Nothing changes in this city
When I read the article in The Eagle-Tribune about the conditions of the Kane Park, it brought me memories on that old school that seemed odd for this climate. They had many buildings and students had to go outside in all kinds of weather when changing classes.
It was in the mid-90s when the construction of the South Lawrence East School began. I worked for the school department as media facilitator at that time and we kept the community abreast of its progress with short videos in the school channel explaining the way it was being built and what it would look like when finished.
During the digging process, lots of bottles were found because there was a beer bottling company in years past and they used the site as wasteland. I learned a great deal about Lawrence history and one of them was that the beer company used the water from the spring that was running underground.
It was like a flashback and I wanted to know more about the construction of the soccer field that was later built and requested under the Freedom of Information Act copies of specifications for the project and the bid that was advertised as well as the name of who wrote it.
I was overwhelmed by the amount of documents I received and the fact that I wouldn’t understand the technicalities so, I sent them to James Patrick O’Donoghue, a well-known engineer who happened to be born and raised in Lawrence.
You will find what he sent back on page 11 of this edition. It is fascinating! Because it is lengthy and technical, it is only in English, although he is a sensible writer and used understandable language. He included a map of the area dating back to 1906.
The sad part is how little this government appreciates this city’s history. In an era of DNA and trying to find out more about our ancestry, the city of Lawrence erases traces of the past. Mr. O’Donoghue describes when the Assistant City Engineer Andy Wall was fired how many of the maps and documents were thrown out. Later, when Theodoro Rosario was appointed by Mayor Dan Rivera as City Engineer without being one or having any knowledge of the duties and responsibilities of that job, he discarded many more records.
Reading that article you will realize the careless attitude this administration has towards what’s important in Lawrence. There was no study done to warrant the success of the park and the construction company built according to the erroneous information given in the plan.
Yes, nothing changes in this city except to get worse.
Congratulations to Franklin Miguel!
He is one of the many lucky people working… no, earning a salary in Lawrence City Hall. People I talk to wonder what he does to earn $95,000 as Capital Assets Manager. True, he doesn’t spend enough time at City Hall because he is travelling most of the time.
He started in that position last summer and has taken vacations equivalent to three years of employment. Quite often he goes to the Dominican Republic and Toronto, Canada because he holds a position with the Consulate of that city. He was earning $3,500 each month but last week he got a promotion and is Youth Director representing the PRD (one of their political parties) for $4,500. This is done through the newly created Instituto del Dominicano en el Exterior.
Franklin is a lucky guy, indeed. Besides making money hand over fist, he received $49,000 as a gift from Community Development to do major repairs in his house and put his wife Laura Alvarado to work at the Elections Department as Bilingual Elections Coordinator. It’s a shame that she barely speaks English but it doesn’t matter, her husband is the mayor’s friend.
With his new duties with the Toronto Consulate, how much time would he have to work for the city?
He is not registered with the United States government as a member of a foreign government. If that was the case, he will have to report all of his earnings to the Internal Revenue Service and pay taxes.
Worse than all that is that neither one has dignity. Having all this information out in the community and pretend to play deaf is inconceivable.
Sickening!