Marcos Devers for State Representative… NOT!
A few days ago, I received a colorful postcard from this candidate in the mail that brought back many ugly memories. Over the years, I have written many times about why Mr. Devers was deemed an absentee representative and should be voted out.
The message says he is a former mayor, but that’s misleading (I call it a lie). He only served three months as “acting mayor” after Patricia Dowling left to become a judge in Haverhill. He served for five terms in office, but luck was on his side because he never encountered real competition until Juana Matías came along.
He refused to participate in a debate with her yet was crushed by this newcomer.
So, yes, he served five terms, but they were not consecutive. Juana beat him in 2016, but by 2018, she had lost interest in the position and was looking for bigger and better things for herself. When she decided not to run for reelection, he got the job back—but not for long.
Marcos also found time to appear on radio shows many times during the week. His most common accomplishment, which he raved about, was taking credit for Chapter 90 funding from the State. That’s a formula the Commonwealth uses to grant funding for road upkeep and maintenance to most cities and towns and the legislators must vote on its approval. He had nothing to do with that, but people believed him.
One day, we were at the police station covering an important announcement, and he arrived late. His shoes were full of dust, and his legislative aide was holding a hanger with fresh clothes that he didn’t have time to change into. He was coming from a private job.
Another newcomer appeared in 2022: Lawyer Francisco Paulino, and Marcos was pushed out again.
This is not to suggest that I am supporting Mr. Paulino’s reelection. My contacts tell me he’s doing his job as he should, and his participation has been crucial to other legislative members. It’s up to you to discern the truth.
Anyone can search www.rumbonews.com and find out how many times I warned the public about his worthlessness. He was hardly ever at the State House because he was attending his engineering business. He made an appearance only at required general assemblies or committees that he belonged to and immediately ran out of the building.
This is one example of the things you would find:
From My Corner: April 8, 2019
Rep. Devers still doing nothing
One of those politicians that we must get rid of is Representative Marcos Devers. It’s been over three months since his swearing-in ceremony, and he has not drafted a single bill (zero, nada, zilch) and the only thing showing on his page during this session is three bills from six years ago that he never fought for. He keeps recycling them as if we are stupid. Well, maybe we are if we reelect him this year.
Committee to select a police chief
There are times when I don’t understand Mayor Brian DePeña’s decision-making process. Being the maximum authority in a city means that sometimes difficult decisions must be made firmly.
This idea of creating a committee to help select a police chief is to avoid the responsibility of criticisms later. Being the city’s leader, he must choose who will fill the position. Even the City Charter gives him that control:
Sec. 4. Executive Branch
4.3 Appointments by the Mayor. The mayor shall appoint at all city officers, department heads, directors and members of multiple member bodies for whom no other method of appointment or selection is provided by the charter, excepting only officers serving under the school committee, officers appointed by the Commonwealth, and persons serving under the City Council. Except appointments to multiple member bodies all such appointments made by the mayor, unless otherwise provided shall be subject to review and confirmation by the city council as provided in Section 3.7.
The mayor is creating controversy by granting so much input to the city council. The creation of this committee is only to satisfy his critics and reduce his responsibility for who will be chosen.
He should respect the voters by showing strength of character and power in his decisions.
Voter ID… at least
We are being warned about the dangers of having non-citizens voting in the next elections, and the nay-sayers don’t want to believe it. The blue states (those where the majority is predominantly Democrat don’t seem to worry about it. The fact that people are no longer requested to show proof of US citizenship is inconceivable.
Now, with automatic voter registration upon applying for a driver’s license, many may not even know what that means.
The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, recently said on television that they cleaned the voters’ rolls, eliminating 1.1 million names. Half of them had been dead for years, and the rest were not eligible to vote. It is difficult to know whether they registered by themselves or automatically through the motor vehicle registry.
The result is that they have been registered as voters. This reality could negatively affect this country.
The Massachusetts Secretary of State, William Galvin, refuses to allow cities and towns in the Commonwealth to ask for identification at voting time. As I explained in a previous column, that’s the least we should be able to do to ensure our elections are honest.
The Federal Government is no help, either. In 2021, the Biden administration issued Executive Order 14019, according to a report from Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation.
“President Joe Biden’s 2021 executive order directing executive branch departments and federal employees to use federal resources to get out the vote constitutes unlawful, potentially partisan interference in the election process. It is dangerous for government officials to use resources derived from taxpayers who hold an array of political beliefs to obtain an advantage over their political rivals in an upcoming election. Further, the executive branch has no constitutional or statutory authority to engage in voter registration and absentee ballot activities with only certain specified exceptions, none of which are relevant to the executive order. This executive order violates multiple federal laws and could cause members of the public interacting with federal agencies to feel intimidated and coerced.”
In February, the Biden–Harris Administration decided to mail “voter registration information to every person—more than 20 million last year—who signs up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.
The Administration also has decided to provide access to health insurance through the Affordable Care Act for aliens who are beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) administrative amnesty program.
Illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, dubbed DACA recipients, “are in the country illegally, and everyone who is being given health benefits through federal programs is also being told to register to vote,” von Spakovsky told The Daily Signal.
Tuesday’s ballots
The Secretary of State’s office made a mistake in mailing ballots to Lawrence voters. They reversed the order of the only contested race placing Marcos Devers ahead of the incumbent Francisco Paulino.
Upon hearing complaints from citizens, they sent a second ballot in the correct order, confusing many residents.
Voters can now use either, and they will be accepted.
This is to clarify that the error was committed by the Commonwealth, not by the Lawrence Elections Department.
Marcos Devers for State Representative… NOT!
A few days ago, I received a colorful postcard from this candidate in the mail that brought back many ugly memories. Over the years, I have written many times about why Mr. Devers was deemed an absentee representative and should be voted out.
The message says he is a former mayor, but that’s misleading (I call it a lie). He only served three months as “acting mayor” after Patricia Dowling left to become a judge in Haverhill. He served for five terms in office, but luck was on his side because he never encountered real competition until Juana Matías came along.
He refused to participate in a debate with her yet was crushed by this newcomer.
So, yes, he served five terms, but they were not consecutive. Juana beat him in 2016, but by 2018, she had lost interest in the position and was looking for bigger and better things for herself. When she decided not to run for reelection, he got the job back—but not for long.
Marcos also found time to appear on radio shows many times during the week. His most common accomplishment, which he raved about, was taking credit for Chapter 90 funding from the State. That’s a formula the Commonwealth uses to grant funding for road upkeep and maintenance to most cities and towns and the legislators must vote on its approval. He had nothing to do with that, but people believed him.
One day, we were at the police station covering an important announcement, and he arrived late. His shoes were full of dust, and his legislative aide was holding a hanger with fresh clothes that he didn’t have time to change into. He was coming from a private job.
Another newcomer appeared in 2022: Lawyer Francisco Paulino, and Marcos was pushed out again.
This is not to suggest that I am supporting Mr. Paulino’s reelection. My contacts tell me he’s doing his job as he should, and his participation has been crucial to other legislative members. It’s up to you to discern the truth.
Anyone can search www.rumbonews.com and find out how many times I warned the public about his worthlessness. He was hardly ever at the State House because he was attending his engineering business. He made an appearance only at required general assemblies or committees that he belonged to and immediately ran out of the building.
This is one example of the things you would find:
From My Corner: April 8, 2019
Rep. Devers still doing nothing
One of those politicians that we must get rid of is Representative Marcos Devers. It’s been over three months since his swearing-in ceremony, and he has not drafted a single bill (zero, nada, zilch) and the only thing showing on his page during this session is three bills from six years ago that he never fought for. He keeps recycling them as if we are stupid. Well, maybe we are if we reelect him this year.
Committee to select a police chief
There are times when I don’t understand Mayor Brian DePeña’s decision-making process. Being the maximum authority in a city means that sometimes difficult decisions must be made firmly.
This idea of creating a committee to help select a police chief is to avoid the responsibility of criticisms later. Being the city’s leader, he must choose who will fill the position. Even the City Charter gives him that control:
Sec. 4. Executive Branch
4.3 Appointments by the Mayor. The mayor shall appoint at all city officers, department heads, directors and members of multiple member bodies for whom no other method of appointment or selection is provided by the charter, excepting only officers serving under the school committee, officers appointed by the Commonwealth, and persons serving under the City Council. Except appointments to multiple member bodies all such appointments made by the mayor, unless otherwise provided shall be subject to review and confirmation by the city council as provided in Section 3.7.
The mayor is creating controversy by granting so much input to the city council. The creation of this committee is only to satisfy his critics and reduce his responsibility for who will be chosen.
He should respect the voters by showing strength of character and power in his decisions.
Voter ID… at least
We are being warned about the dangers of having non-citizens voting in the next elections, and the nay-sayers don’t want to believe it. The blue states (those where the majority is predominantly Democrat don’t seem to worry about it. The fact that people are no longer requested to show proof of US citizenship is inconceivable.
Now, with automatic voter registration upon applying for a driver’s license, many may not even know what that means.
The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, recently said on television that they cleaned the voters’ rolls, eliminating 1.1 million names. Half of them had been dead for years, and the rest were not eligible to vote. It is difficult to know whether they registered by themselves or automatically through the motor vehicle registry.
The result is that they have been registered as voters. This reality could negatively affect this country.
The Massachusetts Secretary of State, William Galvin, refuses to allow cities and towns in the Commonwealth to ask for identification at voting time. As I explained in a previous column, that’s the least we should be able to do to ensure our elections are honest.
The Federal Government is no help, either. In 2021, the Biden administration issued Executive Order 14019, according to a report from Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation.
“President Joe Biden’s 2021 executive order directing executive branch departments and federal employees to use federal resources to get out the vote constitutes unlawful, potentially partisan interference in the election process. It is dangerous for government officials to use resources derived from taxpayers who hold an array of political beliefs to obtain an advantage over their political rivals in an upcoming election. Further, the executive branch has no constitutional or statutory authority to engage in voter registration and absentee ballot activities with only certain specified exceptions, none of which are relevant to the executive order. This executive order violates multiple federal laws and could cause members of the public interacting with federal agencies to feel intimidated and coerced.”
In February, the Biden–Harris Administration decided to mail “voter registration information to every person—more than 20 million last year—who signs up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.
The Administration also has decided to provide access to health insurance through the Affordable Care Act for aliens who are beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) administrative amnesty program.
Illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, dubbed DACA recipients, “are in the country illegally, and everyone who is being given health benefits through federal programs is also being told to register to vote,” von Spakovsky told The Daily Signal.
Tuesday’s ballots
The Secretary of State’s office made a mistake in mailing ballots to Lawrence voters. They reversed the order of the only contested race placing Marcos Devers ahead of the incumbent Francisco Paulino.
Upon hearing complaints from citizens, they sent a second ballot in the correct order, confusing many residents.
Voters can now use either, and they will be accepted.
This is to clarify that the error was committed by the Commonwealth, not by the Lawrence Elections Department.
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