Weekly Dig "The Somerville Files" - Part 4 (and last) now online

[ron_newman]

The final installment of the Weekly Dig series on Somerville politics is now online and on the streets.

Title is "The Man in the Mayor Suit". Short description: "For this last installment of the Somerville Files, the Dig looks deeper into Curtatone’s rise and tenure, and at the current state of city politics as he eyes the top office in the Commonwealth."

(Earlier discussions: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 3.1 "Update")

ETA 8/13: The entire four-part series is now in one place. That place doesn't include the "Part 3.1 Update", which you can find here.

Comments

[samcoren.livejournal.com]

*cricket chirps* - did any of you guys bother reading this? I thought this was the strongest of all 4 pieces. It's a shame it didn't get published before the ballot petition deadline. I'd say it's time to clean house at city hall and reevaluate the city's procurement process. I'm curious to know what other people make of this. There was a point where I too was a big fan of the mayor and somewhat proud of where Somerville was going the first few years I've lived here. But now it sort of feels like that time I realized that Walt Disney World was a pretty fake place and Walt Disney was actually kind of a jerk as a person. I'm sure I'll hear the "this happens in every town" arguments, but that doesn't mean what's going on is right and we shouldn't do anything about it.

[ron_newman]

Give it time -- the story has been online for less than 24 hours.

That said, I don't expect to agree with any politician, even one that I support, more than 80% of the time.

[pywaket.livejournal.com]

So, in other words: "sleazy, corrupt behaviour is ok if I mostly agree with someone". Because that's what it sounds like you're saying, Ron.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I did read it. It was interesting, but this entire series suffers from trying to make the mechanics of local politics "juicy", somehow.

My entire problem with this series and to be frank most of the discussion of local politics on here is that it's based on this weird idea that local politics are simple and there's a magical compromise that makes everybody happy, or that what this group or that group wants is the actual best solution to a problem. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is very few "advocates" are thinking about the entire picture; they want what's best for them, and that's fine, but it's very difficult to explain to somebody like that "Well, I understand your concerns, but there's also this and this and this to think about."

[amy-s1.livejournal.com]

I would imagine it's very hard to make real change happen with city politics getting in the way. If the mayor pulls a few strings, does one or two back alley dealings to get things done, that's fine be me if it's done legally, especially given the progress we have seen already. The biggest shocker for me is that he was a registered Republican??

[pywaket.livejournal.com]

Plenty of us were pointing out that he was a registered Republican back when he first ran for mayor. Apart from his connection to Stan Koty, it was the most worrisome thing about him.

I don't think he cares one way or the other. He just does whatever he thinks will get him what he wants. As far as I can tell, he has no principals other than "make money for me and my buddies" and "plaster my name on anything I can, because I'm a complete narcissist."

[ron_newman]

One of the Dig reporters, Tom Nash ext_2112425, left this comment, then deleted it. Since I consider the comment to be useful, I'm "reinstating" it here:

Thanks for reading, folks. If you haven't had the chance, all of the stories are in one place now.

(Actually that page doesn't include the "3.1 Update", which you can find here.)