Another dictator in the making
On January 15th I wrote about Council President Kendrys Vasquez parking in front of his place of work, Mi Casa Adult Day Center, 333 Broadway in Lawrence without paying for parking.
He believes that a decal with the city seal affixed to both sides of his windshield means that he doesn’t have to pay to park. Some councilors have told me that the city seal entitles them to park anywhere for free. Others believe that it is only in city-owned parking lots.
So, I searched through City Ordinances and found something the council approved last August and which is shared here. Notice that it says, “Every City Councilor elected or appointed pursuant to the Lawrence City Charter shall be assigned a parking placard, allowing overtime parking without penalty only while conducting official City business.”
There are two things to know: The ‘parking placard’ is something similar to what city inspectors use during the day while they are doing city business and place it on the dashboard; not affixed to the windshield.
It says they shall not be ticketed (with that placard) for parking overtime. That tells me that they have to pay at the meter and if they are at a place doing city business and time expires, they will not be ticketed like the rest of us.
After I said that, his response to others (not to me) was, “I don’t pay attention to her.” In his usual arrogance he continued to park by the front door all day long. Just imagine if he’s ever elected mayor!
More parking perks for privileged ones
Kendrys Vasquez might be the king of arrogance but others are quickly learning from him. There are certain city employees with the privilege of parking in front of City Hall all day long without the bother of putting money in the meters. The pictures belong to Franklin Miguel and his wife, Laura Alvarado, the bilingual coordinator in the Elections Department, simply show their employee badge on the dashboard and nobody bothers them.
Patience, patience!
When Mayor Rivera appointed his half-brother and campaign manager Dan Mackland Rivera to a position paying $31 per hour as Working Foreman/Carpenter in charge of city properties, he had no idea what a hammer was. But it was a job and he patiently waited because the job he really likes is Parks Foreman which is now occupied by another mayoral favorite, Juan Tejeda as acting foreman.
People tell me how he proclaimed on his first day that he’s not going to do any work and has stood firm.
The mayor is in a quandary trying to protect both of them.
And, speaking of the mayor…
He has just returned from a two–week vacation but before leaving he made his usual evil deeds dismissing three employees.
In the Department of Public Works, Cesar Brea and José Encarnación were fired. Both are suing the city because, according to them, there was no good reason to do so.
The other was the Commissioner of Inspectional Services Peter Blanchette. For a long time the mayor has been looking for a way to do it. For the moment he was suspended indefinitely but we know that he will not return. I understand that Peter is the only one with the kind of license that the city needs; I do not know how that is going to be resolved.
