The rumor around Ward 5 is that John L. Sullivan, former aide to Tony LaFuente’s campaign, is considering a run for Ward Alderman against Sean O’Donovan.  We also hear that there may be a third candidate in that race – making a Primary in Ward 5.  Guess they plan on keeping Sean very busy this year and on his toes – not sleeping on the job. 

It would be nice, after all, to be able to reach Alderman O’Donovan other then at the 305 area code where he seems to be spending a lot of time lately – by the way, nice tan Sean.

Another rumor we recently heard was that on the statewide political scene – a name that keeps popping up is former Mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay.  She is supposedly considering a run for Secretary of State.  Close Newstalk insiders say she’s looking at the possibilities, especially if Bill Galvin, the present Secretary of State, is going to run for Governor.      

Ball Square is welcoming two new businesses with Grand Openings this month. Yesterday the all new White Hen Pantry opened at 734 Broadway (corner of Lowden Avenue).

Franchisee Guy Contaldi has been working hard the past few months getting everything all set for his store – which is conveniently located where the old CVS was. Sometime in the next two weeks, El Guapo’s Cantina and Eatery will be finally be open for business – right in the middle of the square. Owned and operated by the popular Johnson family, they have been working very hard to make this upscale Mexican style restaurant the new jewel in Ball Square. We at the News wish both establishments the best of luck – it’s nice to see Ball Square continue to become one of the City’s busiest squares.

The Mayor recently sent to the Board of Alderman the name of Stephen Jones for Director of Traffic & Parking. Jones, who is from Winter Hill, was a supporter of the Mayor and was an assistant under acting Chief Bob Bradley – who has moved back to the Police Department. We hope that Steve has some background in the Private Sector and will not play the usual Public Sector typical department head games of not knowing how to handle people. We have enough department heads in the City under Mayor Joe that have their entire career on the Public payroll and don’t know how to handle management issues.

Oh-oh, there we go again saying something negative against the Mayor’s Department Heads – we didn’t say everyone Joe, just a majority of your players. Now we are really going to hear about this.

We have heard that Ward 7 School Committeewomen Mary-Jo Rosetti is not running for Alderman At Large like her recent opponent is claiming to businesses and residents up in Ward 7. We hear she is running for re-election for the School Board. Speaking of Ward 7, Alderman Bob Trane is definitely running for re-election – he’s not leaving any doubt to that – Bob is already out there working the streets of Ward 7. Even though the “Progressives” haven’t singled him out as a target openly, he isn’t taking any chances.

The progressives are clearly going to try and upset the applecart of the current Team atmosphere between the Mayor’s Office and the Board of Alderman. Clearly the Mayor has managed to keep a vast majority of the Board of Alderman happy with his performance – he must be communicating with them directly.

Red Sox and Pops tickets are available. “Somerville Night at the Red Sox” is Tuesday July 19th at Fenway Park with the Red Sox playing Tampa Bay. Tickets are $70.00 per person and are limited to 8 per person. To order tickets contact Bob Publicover via email at BobPublicover@aol.com or call him at 617-666-4130. “Somerville Night at the Pops” is Tuesday June 21st – tickets for this are also available now.

Coming up soon is former Mayor Brune’s annual Spring Breakfast on Sunday April 10th at Anthony’s Restaurant & Function Hall 105 Canal Street, Malden. This year marks the 21st year that Gene Brune, the present Register of Deeds for Middlesex County, is having this fund-raiser for the Gene Brune Scholarship.

Gene keeps himself extremely busy here in Somerville lending his support and good name to various charitable events over the years – it’s hard to believe he left office here as Mayor in 1990 – 15 years ago.

Speaking of former Mayor’s of our fine city, it’s nice to see that our own Congressman Mike Capuano has not changed how he does things. As Mayor he was known for being right on top of things and wasn’t afraid to tackle any issue and especially speak his mind, no matter what the trend was.

At a recent public meeting in Cambridge, he told the people there how it is in Washington being a Democrat under a Republican Administration and House leadership. He may be in the minority there, but we bet his voice is loud and they hear him speak for his constituents.

We are especially sad to report the passing of Former Mayor Tom August. Tom was a good man who was always there to help those in need whether in his role as Attorney or as a friend. He leaves behind more friends then anyone could count. Our sympathies go out to the family of this fine man.

With a few resignations these past couple of weeks at City Hall, we wonder what the true stories are behind them. Is it possible that the Mayor’s inner circle is so tight that it’s impossible to get in? Does the Mayor actually listen to anyone himself? Getting the streets clean is great, but so is opening up your office and knowing what is really going on around you.

Breaking your word to your loyal supporters is what was the previous Mayor’s downfall was. Here’s something for you to chew on – early last year Mayor Joe had a new zoning ordinance passed so that we could move on with the Assembly Square project.

This past week, an announcement that Federal Realty Investment Trust bought out the Assembly Square Limited Partnership was made. The deal was to the tune of $64 Million. Rumor has it that because of the special zoning ordinance that was passed, the sellers will possibly make up to $20 Million in pure profit – for very little money spent.

If it’s true, then that’s one heck of a parting gift.

We wonder what’s behind Curtain #3, Monty.

The only Aldermen who voted against this ordinance at that time were White, Provost and Taylor.

Our newest version of our website – www.thesomervillenews.com – is up and running and has been brought up to date. It has been one year since we started the website and we have had over 52,000 hits there in just twelve months. We’re constantly going to be updating it with current news happenings in Somerville on a daily basis. It’s set up so that after every story or item you can go online and make your comments about the story. So far we’ve had positive feedback from the general public on it, but we aren’t done yet, we are still working to improve both the paper and the website.

One new item in the newspaper to start in May will be what we call “Ward Walk & Talk” – in the paper, we will have a section devoted to each of the city wards. The section will be comprised of items of interest to the people who live in the wards by people who live there. We welcome anyone who lives in any of the wards to get involved and to date we have had a lot of interest in people helping put it together.

This is just another way we can bring our paper closer to the community – having stories about Somerville – and the people who live and work here.