NO, COUNCILORS …
THE HYPOCRISY IS ON YOU
After Lawrence Mayor Brian DePeña was arrested on 11 felony charges for committing fraud with COVID relief money, Lawrence City Councilors laughably put the item on the agenda for discussion even though they had no business doing that in the first place.
The function of a city council is to vote on budgets and policies.
They should be doing that!
Yet there they were, mugging for the Boston cameras to “get to the bottom” of it and “investigate” the mayor. Which is hilarious because the council has no authority to investigate anything. They have no clearance to be briefed by “investigators” as to the charges against DePeña, since these charges have nothing to do with Lawrence city finances.
One councilor pointed out that the Boston media was only there when there is scandal and not when the city experiences great progress. TRUE FOR SURE! But she failed to understand that they were only there in the first place because the city council overstepped its authority by putting the mayor’s arrest on the agenda.
Also, during that public discussion, two female councilors took great pains to try to draw a false equivalency between the arrest and conviction of former Councilor Fidelina Santiago and the arrest of Brian DePeña. These two councilors stated — and I paraphrase — that the same people who were painting Councilor Santiago as “guilty” when she was arrested for voter fraud – are now saying that Mayor DePeña is innocent until proven guilty and should not be judged until then.
There is more than one problem with this deception and distraction.
First, Fidelina Santiago was on VIDEO driving the getaway car when Jennifer Lopez was stealing absentee ballots out of people’s mailboxes (also on video).
We didn’t need a jury for that one.
Second, and most importantly, the City Council never, ever — even once — condemned or even addressed the Santiago fraud from the council table.
They never once mentioned the issue at a public meeting. Never called for an “investigation.” And still, to this day, they have never condemned or denounced Santiago for committing voter fraud. Even after her conviction and serving time in prison.
In fact, one sitting councilor – Wendy Luzon – defended Santiago and praised her for her “service to the community” as a city councilor. Not one of her colleagues denounced her for that either.
Lastly, nobody but The Valley Patriot condemned Fidelina Santiago for voter fraud and stealing ballots. Not the DePeña administration. Not even ONE city councilor. That showed a stunning lack of leadership and staggering hypocrisy which lingers to this day.
And that’s because Santiago was the deciding fifth vote against anything the DePeña administration wanted. She was on “their team”!
That’s a fact!
So, without mentioning these two councilors by name, the real hypocrisy here is that the city council put the mayor’s arrest on the agenda in the first place while – in contrast – they NEVER ONCE addressed a sitting member of their council committing fraud every single time she voted as an illegitimate member of that council.
So, no, councilors. The hypocrisy is not on those saying the mayor is innocent until proven guilty. It’s on you for putting the mayor’s arrest on the agenda after THREE YEARS OF SILENCE on the Fidelina Santiago matter and then trying to pretend the shoe was on the other foot. ◊
DOJ TAMPERS WITH
STATE REP. ELECTION
Say what you want about State Representative Francisco Paulino and his legal troubles with the Department of Justice indicting him on 11 felony charges of wire fraud and money laundering. But there’s something to be said for the fact that the feds put their finger on the scale of the election by arresting him less than a week before Election-Day.
If they had the goods on him to arrest and indict him the week before the election, they certainly would still have that same evidence the day after the election. But because they did that, we will never know if City Councilor Celina Reyes legitimately defeated Paulino on her own because she ran a better campaign or if Paulino lost because of the media frenzy and condemnation that came with his arrest.
That’s unfair. It’s unfair to Reyes, it’s certainly unfair to Paulino, and it’s even unfair to the voters. Think about this; it seems unlikely now, but what if Paulino – who swears to his innocence – is actually found not guilty? What if he’s actually not guilty? Where does he go to be made whole now that the feds have effectively ended his political career? ◊
STICKER CAMPAIGNS FAIL
Methuen School Committeeman Ken Willette failed to get the150 required write-ins (or stickers) on the republican ballot for the 4th Essex District nomination. Lawrence City Councilor Ana Levy also failed to get the required 150 write-ins (or stickers) to get on the November ballot as the republican nominee for the 16th Essex District State Representative.
And Lawrence activist Fraylin Angelina failed to get the 500 write-ins (or stickers) required on the republican ballot for state senate to challenge Pavel Payano on the November ballot. All of this is very unfortunate.
The failure of these very good candidates means that Senator Payano, Councilor Celina Reyes, and State Rep. Estela Reyes are all going to run uncontested in November along with the perpetually uncontested State Rep. Frank Moran. This is bad for democracy, it drives down voter turnout, and robs the voters of much needed debate on the issues facing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. ◊
MOULTON VS MARKEY THERE WAS NEVER ANY OPTION!
When Congressman Seth Moulton was approached by a reporter with a camera and asked why he endorsed admitted NAZI and woman beater Graham Platner he did what any snobby elitist ruling class jerk would do – he assaulted the reporter for daring to question him. After all, Seth is above all that ‘answering to the public’s stuff, he thinks we work for him not the other way around. Not only did Seth unapologetically assault the reporter, he laughed while he was doing it.
By contrast, U.S. Senator Ed Markey was approached by a reporter outside his headquarters asking him an embarrassing question about his support for illegal aliens and by contrast Markey invited the reporter in (who was rude to Markey by the way) and welcomed the question. In fact, when one of Markey’s handlers tried to interfere with the reporter as he entered Markey headquarters, Markey made his campaign handler step down and began answering the reporter’s question.
And that’s because, no matter what you think about Markey’s politics, he respects the First Amendment. He is genuinely interested in answering questions and being accessible to the public. Senator Markey is not afraid to be challenged and that shows a level of class that the angry and unhinged Seth Moulton will never have.
I endorsed Markey over Moulton in this primary for exactly that reason. Moulton never deserved to be a congressman in the first place. His unhinged rants and angry tirades are unbecoming of an elected official and his disrespect for the press and the First Amendment have me cheering that he is a lame duck congressman soon to be a private citizen where he belongs. ◊
MORE VOTER FRAUD THAT
SUPPOSEDLY DOESN’T EXIST
BOSTON – A federal grand jury has indicted a Chinese national residing in Andover, Mass., on charges stemming from an alleged scheme to use another Chinese national’s identity to register to vote and cast a ballot in the 2024 presidential election. The defendant was previously arrested and charged by criminal complaint in August.
Yupeng Sun, 33, was indicted on one count of fraudulent voter registration and one count of fraudulent voting. Sun was previously arrested and charged by criminal complaint on Aug. 19, 2026, and subsequently released on conditions. He will be arraigned in federal court in Boston at a later date.
According to court filings, on Oct. 10, 2024, Sun submitted an online voter registration through the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website impersonating another Chinese national residing in Massachusetts with legal permanent resident (LPR) status. On Oct. 31, 2024, Sun allegedly continued to impersonate the other Chinese national and submitted an early voting ballot at Malden City Hall for the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
After registering to vote and voting, Sun allegedly submitted several anonymous tips in April and May 2026 to Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stating that the victim “illegally voted in the 2024 U.S. presidential election” and noting that “[h]e is not a U.S. citizen but a permanent resident.” It is further alleged that Sun impersonated the same Chinese national and his Chinese national wife in fraudulent forms submitted to USCIS in April 2024 requesting to abandon their LPR status. ◊
YOU ARE EVEN BEING
TRACKED ON HIKING TRAILS
The Merrimack Valley Planning Commission’s Valley Tally counter network is expanding and they are tracking YOU!
New permanent trail counters are set to be installed at seven additional locations in Groveland, Haverhill, Newburyport, and Salisbury.
The new sites include three locations along the Community Path in Groveland, two along the Bradford Rail Trail in Haverhill, one at the entry of the William Lloyd Garrison Trail in Newburyport, and one toward the New Hampshire line on the Old Eastern Marsh Trail in Salisbury. Together, these installations will provide a more detailed picture of how residents and visitors use some of the region’s active transportation routes.
The new counters build on Valley Tally’s existing regional network, which began collecting data at 14 mixed-use path locations in 2024. Since installation, the counters have notched more than 4.5 million pass-bys. While each counting site is unique and provides micro-level use information, aggregating information to the regional level allows MVPC to generate basic planning assumptions when doing transportation analyses. ◊