Get it straight, please!
(This section was published on January 15, 2014 but it’s worth repeating.)
Since Rumbo was created in 1996, our aim was to showcase the positive things in our community and serve the non-profit organizations that do so much to keep our people healthy, educated and happy.
We don’t chase ambulances or cover police brutality cases. We don’t have an investigative team or the resources it takes to probe situations. For that reason, we only cover the Merrimack Valley. We publish four times a month and that would make it extremely difficult to take current issues that may have new developments in a day or two. It’s just two of us doing something we are passionate about: Bringing good news to you all.
While Rumbo could be called “The Good News Paper,” I have this column offering my personal opinions on things where I tackle local concerns. This is not Rumbo’s opinion: That is the Editorial.
I know my comments are harsh at times but I try to remain respectful, not issuing personal attacks or calling people names. This column is also very clear offering examples or proof of my reasons for feeling that way. That’s why I am so saddened to hear people misrepresenting my words without reading them thoroughly.
Promises… promises…
Danny got me thinking the other day. Yes, the mayor but I’m beginning to lose respect for him so I don’t feel like calling him that way.
During the campaign he came on my radio show a few times and I did not hesitate to ask him questions that I could check later on to see if he was being sincere. He turned out to be just another politician who was willing to promise anything as long as he could be elected.
One of my pet peeves has always been his illegal use of a city car. Some people think that is petty and it is not the cost (value of the car, maintenance, insurance, etc.) that he is saving, but the fact that it doesn’t say anywhere that he should be entitled to one. Previous mayors have taken it, usually from the police department and people just looked the other way. I’m sorry, I won’t!
I specifically asked him during the mayoral debate at Lawrence High School, if elected, would he take a city car for personal use. His answer was in the negative and immediately he went back on his word selecting a car before he even took over.
I also asked him about using city property or equipment for personal benefit to which he emphatically responded that he wouldn’t. Well, two weeks ago I wrote about the way he disposes of the City Council Chamber and equipment for the benefit of his friends.
During the Chamber of Commerce’s Mayors Breakfast on January 17, 2014, he said that his “administration is above board.” He also promised that his administration will be hiring only the best qualified candidates for employment. Well, right after winning the November elections, he created a hit list and fired well-qualified individuals to accommodate his campaign workers who lacked the common sense to refuse acceptance of positions for which they were not qualified.
First it was Wendy Luzon as neighborhood planer who has no idea what the Community Development does. Then came Theodore Rosario, the agronomist serving as city engineer that is in the news often because the City Council eliminated his salary from this year’s budget to force the administration to hire a real civil engineer with the proper qualifications. The mayor is now trying to fire an employee who is probably doing a good job and transfer that salary to cover his protégée’s salary who remains on the job over the objections of the City Council.
Arrogance, total disregard for what’s right is what characterizes his administration. He is really doing things HIS WAY!
Personnel Committee meeting
I never thought I would say this but while watching the Personnel Committee meeting last week, I was wishing that Sandy Almonte had taken the night off. Of course, it could not happen because she chairs that committee and that was the night they interviewed Acting Police Chief James Fitzpatrick before being submitted to the full council.
She was worse than ever! Most of the meeting was spent with the Chief listening to her, not the other way around. She was telling him (and all of us) what a good job she did raising her children and the right way parents should do it. Had I been in the room a loud yell to shut up would have been heard but of course, it was empty.
