Changes in the School Committee
Governor Maura Healy has signed off on the Home Rule Petition #H9058. We will soon begin to see the changes, and despite many residents’ complaints, the City Council is acting as if nothing is wrong. Yes, there’s something wrong when people that we trust give away our right to select who will represent us.
I am beyond disappointed and angry. The “new School Committee” is NOT constructive constitutionality.
I haven’t seen anything that allows for a mixed “appointed and elected” school committee – and there is no Massachusetts Constitutional provision that provides for it – which means it is contrary to the Massachusetts Constitution and cannot be accomplished by Home Rule Petition; it is required that Home Rule Petitions meet Constitutional standards.
I had a conversation with Mayor Brian DePeña and expressed my discontent. He told me his rationale for leading the council to approve this change. Unfortunately, his optimism is misguided by those riddled with self-interest. Others seem to be looking toward their own interests beyond the DePeña Administration.
That should have been a ballot question for the voters to decide. I don’t know what will happen now.
Speaking of ballot questions…
I’m bringing this up as a reminder because people tend to forget, and when some people are in power, they want to pull the wool over their eyes to achieve what they want.
I checked the City Council agenda for January 7, 2025, meeting and noticed that an issue that was brought before them on April 2, 2024, remains as Tabled. It was a proposal 133/24 to Allow the Retail Sale of Cannabis within Lawrence City Limits presented by Andre Colon
In 2016, the question asked the voters on the electoral ballot if that should be permitted, and it was rejected by Lawrencians by a large margin. The issue died right there.
Now, they are bringing it back, and I believe that when it was presented, the council members should have explained why it could not be permitted. CASE CLOSED!
But no, they tabled it because, at any time they choose, they can quietly bring it back and vote on it. We will find out at the grand opening of the first establishment.
One excuse I often hear is that “the young people want it.” Let them go to another city to buy it.
The City Council would not have the authority to approve or grant retail/commercial marijuana establishment licenses, which ultimately must be approved by the State. Considering the dirty trick they played on us with the School Committee, they probably are trying to find a way to repeal the action taken by voters.
The first council meeting of 2025
This meeting was only about one hour; nothing earth-shattering happened, but I had to laugh a few times.
The first thing on the agenda was the approval of minutes of the Regular Meetings of December 3, 2024, and October 16, 2024. Also, approve the minutes of the Special Meetings of December 17, 2024, and October 21, 2024. We know the minutes of these meetings DO exist. Why can’t they post them on the city’s website?
I know, I know. The Clerk’s office is short of personnel and spends too much time performing weddings. I believe the cost is $125 for each wedding, and they get to keep it. That’s better than paperwork.
Towards the end of the meeting, Council President Jeovanny Rodriguez announced that they had posted the translator position for City Hall. District F Councilor Marc Laplante asked the reason for this search, and Jeovanny was upset at his insistence on questioning the reason for the vacancy.
The other councilors were smiling because they knew Marc was putting pressure on the president to tell them why. Finally, Jeovanny said, “The contract ran out,” and Marc was satisfied with the answer.
The former interpreter Randolph Dominguez, 57, was charged in federal court in Boston with fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds and stealing Social Security benefits for over two decades.
Freedom comes to Facebook
People who have been victims of censorship on Facebook (like me) are happy again that they have changed their tune.
Meta will end its fact-checking program with independent third parties. The company said it decided to end the program because expert fact-checkers had their own biases, and too much content ended up being fact-checked.
Instead, it will pivot to a Community Notes model that uses crowdsourced fact-checking contributions from users.
Recently, one of our articles written by Tomás Núñez on violence was deleted just because they saw that word on an educational piece.
Next week, I’ll tell you why Councilor Ana Levy had to send a letter to the Attorney General’s office, the mayor, and the City Council regarding another violation of the Open Meeting Law. It was due to being denied the right to vote for the School Committee changes’ Home Rule Petition.
It is not the first time the Open Meeting Law has been violated, and Ana doesn’t hesitate to let the state authorities know what is happening in Lawrence.
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