Mayor Joe and the Aldermen

[cos]

Interesting exchange sparked by the recent appointment of a replacement to the Somerville Board of Aldermen:

Homophobia has no place in Somerville, and neither does favoritism [Somerville News]

Somerville mayor denies favoritism in backing alderwoman [Boston.com]

Comments

[ron_newman]

Not sure what to make of all this. I like all of the parties involved (Joe Lynch, Courtney O'Keefe, and Mayor Joe), but clearly some of them don't like each other at all.

(I also somehow did not know that Joe Lynch was 'openly gay' until reading this letter today.)

[samcoren.livejournal.com]

I used to like Curtatone before I understood the mechanics of his political machine - most of them which were uncovered in my work on the Beacon Street Reconstruction, and then other developments as I dug deeper. The BSR is interesting because the media portrays the parking squabble as a war between residents and the cycling community (and then later a rift between the cycling community itself) - all of this was welcomed noise to those on Highland Ave, no doubt, to distract people from some serious issues going on with the development of the project and a lack of a valid public process.

In reality Beacon Street is a microcosm for the fishiness going on behind the scenes at city hall, which Joe Lynch alludes to toward the end of his letter. When the investigative article gets published (it will) hopefully it'll make us all think about diluting some mayoral power in this city and transferring certain responsibilities to the BoA in the near future (perhaps making them FT positions as well...).

[ron_newman]

I understand that Beacon Street is contentious, and we may end up being on opposite sides of that issue. But in general I've been pretty happy with the public processes that I've participated in during Mayor Joe's administration, and the other improvements he's made for cyclists have been warmly welcomed.

[samcoren.livejournal.com]

Yes, a lot of cycling improvements have been made while he was mayor, but you should really take a look at the bigger picture. People get too hung up on their own pet issues and then of course have other things going on in their lives. Keeping tabs on local government is something that's only carried out by a very small number of people. We live in a world of tweets and soundbites and the Mayor lives in a world of ribbon cutting ceremonies. When there's something that can't be summed up in 140 characters people tend to ignore it. In this case, all you really have to do is follow the money - and that of course takes some time, and in some cases your own money, because of FOIA. I'm just thankful that I'm not the only one out there who has done some legwork - this should be a good read once it's published.

[samcoren.livejournal.com]

Oh how timely. Alderman White wants to limit campaign donations from developers - gee whiz I wonder why?

http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/news/x1039446426/Law-would-limit-campaign-contributions-from-developers-to-Somerville-politicians#axzz2U1wxuRHw

[ams16.livejournal.com]

I would love if someone explained why they have a problem with Curtatone, rather than hinting at it obliquely. Even in hypotheticals, if that's the issue.

I don't follow everything closely, but I do care.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall there was talk that an in-depth piece about Somerville politics was going to run in the Phoenix, but then they shut down. Any word on if that piece will ever see print elsewhere?

I wonder if that might shed some light on all of this.

[fefie.livejournal.com]

I'm patiently waiting for that article on Somerville political corruption to surface too.... I imagine it will shed some light on why "unusually high number of incumbent Somerville aldermen are stepping away from elective office" (excepting, of course, Tom Taylor's decision due to illness).

[ron_newman]

I'm wondering why the reporter, Chris Faraone, doesn't just take his story to the Weekly Dig and have them publish it. He has already published at least one other article in the Dig since the Phoenix closed.

ETA, for those who don't know what we are talking about here:

Somerville pols nervously await potential bombshell, by Ken Brociner, Somerville Journal, March 28, 2013

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

My guess is Faraone didn't find anything explosive or showy. I'm sure the piece would be of interest to Somerville residents, but the Dig doesn't really "do" anything outside of Boston and it's hard to think of a market besides the Phoenix that would run it.

Also, that column you linked to is one of the most ridiculous local news op-eds I've ever read in my life.

[ron_newman]

The Dig is widely circulated in Somerville, sometimes promotes or covers Somerville events, and has a partnership with Artisan's Asylum to make creative variations on Dig newsboxes.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Right, but they don't cover Somerville particularly heavily, that I've noticed. I could be wrong, I rarely pick up a Dig these days.

[ron_newman]

They don't cover anything "particularly heavily", at least not in the manner that the Phoenix did routinely. I'm hoping they step up their game now. This would be a good place to start.

[bluesauce.livejournal.com]

Unlikely; from talking to people I know at the Dig, they don't seem to be particularly interested(as a paper) in getting into politics; they're trying to stick to being a "lifestyle and events" weekly.

[ron_newman]

Faraone's latest for the Dig: BRIC-ED IN: WHY THE BPD DIDN’T THINK THAT TAMERLAN TSARNAEV WAS A KILLER

[bluesauce.livejournal.com]

Let me rephrase then; they don't seem to want to turn into "the free political weekly" and take over what the Phoenix was doing.

[ron_newman]

My source of info isn't solely that op-ed column in the Journal. There's also this, from the Boston Phoenix "Phlog":

Last words: Boston Phoenix closes today after 47 years, by Carly Carioli, March 14, 2013:

The week after that*, we were scheduled to run the first in a two-part series by Chris Faraone that he has reported painstakingly over a series of months with an innovative, ad-hoc investigative unit of Somerville reporters.

* meaning that this would have run in an issue of the Phoenix dated March 29, 2013

[blacktigr.livejournal.com]

Obviously, someone defunded the Phoenix so that this article couldn't be published. Or something. At least, that's what the conspiracy theorists would say, right?

[ron_newman]

You won't have to wait much longer. Chris Faraone tweeted this on Thursday:

For the record - I saw what that Somerville News motherfucker wrote about me. He should read @DigBoston next week. #mapoli

(I can't find the Somerville News article he's referring to)

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

Dang. And here I wanted that to be the new musical group sensation.

[cos]

I wrote that subject line to get this reaction :)

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

It's nice to see butthurt isn't limited to Internet message boards.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Hah, I got that, too.