Methuen Public Schools Closure Announcement

Posted on February 4, 2011 by billmanzi

Below is the announcement from Superintendent Scannell on the closure of the Methuen Public Schools on Monday and Tuesday of next week.

Contact: Judith A. Scannell
Superintendent of Schools
Methuen, MA
Phone: (978) 722-6000
E-Mail: jhscannell@methuen.k12.ma.us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Methuen Public Schools Closed Monday and Tuesday, February 7th and 8th

Methuen, MA—On Friday, February 4th, Mayor William Manzi, Superintendent Judith Scannell, Department of Public Works Director, Ray DiFiore, Methuen Public Schools Director of Facilities, Bruce Stella, and Methuen Public School Maintenance Craftsman, Ken DiGiulio, met to discuss the condition of all of the public school building roofs, in reaction to the growing concern about the number of roofs that have been collapsing as a result of heavy snow. The group’s unanimous and proactive decision was to close all public schools in Methuen on Monday and Tuesday, February 7th and 8th to remove snow from the roofs.

“The schools are absolutely structurally safe, stated Superintendent Scannell, but there are drifts as high as ten feet and we need to remove the snow as soon as possible.”

The recommendation from architectural firm Omrarchitectz on Thursday was clear: Because of the recent and unusual large amounts of snow, low temperatures, high moisture content from past storms, and the forecast for Saturday’s upcoming storm (heavy rain and snow), it is prudent to consider removing snow from the roofs of all public school buildings.

“In order to get the work done in the safest possible manner, we cannot have children in the vicinity,” stated Scannell.

School and all school activities will resume on Wednesday, February 9th.

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Republicans Come Up Short

Posted on February 3, 2011 by billmanzi

As predicted here last month the Republican majority in the House has run away from their first promise, to cut $100 billion out of this years budget. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. The Republicans announced a cut of $32 billion against the benchmark of last years spending, including a hike in defense spending. Paul Ryan, the new Chair of the House Budget Committee, issued a bold statement announcing an end to profligacy.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (WI-01) today announced spending limits for the remainder of the current fiscal year, a significant step forward to cut government spending and help spur economic growth and job creation. The measure will bring non-security discretionary spending back to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels, as House Republicans called for in their Pledge to America. For the remainder of the current fiscal year, the measure will save $74 billion relative to President Obama’s budget request.

With respect to today’s effort to cut spending and spur economic growth, Chairman Paul Ryan issued the following statement:

“Washington’s spending spree is over. As House Republicans pledged – and voted to affirm on the House floor last week – the spending limits will restore sanity to a broken budget process and return spending for domestic government agencies to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels. Last year, House Democrats failed to pass, or even propose, a budget and the spending binge continued unchecked. After two consecutive trillion dollar budget deficits and with unemployment remaining unbearably high, we must chart a new course.

“The spending limit measure marks another step in House Republicans’ continued efforts to change Washington’s pervasive culture of spending. In one of our first acts in the new Majority, we voted to cut Congress’s own budget. We voted to cut trillions of dollars in new government spending by advancing a repeal of the President’s health care law. The President has asked for an increase in the national debt limit, but we must first work to enact serious spending cuts and reforms. Endless borrowing is not a strategy. Business as usual in Washington is not acceptable.

“House Republicans will continue to build upon this down payment, working to restrain the explosive growth of government and to help restart America’s engine of economic growth and job creation.”

The Chairman will establish this limit by filing a discretionary spending allocation when the U.S. House of Representatives returns to session next week. The measure will provide enforceable limits on discretionary spending bills for the remainder of the fiscal year until Congress adopts a budget resolution for Fiscal Year 2012.

Chairman Ryan could not even hit the $100 billion dollar mark when using the benchmark of the recommendations of the Obama Administration. Note how the Republicans moved the goalposts by utilizing the significantly higher benchmark of recommended spending by the President, rather than the CAMPAIGN PROMISE of utilization of last years actual spending. $32 billion in a trillion dollar budget is a real bold step by the new majority, eh????? This comes after reducing revenues by about $750 billion over ten years by pushing through tax cuts that were not paid for. So the Republican deficit machine continues to crank out red ink as far as the eye can see. Read the Washington Post story here.

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Mitt Does the Top Ten

Posted on February 2, 2011 by billmanzi

Mitt Romney, in the middle of a media blitz, appeared on Letterman hawking his book “No Apology” and doing the top ten list. Letterman better get some better writers.

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PSA From Methuen Fire Chief Buote

Posted on February 2, 2011 by billmanzi

A public service announcement from Methuen Fire Chief Steve Buote. If you need assistance in clearing a hydrant please call 978-983-8940.

Public Service Announcement

Methuen Fire Department Asks for Assistance in Clearing Snow from Fire Hydrants and Exits

Tuesday, January 25,2011

Methuen Fire Chief Steven Buote is asking for assistance from residents to ensure that fire hydrants on their streets are shoveled so that they can be accessed by firefighters if necessary. In the event of a fire emergency, the fire hydrants are the first line of defense. It is very important that they are accessible. Should a fire occur, precious seconds could be lost if the fire hydrant is not accessible.Although on-duty Fire Department personnel are out clearing hydrants daily, it is virtually impossible to clear all 1620 city hydrants in a timely fashion. With the recent back-to-back
storms that we’ve endured, the task is that much more challenging. Any assistance from the public is very much appreciated. If you have a fire hydrant in front of your home or business, please take the time to uncover it.
Residents are being asked to be mindful of the hydrants and not pile snow on or near a hydrant when clearing driveways and sidewalks. “Valuable time is saved when fire crews do not have to dig out a hydrant when responding to fire calls,” says Chief Buote. “When a fire emergency occurs, seconds do count; the time saved by fire crews being able to have immediate access to water to fight a fire may be the difference between life and death. ” Chief Buote is also recommending citizens clear snow and ice from around exit doors to ensure that an escape from a fire emergency is possible, as well as furnace vents to prevent malfunction. Building owners and landlords should check their buildings and clear snow as required.

Save-a-Life / Adopt-a-Hydrant

For more information, contact Methuen Fire Department 978-983-8940

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Health Care Questions

Posted on January 31, 2011 by billmanzi

Monday morning, and only time for three observations on municipal health care reform. We have heard some statements on health care reform that on the surface make sense, but upon cursory review just fall apart. Lets look at them.

1) It was the municipalities who made these deals on health care, and they should not look to the state for “rules changes” that would help them get out from under their own mess.

You usually hear this from state officials talking about why this has not been done up to this point, and why the locals should be grateful for any movement on this question. Of course what they fail to point out is that it is the rules imposed by the state that insure that once a “bad deal” is reached it can never be reversed. They also start to shift uncomfortably when you ask about the state legislative action (outside of collective bargaining) that reversed the “bad deal” the state had with MBTA over 23 and out and health care for MBTA retirees, as well as the forced migration (outside of collective bargaining) of active MBTA employees to the GIC. The discussion tends to end when you ask about state legislative action that has placed municipal workers into the GIC without the benefit of collective bargaining (see Lawrence, City of. )

2) The issue of “sharing” the “savings” with municipal unions. This notion sounds equitable, and many mayors and managers, under current state rules, would contemplate exactly that. But I notice that the request is not to reinvest the savings into municipal job retention. It has been the case all along that the “savings” was going to go to municipal unions, as cities and towns look to stave off service cuts and layoffs. They would be helping to provide job retention for their most junior members. The notion of “sharing the savings” is code for changing the “municipal/employee split” through the back door, and has the potential to create additional job losses for union members, and service cuts for taxpayers. Yes, it sounds good but upon closer inspection it does not help either union members or taxpayers. Scott Lehigh had this one right in his last column.

3) Forced entry into the GIC is a “pay cut” for employees and on that basis should not be contemplated. This fact (a de facto pay cut) is undeniably true, but with the “commodity” of health care rising by double digits every year it is not logical to think that employees could be indemnified against ALL increases in health care costs. I can point to the health care negotiation in Methuen last year that led to major plan design changes, including the imposition of $1000-$2000 deductibles. The employees took on a plan that increased their costs in some areas substantially, but the taxpayers of Methuen saw an increase of $1.6 million in this account. It is just not reasonable to expect that all of the costs increases in health would be taxpayer borne. The final point on this is that if health care costs continue to rise as they have the argument will become moot, as all municipal resources, and all employee pay, would eventually go to cover health care costs. Without cost containment we are all out of business, management and employee alike. Management and employee have more in common here than you might think. Our collective energy should be spent fighting for real health care cost containment, instead of fighting each other.

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Michele Bachmann Makes SNL

Posted on January 30, 2011 by billmanzi

Michele Bachmann tries again to deliver her alternative response to the President on Saturday Night Live. You just had to know this was coming.

http://widget.nbc.com/videos/nbcshort_at.swf?CXNID=1000004.10045NXC&widID=4727a250e66f9723&clipID=1279586&showID=61&siteurl=http://www.nbc.com?vty=fromWidget_Video

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The House Shuffles the Deck

Posted on January 29, 2011 by billmanzi

Speaker Bob Deleo made major changes in the House leadership yesterday, shuffling the positions of Speaker pro tempore, Majority Leader, and Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Out as Majority Leader was Rep. Jim Vallee, who was named Chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee, where Methuen’s Linda Dean Campbell will continue to serve as Vice Chair. The new Majority Leader is Ron Mariano of Quincy. Over at Ways and Means Rep. Charley Murphy lost that portfolio to Rep. Brian Dempsey of Haverhill, who handled the casino bill in the last session as Chair of the Economic Development Committee.

Dempsey has made a big move here. He is a truly hard working and effective Rep. Congratulations Rep. Dempsey. Rep. Mike Costello, representing the Amesbury/ Salisbury area, will leave his post at Public Safety and move to Chair the Financial Services Committee. Rep. Hank Naughton will take over as Chair of Public Safety. Another local move of note was the elevation of Rep. Steven Walsh to the Chair of the Health Care Financing Committee, replacing Rep. Harriet Stanley of Haverhill/Bradford.

A key portfolio for the Speaker is the Chairmanship of the Economic Development Committee, which handles expanded gaming. Rep. Joe Wagoner has been named by the Speaker as the new Chair of this Committee, which will see significant activity if a gaming bill is resurrected. Rep. Wagoner has been the Chair of Transportation for some time, and he will be replaced by Rep. Bill Straus as Chair of that Committee. The Joint Committee on Transportation will now have two new Chairs, with Senator McGee taking over that portfolio in the Senate.

As far as the leadership positions Rep. Charlie Murphy leaves Ways and Means to become assistant Majority Leader (whip), while Rep. Kathi-Ann Reinstein will be the second assistant Majority Leader. The new Speaker Pro Tem will be Rep. Patricia Haddad, who took over for Thomas Petrolati.

That is a whole bunch of change, with Speaker Deleo putting a firm hand on the House for what promises to be a very challenging session.

http://www.statehousenews.com/video/11-01-28deleo/player-viral.swf

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President Obama Stays on Competition Theme

Posted on January 29, 2011 by billmanzi

The President talks about what we need to remain a preeminent world power, including a first rate educational system, new investment in upgrading our infrastructure, and a commitment to clean energy that will produce jobs, new industry, and address the energy needs of our country. I have always been perplexed by Republican attacks on alternative energy. Our major economic rival, China, has invested heavily in renewables, and is already reaping the rewards of that investment. The President has built a new message that he hopes will show that we need to dramatically alter the way the federal government spends money, but we cannot run away from spending that we need to ensure that we remain the world’s number one economy. Without targeted investment in our future we are destined to fall back economically. The fight on this issue is just beginning.

The Orion website.

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Nathaniel Connors Wins SOAR Award

Posted on January 28, 2011 by billmanzi

Congratulations to Nathaniel Connors, who was recognized with the December 2010 SOAR Award.

METHUEN HIGH SCHOOL
S.O.A.R. AWARD
Nathaniel Connors . 11/16/10

METHUEN HIGH SCHOOL- Social Studies

Scott and Janet Connors

Methuen, MA 01844

Honors:
Currently enrolled in four Advanced Placement Course, including European History
Has made the Honor Roll every quarter the past three years
Scored a qualifying score of 3 on the Advanced Placement United States History Exam
National History Honor Society

Student Activities
High School golf, basketball and baseball
Relay for Life
Dutch Foreign Exchange Program

Community Involvement:
Volunteer at the Brue Blood Tournament
Assistant coach for the Massachusetts Elite AAU basketball team
Volunteer coach for the Methuen Youth Basketball Program
Participates in the Methuen Youth Baseball Program
Plays for the New England Storm in AAU basketball

Work Experience:
Referees for the Methuen Youth Basketball program
Referees in various Methuen basketball tournaments

Reasons for Recognition:
Nathaniel was chosen as the Social Studies Department’s recipient of the S.O.A.R Award because; he truly loves Social Studies and in particular United States History. Nathaniel has been an excellent social studies student who has distinguished himself academically in all four of his high school years at Methuen High School. He has been intellectually inquisitive and involved in all his social studies classes. His passion for history is evident because the time he spends on his own to learn more about subjects discussed in class. As a student, Nathaniel is not just a receiver of knowledge; he is an active contributor. Based on his credentials, there is no doubt he has a bright future ahead of him. He is a fine young man who is a credit to his family, friends, and teachers. For all of these reasons the Social Studies Department feels that Nathaniel Connors is most deserving of this month’s S.O.A.R Award.

Nathaniel Connors is December SOAR Winner

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Rahm Makes the Ballot

Posted on January 28, 2011 by billmanzi

Rahm Emanuel, after having been bounced off the ballot (for Mayor of Chicago) by an Illinois court, has been restored to the ballot by the Illinois Supreme Court. Rahm has led this race from the start, and is positioned to finish first in the preliminary election scheduled for next month. If he wins more than 50% he is elected, and he is knocking on that 50% door in recent surveys. Rahm is clearly a Chicago resident, and in my opinion deserved to be on the ballot. The Illinois Supreme Court was unanimous in its decision. A Rahm for Mayor video, featuring Bill Clinton, is attached.

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