Herald article on mayoral candidate Rick Scirocco

[ron_newman]

Not many Davis Square folks read the Herald, but you might want to check out today's article on mayoral candidate Rick Scirocco. Not very flattering.

The preliminary election is Tuesday, September 25. Mayor Joe Curtatone (campaign website; city website) has two challengers, Scirocco and Suzanne Bremer, a Tufts University librarian.

Ward 6 alderman Rebekah Gewirtz (whom I strongly support) also has two challengers, Charles Chisholm and Bob Adams. The top two finishers in each race will advance to the final election on November 6.

[Edited to add links.]

Comments

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I may not like the Herald's editors, but they're good about finding stuff like this. Thanks for the link!

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

"Rebekah Gewirtz (whom I strongly support)"

Can you expand on why?

[ron_newman]

I think she's doing a good job of representing our neighborhood, is friendly and accessible, and puts out a great local newsletter. One of the challengers, Charlie Chisholm, ran a really sleazy, racist, anti-immigrant campaign against Jack Connolly years ago.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

"I think she's doing a good job of representing our neighborhood"

Can you expand on that?

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

Not a "vote for her over all other candidates" comment, because I just don't know enough about any of them, but when I first moved here a couple of years ago and contacted her about something (parking I think), she was friendly, responsive, and helpful. She researched my question and got back to me quickly and reassuringly. So that was a positive experience.

[billharnois.livejournal.com]

I 2nd this. I've contacted her about a few random things, and she's always very responsive and friendly.

[koloratur.livejournal.com]

Thirded. I sent her an email with some questions, and she responded within a day.

[abilouise.livejournal.com]

I wonder who these local progressives are that he says he won support from?

[ron_newman]

I wonder that too. At last month's PDS endorsement meeting, I believe Scirocco was the only candidate for any office to receive zero (0) votes. Nobody was very impressed by his claim that a casino in Revere would increase tourism in Davis and Union squares.

[magpie-leah.livejournal.com]

Just cuz some people asked Ron why he supports her, I thought I'd give my palrty 2 cents. :)

I've found Rebekah to be really involved in the community. I've never met a busier person -- She seems to work all day and then attend some sort of community meeting every night. And when I went to her with a Davis Sq-related issue of my own, she was extremely responsive and helpful.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

Here's the thing: folks say nice things about her, but they're always really vague nice things. I understand that she does one of the key parts of the alderman job (helping residents resolve city issues like filling in potholes or fixing streetlights), but all of the aldermen do that, as did her predecessor. I've always found Somerville city employees or elected officials to be accessible and helpful.

But what concrete achievements has she accomplished in her time in office? What makes her better than the other folks running for her spot?

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

< vague>I like Rebekah a lot and have found her quite responsive and thoughtful.< /vague> For example, when the enforcement of the 48 hour parking rule became an issue, she had a thoughtful conversation with me, and apparently a lot of other people too, about possible solutions. She understood the problem from several points of view and was thoughtful about proposed solutions, including unintended consequences, and realistic enough to know that some solutions, zoned resident parking for example, would never fly. In the end, I think the parking department was asked to issue these tickets only if a resident complains which, while not ideal, is a good compromise.

As far as I know, there have been no development disasters in Davis during her tenure, and quite a progression of locally owned businesses like Poor Little Rich Girl replacing a chain in a big Elm St. storefront, and Magpie and d squared moving Highland which, I hope is a sign of things to come for that block, Sagra and La Spina opening, etc. She's eminently approachable in a way that Jack, who accomplished great things for Davis and is generally a good guy (with the exception of the most recent campaign, perhaps), isn't.

What more would you have from a first-term small-city alderman? The top of my personal list is renovation of the library on College ave., but that will require real money (>$1 million, I'd imagine) and I'm willing to give her a little more time to build some political capital.

I haven't done my homework on the other candidates yet, so I can't say for sure that I'm voting for Rebekah in September and November, but I'd say she's done a pretty good job so far.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

"As far as I know, there have been no development disasters in Davis during her tenure"

So you were OK with how she handled the CVS (started before her term) and Someday Cafe (which happened during her tenure)?

What chain store did PLRG replace? I can't remember what was there.

"She's eminently approachable in a way that Jack, who accomplished great things for Davis and is generally a good guy (with the exception of the most recent campaign, perhaps), isn't."

How was Jack unapproachable? I've heard that before, but I know constituents who called him at home in the evening and he dropped what he was doing to help them out. Is this an e-mail vs. telephone thing? Or is it that you're more comfortable approaching a young woman rather than an old guy? I don't mean this as a slam: I'm trying to understand why people say what you're saying.

[ron_newman]

CVS was approved and permitted before Rebekah took office, so I don't see what she could or should have done about that.

Poor Little Rich Girl replaced West Coast Video.

I generally found Jack Connolly quite approachable.

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

So you were OK with how she handled the CVS (started before her term) and Someday Cafe (which happened during her tenure)?

Um, yes, more or less. As you say, CVS was essentially a done deal before she got there so what was she supposed to do? Furthermore, CVS is far from the worst thing that could be there. While I would have preferred a different tenant (say Trader Joes [yes, I know there's not enough parking but a man can dream]) that wasn't in the cards. A local store certainly would have been better, but I can't think of a local store which could guarantee enough income to the landlord over a long enough time to make the renovation practical. You need an anchor tenant who isn't going to go out of business in order to get a bank to loan you the money to renovate. The office building with the bricked-in arcades previously at that location was no great architectural or cultural masterpiece either. Perhaps they could have put in a hooters-for-hair instead :)

As for Someday, how can you blame Rebekah? Gus is the one who "forgot" to renew his lease, and, as I understand it, she tried unsuccessfully to help the employee collective find a new space. In the end, I miss Someday a lot, mostly for the Toscannini's, but certainly don't blame it on Rebekah. in addition, the current tenant isn't so bad, is it? Maybe a bit less grunge than Someday, but a good addition to the neighborhood. Now if they'd just bring back the waffles, I'd be in there all the time.

What chain store did PLRG replace? I can't remember what was there.

The West Coast Video pit of despair. By the way, props to the landlord there who has PLRG, Jimmy Tingle's and one other local business that I can't remember. I think he's going out of his way and perhaps sacrificing (short-term) profits to keep it local.

How was Jack unapproachable?

I didn't say he was, just that Rebekah is [b]more[/b] approachable [b]to me[/b]. Maybe it is an email vs phone thing or a generational thing, I don't know, but I probably chat with her two or three times a month just out on the street. She proactively lets me (personally) know what's going on, and remembers what issues I'm interested in and invites me to the appropriate meetings (not that I make it to most of them). I see Jack around but don't really chat unless there's a specific issue and, despite having sat at a table with him on multiple occasions, don't have a sense that he remembers who I am from occasion to occasion.

Finally, one of the main reasons I voted for Rebekah in the first place is that, while out canvassing, she personally spent 45 minutes at my kitchen table talking politics with me and my wife.

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

Can someone tell me how to edit my own posts?

[ron_newman]

Sorry, you can't edit a comment once you've posted it. All you can do is delete it and post again. (But please don't delete it!)

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the email v. phone/in-person thing is an issue. I have no problem with Rebekah (though we've never had a conversation), but I can say that all of my dealings with Jack have been great. I found him to be a very approachable guy who cares hugely about Somerville.

They are certainly of a different ilk, which is just fine. I think a mix of good people is a good thing.

the library

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

It would be oh, oh so nice for there to be a handicap/stroller ramp leading down to the side door to the basement. I think it could be done in a way which wouldn't seriously impact the appearance of the building. All it would take is a whole bunch of money....

Re: the library

[ron_newman]

But to really make the building fully accessible, it also needs an elevator (so people can reach the second floor). Air-conditioning would be nice, too.

Re: the library

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

Yeah. However, the second floor is older books, and when I was in there one day with a sleeping baby in a stroller, they offered (apropos nothing) to go up and retrieve anything if I needed it. That's far from perfect, but since it's such a small library, half the time you have to request what you want to be transfered from another branch anyway.

Downstairs, there's the kids section, and the tables where people meet for stuff (there's a knitting group I've seen, for example). That seems like a priority for accessibility.

[shana-lyons.livejournal.com]

First of all, Yea! Politics! One of the things I don't love about Somerville is how hard it is to get hard facts about where politicians stand on issues. I feel like all we get are catchphrases like "I support smart growth" vs. actual policies to judge politicians on. So, Ron and Leah's comments are helpful. Responsiveness does count!

That said, I'm not sure I need to learn too too much about Mr. Sirocco's policies. Four separate restraining orders by four separate women probably gives me a pretty good idea of how he handles conflict.

scirocco

[davelew.livejournal.com]

I like the part where he says that he didn't hit all those women, he was set up, in the same way, by four different women on four different occassions.

That's kind of like saying "I'm not evil, I'm gullible." First of all, I don't believe for one second that four different women concocted four different stories to get four different restraining orders aginst him. Second, how is being gullible enough to fall for four similar scams a good quality for an elected official? "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me four times, shame on the women who just use restraining orders to get what they want in court."

If you're going to give a lame excuse that nobody believes, why not at least make it a valid excuse?

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Hah, what an asshole. I guess he's close to what many people think of when they think of (non-davis) Somerville though.

[ron_newman]

I hope that's not true. This and this and this are "non-davis Somerville" to me.

[eastsomerville.livejournal.com]

Here's what "many people" think of Davis:
Davis was hip 10-15 years ago. Now it's trust-fund preppie boys (and girls) and chain stores. (And Ron Newman. Recent postings on this community indicate he may still be there.)

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Ron Newman is the real Mr. Davis

[billharnois.livejournal.com]

I don't get it when people say that Davis is a bunch of chain stores. I think the non-chain stores/eateries far outnumber the chain stores.

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

oh nooooeees! a sock puppet who apparently speaks for "many people" insulted davis in a bewilderingly random and inaccurate way! *cries*

[ron_newman]

We are getting a CVS, Boston Sports Club, and Chipotle soon ... but I'd still say the non-chain and small-local-chain places predominate.

[billharnois.livejournal.com]

And thankfully these are all good/useful chains. At least they are not banks or Gaps and Abercrombies.

[xjustquietx.livejournal.com]

Those people must have only stepped foot in the Joshua Tree. Which is, in my opinion, the most un-Davis-y place in Davis.

I love Davis, but I do have a million things I could criticize about it. Trust fund babies (something someone who lived 10 years in No. VA would know about) is not where I'd start. That description sounds more like Harvard Square.

Not that "many people" aren't entitled to their opinion, I just think they're misinformed.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Agreed

uhhhhhhhhh....huh?

[grateful1311.livejournal.com]

do you really think people outside of Somerville think Scirocco is the poster boy for native Somerville residents? uh...i might take offense to that.

Re: uhhhhhhhhh....huh?

[grateful1311.livejournal.com]

matter of fact, i do take offense to that. What exactly is non-davis Somerville? Please elaborate other than comparing it and the people who live there to a f-ing abusing peice of crap.

[thegecko.livejournal.com]

“I’m not an abuser,” Scirocco said. “Women use (restraining orders) as a tool to get exactly what they want in the courts.”

Wow, he might as well have just said, "i'm not an abuser, they all got those black eyes from walking into a wall."

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

Door knobs. You get black eyes from hitting door knobs. You get other contusions from being hit by doors or falling down stairs.

[nonnihil.livejournal.com]

Gosh, and here I thought his only problem was that he couldn't form a complete, comprehensible, responsive sentence on a questionnaire (http://www.pdsomerville.org/elections07/mayor-scirocco) to save his life.

As goeth grammar, so goeth the morals it seems.

[shana-lyons.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, nonnihil, you're right. The grammar is atrocious. I wonder if he went to our public schools? If so, I'm sure his English teacher is cringing right now.

Ok, I guess it's down to the current mayor or the Tufts librarian for me. I actually think our current mayor is doing a fairly decent job, so my general inclination is to vote for him. But, I could be swayed if someone else turns out to be good.

[ron_newman]

He didn't do much better with the Somerville Journal anti-poverty questionnaire or the Dog Owners' questionnaire.

[ece-drihten.livejournal.com]

Scirocco's website: richardscirocco.com (http://www.richardscirocco.com)

[ron_newman]

Link added. Thanks.

[rax.livejournal.com]

Chisholm: http://chisholmwardsix.com/

Adams: http://www.somerville.com/viewprop.php?pid=83

[ron_newman]

I'm adding the Chisholm link now, but the Adams link does not work.

[rax.livejournal.com]

Huh. It works for me (firefox 2, OS X 10.4) but you can also click through from the front page of his realty webpage, http://www.somerville.com/ .
(His campaign page is actually a house listing on his realty page...)

[ron_newman]

Works for me now, so I'll add it. Last night I was getting an immediate "Can't connect to server" response from it.