Mayor Sullivan blasts same day registration bill

Posted on July 17, 2008 by billmanzi

Mayor Michael Sullivan of Lawrence blasted the state proposal to allow same day voter registration, saying that it invited fraud and was “ridiculous”. Sullivan’s comments are in todays Tribune, and highlighted another issue of concern to cities and towns, and that is responsibility for cost. From the Tribune:

“This would open the floodgates for potential fraud in cities and towns where it might be an issue,” Sullivan said yesterday. “This is the most ridiculous proposal I’ve heard when it comes to voting in my seven years (as mayor).”

Sullivan also highlighted the potential for increased costs to cities and towns.

Sullivan said letting people sign up to vote on Election Day would be problematic for town and city clerks and possibly create a major expense for communities needing to verify voters’ identity.

“(They’re) saying, ‘Bring in the fraud and put the burden and expense on cities and towns to sort out after the election,'” Sullivan said.

Senator Sue Tucker of Andover also has cost concerns.

The bill requires all precincts to be equipped by 2010 to register voters on Election Day. Tucker said she’s worried communities will be overwhelmed.

“I’m concerned about any new costs for cities and towns,” Tucker said.

The bill sponsor, Sen. Edward Augustus (d) Worcester, dismissed the potential for fraud, citing states where similar laws have been sucessfully implemented.

Five states, including Maine and New Hampshire, allow same-day registration.

“I never hear of New Hampshire being a hotbed of voter fraud,” Augustus said.

Augustus also points to the obvious benefit of the bill, which is increased voter participation.

“The only thing that increases is voter participation.”

Augustus pointed to studies showing as many as 220,000 more people would vote if they could register at the polls.

The Tribune story points to a requirement that all communities be required to be equipped by 2010 to implement the law, although I did not see that verbiage in the legislation, which I have posted below. I do agree that increased voter participation is desirable, and I do not share the anxiety over voter fraud that Mayor Sullivan has pointed to. I do strongly object however to any provision in this law that would increase costs for cities and towns. Unfunded mandates are supposed to be illegal. If there are increased costs on cities and towns due to this law we stand ready to implement once the state covers those increased costs. If Beacon Hill wants to increase the costs of local government then I simply say to them. “send the money”. Cost shifting to property tax payers must end.

Read the Tribune story here.

Senate 2514

Senate 446

Posted in State News | 3 Comments

Tables turned on Bill O’Reilly

Posted on July 17, 2008 by billmanzi

Is there a bigger bloviater in the media than Bill O’Reilly? (Geez, I hadn’t thought of Limbaugh). Well O’Reilly had his producer out to do an “ambush” interview with Bill Moyers, but boy did the tables get turned on him. I saw this video on Blue Mass Group and thought it worthy of a posting here. Enjoy.

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Posted in National News | 5 Comments

Financial Trouble for School Lunches

Posted on July 16, 2008 by billmanzi

With food prices escalating sharply and fuel costs increasing delivery expense school lunch programs throughout Massachusetts are suffering deficits and being forced to raise prices. The Boston Globe featured this issue today amid problems in communities everywhere. From the Globe:

The rising cost of grain, milk, and vegetables is expected to drive up school lunch prices this fall for tens of thousands of students, causing even further financial hardships for already-strapped public school systems across Massachusetts, education officials said.

School systems, in addition to increasing prices, are employing cost controls that may change some menus for the worse.

They also are concerned that cafeterias could be forced to scale back menus, possibly cutting healthier items because they cost more. Dedham, for example, may stop serving fresh-fruit cups.

And systems are trying to place more students into the federally funded free or reduced price lunch program, but those programs don’t cover all students. And with some prices increasing it is possible that some federally ineligible students may begin to skip lunch.

School leaders across the state are concerned that the higher prices could prompt some students from working-class families who don’t qualify for federally subsidized meals to skip lunch.

The cost increases in food commodities have been staggering.

Meat costs have risen by 11 percent over this past school year, fruits and vegetables by 13 percent, bread by 17 percent, and milk by 19 percent, according to preliminary results of a meal cost survey conducted this summer by the national School Nutrition Association.

Real problems continue to mount financially on localities, and those problems, contrary to what some in the legislature say, continue to have adverse impacts on our people.

Read the Globe story here.

Posted in Methuen, State News | 1 Comment

The 9-c danger to localities

Posted on July 16, 2008 by billmanzi

The Governor’s call for expanded powers to make budget cuts mid-year (the so called 9-c power) has the potential, if applied to local aid, to cause serious disruption to the operations of municipalities throughout the Commonwealth. The Governor’s request came in the context of his signing of the budget for FY2009 after vetoing $122.5 million in legislative spending. The idea of cutting local aid in mid stream after municipalities have set their budgets based on the already low state aid numbers would be devastating and certainly lead to draconian cuts in services. As the legislature contemplates the bestowing of such authority on Governor Patrick it ought to consider exempting local aid from such authority. Having us base our budgets on a local aid number put out by the State and then forcing us to make cuts mid-year would be an outrage. With only a half a year to make the necessary cuts the pain would in effect be doubled. Cities and Towns should mobilize now to insure that local aid, so vital to the delivery of the services that matter most, is exempt from the potential for 9-c cuts.

Posted in Methuen, State News | 8 Comments

The Obama Thrust on Iraq

Posted on July 15, 2008 by billmanzi

Senator Barack Obama, in an op-ed piece in the New York Times, called for agreement with Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki’s position that there ought to be a timetable for American troop withdrawal from Iraq. His plan, from the Times Op-Ed piece:

As I’ve said many times, we must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in. We can safely redeploy our combat brigades at a pace that would remove them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 — two years from now, and more than seven years after the war began.

Obama called for a re-deployment of some American troops to the Afghan theatre, where Taliban gains have created alarm amongst some military analysts. Obama, in the piece, acknowleges the gains in security over the past year and would like to utilize those gains to hand over more responsibility to the Iraqis. From the New York Times:

In the 18 months since President Bush announced the surge, our troops have performed heroically in bringing down the level of violence. New tactics have protected the Iraqi population, and the Sunni tribes have rejected Al Qaeda — greatly weakening its effectiveness.

But the same factors that led me to oppose the surge still hold true. The strain on our military has grown, the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated and we’ve spent nearly $200 billion more in Iraq than we had budgeted. Iraq’s leaders have failed to invest tens of billions of dollars in oil revenues in rebuilding their own country, and they have not reached the political accommodation that was the stated purpose of the surge.

The good news is that Iraq’s leaders want to take responsibility for their country by negotiating a timetable for the removal of American troops. Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. James Dubik, the American officer in charge of training Iraq’s security forces, estimates that the Iraqi Army and police will be ready to assume responsibility for security in 2009.

Obama has rejected the analogy, often made by Republicans, with continued U.S. presence in Europe, Japan, and Korea.

Unlike Senator McCain, I would make it absolutely clear that we seek no presence in Iraq similar to our permanent bases in South Korea, and would redeploy our troops out of Iraq and focus on the broader security challenges that we face.

Obama does recognize that any plan may need to be adjusted by tactical considerations and military advice, and says exactly that in the piece. He will give a major speech on Iraq today, and from a political perspective would like to promote the idea that he could be an effective commander-in-chief. There is new Washington Post polling data on that question, with 48 percent of Americans feeling that Obama would be an effective commander-in-chief, while 48 percent feel he would not be. The number for McCain on that question finds that 72 percent of the respondents believe McCain would be a good commander-in-chief. So Obama begins the process of narrowing the “commander-in-chief gap”. Will he be succesful? Does he need to narrow that gap to win the election?

The Washington Post polling data story is here.

Read the Obama New York Times Op-Ed piece here.

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Patrick Wields Veto Pen

Posted on July 14, 2008 by billmanzi

Governor Deval Patrick vetoed $122.5 million dollars in spending approved by the State Legislature in the FY 2009 budget, and has asked for additional budgetary authority to make mid-year cuts if necessary. From the Boston Globe:

“We’ve got to prepare now for economic troubles ahead,” Patrick said at a late-afternoon budget signing ceremony yesterday. “While there is merit to many of the budget items I have eliminated or reduced, our present circumstances demand increased restraint.”

The cuts hit 260 pet projects, known as earmarks, that were inserted by legislators, including tens of millions intended to help hospitals with uncovered costs for Medicaid patients in the state’s health insurance system. Numerous parks, community centers, and social service programs were denied hoped-for state grants their legislators had secured.

“Not all of the earmarks had merit, and those were vetoed,” Patrick said.

While I do not have the list of vetoed items it appears that at least two important Methuen initiatives were cut, including the Appleyard money. It also appears that the increased local aid for the City of Haverhill was cut as well.

House Chair of Ways and Means Bob Deleo issued a statement:

“I am pleased the governor has lent his approval to 99 percent of the appropriations the Legislature approved as part of its Fiscal 2009 budget plan,” House Ways and Means Chairman Robert DeLeo said in a statement. “As is the case each year, we will evaluate any vetoes in the context of the priorities the Legislature set forth and the fiscal realities we face.”

Governor Patrick also asked for the additional budgetary authority, which has been granted to Governor Romney in 2003.

In addition to his vetoes, Patrick is asking lawmakers to give him unilateral authority to make midyear cuts across state government. The governor already has authority to cut spending in Cabinet agencies at any point, but he is seeking broader authority to cut elsewhere, should tax collections indeed come in below projections.

“Granting that authority now, before the end of the legislative session, enables us to respond quickly and responsibly in the event of a serious downtown,” he said.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation has estimated that the state may bump into that fiscal problem sooner rather than later.

Despite the governor’s cuts, one budget watchdog agency said Patrick virtually guaranteed that he would need to invoke that increased authority by not making deeper slashes. The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimated the $28.2 billion state budget approved by House and Senate negotiators and sent to Patrick on July 3 was at least $1 billion out of balance. Patrick’s vetoes put only a small dent in that projected shortfall.

The danger, from a local perspective, is that the Governor’s possible increased authority could be wielded mid-year against the local aid accounts, setting up a situation where draconian mid year cuts would be imposed on cities and towns. If the legislature grants this additional authority it would be my hope that local aid be exempted from such a potential. I will post the specific cuts as soon as they are available. Read the Globe story here.

Posted in Methuen, State News | 3 Comments

State Reps Race Heats Up

Posted on July 14, 2008 by billmanzi

(I have endorsed Linda Dean Campbell in this race.)

The Democratic primary for State Representative, scheduled for September 16th, has been a sleepy event so far, but is starting to pick up a little bit. Challenger Chris Dibella has accused the Campbell camp of spreading rumors that tie him politically to former Chief Joseph Solomon. The Campbell campaign issued the following statement:

My opponent’s charges are without any merit. My staff and I are to busy doing our jobs serving Methuen to engage in the juvenile antics Mr. Dibella is now engaging in. What is important to Methuen is not Chris Dibella’s rumor-mongering but building a newly renovated High School, adding infrastructure such as the new on-ramp at Rte 93 and Pelham Street, building a new community center in the Arlington Neighborhood, helping our downtown by getting additional state monies to clean up the Appleyard site, and by making sure that our Chapter 70 aid to education gives Methuen’s school children a fair shake. This year we produced an additional $1.2 million dollars in Chapter 70 money for the education of Methuen’s school children. Maybe as my opponent engages in these tired old political practices somebody can inform him that I carried through the House of Representatives on an expedited basis the bill that removed the Methuen Chief of Police position from Civil Service. This bill, signed into law by Governor Patrick, enabled Mayor Manzi to make the permanent appointment of Katherine Lavigne to the position of Chief. And so while my opponent seeks to re-open old political wounds I choose to try to help the community to move beyond those difficult times.

The Valley Patriot website found themselves in the middle of this brouha, since they started this by printing the allegation about Solomon and Dibella. Since that time Dibella has appeared on the Duggan show on WCAP, and the Eagle Tribune wrote a story on the sniping between the two camps. Campbell will appear on Duggan’s show on WCAP on Saturday, and there may be one of those raucous debates scheduled for WCAP before the primary. Read the Tribune story here.

Link to the Valley Patriot website here.

Posted in Methuen | 1 Comment

Sex Offender Law Proposed

Posted on July 14, 2008 by billmanzi

Methuen City Councilor Ken Willette has proposed a city ordinance that would legally restrict the rights of level three sex offenders to travel to certain areas of the city. He would prohibit those offenders from traveling within 1000 feet of any city park, school, or the Nevins library. This proposal has stirred a backlash from the family of a level three sex offender now living in Methuen. From yesterdays Eagle Tribune.

“These guys come up with these rules and laws and initiatives, and they don’t bother, I don’t feel, to do their homework to learn how it’s going to affect people or their families,” Claudia Bobb said.

The Tribune article gave a short history of this offender, and also the family rationale for opposing this ordinance.

Charles and Claudia Bobb moved to Methuen from San Jose, Calif., in January 2007. They live at 18 Russ St. with their 16-year-old daughter. They brought Howard Bobb into their home in November, after discovering he was living in a crummy apartment in Akron, Ohio, with no food or clean clothes.

Howard Bobb was convicted of two counts of indecent assault and battery for molesting two children under age 14 in 1979. He spent 41/2 years in prison.

He was released from prison and re-offended, his son said. This time, in 1987, Howard Bobb was imprisoned for 18 months for one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.

He was released from prison and re-offended again in 1995. He was convicted of the same charge and spent another 18 months in prison.

“My father was wrong for what he did in the past,” Charles Bobb said.

But, he said, the man “did his time” and never committed a crime in Massachusetts. His last conviction was 13 years ago.

Howard Bobb, a paranoid schizophrenic, is in a rehabilitation facility in Salem, Mass., suffering from an infection and paralyzed from the waist down. Charles and Claudia Bobb said it will be a few weeks before he’s able to go home. When he does, they say, he will not go anywhere without one of them.

Charles Bobb said his father no longer notices children.

“He’s not the same person he was back then,” he said.

Willette responded:

Willette pointed to Howard Bobb’s repeated convictions and said, “No matter how you portray it, he’s a high-risk offender.”

Willette not only wants to ban entry to level three offenders, but to further publicize their presence.

Willette wants to place fliers from the state Sex Offender Registry Board, showing the photographs and addresses of Level 3 offenders, in school offices, City Hall, the Quinn Building, on the city’s Web site, and more prominently at Nevins Memorial Library. He also wants to hang signs declaring schools, parks and the library “predator free zones.”

The A.C.L.U. has spoken against similar efforts, and has sued to overturn similar laws.

Chris Ott, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, has said laws like these could keep sex offenders from neighborhoods where they see a doctor for treatment.

Banishing offenders from certain areas, and in turn potentially cutting them off from family and friends and making it harder for them to get treatment, also makes them more likely to re-offend, Ott said.

The City Council has approved this ordinance for first reading. Willette has indicated that he is open to some suggestions to change the law.

Willette said he’s open to considering modifications to his proposal. He might reduce or drop the 1,000-foot rule, for instance, or amend the proposal to simply ban sex offenders from stepping onto school grounds.

He wishes the authorities would incarcerate repeat offenders like Howard Bobb for life.

“It also destroys entire families, it destroys children forever and these people should not have the freedom to walk our streets,” Willette said.

Read the Tribune article here.

Posted in Methuen | 1 Comment

U.S., Iraq Talks Break Down

Posted on July 13, 2008 by billmanzi

U.S. and Iraqi talks over the status of U.S. forces have broken down, leaving the long term determination over a U.S.-Iraqi status of forces agreement to the next President. The Bush administration, operating under a U.N. mandate that expires at the end of this year, were hopeful that a long term agreement governing the U.S. presence in Iraq could have been concluded before President Bush’s term was up. The administration will now be forced to negotiate a short term agreement with the Iraqis. The Iraqi government, responding to domestic pressure, appears to be looking for some sort of timetable for U.S. forces to withdraw, or at least draw down. The issue of legal immunity for U.S. forces operating in Iraq appears to be a sticking point as well. From the Washington Post:

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his political allies have come under intense domestic pressure to reject any perceived infringement on Iraqi sovereignty. Maliki, who last week publicly insisted on a withdrawal timeline, wants to frame the agreement as outlining the terms for “Americans leaving Iraq” rather than the conditions under which they will stay, said the U.S. official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because U.S.-Iraqi negotiations are ongoing.

With Maliki having promised that a completed “status of forces” agreement with the U.S. would be submitted to the Iraqi Parliament for approval, with two thirds approval needed,he may now be trying to find a way to circumvent that promise, as it is doubtful that such an approval could be had. The Bush plan is now in ashes, and the next President will make the call. And with some Democrats still fearful of the national security backlash from a hasty withdrawal could the failure of the next President to be able to reach such a status of forces agreement bring us to a political place where the Iraqis themselves demand a timetable for withdrawal? An interesting scenario, and one that appears more likely than it has ever been.

Posted in National News | 1 Comment

Methuen’s Recycling Handbook

Posted on July 12, 2008 by billmanzi

I have posted the Methuen recycling brochure that was mailed last week. There is some valuable information in there, as well as pickup schedules. Please drop me a line with any comments or suggestions on recyling.

Recycling Brochure

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