Dems Reach 60 in the Senate

Posted on December 20, 2009 by billmanzi

With Senator Ben Nelson coming on board after a hard fought compromise on abortion was reached the Democratic Party has reached the 60 vote margin necessary to pass the Senate version of health care reform. Nelson achieved more than changes in language dealing with abortion, securing legislative advantage on several fronts for his home state of Nebraska. The left feels that the bill has moved in the wrong direction in several areas, and has let its displeasure be known. Howard Dean has been prominently critical, and has taken some return fire from the Administration. White House senior advisor David Axelerod this week said it would be “insane” to derail this bill based on the objections raised. During an interview on “This Week” Axelrod took pains to say he had not called Dean insane.

I didn’t say he was insane, I want to make that clear. Howard Dean is a friend of mine. I have a great respect for him. He is a medical doctor, and I know he feels passionately about that. What I said was, it would be insane to pass on an opportunity to enact the reform that would have such positive impact on our future and on the well-being of families across this country.

And I still believe that. It was probably an unfortunate choice of words.

So the bill will pass, but the conference with the House will be a contentious affair, and Senator Nelson made it very clear that he will vote against a Conference Committee bill that alters the terms of the items he has negotiated. That will be a bitter pill for House conferees to swallow. The Democrats made progress, but this process is not yet complete.

See the full Axelrod interview here.

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The President on Health Care

Posted on December 19, 2009 by billmanzi

The President spends his weekly address on health care, talking about the past failure of a patient bill of rights, and decrying the parliamentary obstruction of the Republican Party on health care. Meanwhile the Senate Democrats continue to struggle to get to sixty, with Ben Nelson proving a difficult vote to corral. The newest iteration drops the Medicare buy in that had been put in to replace the (watered down) public option, which was dropped. The Dems are struggling, with some on the left calling for the defeat of this bill. Paul Krugman weighed in this week, calling for passage of the bill despite the anger being felt by many over some of the horse trading that has watered down the bill. Read the Krugman column here.

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Methuen High School Project Moves Forward

Posted on December 16, 2009 by billmanzi

Today’s Eagle Tribune details the results of yesterday’s Building Committee Meeting, where a “preferred’ design was selected by the Committee. The school design selected, referred to as the “bridge” concept, will now be submitted to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for approval. The cost estimators have given us a number of about $79.8 million dollars for the construction portion of the project. The additional costs are so called soft costs, which the Owners Project Manager has estimated could be between 20-25% of the overall construction costs, reflective of construction industry standards.That percentage estimate leads to the overall estimate hitting $100 million, which is reflected in today’s Tribune story.

We continue to study the specifics of those soft costs, which include the costs of housing students off site during construction. Our project team is looking at different time frames for the construction involved, and will present to the Building Committee the cost implications of those options very shortly. The completion of the feasibility phase will allow us, with M.S.B.A. approval, to move right to schematic design.

I will continue to post updates here at my blog. Drop me a line if you have any questions or concerns.

Read the Tribune story here.

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Katie Oskar is December S.O.A.R. Award Recipient

Posted on December 15, 2009 by billmanzi

“Academically distinguished, intellectually inquisitive, and athletically gifted best describe senior Katie Oskar,” states Principal Jim Guica. Methuen High School is pleased to recognize a student of Katie’s stature as the S.O.A.R Award recipient for December.

Katie is a student athlete of the highest order. She truly enjoys social studies and in particular, United States history. She demonstrates her passion for the subject by spending her own time doing in depth reading and study of topics covered in class. The results of this devotion to her study became evident last spring when she achieved the highest score attainable in the Advanced Placement U.S. History testing. That score now enables Katie to count her Advanced Placement high school social studies class as college credit when she matriculates to college next fall.

Katie Oska’s academic achievements, however, are not limited to social studies. She is an honor student in the truest sense; being a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, and History Honor Society. For her course load this academic year, Katie is taking four Advanced Placement courses plus Calculus and honors Spanish. Katie’s academic performances in the classroom match up well with the excellent scores she has achieved in state testing. Katie registered a perfect score of 280 in the MCAS Biology test and narrowly missed getting a perfect score in Math MCAS testing by two percentage points.

Athletically, Katie holds the current school swim team record in diving and the track record in the triple jump. In addition to garnering ‘All MVC’ honors this past fall in swimming and in diving, Katie was also named team MVP.

Katie is a personable young lady and student role model who has represented her school well. Our congratulations go out to Katie Oskar as the December S.O.A.R. Award winner.

Katie Oskar receives December 2009 S.O.A.R. Award

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The Explosion in Pension Costs

Posted on December 14, 2009 by billmanzi

Today’s Tribune has a story about pension costs in Methuen, and how the continued rapid escalation in these costs are threatening municipal finances throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I do agree with Michael Widmer that any extension of the full funding schedule should be coupled with meaningful pension reform. However you cut it however these pension cost increases are destroying our ability to manage our finances at the local level. When coupled with the massive spike in health care costs something has to give.

Read the Tribune story here.

Posted in Methuen, Municipal Finance, State News | Tagged | 1 Comment

President Obama on Sixty Minutes

Posted on December 14, 2009 by billmanzi

The President, back on Sixty Minutes, talked Afghanistan, financial reform, and yes, even had to address the issue of the party crashers at the recent state dinner. The President backed the recent point made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates that the so called withdrawal deadline in Afghanistan of July 2011 was not absolute, and that he would determine the best course of action at that point. President was mildly irritated at some of the lines of questioning.

http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/player-dest.swf
Watch CBS News Videos Online

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President Obama on Financial Reform

Posted on December 12, 2009 by billmanzi

President Obama used his weekly address to praise the financial regulation package passed by the House. The President talked about the package, and about the opposition to it in some banking circles, both in his weekly message and on 60 Minutes. From the 60 Minutes interview.

In an interview to be aired Sunday night on CBS News’s “60 Minutes,” Obama said he shared the frustration of many Americans angry at the nation’s big banks.

“I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street,” Obama said, in excerpts released by CBS News.

He went on to criticize banks that received and repaid government bailout money and then resumed paying eight-figure bonuses to top executives.

“The people on Wall Street still don’t get it,” Obama said. “They’re still puzzled why it is that people are mad at the banks. Well, let’s see. You guys are drawing down 10, 20 million dollar bonuses after America went through the worst economic year… in decades and you guys caused the problem.”

Republicans criticized the bill, and it attracted zero Republican votes in the House. 27 Democrats also voted against. From the New York Times:

“The array of new regulations and taxes on consumers, investors and businesses will destroy jobs and further undermine the fragile economy,” Representative Spencer Bachus of Alabama, the senior Republican on the Financial Services Committee, said.

The Senate will not take up its version until next year. Read the Times story here.

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Coakley v Brown

Posted on December 9, 2009 by billmanzi

Attorney General Martha Coakley scored a quite impressive victory in the Democratic primary yesterday, racking up 47% of the vote in a four person race. Second place finisher Michael Capuano had 28%, with Alan Khazei third, and Steve Pagliuca fourth. Coakley had an early lead, and she never relinquished it, running a strong campaign that was truly error free. She will face State Senator Scott Brown, who easily won the Republican primary over Jack E. Robinson. Brown immediately went on the attack, challenging Coakley to sign an anti-tax pledge, which Coakley derided as a campaign gimmick. I saw our old friend Eric Fehrnstrom, press guru to Mitt Romney, acting as a “senior advisor” to the Brown campaign, and sounding the Brown campaign themes in an interview after the Brown win. Coakley meanwhile brought together her Democratic opponents with a unity event at the Omni Parker House, and they all pledged their full support for her candidacy. Hard to see how Brown can win this one. Coakley has shown herself to be tough and disciplined, and should have a huge financial advantage to boot. It looks to me like it will be Coakley in an easy win.

The city by city results are here.

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Mayor Manzi Names Carolyn McDougall as December’s Artist of the Month

Posted on December 9, 2009 by billmanzi

MAYOR MANZI NAMES CAROLYN V. McDOUGALL AS DECEMBER’S ARTIST OF THE MONTH
Methuen Artist’s Work on Display in the Mayor’s Office

Mayor William M. Manzi has named Carolyn V. McDougall as December’s Artist of the Month. Until Hurricane Katrina hit, Carolyn lived in Gulfport Mississippi for forty years with her family and taught art for thirty years. She now resides in Methuen. She is a 1962 graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. While teaching art in Gulfport she was selected as Teacher of the Year and Most Popular Teacher of the Gulf Coast. She also had two yearbooks dedicated to her.

Carolyn focuses her art on watercolor painting and photography. She enjoys painting places she has visited such as Italy, England, France, Scotland, Saudi Arabia and St. Martens Island. She has two children, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Her ninety-three year old mother lives in Methuen’s Burnham Road Apartments where she is also a resident. Carolyn states, “I hope people will enjoy looking at my paintings as much as I enjoyed painting them.”

Mayor Manzi stated, “Carolyn is one of the many talented artists living in our community. It is an honor to display her artwork. I encourage people to come to my office and view her paintings.”

The Methuen Artist of the Month Program was created by Mayor Manzi three and a half years ago in order to give members of the Methuen Arts Community a forum to display their work and to encourage participation in Methuen’s growing creative economy. Methuen artists interested in being considered as Artist of the Month should contact the Mayor’s Office.

December Artist

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Tree Lighting in Methuen

Posted on December 7, 2009 by billmanzi

Santa came to Methuen to light the City Christmas Tree last night. My thanks to the Max Family for their generous donation of a tree, and my thanks to Jill Stackelin for all of her hard work.

Santa arrives in Methuen

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