Laboy Endorses School Committeeman for City Council

PAYING ATTENTION EXTRA

Larger than expected crowd

turns out for Jorge Gonzalez

By: Tom Duggan – August 25, 2005

Lawrence School Committee member Jorge Gonzalez now enjoys the unique distinction of being the only candidate for any office in Lawrence to have been publicly endorsed by the Superintendent of Schools. Last Thursday Gonzalez, (who is in his second two year term on the Lawrence School Committee) received the endorsement of Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy.

 City Councilor Barbara Gonzalez was appointed last month by a majority of the Lawrence City Council to fill the vacated seat of Nilka Alvarez Rodriguez, who moved out of the district but is running for City Council At-Large. School Committeeman Gonzalez had originally put in his name for the position when Alvarez resigned but did not to appear before the council during the interview process.boy in his bid to unseat Barbara Gonzalez in the November election for District “C” City Council. 

Superintendent Laboy spoke to a packed audience at 525 Essex Street saying “George Gonzalez cares about children and families. And though I would rather keep him on the school committee to help me continue fighting for children and families, I know that Jorge Gonzalez will continue fighting for those same families on the Lawrence City Council. He truly cares!”

Also endorsing Gonzalez Thursday evening was former State Representative Jose L. Santiago, At-Large candidate Angel Rivera and Spanish radio celebrity Cristobal Ramos, father of school committeeman Carlos Ramos .

 Santiago addressed the crowd briefly urging them to vote for Ramos over Barbara Gonzalez saying afterward that he was going to work tirelessly “to defeat (State Representative) Willie Lantigua’s candidate Barbara Gonzales and work as hard as if I was running myself.”

 Community activist Isabel Melendez told the crowd that she was not allowed to endorse candidates officially but spoke at length about the positive qualities of Gonzalez. She also made a pitch to everyone in the room not registered to vote to “get involved and make sure you vote!”

 At-Large Council Candidate, Angel Rivera wet on at length abut how the Lawrence City Council made “a big mistake” when they voted for Barbara Gonzalez saying she did not represent the people of District “C” and that it was up to the voters to correct the council’s mistake.