HEROES AND BOZOS OF 2016 HERO CHARLIE BAKER – One of the most important things that happened in Massachusetts this year was the passage of a new public records law that actually holds public officials accountable for concealing public documents. When Charlie Baker was running for the governor he said on my radio show that […]
By: Kathy Runge – Sept. 2016 The City Council needs an official summer schedule. I said this last month but it’s so important I have to say it again. Both the councilors and public deserve to know when the council will meet during July and August. How’s a responsible councilor supposed to plan their summer […]
By: Tom Duggan, May 3, 2016|820pm The Lawrence City Council refused to tear down a crumbling building owned by one of their own councilors by refusing to take the measure up as an emergency. The roof of the building has collapsed and the cinder blocks at the top of the building and are […]
By: Tom Duggan – 2-22-16 The Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF ) has fined two Lawrence City Councilors and warned a third because of campaign finance violations from the last city election. Lawrence City Councilor at Large Nilka Alvarez-Rodriguez, who has served more than 10 years on the city council, was fined […]
HEROES – REP. DIANA DIZOGLIO (Methuen) and STATE SENATOR KATY IVES (Newburyport). Both DiZoglio and Ives worked tirelessly to get my public records bill a fair hearing in sub committees, made sure they were voted out of those committees favorably, held strong on penalties for law breakers, and then forced a full vote in the […]
PERISOCOPE – With the advance of technology, The Valley Patriot is now using a cell phone application called Periscope to do live video interviews online. On Election Day, we were able to get out to Lawrence and Methuen to interview the candidates and some of their supporters. As soon as we got LIVE on the […]
By: Kathy Runge – Oct. 2015 I heard that the real reason for the extreme shortage of poll workers for the Preliminary Election was that the city required the poll workers to be citizens (of the United States). Does that mean that there were non-citizens working the polls for the other elections? There was at […]
By: Tom Duggan – 9.22.15 With only 9% of registered voters in Lawrence participating in the city’s preliminary elections, at least one candidate has found himself one vote shy of being nominated for city council. Rich Russell, a Viet Nam veteran and activist at council meetings, placed seventh in an eight way race, being eliminated […]
By: Kathy Runge – August 2015 We’re starting campaign season and I’m already preparing myself for the onslaught of robo-calls and junk mail we’ll be receiving in a couple of months. Please don’t vote for candidates that spend thousands of dollars trying to impress you. The more money a local candidate receives in donations, the […]
WHO’S IN AND WHO’S OUT IN CITY COUNCIL AND SCHOOL COMMITTEE RACES Candidates wishing to have their names appear on the September ballot for municipal elections had until close of business on Tuesday to turn in the required number of signatures. The Lawrence City Council is made up of nine members. Six members of the […]
By Kathy Runge – April, 2015 Council meetings in February and March were a train wreck, but everyone got their vacations in. Councilor Maldonado opened the meeting of March 3 by saying that he hoped meetings would be regular now and they wouldn’t get snowed out anymore, as if that’s the reason their meetings haven’t […]
NO CONFIDENCE It was a night of dysfunction and shocking revelations Tuesday night as the Lawrence City Council was set to take a vote of “No Confidence” in Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera only one year into his four year term. The council, mostly made up of holdovers from the Lantigua administration and loyal to the former […]
By: Tom Duggan 12/17/14 With only 11 months under his belt as Lawrence’s new mayor the Lawrence City Council is considering a vote of “No Confidence” against Mayor Dan Rivera for not staying at a council the city meeting Tuesday night to answer their questions about a recent spate of firings of Lantigua cronies. The council is […]
By: Peter Larocque – May 2013 Before I get into Lawrence politics, I would like to share a comment that I posted last week on my Facebook page concerning the Boston Marathon Bombings. Good morning and God bless you Family and Friends! It has been one week since the horrific event took place in our […]
By: Tom Duggan – October, 2009 ELECTION EDITION Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan is finishing his final term because the city charter limits the mayor’s job to two, four year terms. Sullivan defeated Isabel Melendez in 2001 and Marcos Devers in 2005. Ironically Willie Lantigua endorsed and supported Isabel Melendez in ’01 but flipped in ’05 […]