Congratulations, Mr. Kelley!
Stephen Kelley was honored during the St. Patrick’s Day luncheon for his work at the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence for over 50 years with the prestigious John Fenton Citizenship Award.
He should also be congratulated for having the courage to tell a selected audience of city leaders and politicians face-to-face what he thinks of Lawrence and the dangers children come across daily.
Mr. Kelley told them that when he grew up in Lawrence this was a very different city. There was no violence, no knives, drugs or guns in the streets. Today, Lawrence is a city of darkness and kids deserve better than that.
In the midst of the kidding and jokes typical of such events, Kelley got their attention and there was silence in the audience. Those are the people in charge of making the decisions that will make our city “better” yet, things are not happening and our children keep drifting into that darkness he referred to.
It is very easy for those community leaders to blame uneducated parents who are not good role models and offer no guidance. We have serious problems and looking for scapegoats is not the answer.
Violence in the city
Some city officials look the other way as a way of dealing with the growing violence in Lawrence. On a nightly basis, residents hear gun shots and, apparently, they are becoming part of the local scenery because according to the police department, people don’t call them to investigate.
Residents do call the radio programs when they happen and some even write about that on social media. Of course, most people don’t have access or knowledge of how this digital media works so they just go unreported.
Witnesses reported on the radio about a shooting outside of Broadway Liquors around ten o’clock in the morning that young people were shooting up in the air.
I spoke to someone who was in the area while it went on and another person who saw police cars and an ambulance responding yet, the police department never heard of it and there is no record of getting any calls. Then, last Friday night, a woman was shot but you won’t see any of that reported on the news.
Take a look at how police activities are reported by other cities and towns, particularly in New Hampshire, Salem, Plaistow and Newton. They are busy in those cities and it gets reported. The same for Haverhill; I think the governor should take back the million dollars he brought to Lawrence and give it to Mayor Fiorentini. Their police department is really stretched to a max and doing a good – at least it gets reported!
You may wonder if it is censorship but that is when it is imposed by the government. In this case, I think it’s called “voluntary news blackout,” and if is not published, people don’t know it and it never happened.
Unless you speak Spanish and listen to the local radio programs, you may have never heard of the many complaints residents air. It is their only vehicle to let people know of their desperation. The English-speaking community of the area is really deprived of local news. Many of them hate Rumbo for being “an alarmist” and even refer to us as liars. It doesn’t bother me because first they have to prove us wrong and a police report or a statement from the mayor doesn’t cut it! I don’t believe anything they issue when it comes to violence going down and crime decreasing in the city.
We have published websites outlining the crime rate and level of dangerousness in Lawrence based on several sources and it is frightening. There’s no worst blind man that he who refuses to see. Keeping quiet is favoring no one.
Inconvenient parade
There were many people unhappy with the St. Patrick’s Day Parade because the bus terminal on Amesbury and Common Streets was closed for service and the busses were stationed at the old train terminal on Merrimack St. and no one knew it.
This was not announced in advance and many residents as well as taxi drivers were upset for not being told that this change would be forthcoming. It may not be a big deal for most of us who never take taxis or busses but for those who depend on taxis to take them to the station to board a bus for Haverhill or Lowell, it represented a big inconvenience and extra expense. In many cases, they had to take another cab from Amesbury St. to the train station. They had to cope with the excessive traffic in the city and as a result, missing their bus. That could have been avoided if given notice to be able to plan accordingly.
Brilliant move, Mr. Mayor!
I’ll do it my way!
Mayor Rivera will never admit it but he must be realizing that he has sunk this community in enormous debt just for being impetuous and stubborn to the point of believing he is smarter than anyone else. He proved that when he moved the School Department from Essex St. to the basement of the old high school and rented space on a three-year lease at 60 Island St. for the Family Resource Center. He didn’t have a plan and acted in spite trying to hurt Carmine DiAdamo short of months before the lease expired.
His actions triggered everything else: The purchase of another poorly maintained building on Essex St. and borrowing 8 million dollars to buy it and remodel it in order to move the School Department and Family Resource Center back. Then DiAdamo sued the city and the court ruled in his favor. Now, the city (really, the taxpayers because it’s not the Mayor’s money) will have to pay him millions for the necessary repairs.
But DiAdamo has made an offer to the city. He wants $3.5 million which was discussed on executive session last week by the City Council and will be brought up at their next meeting on April 5 with a public hearing on that subject.
Perhaps, if the mayor had requested legal advice before making the first move, we would have saved lots of headaches and money, namely $400,000 for a study on the church building that he purchased and $500,000 in legal fees to fight DiAdamo. At this point, buying and renovating the two buildings at 237 and 255 Essex St. is the best way to go.
During the executive session Mayor Rivera said to the councilors, “You guys approved the purchase of the church building” as sharing the blame for the mistake. Well, District A Councilor Sandy Almonte took exception with that because she voted against that purchase at that time, the same way she voted against the purchase of DiAdamo’s building.
Former Council President Modesto Maldonado admits that he shouldn’t have voted for that purchase but blames the mayor for not providing sufficient information.
Taxing non-profits
Everyone is feeling the pressure of tax increases everywhere causing a domino effect in all other parts of our lives. One way to increase the cities’ coffers is by taxing non-profit organizations that traditionally and legally pay no taxes. It sounds like a good idea to shift the burden somewhere else besides the property owners but let’s reason things out.
Under the proposal pending in the Senate, cities and towns will be able to collect taxes from non-profit organizations which mean hospitals, schools, social service agencies, soup kitchens and churches. Imagine the effect on these entities if forced to contribute to their respective cities. They usually struggle to comply with a payroll and basic needs and that’s the reason for fundraisers and tax deductible contributions from all of us. They contribute in their own way by providing needed social services that would probably have to be served by their communities.
One way to increase revenue in Lawrence is placing more emphasis on recycling. If the city could sell more recyclables instead of paying to have them thrown out with the trash, it could lower the cost of trash disposal. How about launching a campaign educating the community about its benefits? We have three television stations in the city that could be used at no cost at all. Another good idea would be charging residents who don’t comply with this requirement.
You want money? Be creative!
Residency requirement – in NH
Some cities in the neighboring state of New Hampshire just passed a residency requirement and when we read about it, it sounds just like the reasons presented in Lawrence when people voted for it. There was a time when most cities in New Hampshire had that requirement but it is not known why it went by the wayside.
Plaistow approved its residency law with a vote of 605 to 597 and now the Town Manager Sean Fitzgerald who lives in Peabody, Massachusetts is hoping to be grandfathered by the Board of Selectmen.
Also looking to be grandfathered is Police Chief of Plaistow Kathleen Jones who has been with her department for 30 years. She admits that most of her officers live outside of the city.
The Town of Bedford also approved a measure 2502 to 699 that the town manager should be required to live in town. The main concern by residents favoring these measures is that those in charge of spending taxpayers’ funds should be required to contribute to that also.
Sounds familiar?
Board of Registrars
There’s good news from the Lawrence City Council. It is expected that during Monday night’s meeting of the Personnel Committee, Wayne Hayes will be nominated to serve on the Board of Registrars.
Wayne is best known for his efforts behind the Heal Lawrence movement, an organization helping residents who become victims of house fires.
Wayne is an honorable man who will bring good sense to that controversial group and will not be swayed by politics.
