From My Corner: October 15, 2021

Who’s the boss?

A few DPW employees were instructed to go to a certain address to discard truckloads of construction debris as a favor for a resident.  They objected to the order but were told, “Your boss told you to do it.”  The DPW Supervisor is Joel Chalas and the location for the pickup is the street where his mother lives.

They brought several truckloads of trash to the City Yard and it was quickly taken away.

I remember when Marie Gosselin ran into trouble for the same reason as a rental property and she had to pay back for the service plus a heavy fine to the Ethics Commission. But, things are different now with the current administration.

 

City emblem of vehicles

This is also nothing new.  The interim mayor has been going crazy buying vehicles (I hear at $50,000 each) for preferred employees to use as take-home cars. Lucky for him that our city councilors don’t care enough to enforce their rules because there’s an ordinance in the books that requires all city vehicles must display the city seal.

But, it’s not only the cost of the trucks and cars but the fact that they can go to the City Yard at the end of the day and fill the tank before they go home.  They don’t have to pay for the car or truck, gas, insurance, or repairs because they are city-owned.  How much would you say it adds to their line of benefits each year?  And I bet it goes unreported to the IRS.

 

A new Leahy School

I attended the meeting held about the construction of a new Leahy School last Wednesday.  It coincided with the meeting at the high school about the increased violence in the public schools so the attendance was low.

In this edition, we offer several articles to give you a choice on Election Day.  Please take the time to read them because time is of the essence and this is extremely important.

 

Violence in the public schools

During the recent meetings of the Public Safety Committee of the City Council, these are some of the comments heard from parents and school staff:

Parents and students are scared

Yesterday there were six violent fights

Another scary fight (captured by the news media today) at the close of school

Parents want to keep their children home

Teachers walked out together at the end of the school day

The administration is not listening. Their response is a press release that doesn’t include an emergency faculty meeting with the police, funding for additional staff, mental health services, and security.

The administration is responding with an unworkable punitive classroom lunch schedule that unfairly punished the 99% (the good kids).

The Union feels enough is enough. We are calling on the mayor to intervene for us and to work with us

Lawrence deserves no less

We are crying for help and we’re not being listened to

Kids can’t learn if they don’t feel safe.

Teachers can’t teach if they don’t feel safe.

The working conditions are the same for both.

 

And I wonder why, if we don’t have control of our schools, why the state doesn’t pay for the entire cost.

 

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