The Recall
The affidavits are in, the suspense is over we can now breath. Rumbo was the only one covering the recall movement; this was done by the self-exclusion from the local paper, the Spanish TV station and the American Media who were favoring the mayor’s agenda. As a reporter I have to be impartial when reporting the news, however I would like to express my opinion of how our Mayor and his associates mishandled some of the process.
- The Mayor started the fight by fighting a process that by the Charter should be simple and the right of the voters. This strategy backed fired on him because by the time the recall had the right to collect signatures Election Day was here, giving the opposition an opportunity to collect over 2000 signatures on that day alone.
- The Mayor should have not challenged the recall groups 1 and 2 that they would not get 100 signatures. This made them angry and fueled them to prove him wrong. I thought the insults, accusations, slandering from the mayor were uncalled for due to his status in the community. But more important is that the city is being sued by numerous former employees that could add defamation of character to their claim. These accusations could be very costly in the long haul for the taxpayers of Lawrence. Engaging in tit-for-tat has never helped anyone.
- In my opinion the radio interview with Silla Caliente was a huge mistake and I told him so on the telephone. To this day I do not know what he was thinking. He sounded angry, unprepared, became unglued at times, and set himself open to be ridicule with his own voice for over two weeks on a daily basis. His YouTube message was worse, why is he not listening? He’s creating more evidence for people who are already angry at him. He dragged his staff to do political work during working hours to promote the do not sign campaign, while other city employees stay behind doing their work.
- The rally was a fiasco. Where was the staff helping to bring attendees? In any giving Sunday there are more people in Kendrys Vasquez’s backyard for a cookout than the attendees at the rally. By the way, Kendrys was not present at the rally but, had he rallied his relatives, it would have been significant. The Brides March had more people than the rally. Never have a rally with poor show. At one time someone should have brought the rally inside City Hall, and the pictures of the rally should have never been in FaceBook. Take the time to count the attendees in those pictures: There were not even 100, half of them city employees and many of them from outside of Lawrence.
- Whoever thought of using Lantigua’s video in Dan’s Facebook page should be fired. Why, why, why, didn’t anybody think that this action would bring Willie out? Copying his video message with the voices of Wendy and Zoila was not too brilliant, either. Such a smart crew and they couldn’t come up with their own medium. I am not a politician but I know that when in a political battle, you should always focus on you not others. Pulling Willie out of retirement was a MEGA Mistake.
It remains to be seen if the first Lawrence recall would take place and if money will win over community; if outside leaders will outsmart the Lawrence insiders; if political influence will outweigh the voters of Lawrence. However, Rumbo will be here to record the historical process for the community and the future members of this community.
Politics vs Money
Last week I mentioned the conditions of a section of Hampshire St. that was paved and later dug up for additional work implying that it had been done in time for Election Day only. Water Commissioner Brian Peña, was quick to explain the reason to tear up the road again and I think you should see it. He said:
“During a recent heavy rain event, the sewer manhole discharged a large quantity of wastewater into the streets above, backing up into people’s basements, flooding the area and exposing the residents to harmful bacteria and pathogens. Luckily, we have an engineering firm and on-call contractor that were able to quickly assist us in determining the cause of the event, design a solution, and execute the construction. The unfortunate part of it all is that a section of Hampshire Street impacted by this project had recently been paved.
“So, they had two options: Fix the problem and repair the road later or ignore the issue, allowing residents to be impacted by flooding and exposure to harmful pathogens (but at least they’ll have a nice road!)
“The choice was pretty clear; human health comes first when it comes to any options we face, so we elected to fix the problem, even if it meant impacting the new road.”
Thank you, Commissioner Peña.
Wendy Luzón on Facebook – ALL DAY!
I am not making it up; just check her Facebook page at any time and see how she spends her day. Anything having to do with domestic abuse, news from the Dominican Republic and wonderful philosophical thoughts fill her day at the office.
What’s a Gala Dinner?
That term is misused. The party at St. Mary of the Assumption Church should not have been called that way just because it had fine china and silverware.
By the way, it was a great celebration.
