s Office.  Loyalty and friendship mean absolutely nothing to anyone around here – so much so that there might be a new definition soon for the word.

Case in point is the recent Police Officer class action lawsuit over the unhealthy conditions in their workplace.  We hear that the mayor is so incensed over “his” police officers filing it that he is going to fight them tooth and nail no matter what the cost.  Remember those last five words.  Great morale booster for the people charged with our safety while they suffer with health problems.  Oh yeah, the building is safe – that’s why the Fire Department moved their employees out of the building years ago.  Another typical display of complete arrogance – or is it ignorance?  Remember, it is bliss.

Somerville Police Detective Daniel Ryan passed away recently and his wake and funeral this past week.  St. Joseph’s was packed with his family, friends and co-workers.  It was a somber and emotional service – complete with riderless horse and the antique Somerville Police Paddy Wagon as the hearse.  He will be sorely missed by his brothers at the Somerville Police Department – he was a good man who left us all way too early.

Congratulations to Lisa Marie Tauro on turning sweet 16.  A huge Hawaiian themed party complete with palm trees was thrown for her at Anthony’s Function Hall on Highland Avenue.  Her father, who is one of the publishers of this paper, will hopefully give her what every 16 year old wants – a car – she must have wished for one.  After all her father has enough cars, he could stand to part with at least one someday soon.  Happy Birthday Lisa and you’re welcome Billy.  See we can start trouble with one of our own too.

You remember the last Newstalk where we asked if you could guess which member of the Board of Aldermen was in bed with a real estate agent and developer – buying property in his/her ward?  That’s funny, the signs were taken down off the properties really fast after we asked that question – maybe because he/she felt a little heat?  Oh that’s right, he doesn’t read our rag paper – nobody does – or do they?

We hear through the grapevine that another organization is popping up again and we say why not.  If a small group of nut jobs can get together and call themselves “progressive”, why can’t others?  We heard that an old group is being restarted – “Somerville Citizens for Good Government”.  Sounds like we need this kind of group once again – back in the old truly progressive days of Somerville politics – they kept an eye on the local politicians and the administration.  They were about 20 odd members strong and were very vocal.  Others we remember from back in the good old days like “SUN” (Somerville United Neighborhoods), the “STA” (Somerville Taxpayers Association) and every ward used to have their own Local Civic Association.  We think it’s great that more and more people get involved in local government, be critical of our elected officials and make responsible endorsements.

What’s the real truth behind what’s going on at the Water Department?  Who is taking the fall for all the craziness that’s going on?  Looks like “Biker Joe” (as they refer to him) has been asked to leave and his girlfriend, along with Jean are both still suspended with pay.  We hear something is up and that there’s an agenda by the DPW Commissioner and the administration – good news is that this is a still a small city and the truth will slip out eventually.  Oh boy, there we did it again – the boys at city hall will read this and curse us and call us bad names.  And it all goes back to loyalty, doesn’t it.  Or does it?

Not much has been happening around the city in the Alderman at Large race except an unofficial contest to see who can put up the most signs.  Popular Alderman at Large Dennis Sullivan has been out there working hard – making himself seen and heard – which is always a good thing.  Newcomer candidate Steve Glines has signs all over the city.  We think that Steve may be distantly related to one of our distinguished mayors from the late 1800’s – we are going to find out.  We do know this much – he’s a local attorney with an office on Highland Avenue and a nice guy – with a political future in this city.  Bruce Desmond has been seen as well working the issues and the neighborhoods – he isn’t taking anything for granted.  We couldn’t forget our favorite Alderman at Large and the brains of the board – Bill White – we run into him everywhere and we know he’s not taking anything for granted either.  We have heard that the undercurrent in the neighborhoods is that Denise Provost lost some critical support by endorsing or appearing to have endorsed that Divestiture group back late last year.  Like everything else around here, time will tell that story to completion.

We hear that our Mayor is hosting yet another fundraiser cruise on Boston Harbor tonight, August 24th.  The grapevine is so tight these days (people are afraid of talking), but we still managed to find out that tickets are $50 per person and that this will be his second or third fundraiser this month.  Seems like every month he’s having one or two or more fundraisers.  We are keeping track of the contributions and we were wondering why he can’t just have one blockbuster fundraiser like former Alderman John Buonomo – who had one back a couple of months ago and raised over $100,000 in one night.  Maybe it will save some time and cut down the phone calls to thank contributors – oh wait – that’s right he doesn’t call people himself anymore.  Oh boy we did it again – his CC’s are going to get us now.

Channels 4, 5 and 7 have been all over Davis Square because of terrorist alerts. We at the News respect and support the cops decision to pass on info to the FBI. Gathering and sharing information can never hurt. But is a story about a homeless guy acting weird in front of the Social Security building really news worthy? That happens every day. Maybe next, they’ll start reporting on the crazy rumors spread by former Somerville Mayoral candidates (also involving the FBI). Is anybody taking bets on what the Farm Team’s front page will be tomorrow? Sure we could have beat them to the story, but what exactly is the story?