By: Methuen Mayor Bill Manzi – October, 2010 An editorial in the Eagle~Tribune last month called into question the real savings to taxpayers that would come from Methuen’s adoption of the early retirement law that the legislature passed as part of the municipal relief package. The editorial is interesting in that it makes some […]
Candidate for Massachusetts State Treasurer Karyn Polito By: Tom Duggan – October, 2010 The Valley Patriot caught up with Karyn Polito touring North Andover last month where Valley Patriot editor Tom Duggan asked her about the viscous personal attack Rep. David Torissi launched against her in Lawrence during the Mount Vernon Neighborhood Association debate. Tom […]
Baker says if elected, Lantigua will not manage city finances Candidate for Governor Tells Tea Party Lantigua not Fit By: Tom Duggan – October, 2010 Earlier this year, Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua partitioned the state legislature to borrow $35Mil claiming there was a $24Mil. deficit in the city’s budget. Governor Deval Patrick wrote House Bill 4421 […]
Blanchette is Mayor Lantigua’s Economic Development Director and Former City Council President By: Tom Duggan – October, 2010 The State Office of Campaign Finance (OCPF) has fined former Lawrence City Council President Patrick Blanchette $20,000 for taking money from his city council campaign account going back to 2006 among other violations. Blanchette has admitted to […]
Kevin Begley talks issues while Torissi launches personal attacks By: Tom Duggan – October, 2010 A debate was held between State Rep. Dave Torissi and his Republican challenger Kevin Begley at the Frost School in Lawrence last month. The debate was sponsored by the Mount Vernon Neighborhood Association. State Rep. Dave Torissi: “Most […]
By: Christine Morabito – October, 2010 I’m absolutely humbled by the Tea Party and what they have been able to accomplish over the past 18 months. Not bad for a haphazard group of disaffected citizens who have been called irrelevant and were never expected to sustain momentum until the November elections. It is my […]
SPECIAL TO THE VALLEY PATRIOT By: Sandra Stotsky – October, 2010 In November 2006, Governor Romney appointed me to the nine-member Massachusetts Board of Education. In January 2008, the Legislature passed Gov. Deval Patrick’s bill establishing a cabinet-level secretary of education position and expanding the board to eleven members. The bill specifically […]
Calls for Third Party Audit, and possible bankruptcy for Lawrence By: Tom Duggan – September, 2010 Massachusetts State Treasurer and candidate for Governor Tim Cahill is calling attention to the budget mismanagement in the City of Lawrence by urging Governor Patrick to issue an independent third party audit of the city’s finances. Last March, the […]
Click here for MP3 of the show Click here for source page, (mac users can also listen here) A REAL debate between the two Republican candidates for State Auditor: Kamal Jain ad Mary Z Connaughton was held on Tom Duggan’s Paying Attention Radio Program on September 4, 2010 a the WCAP studios. Jain and Connaughton […]
Finegold Defends Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua By: Tom Duggan – August, 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 […]
By: Tom Duggan – August, 2010 The race to replace State Senator Sue Tucker in the Second Essex District of Massachusetts has found the failed finances and financial mismanagement of the City of Lawrence at the center of this contentious campaign among both Democrat and Republican candidates. The Second Essex district is comprised of […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL AUGUST, 2010 Late last month Massachusetts education officials decided to discard the MCAS testing requirements and adopt a new federal program called the Common Core State Standards. In recent years, Massachusetts has ranked at the top or near the top compared to all other states when it comes to the education […]
Calls for casino money to be returned to homeowners, businesses July, 2010 BOSTON – Senate Minority Leader Richard R. Tisei has called for the creation of a new Property Taxpayers Relief Fund that would use casino revenues to annually reduce property tax bills across the Commonwealth. Tisei filed the proposal as an amendment to the […]
Lawrence Mayor Lantigua has brought nothing but chaos and has no plan By: Robert O’Koniewski, Esq. – July, 2010 When Mayor William Lantigua took over city government in January, he promised a break from the business as usual that we have seen under all previous administrations. His rhetoric may have been lofty, but it belied the […]
By: Christine Morabito – July, 2010 With new Tea Parties popping up all over the state, there is no question that the message of limited government strikes a chord with a great many Bay State residents. An enthusiastic group of American patriots is forming right in our own backyard with the emergence of the Merrimack Valley […]