I have agreed (with City Council assent) to renew the lease at the Oakland Avenue School for the Islamic Academy that had an existing lease on the building. The site contains the school, a mosque, and a playground area that remains under City control, with no restrictions on usage. The Academy, which has acted as a great neighbor, was going to be required to make large capital investments in the school to keep it going. This lease extension gives them the security they need to make those large financial investments. The City Council vote was unanimous, and I certainly would say that if “getting it” means exhibiting bias and prejudice against our own citizens then I most certainly don’t “get it”.
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Bill Manzi.com 
No, Mr. Manzi you don’t get it.
First, it is quite surprising to see a respectable man such as yourself, who has a reputation for civility while discussing such important issues to resort so quickly to name calling. I expect the emotionally inflated and politically motivated charges of discrimination from the likes of Ellan Bahan and Al Sharpton but I never thought I would witness it from the elected mayor of Methuen.
Perhaps if Mayor Bill Manzi (whom I supported in the last election) didn’t think about the war on terror as an abstract political issue like the “war on poverty” he WOULD get it. And he would be asking some very hard questions in this post 9/11 world about his role as an American citizen and what is going on in our own back yard.
I am dissappointed that the rhetoric and propaganda of the ACLU, CAIR, and the international terrorists who want to kill us all are now being echoed by a local elected official. Even more dissappointing is that this was an opportunity for Mr. Mayor Manzi to engage in an intelligent dialogue about the issue so that all who believe in free speech can make up their own minds and instead he engages in hateful name calling.
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Tom,
Thank you for your support in the last election, and I certainly hope you will be supporting me in the next election. If not, I know I can can count on Paula’s support. My problem with your comments is that they lack knowledge of the specifics. This school has been there without incident for five years, and went to that location with broad neighborhood support. They have continued, by their stewardship, to earn the trust and support of the neighborhood as well as the community as a whole. That is a fact. I really “don’t get” what the “war on terror” has to do with a lease to a a religious school. I guess that is where my comments emanate from. I consider religious stereotyping to be offensive and bigoted, and it appears to me that you are painting an entire religion with a broad brush. Finally, you criticize without suggestion. What is the alternative you seek? Eviction based on religious belief? Discouraging a religious school from making a heavy financial commitment in Methuen? What specific action are you recommending here?
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What’s the background on this argument? I kind of get the gist of it but I feel I am missing something. Sometimes background information might be needed when posts are made, especially for someone like me who tends to stick to the Internet and not local papers. I did check out the Valley Patriot for the last two months online, but didn’t see any articles related to this topic.
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Sorry Derek, but I should have included the original quote from http://www.tommyduggan.com, which essentially criticized this lease arrangement briefly, claiming that my support for it showed “that I didn’t get it”. Tommy has since removed the blurb from his site, which was never an article but simply an internet posting. I will do better on including the original point made in the future.
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Bill, thank you for being on the side of common sense. The islamic school and mosque have been good neighbors in the methuen community and there is no reason why it should not continue. they have participated in the greater Methuen religious community and have demonstrated that they are able deal with members that demonstate agressive attitudes. They should not become a victim of any larger polical agenda.
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America is the land of the free. Thank you for protecting the constitutional rights of people to practice their religion freely.
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