Welcome to the wonderful world of Golden Boy Greg Morris
I received a call one day from Greg Morris’ neighbor who told me that the city’s DPW truck had been parked in front of his house all morning. I went by a few times and finally took some pictures that I sent to John Isensee, director of the Department of Public Works.
I know that Mr. Morris is just a laborer yet, he is the only one allowed to take a city truck home every night; not even supervisors are permitted to take cars home.
What puzzles me most is that if he had the day off on this day or didn’t go to work for any reason, why should that city truck be taken out of circulation when it could be used for other needs in the city by other city employees.
When I spoke to Mr. Isensee on the telephone he didn’t know if Greg was absent from work that day and had not seen my email with the picture of the truck in front of Mr. Morris’ home, trying to deny that he takes a city vehicle home. I explained that he lives near my house and I see it there almost daily, if I go by. Then I directed him to see my email and he said he would investigate. That’s the last I heard from him.
When the proverbial fan did its thing, I heard he found out that Mr. Morris went on vacation and ‘forgot’ the truck there and asked to send someone to pick it up.
But, that’s not all. City employees must pass a test from the Ethics Commission every year and as you can see in the picture on this page, Mr. Morris took it in February of this year; it should be still fresh in his mind. One rule is that they cannot work for any company contracting with the city while employed by the City of Lawrence.
Well, he has been driving a tow truck for Sheehan’s truck that has a contract with the Lawrence Police Department. I was trying for three weeks to get a picture of him driving the vehicle because I feel obligated to prove things like this beyond a reasonable doubt, but seeing that I was going to reveal the issue of the city truck for his private use, I decided to go and ask myself and Robert Sheehan confirmed it.
Greg Morris doesn’t believe in rules and respect for the law. This is the same DPW employee fired by Mayor William Lantigua for dumping snow in the canal, something forbidden by the Environmental Protection Agency. Then, on February 10, 2014, he was rehired by Mayor Dan Rivera to a position that was not advertised to the public and apparently, with special privileges.
Now you see why I call him The Golden Boy. Can you smell that something else could be in the background?
Before I forget it… again
I omitted last week a clarification on the story I wrote the previous week about the work New England Veterans Liberty House has been performing assisting veterans. I mistakenly credited the work to J. T. Torres’ business American Veteran Environmental Corp., a simple error deserving clarification.
Book Fair in Lawrence
I am always anxiously waiting for the International Book Fair in Lawrence because it is something that puts our city on a different level than most people are used to read or hear. Authors from all over the country and some foreign countries gather to sell their books and offer educational presentations on their area of expertise.
The Book Fairbegan as part ofSemana Hispananine years ago andtheRev.JoelAlmonó, pastor of GraceEpiscopalChurchhas beenan extraordinary leader heading it in recent years. As always, the selection of participatingwritershas beenofthe highest qualityand the declamationsand exhibitions theybrought weresomething thatmost of us Lawrenciansnormally do not have access to-especially for free.
This is achieved without money, dedication and unpaid work of a few dreamers and with the sponsorship of a few local businesses. It is of great joy to see how the Book Fair is growing in quality and number of attendees. Rumbo has always cooperated in every possible way and will continue as needed, especially now that it is being spread to our youth. The exercise was carried out at Lawrence High School with hundreds of students – future writers – emphasizes the need for further support.
The effort isTitanicand we havemuch to be grateful, so it is with great sadness that Ihave to offerconstructive criticismbecause I recognizethe work they havedone. This is usually interpreted as negative criticism which hurtsandthe normal reactionis denialand an attempt toexplain thereasons whythey happened, but you would think thatafter all theseyearshave managedto learn how.Apparentlynot. On the first nightin the198GardenSt.,the sound systemturned out to bea huge mess. Nothing was checkedbefore theevent anddid not workandthe same thing happenedthe next day attheSeniorCenter.
The microphones were virtually nonexistent and we could barely hear what was being said. And about the lights… What a mess! Instead of requiring that those in charge of the lights should remain stationed there to make the needed changes, they would walk away until the speakers asked for them to be turned on because they could not read in the dark.
There were theusualannoyingphotographerswho stand beforethe faceof the performersregardless ofthe publicor otherphotographers, but that is no faultof the organizers. I say thisonlyso they know theyshould not blockthe rest of thepublic.
On Saturdaynight, Ialwayslook forward tothe gala dinnerat the Masonic Temple, as it tends tobe a great evening. The food could notbe better! The restaurant El Pez Doradoshowcased amenu,better than ever.
Forthat event, Rumbo bought 11tickets that we shared withfriends. Asthe tableswere for 10, all they hadto do was putan extra chair, after all, it was a buffetstyledinner. (Yes, gala and buffetdinner shouldnot go togetherin the same sentence. Still I do not know why they are calling it that way.) Well,our table hadonly nineseats. I toldtwo of the organizersand their answer was to come and count them as if I wasmistaken.
This is just likethe HispanicWeek; no matter how manyyears they havebeen doing it, they do not havea checklistto ensure thatthe mistakes ofprevious yearsare notcommittedagain. Onethat I consider veryserious wassinging the NationalAnthem of theDominican Republicinthe closing ceremony having guestsofmany nationalities, like Lawrence residentswho are notonlyDominicans.
I cannot endwithout notingthe program book. I wonderwhat these literaryfigures think ofthat book full ofgrammatical errors. If on one handthis Book Fairpraisesour society, on the other it revealswho weareand it is notflattering.
We must learn to appreciate criticisms and take advantage of them, not just get insulted by what they tell us.
