Don’t let the council get away with it!
There are other articles in this edition regarding the mayor’s resignation and the upcoming Special Elections so I’m not going to dwell on the same issue. I do want to clarify why we are in this mess as a result of his leaving.
Danny has been looking for a job for the past two years and we knew that he wanted out of here before the proverbial crap hits. He has been going on interviews for lots of high positions, even those he was not qualified for such as the one at UMass because he has no experience in education. Of course, he was not considered!
Finally, we are getting rid of him but, like many who leave the administration or even move out of Lawrence, want to keep their fingers of everything happening here. Some have been known to remain as registered voters for many years. Dan wants to leave but he has certain conditions before leaving.
He has been meeting in his home with his closest supporters conniving how they would handle his departure including leaving Kendrys Vasquez collecting his salary now that he’s unemployed and giving nine months to his anointed replacement to campaign for a September primary.
The plan that came out of that was violating the rules stipulated in the City Charter requiring a Special Election to take place within 90 days. The Interim Mayor should serve for that period and it should be appointed by the members of the city council. In this case, the mayor decided that Kendrys should be the one, ignoring once again the Charter mandates. My interpretation is that he wants to keep his fingers on top of things. Why not Marc Laplante? He’s the best-qualified councilor to become Interim Mayor for the next 90 days.
Among the reasons mentioned for not having a Special Election is that we no longer have a City Clerk. That’s quite an insult to Richard Reyes! Just look at the last council meeting when they awarded $275 to Eileen Bernal for attending the council meetings yet, Richard, who will be taking the entire responsibility as Interim Clerk did not get a raise or stipend – and he works for the council, not the mayor.
However, the missing variable not being considered is the culmination of continuous attacks on the Clerk’s Office and Election Office for many years. It’s no secret how much this mayor has tried to fire Bill Maloney (probably to accommodate another friend) and the adverse consequences of these “attacks” resulted in his taking on many of the duties and responsibilities caused by the loss of staff.
When his retirement was announced at the council meeting last month, Councilor Laplante spoke very highly of his 29 years serving the city and adding something relative to the fact that he is leaving on his terms. I understood that he was referring to the way the mayor had threatened him for years.
This should not detract from the extraordinary the permanent staff who overcame the impact of reduced staffing and even the pandemic working through two weeks of quarantine when the coronavirus was contracted by the Election Staff in September 2020 and stepped up to assure all required election services were provided seamlessly despite the odds in favor of failure. The work of Richard Reyes, Dan Tavor, Ruben Perez, Lourdes Alvarado, Henry Checo, Carole Morin, Damarys Ruiz, and even the recent new staff members Lisbeth Perdomo and Jenniffer Jimenez must be applauded and highlighted for making the impossible – possible.
“The loss of any one of these workers at any time during the past 6 to 9 months potentially results in the failure of service provided by either the Clerk’s Office and/or Election Office or worse – a failed Primary or State Election,” Bill Maloney proudly told me after the November elections. “Yet, the extraordinary efforts by the staff to deliver required/mandated services remain unrecognized and unrewarded.”
Denying meaningful budgetary support and the failure to assure proper staffing for mandated Constitutional functions (elections) and mandated public services (City Clerk’s Office) through staff reductions and allowing positions to remain vacant for six months as a method of recouping funds lost on the payout of service was brought to a crescendo with the retirement of Assistant Clerk Carole Morin followed by the retirement of the City Clerk six months later. This is not a new development but a result of poor administrative policy and operation over the years.”
The question is whether or not addressing these matters now will reverse the impact of policies implemented over the years to allow a Special Election to take place as required by the City Charter.
The City Charter assigns the City Council to conduct and oversee elections while allowing the Administration to provide for staffing of the personnel the City Council relies on to implement functions that the Council is responsible to implement. The two functions become opposed if either branch of government decides not to meet its Charter obligations. However, it is the City Council that retains the ultimate authority in all respects.
This is not a critique of governmental operations. Far from it; it is an “observation”.
I don’t believe that the virus is a good reason for canceling the Special Election. We just had a presidential election and 58% of registered voters came out to do their duty. That was amazing! With absentee voting, mail voting, early voting, and in-person voting, it’s very safe taking part in this election.
The same goes for money. The mayor just borrowed $6 million this year and nobody knows where is being spent. Besides, he brags about having $15 million in the free cash account. We can easily take from there, whatever the Special Election costs.
The poorest excuse I heard so far is that the city will be going through the hassle of too many changes for this coming year but that’s not good enough. Let the people choose as the law requires.
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