Last month’s article detailed irregularities in the list of Lawrence registered voters. On the official voter list hundreds of voters were registered two or three times, with the repeating names typically spelling errors or maiden names.In any circumstance this would be troubling, as one of the primary responsibilities of the City Clerk’s Office is to […]
By: Lonnie Brennan – June, 2011 So, what did the spring Georgetown elections and the approved $1.2 million school override cost you? If you’re the average homeowner (half of whom sat at home and ignored the election), the vote raised your property tax to the point where either this year, next year, or the year […]
By: Jamison Tomasek – May, 2011 A recall effort is underway in the City of Lawrence. The process of a recall is contained in the City Charter (hereafter Charter). Section 9.7 entitled “Recall of Elected Officials.” As this section is written in government lingo, it does require a careful reading as well as some […]
By: Peter Larocque – April, 2011 According to Wikipedia, (meaning quick encyclopedia), a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia, Public Safety involves the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety of the general public from significant danger, injury/harm, crimes or disasters, (natural or man-made). In the United States we have the […]
By: Tom Duggan – September, 2010 State Representative Barry Finegold is a candidate for State Senate. Valley Patriot editor Tom Duggan interviewed him last month on the Paying Attention! Radio Program on WCAP in Lowell. Duggan asked Finegold about his vote in favor of a $35 million loan for Lawrence with no financial oversight. […]
By: Attorney Robert O’Koniewski – September, 2010 The financial crisis plaguing our fair city is well documented and requires no re-hashing. You’d have to be living in a cave at this point not to know about the $35 million state bailout of our community and the accompanying controversy. Surely a steady string of incompetence, […]
Lawrence Councilor LaPlante says mayor wrong for only putting city job postings in Spanish Language newspapers By: Tom Duggan, February 2, 2010 Lawrence City Councilor Marc LaPlante took Mayor Willie Lantigua to task Wednesday night for his policy of only posting city jobs in Spanish Language weekly newspapers and not “the daily paper of record. Since […]
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 […]
The Cause, The Cure, and The Obstacles to Recovery Part I By: Charles Ormsby – May, 2009 TANSTAAFL: “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!” – Anonymous When economic decisions are based on political considerations and not on rational economic calculations, wealth is squandered and the economic piper must be paid. It is […]
By: Tom Duggan, May, 2009 Lawrence School Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy granted an exclusive interview with The Valley Patriot where he discussed for the first time to anyone, the details of recent media scandals involving his office, teachers and principals under his command and the spate of bad publicity in the daily newspaper concerning the […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EXCLUSIVE! By: Tom Duggan – January, 2008 The North Andover School Committee is suing their former acting Superintendent Richard Bergeron for illegally giving himself a $4,484.34 raise without school committee approval. A complaint filed in Lawrence District Court claims that Bergeron ordered a payroll clerk to put the additional money in […]
PLANNING FOR YOUR FUTURE By: Michael Sweeney (December, 2007) Lawrence Planning Director “Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.” -President Abraham Lincoln Good call there by President Lincoln. Unfortunately, under the weak-armed rule of Patrick Blanchette, truth has been replaced in the city council chambers by slander and personal attacks. The truth is […]
By: Tom Duggan (09/05/07) An ethics complaint has been filed against Lawrence City Councilor Nunzio DiMarca for a trip he admittedly took to Italy last spring. DiMarca’s plane fare and expenses were all paid for by a local businessman whom he openly lobbied for at the city council table and behind the scenes with other elected […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EXCLUSIVE Tom Duggan August August, 2007 Almost exactly one year after a gun was found at the home of Lawrence City Councilor Grisel Silva, the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission has cleared the district “B” councilor of allegations that she used her influence as an elected official to cover up the fact that […]
June 5, 2007 We love immigrants. Those who come to America to become Americans have been the blood, sweat and backbone of our nation for many years. Those who go through the application process and have come here legally have shown by their behavior that they are ready to live by the laws of […]