Lawrence inauguration
There were not many surprises at the inauguration of the new crop of members of the city council because there was only one change and it is encouraging seeing that we have good representation in the Lawrence School Committee. I don’t know Rafaela Pichardo (District C) but I congratulate her for having the courage to run a write-in campaign. As a mature person, I’m sure that she’ll bring her life experiences to that board. Joshua Alba (District D) and Jonathan Guzman (District F) are young, fiery and outspoken which gives me hope.
We have been following Jonathan Guzman since he was at Lawrence High School as a caring individual who got involved in many community activities. We even dedicated our editorial to him on February 15, 2014. He founded the Humanitarian Club at Lawrence High School in 2011, with the objective of providing his peers with an opportunity to get involved in the community, hosting a Blood Drive through the Red Cross, a Bone Marrow Drive to Delete Blood Cancer-DKMS saving little Jerry’s life, a 5-year-old boy, who was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in 2012. He was instrumental in teaching other students the importance of leadership. For the past four years Jonathan was attending UMass and is back to serve his city.
We know the school committee doesn’t have any power since the establishment of the Alliance for Education and, as a result, no responsibility. Yet, Mayor Dan Rivera who served as guest speaker as suggested by Kendrys Vasquez, lectured them on power and responsibility.
“You have the power to get better lunches for students,” said the mayor. “We all have the responsibility to represent the whole city. Power is the easy thing to do; responsibility is what keeps you up at night,” Danny added.
In addressing the council, he said that, “Without the past council, we could not have the years of low taxes we had.”
The main part of the ceremony is when they raise their right hand and swear to uphold the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City of Lawrence so I spoke to District E Councilor David Abdoo, Chair of the Personnel Committee about Evan Silverio and Alvaro Perez who are serving illegally on the Lawrence Redevelopment Authority (LRA). I reminded him that state law and city requirements say they must be Lawrence residents. His response was that he’ll have to check with Marc Laplante because he is the parliamentarian.
As you can see, abiding by the law in Lawrence is selective.
There was something that bothered me at the beginning of the ceremony when Pastor Mercedes Martínez Arias of Iglesia Ministerio Evangelístico gave the invocation by reading a bible passage. Then, she introduced her husband (who was not on the program).
He did not have anything to read but spoke off the cuff complaining several times about the “divisions” in this city. Both Pastor Martinez Arias and her husband spoke in Spanish.
Then Rev. Christopher J. Casey, V.F. of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Methuen gave the Prayer for Public Safety in English.
City Clerk Maloney and the mayor spoke in English and the ceremony was in English as well, just like the National Anthem. Who was then creating the “division” that he spoke about?
Later I found out that Pastor Mercedes Martínez Arias is Kendrys’ mother.
Lawrence loses millions from HUD
One month ago I wrote about the Department of Housing and Urban Development regarding the funding for Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction Grant and the Healthy Homes Production Grant. The City of Lawrence was not awarded either grant.
Because I have so many questions, I requested under the Freedom of Information Act the most recent HUD monitoring done to Community Development but it did not contain a letter of denial and it had to be requested separately.
Meanwhile, the 155-page monitoring report I was sent did contain many Findings. There were many documents missing, income calculations that were inaccurate as well as costs and time sheets.
To make things worse, the city had to return to the Federal government $134,630.84 from the 2017 Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG).
On October 28, 2019, Robert Shumeyko, director of the Office of Community Planning and Development in Boston wrote to Vilma Martinez-Dominguez, director of Community Development in Lawrence advising her of 10 Findings in their August 14-15 onsite monitoring. She was given 30 days to respond with the corrective actions that had been taken or an explanation if she disagreed with his letter.
In a letter dated November 22, 2019, Vilma Martinez-Dominguez, director of Community Development wrote to clarify some of their concerns, gathering the missing documents and making corrections of numbers. We now have to wait for the final word with the reasons for the denial causing the loss of millions to Lawrence.
Parking around Museum Sq.
There doesn’t seem to be any progress going on with the Museum Square Parking Garage since it was shut down last summer due to crumbling conditions. There is no parking allowed on the streets surrounding the building during the day and people are afraid to walk at night, so the city is paying for a shuttle to run back and forth 24 hours each day to accommodate the tenants who are now forced to park in other places, mainly the Buckley Garage a few blocks away.
But during the past few weeks, several residents at Museum Sq. apartments have called me complaining about the cars parked day and night by the entrances with “No Parking” signs and on the grass around the building. What annoys them most is that police tickets them towing them away – selectively. Some have a secured spot through the night by the front gate.
I took some pictures during the day and some nights and sure enough, it was confirmed. Funny that one night I got out of my car for a better angle and when I returned, there were two police officers in a cruiser behind, waiting for me to get going.
Elections are coming!
Yes, we just finished one but this year, besides the presidential elections, we’ll be selecting local legislators, too. I urge you to check Representative Marcos Devers page at the State House. He has done zero for his district. He has been carrying the four items listed there since his first term in office and keeps recycling them to appear as doing something.
Marcos is always available for pictures attending public events and allowing his peers to include him as a courtesy when presenting a proclamation from the State House without deserving it.
He should return his salary to the taxpayers.
