D.C. wants to be a State
When the District of Columbia was created, it was decided this small area was to be the central government of the country or federal district, not just another State. Through the years, people living in D.C. have been complaining because they pay the highest taxes without proper representation in Congress or the Senate. They didn’t even have the right to vote for President and Vice President until the 1964 elections.
There’s a push now to make D.C. the 51st State but it’s not that simple. Since that area was carved out for that purpose following the Constitution mandates, the only way to change it is by changing the Constitution – which is nearly impossible.
Why am I telling you this? Because on July 7, voters elected Joel Caston who has been incarcerated for murder since 1994 to the District of Columbia’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions advising the local government on neighborhood issues such as police protection, parking, zoning, liquor licenses, and trash collection.
Perhaps the Congressional leaders who will be in charge of making those changes should carefully judge the intelligence of those voters.
If you hear that…
Rumors are going around that I’m out in the community visiting businesses asking certain questions. It’s true. When I write something, I make sure that I do my homework and don’t rely on what others tell me: I do it myself.
Anyone who wants to cooperate in confidence with the truth of what’s happening, feel free to call me. Sorry, I don’t promise to give you anything in return but a city that fights corruption. My biggest obstacle is the lack of courage in this city.
Take a look at this picture of a Brian DePeña’s sign. He was “asked” to remove it and he meekly took it down. Inspectional Services told him that Kendrys thought it was too close to City Hall.
Councilors keep hiding from us
What would it take to force the City Council to meet in person? They are too comfortable at home while we remain in the dark on so many issues. Everyone has returned to normal not wearing masks, going to concerts, Broadway has reopened in New York, the 4th of July was celebrated as usual and even those councilors are participating in political gatherings shoulder-to-shoulder in large groups.
Just imagine if we had been able to yell to all of them, TRAITORS! They passed the city budget without any effort to reduce it in any way or cancel any of the increases granted to employees, some of who didn’t deserve them. But we couldn’t because they shut their computers off the moment the meeting ended and went on with their lives.
We are facing huge financial problems in the next few years and Kendrys is acting as if he has a bottomless pocket to pick from the public. But remember: Blame the City Council because they play his game.
You’ll find here the presentation made by Richard Russell during the Zoom public participation on the July 6 meeting. It’s important to show it because when he started criticizing them for not meeting in person, somehow the audio was cut and we didn’t hear it.
Richard Russell, July 6, 2021
I am posting my comments that I gave during the public participation of the city council meeting because I understand that because of ‘some sort of technical glitch’, the tail end of my comments were not available to the public watching on the city council FB channel. I do understand that my comments were heard in their entirety, by the members of the City Council that were in attendance.
My comments at public participation:
Good evening Councilors, my name is Dick Russell and I reside at 34 Cross Street in the city.
First, several tips of the hat: 1st one goes to the city councilors and their spouse that took the time to attend the 15th Annual Old Fashioned 4th of July Celebration at Heritage Park on July 4th; 2nd one goes to a city councilor that took the time to attend the IVCS luncheon yesterday at IVCS HQ on Blanchard Street; and lastly a big hat off to all that helped takedown, for another year, the 776 flags on the Common that represented the number of fallen residents of Lawrence in various military actions. The thanks go out to the LDPW, the LPD, several senior citizens that cut going to ‘The Center’s Exercise class’ and volunteers from IVCS. Flags and ground stakes were removed and transported for storage to the LDPW yard on Auburn Street.
Now to the serious stuff: Sections 24 (a through e) of MA Senate bill 2475 does not require the city council to hide behind virtual meetings.
If city councilors can attend political fundraisers and travel out of the country, then why can’t they face the citizens of Lawrence in the council chambers? Those of us that attend these meetings are for the most part, properly vaccinated and tested.
On occasion, a councilor will bring up the value of having hybrid meetings. My thoughts on hybrid meetings are “HALF PAY for HYBRID MEETINGS!” If I can’t see you at the council desk, how do I even know that you are even in the city or country?
In closing, the phrase “Half PAY for HYBRID MEETINGS’ would make for a great campaign slogan for someone!
As always, thank you for the time.
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