The power of the office
The local daily English-language newspaper reported last Tuesday on a case heard in Haverhill District Court involving Police Officer William Green and Officer Ivan Melendez, stemming from an argument last May.
Officer Melendez, who was the “victim” in this case, did not show up in court and the judge dismissed the case but later that afternoon, it was reinstated at the request of Mayor Daniel Rivera.
That reminded me of a case being televised around 1960 when the Cuban tribunal found someone not guilty during the trials at the beginning of the revolution. Fidel Castro went on television in one his speeches lasting many hours declaring the courts had made a mistake and that he should be tried again. The man was sent to the firing squad.
Another lawsuit against the City
As the case of David Camasso was settled recently costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars and Lorenza Ortega’s case is schedule to be heard in February with the same expected outcome, Gilda Duran, former neighborhood planner under the Lantigua Administration has filed another suit against Mayor Daniel Rivera and the City of Lawrence for wrongful termination. Read portions of the demand on page 6.
Trip to Dominican Republic
Mayor Rivera had confirmed his attendance to the Chamber of Commerce’s Mayors Breakfast taking place on Friday, January 15th and only canceled it at the last minute upon being invited by NECC President Lane Glenn to accompany him to the Dominican Republic.
The mayor had no reason to be there since educational agreements are not set by government officials but educational institutions. President Lane initiated the trip and invited Mayor Rivera and State Representative Marcos Devers to join him and Dr. Noemí Custodia-Lora who planned to visit two additional schools. I have no idea why Theodoro Rosario had to cause that unnecessary expense to the city.
The proof that they were not needed for that purpose is that on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, Mayor Rivera and Representative Devers were on their own while President Glenn and Dr. Custodia-Lora were on official business. Of course, they were both available for the photo ops.
Dr. Clara Benedicto, USAD director of cooperation and international relations, accompanied the group the entire time. Dr. Benedicto was in Lawrence in August when the agreement was first announced.
Making Lawrence Better
One way to help make Lawrence better is by helping local businesses succeed. Shopping at our local stores is vital to their growth so, I wonder why Mayor Rivera shops so often outside of the city such as out of town liquor stores and flower shops. A good example is three purchases he made at Holland Flowers in Bradford: July 14, $149.19; December 4, $54.50 and December 11, $703.02.
Nilka and the Housing Committee
There are signs of discord in the Lawrence City Council and I fear that it will start disintegrating very soon. Last Wednesday night, Councilor at-Large Nilka Alvarez-Rodriguez walked out of the Housing Committee meeting because she accepted the assignment on the condition that she would be chairing it.
We all know that Nilka is not in the best of health. She said to be willing to make a sacrifice as long as she would chair it and made it clear to Council President Kendrys Vasquez. Instead, Vasquez advocated for Jeovanny Rodriguez to be selected and she refused to participate.
Human Rights Commission
I have reached my maximum level of frustration with this organization. They were supposed to have their monthly meeting last Monday, January 11, but couldn’t do it because of lack of quorum. One of their members LIVES in New Hampshire and could not make it!
I met with Chairman Asdrovel Tejeda on November 5, 2015 and he told me that he would ask the recording secretary to submit the minutes of the meetings available and nothing has happened.
Now, there are hardly any members available to meet (assuming they want to) and the mayor has not made any effort to appoint new people to that board. How can we get anyone at the Attorney General’s office or even the Justice Department involved? The administration prefers keeping that body silent by being non-existent and the complaints and abuses continue.
More embarrassment from Devers
Last December I attended a press conference at which time representatives from the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission brought $1.5 million to Lawrence General Hospital.
The meeting lasted from 2 to 3 PM and State Representative Marcos Devers showed up at 2:30, fashionably late, but the worst part was that he was there just for the photo shoot and began to check on his telephone messages, ignoring what was being said.
Notice how everyone was attentive, but him. At one point, the guest from Boston said something and called him by his name to which Devers responded, “Can you repeat that?”
Police Department news
…or lack thereof. We receive press releases from many police department around us and beyond providing all kinds of news, but never from Lawrence. Upon calling that Georgetown agency handling them I was told that, “They don’t have a retainer with us.”
It is comforting when a police department cares enough to spread good news and keep residents informed of things as they happen.
Commonwealth or State?
There seems to be confusion with the name of our Commonwealth of Massachusetts because it is not called a State.
Four of the 50 states in the U.S. call themselves a Commonwealth: Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Constitutionally, there is no difference between a state and a commonwealth.
Commonwealth originally meant a region governed by the people. During the American Revolution, the colonies of Massachusetts, Virginia and Pennsylvania declared themselves commonwealths. Thereby they signaled that they were no longer governed by the British monarchy but were an independent republic. At the time, Kentucky was part of Virginia. In 1790 when it separated from Virginia, Kentucky chose to retain the commonwealth moniker. When they joined the United States, they chose to keep the old form instead of using “state” as their title.
In modern times, the term commonwealth also refers to “a political unit having local autonomy but voluntarily united with the U.S.” Examples of these types of commonwealths are Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands.
