City Council requests auditing LCAT
The Lawrence City Council has requested the State Auditor to audit Lawrence Community Access Television (LCAT).
In a vote last Tuesday, councilors voted 8 to 1 with Councilor Richard Russell voting NO, to send a request to Auditor Diana DiZoglio to audit the finances of LCAT.
City Councilor at-Large Ana Levy has been following through on the issues connected to LCAT and, after speaking with Auditor DiZoglio, she placed it on the agenda.
“Diana told me that she’s very willing to do an audit but she needs an invitation from the city council,” Councilor Levy told me. “With that vote, she will send a team to inspect and report on their finances.”
Last week, Councilor Levy had another achievement regarding the Government Channel that is in such a mess, as a result of LCAT’s abandonment of their responsibilities. The Council approved the purchase of new equipment to revamp the old recorders, cameras, microphones, etc. at City Hall and they should be here in about six weeks.
That expenditure will come out of monies received from the cable companies as part of subscribers’ contributions to the PEG (Public, Education, and Government) channels, not from city funds.
That reminds me of Abraham Lincoln when he said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
It has taken 19 years of battle but finally, something is being done.
Election mess and preparing for more of the same in November
The reasons believed to have skewed the Lawrence City Preliminary Election and expected to persist through the 2023 Municipal Election in November.
I have seen and heard comments from voters about their reasons for not voting and some about why they voted for someone. Some people claimed that they didn’t receive their ballot by mail. The ignorance continues.
What voters and residents of the City of Lawrence are seeing the adverse effects of Mail in Voting that the Commonwealth’s version, though not as harmful as other State versions of it, is legally flawed and directly impacts voter rights.
Let’s review the implementation of Vote by Mail provisions initially approved by the Legislature in June/July of 2020 as an emergency to address the draconian governmental lock down of States and the United States – coupled with the fear mongering spewed by propagandists that catered to voters who were house bound because of these policies.
The characterization of these policies is more a recognition of “how” and “why” they were put into effect than an editorial position.
There is little question that the pandemic was an opportunity used to manipulate and abridge Constitutional Rights including the right to vote. The first point is that “vote by mail” is intended as a tool to use to assure the election of those who share the ideological and political stance of others when necessary.
In short, voting by mail provides a means by which fixing an election may be accomplished. It is apparent that ballot tampering is not necessary in states already committed to one ideology or already ruled by one party; in Massachusetts there is little doubt that the democrat party carries the ideology and political stance reflecting the majority of voters in the state. In fact, opposing parties barely comprise 5% or 10% of those who vote.
The number of registered democrats or unenrolled members in the City of Lawrence comprise more than 90% of registered voters leaving virtually no opposition. The fact that the Lawrence City Charter declares that its municipal elections are “non-partisan” makes little difference since the ideological base of voters registered in the City of Lawrence are Democrats.
Candidates and campaigns seeking municipal office often advertise their party affiliation seeking an advantage with supporters and constituents. This year, Germinudy Rosario displays a “D” in her propaganda. Apparently, she has not read the City Charter.
With the ending of the COVID emergency, Massachusetts is going back to the way it was done before 2020. If anyone wants to vote by mail, it should be requested to the City Clerk in advance but voters will not get a request by mail asking if they want to do that.
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