July 23, 2006
Cox's Sayonara
Tuesday night will be John Cox's final City Council meeting as city manager. On Friday, the Cox's six year tenure will be over, paving the way for new City Manager Bernie Lynch.
What can we expect in Cox's final appearance?
First, there should be a big crowd of his supporters on hand to hear Cox's farewell speech. I expect it to be short and sweet followed by thunderous applause.
Second, because it probably will be an emotional night for Cox, his family, and friends, I'm guessing that most anti-Cox councilors won't even show up. Of course, I hope councilors do show up to conduct the people's business. And I also hope the Cox crowd shows respect for Lowell's elected officials.
Third, there will probably be no mention of the $290,000 investigation into the Stoklosa Middle School. This was a constant theme of the anti-Cox council - Eileen Donoghue, Jim Milinazzo, Rodney Elliott, George Ramirez, Kevin Broderick, Mayor Bill Martin - over the past six months when the hunt was on to go after Cox. But since Cox announced in April his departure date, and the release of a report from the contractors' bonding company showing how funds were spent on building the three missing classrooms, not a word has been uttered. This issue exemplifies the height of hypocrisy in the anti-Cox crowd. It voted overwhelmingly to give Cox the authority to do all he could to get the classrooms built and when he did it, he was pilloried. The council's biggest beef is that they didn't give approval to spending $290,000 - that Cox did it on his own without consulting them. This is true. However, Cox interpreted the council's vote as authority to act quickly and resolutely, which he did. In fact, the classrooms came in under budget. The original emergency estimate was $400,000. The city got the job done for $290,000.
There's a lot of hair-splitting on this issue. The way the council handled this matter, however, sticks in the craw of Cox supporters. The council implied that Cox engaged in fiscal hanky-panky which was never the case. And they fostered that perception to make a case to get rid of him.
Fourth, Cox will leave with his head held high. He won't disparage the council or his enemies. Expect him to praise the council, city workers and the citizens of Lowell for giving him a great opportunity to manage the city he loves.
Fifth, there will be a sigh of relief from the council, if they all show up, when the night is finally over. And that goes for Cox too. The past three months have resembled an endurance test in discomfort for both parties. Cox and certain councilors have a mutual feeling of disdain for each other (that's putting it mildly) and trying to put on a good public persona on Tuesday's nights has been difficult. I must say Cox has handled himself well and the council has been equally professional and dignified.
If you have any thoughts on Cox's tenure and his farewell, whether good, bad or somewhere in between, send them along. Here's another question to ponder: Does Lowell have a leadership void?
Posted by JimC at 2:12 PM | Comments (13)
Shamrock Fizzles
It was a disappointing day at the races. Purple S Shamrock finished fourth in the mud at Suffolk Downs, beaten by four lengths. The colt, after a strong start, look like he fishtailed down the stretch over the deep muddy surface. His chances were compromised by running outside his competitors for the entire race. The Friendly Ghost won the $12,700 purse over Burley Man. This was Shamrock's third race of the month. He'll likely be given some extra time off to regroup in the G-Biscuit Stable. With his $700 in earnings on Saturday, Shamrock has now won $104,800 lifetime. His younger brother, Purple Pirate, is expected to make his career debut in mid-August.
Posted by JimC at 8:07 AM
July 22, 2006
Shamrock Alert
OK, G-Biscuit Stable fans, you asked for it and here it is. Purple S Shamrock is entered in a $12,500 claiming race at Suffolk Downs today (Saturday, July 22.) The 4-year-old colt is in the 6th race. Shamrock is coming off a wire-to-wire score on July 11 and is fit for this 6 furlong challenge against five other contenders. Shamrock has won three of nine starts this year, earning $34,000. If he kicks to the lead, he'll be tough to beat. My only fear is that Shamrock has shown a tendency to slack off after a big win. In the racing game it's called a "bounce." But the big colt is clearly the class of the field. His main competitors are The Friendly Ghost and Wire Whip. I'll post the results tonight. I'm off to the races!
Posted by JimC at 10:39 AM
July 20, 2006
Newt Gingrich and Middle East Madness
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Judging from Israel's response to terrorist raids and attacks, I can envision there is a national will to get rid of Hamas and Hezbollah once and for all. So this conflagration could expand beyond Israel and Lebanon to Syria and Iran..
I don't like the smell of it, because I don't think the U.S. military is in a position to deal with a wide open war front in the Middle East. And if Iran really does possess nuclear armaments, those Shiite whackos could start WW III.
Listening to Newt Gingrich the other night on CNN, the former Republican House Speaker didn't thnk WW III is such a bad thing. Gingrich said European and Arab nations have done little to reign in these terrorist organizations that are committed to destroying Israel and America. It's time to take them out once and for all.
It's easier said than done. But I get Gingrich's point. Somewhere along the line, there is going to be a major battle between the civilized, secular world and the demonic, religious fundamentalist world. This might be it.
One thing I do know is that Israelis must be at the breaking point. They living in a democratic country surrounded by Muslim nations that are sworn to eradicate the Jewish state at all costs. Israel can never let its guard down against the Arab world. Just imagine if Mexico and Canada had the same notion to destroy America? It would be an intolerable situation, for sure. At the same time, it is heartbreaking to see Lebanon's civilians centers crushed and innocent people dying. Of course, the media is reporting that hundreds of civilians are dying in Israeli missile strikes, although no one can really know for sure if these people weren't Hezbollah sympathizers. The terrorists have mounted rocket launchers in the middle of civilian centers, leaving Israel little recourse but to eliminate them and destroy Lebanese infrastrucutre.
Some European nations, including France and Russia, have condemned Israel for its "disproportionate" response to Hezbollah's border ambushes and kidnappings of two Israeli soldiers. (I'll yawn here). This always happens. Just as Israel gets close to putting Hezbollah in a chokehold, France, Russia and others come out of the woodwork pleading for a ceasefire. The United Nations is good at this game too. It's serves to gaurantee Hezbollah's survival to regroup and fight again.
It might not work this time, however. Unfortunately, Arab nations that have privately condemned Hezbollah for instigating Israel are now fearful of looking weak for not coming to Lebanon's aid. Even Iraq, which is supposed to a U.S. ally, is jumping ship and supporting Hezbollah. A lot of good all our sacrifice and blood has done in civilizing Baghdad leaders, huh? The problem is that the Shiites of Iran, who support Hezbollah, are reaching out to the Shiite majority in Iraq. Religion is all that matters, not the larger interest of the region.
This presents a failure in more ways than one. First, Hezbollah was given the right to participate in Lebanon's attempt to form a democratic government. The terrorists were given a seat at the table, so what do they do? Without government sanction, Hezbollah took it upon itself to provoke Israel. The weak Lebanese government has no power - or army - to control the militants, leaving its people and infrastructure vulnerable to Hezbollah's craziness.
I believe that Hezbollah took the action it did knowing - or assuming - that Syria, Iran and all other Arab nations would lend support over time. This was calculated to get Israel all jacked up, and the United States to put its cards on the table. Israel - and the United States - are caught once again in a no-win situation. The magnitude of Israel's military response, which has claimed countless civilian lives, will surely harden the views of moderate Muslims and Lebanese opposed to Hezbollah. The U.S. will take it on the chin for granting Israel the added time it has taken to punish Hezbollah with retaliatory missile strikes.
A ceasefire won't solve anything, just give Hezbollah and its Jew-hating allies a chance to regroup and plan more violence. The U.N., of course, could have prevented this from happening if it had enforced Resolution 1599 ordering Hezbollah to disarm in exchange for the right to participate in forming the new Lebanese government. But it didn't. It looked the other way, like it always does when Israeli and U.s. interests are involved. The killer rats of Hezbollah never had any intention of using political diplomacy to stabilize Lebanon and to build a cooperative peace with Israel. They have a mission and it is to annihilate Jews, just like Hitler tried, and Americans.
Gingrich, sad to say, might be right. There's only one way to stop the spread of Islamic extremism and it's not at the end of an olive branch.
Posted by JimC at 4:59 PM | Comments (8)
July 19, 2006
'Gabby' Gabrieli's Sweet Dreams Plan
Boy, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Gabrieli really wowed them in Dracut, didn't he? Gabrieli, above, is shown explaining his economic stimulus plan to seniors at Dracut's Council on Aging. Now here's my question: What do you think the woman at left is really thinking about, or should I say dreaming about?
I'm open to suggestions, guys and gals.
Posted by Sun Editor Jim Campanini
Posted by Admin at 2:46 PM | Comments (3)
Beacon Hill Never Sleep on Taxes
While we were all sleeping, wondering how mcu we're going to have to pay for The Big Digaster, the Legislature continues to come up with schemes that will force more taxpayers to leave Massachusetts.
The latest is House bill H. 2341 that will make it easier for communities to pass Proposition 2 1/2 overrides and increase property taxes. Under the proposal, senior citizens living on fixed incomes would be exempt from paying higher taxes attributed to successful overrides. In essence, the bill's sponsors, tax-spending Democrats, aim to keep senior citizens at home on election day, since under the provision of the would-be law they won't be affected by the outcome of the vote. This is an anti-democratic measure. As we all know, senior citizens have the highest turnout record in most communities when it comes to defeating overrides. If this measures passes, and it has already received the endorsement of the House Ways and Means Committee, it would basically banish seniors to the sidelines, and give special-interest groups a better chance to raise property taxes for public schools.
This bill is detrimental to all communities, since it would create divisions among all segments of the population. Young families would face the burden of ponying up for higher taxes, while seniors get a break. There are already enough circuit breakers for seniors in most communities that help them to reduce their taxes. The other problem I see is that over time, this bill would lead to destabilizing communities. Think about it: demographics are not in our favor. We are an aging state. Eventually, there will be a greater number of baby boomers and seniors. We'll need them paying a fair share of taxes just to get by. There are not enough good paying jobs being created to give younger people the incentive to stay here and pay more. In reality, giving seniors a break on overrides will skew the local tax picture and allow affluent special interest groups to dictate the tax rate.
The Sun successfully editorialized against a similar measure when it appeared on the horizon two years ago. I believe we will do the same now. Legislators who believe the state's surplus revenues will continue indefinitely are seeing a mirage. Most of the surplus was the result of capital gains taxes, just like it was prior to the 2001-02 recession. We can't build budgets on unpredictable revenue sources. I thought the Legislature had learned from its past mistakes, but I was wrong.
Don't you feel this measure will divide communities rather than help them?
Posted by JimC at 10:08 AM | Comments (11)
July 18, 2006
Tim Murray visits The Sun
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Posted by JimC at 11:41 AM | Comments (2)
July 17, 2006
Big Dig Bounce?
Can anyone really gain political advantage from the Big Dig Debacle?
A woman has tragically died, and certainly there will be cries raised about politicians trying to exploit the situation for their own gain. Gov. Mitt Romney and Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey are the most likely to benefit, but how does Attorrney General Tom Reilly come out of this whole.
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Romney is on the way out, so I can see him winning a few points nationally for showing leadership. But overall, he's just another Republican governor who held office during the Big Dig's massive growth in cost overruns and scandals. Granted, Romney's been battling Turnpike chief Matt Amorello for years, so you have to give him a point for consistency. The Legislature, after backing Amorello initially, quickly reversed course and gave Romnney full control of the authority after the killer concrete collapse. That Romney has now turned up more than 200 possible faulty bolts on the new tunnel is an eye-opener. His investigative team found them in one day! Amorello's team couldn't find them in two years!
Could Healey get a bounce from the impending investigations? I think so. The turncoats at the Legislature are mostly Democrats. That they yielded control to Romney last week, and abandoned Matt Amorello, shows just how politicized their support was for the embattled turnpike chief. The Democrats basically own this Big Dig mess,, or do they? Afterall, 16 years of Republican governors had oversight of the Big Dig, and Amorello was appointed to his job by Gov. Jane Swift, following Paul Cellucci's endorsement of the former GOP state senator.
While it's unfair to pin all the blame on Amorello, he's the last man in and must take the fall. He's acted more like a political hack these past few months than a turnpike leader. He's got to fall on his sword.
So who gets the credit for cleaning up this mess, if it really can be cleaned up, and who gets the blame? Democrats or Republicans? And which candidate right now is making the most sense about reversing the Big Dig's woes?
Posted by JimC at 10:47 AM | Comments (4)
July 15, 2006
Tropadaro Wins!
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Posted by Jim Campanini, Sun editor and G-Biscuit Stable partner.
Posted by JimC at 5:19 PM | Comments (6)
It's Tropadaro Day!
What's Tropadaro Day?
No, it's not Coucilor George Ramirez's block party.
For those of you who don't know, I am the proud owner of seven thoroughbred race horses with a small investment group of friends, including Nick Caraganis of Pepperell, who is a Sun copy editor. Today, our prize thre-year colt, Tropadaro, runs for all the marbles ($25,000) at Suffolk Downs in Race 9, going one mile and 70 yards. Tropardaro was purchased for $25,000 and has aleady won a $17,000 allowance race under the G-Biscuit Stable silks. Today's race, however, is a great challenge, since it shows off the top 3 year olds on the grounds at Suffolk. We're very excited. The Trop Man will be stretching out for only the second time in his career, but all the other competitors are in the same boat. Bresco, who is 2-for-2 lifetime, and Sprinkle of Gold, with three lifetime wins, promise to battle Tropadaro for the lead. Tropadaro's pedigree says he can go the distance. While sired out of a stakes winning stallion, Salt Lake, who was the nation's top sprinter in the early '90s, he has a bloodline to Deputy Minister who conquered the mile distance with ease. So I'll be at Suffolk Downs this afternoon with the gang, hoping to make it into the winner's circle. I'll post the results tonight.Fr more information, go to www.g-biscuit.com.
Posted by Jim Campanini, editor of The Sun.
Posted by JimC at 8:25 AM
July 14, 2006
STATEHOUSE INSIDER: PATRICK PEAKING
I spoke with a Democratic pollster today who does internal polls for one of the three candidates: Here's what he's found out in his latest overnighter of 450 Democratic party voters::
Patrick has the momentum with 35 percent of the vote from respondents. He said it's a good base and if Patrick could push his poll numbers to 40 percent, he'd be a in a good position to sustain a decent level of support when his campaign advertising kicks in in August. THE DOWNSIDE: He said Patrick's numbers have held steady now for two weeks. While solid, the numbers suggest a possible peak in his popularity.
Reilly's poll numbers are 31 percent and unchanged from a previous poll. The pollster suggested that Reilly is hanging in there and might get a bounce from the Big Dig tragedy/scandal. Or it could go the other way if he is portrayed as doing very little to probe the sloth that contributed to the tragic death of Milena Del Valle. It'll be interesting to see how voters interpret Reilly's TV face time, which amounts to free advertising, according to the pollster. THE DOWNSIDE: Reilly's numbers are stagnant and have gone down 6-7 points in recent weeks. While they appear to have leveled off, another Reillyesque gaffe could prove fatal.
Gabriell's poll numbers moved up one point to 23 percent, a recent surge that is attributed to a million-dollar investment in TV advertising. The businessman's base appears to be solidifying in the Boston area, but there is still a lack of recognition in suburban areas, according to preliminary poll results. THE DOWNSIDE: Gabrieli's boost has been driven by TV advertising, while both Patrick and Reilly haven't spent much of anything yet to push their profiles. Reilly has $4.5 million in the bank and Patrick has $1.5 million. Of course, Gabrieli's personal fortune dwarfs that of Reilly and Patrick, and he has said he is willing to spend up to $15 million in his gubernatorial campaign.
THE INSIDER'S EDGE: "It's shaping up as a real dogfight where the candidates might be within 5 percentage points of each other at the end," said the internal pollster who asked not to be identified. He predicted that the winner on Sept. 19 Primary Day will receive less than 40 percent of the total votes cast, but as high as 38 percent.
Looking ahead to November, he said, "the tightness of the race and the quality of the candidates" has put a new focus on the Democratic party and is likely to generate a good response from the public. "The Primary Day winner should get a good bounce with all the attention. The question is whether that attention can be sustained for a run against the Republican candidate waiting in the wings," he said.
He said the odds are much more favorable that a Democrat will win the corner office than two months ago.
CAMPY THE CONTRARIAN SAYS: The Democratic leadership's dismantling of the Constitutional Convention, where the citizens' rights petition concerning gay marriage was denied a fair hearing until after the election, will do more to doom the Democratic primary candidates' chances than anything else come November. Can 180,000 petition signers control an election? If it's close they can - and they will.
This is why the Democrats can't win. They stand for the lunch cart, and nothing else.
Posted by Jim Campanini, editor of The Sun.
Posted by JimC at 3:25 PM
July 13, 2006
State of Shame
There are only two things we as citizens should demand of our legislators: (1.) that they serve the public honestly and honorably and (2.) that they listen to the public's grievances and demands.
Under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, one of the five protected liberties deals with a citizen's right to address grievances agains the government.
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Nearly 180,000 Massachusetts citizens have signed a petition to demand a vote that would prohibit gay marriage in this state. Whether right or wrong, the petition deserves consideration by the governing body sitting on Beacon Hill.
Yesterday's decision to put off that vote, until after the Nov. 9 election, will prove catastrophic for the Democrats in my opinion. If anything, Senate President Robert Travaglini's decision to cave into a special interest group - gay rights activists - while denying the rights of another special interest group — anti-gay marriage supporters - smacks of hypocrisy and discrimination. Plus, Travaglini and the majority Democrats have not proven to be honest brokers of what should be an honest process.
In my mind, this issue will doom Democrats in the gubernatorial election. The backlash will be that anti-gay marriage forces will flock to Tom Reilly on the Democrat side in the primary, since Reilly, while opposted to banning gay marriage, is in favor of letting the people decide the issue in a ballot referendum. But the real winner in the end will be Republican Kerry Healey, who has consistenly advocated for the petition process.
The Democrats have shamed themselves by denying a legitimate hearing on this issue and by running for the hills like they normally do. It just goes to show you: Democrats don't stand for anything anymore. They 're afraid to vote on controversial issues because they fear a constituency that likes to demean them as homophobes if they state their real opinion. Gays deserve equal protections. And the majority should not be allowed to gang up on the minority in any manner. However, a majority of people in this state, working moms and dads, are being demonized because the Legislature is cutting off their desire to be heard on gay marriage. If legislators believe that Massachusetts is tolerant of gay marriage, why do they fear an election referendum?
The Legislature had many chances to remedy the divisions that now exist in this state and the blew it. If legislators had adopted civil unions, just like Vermont did, we would not be in this mess.
The lack of courage and conviction on Beacon Hill is sickening. Sadly, proponents of gay marriage aren't helped by this calculated action to suppress the rights of others in a legitimate Democratic process.
Posted by JimC at 7:59 AM | Comments (8)
July 12, 2006
Legislators Wimp Out Again
"If a squirrel ever ran up a legislator's leg looking for food, it would starve to death."
That's the way someone described the lack of courage of the Massachusetts Legislature, which again today denied democracy a chance to avail itself at the Constitutional Convention.
According to reports from The Sun's Statehouse bureau, legislators voted to postpone a vote on the citizens' petition to ban gay-marriage until AFTER the Nov. 9 election. You have to wonder what the Founding Fathers would think of this sorry lot. It's a sad day for Massachusetts when a vote on a citizens' initiative that has garnered 180,000 signatures can be treated so callously by elected leaders. The Democratic incumbency regards itself as bullet-proof when it comes to squashing the citizens' movements in this state. The income-tax rollback and Clean Elections are but two recent citizen-inspired movements that were derailed because the Legislature knew best. Today they showed their true colors. Whether for or against gay marriage, they refused to debate the merits of a petition that should go before voters for an up-or-down vote. Will it ever make statewide ballot? It's doubtful.. These guys are shameless in their shenanigans. It's another reason why Massachusetts is rapdily becoming a second-rate state, because we are run by men and women of little conviction.
Posted by JimC at 5:41 PM | Comments (1)
Big Dig Blunder
Milena DeValle didn't deserve to die in a $14.6 billion tunnel project that Matt Amorello has billed as a modern architectural feat. Tuesday morning's tragedy has put more heat on the Turnpike Authority executive director to step down.
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I think you'll see Amorello resign over the next few days. His recent Machiavellian maneuver to hijack control of the Turnpike Authority executive board and its decision-making process smacks of a single-minded dictatorship at a quasi-public agency. And that the Legislature slipped in a hidden clause in the state budget supporting Amorello's Amendment shows just how bad politics has influenced the waste and lack of accountability at the Mass. Turnpike Authority.
Senate President Robert Travaglini is good friends with Amorello, who is not a bad guy. Amorello was responsible for jump-starting the Route 3 project in the Greater Lowell area and did a fine job. But it behooves Trav to give his friend some advice: Matt's tenure at the turnpike authority must end. There are numerous flaws in the tunnel's design, from leaking walls to falling debris and now a three-ton section of roofing panels has collapsed and killed an innocent motorist. Someone has to take the hit for this tragedy, and it has to start at the top.
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Do you think Matt Amorello should go?
Posted by JimC at 10:27 AM | Comments (13)
July 10, 2006
Democrats: Let's Play Nice
Now who are Michael Dukakis and Phil Johnston trying to protect with the call for Democrats to disarm? They're telling the three gubernatorial candidates to be nice to each other during the primary campaign, so no one can get beat up enough for Republican Kerry Healey to bury in the November election.
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There's only one person who can benefit from this civility and that's Deval Patrick. Why would Dukakis and Johnston want to build a stealth shield around Patrick, who's never run for political office? Maybe there's something behind the facade.. I don't know about you, but it sure seems fishy that the party's leader, Johnston, and the party's ethicist, Dukakis, are suddenly forming a committee to censor what the candidates can say about each other in political ads. Maybe they should invite Marty Meehan to be a committee member. He knows something about curtailing free speech in campaign ads, after writing federal legislation aimed at reducing campaign spending. A lot of good that did.
Let's face it, Tom Reilly can be picked apart concerning the hundreds of decisions he's made and the hundreds of stances he's taken on issues throughout his career. Gabrieli has felt the harsh glare of the spotlight too as Shannon O'Brien's running mate in 2002. Patrick, however, doesn't have a record in which anyone can poke holes. But he does have a business background and history with Coca-Cola and Ameriquest, and the latter experience isn't very flattering.
Who made Dukakis and Johnston the arbiters of good taste in campaigning anyway?
I hope it's not true, but it appears that Democratic leaders are already running scared. They obviously know something we don't and they want to keep it that way.
Posted by JimC at 6:19 PM | Comments (9)
July 8, 2006
Democrats on Parade
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Two months from this week, we'll find out if the rich Democrats are going to beat up on the poor Democrat in the party's gubernatorial primary. Odds are the rich - Patrick "Taj" Deval and Chris "Deep Pockets" Gabrieli - will siphon off enough votes that Attorney General Tom "I'm a Renter" Reilly will sneak by with a small victory.
Could it happen? Of course, it can. Even with all his early flubs, Reilly remainss the only candidate who has a chance of defeating Lt. Governor Kerry Healey in the fall.And that's not an endorsement of Reilly either. It's just that Reilly's moderate positions - if you believe them - have a better chance of attracting Republicans and Independents to his side in November against Healey, than do the more liberal Patrick and Gabrieli. The state's 1.5 million independents will likely determine November's outcome, just like they have the past four gubernatorial elections. From a purely distant outpost, I think Patrick's support has crested. He won big at the Democratic convention, but the result wasn't any surprise. The party's left wingers were predicting Patrick's victory for weeks and they did a good job getting their candidate to the head of the class. From here on in, however, it'll be a chore to win over the hearts and minds of non-union, no-nonsense Democrats. If anything, Gabrieli's recent poll numbers are indicative of a surging candidate while Reilly's numbers remains steady. Gabrieli still hasn't opened up the vault to his campaign millions, so he stands to get a bit more bounce for his buck. While Patrick may be a darling of the crowd now, he'll have to withstand some press scrutiny down the stretch. And, for sure,it's coming. First, who's making Taj Deval's $2.7 million monthly mortgage payments on his two homes? Second, how did his mansion in the Berkshires come about? Third, things might go better with Coke, but why did Deval get such a sweet deal from the cola giant? Patrick is smart and possesses an inspirational speaking style. I think he's got bigger aspirations than just the governor's office. In fact, if he's elected, he could become the Mitt Romney of Democrats. In this state it's not a bad thing to be a Democrat and have political ambition; but it's just the opposite if you're a Republican. Numerous opinion surveys point to a close primary race. Patrick, Reilly and Gabrieli are all polling above 20 percent, giving a good indication that voters are recognizing distinctions in each candidate. It is also a sign that this race could generate a lot of excitement among voters down the stretch, leading to one of the best primary turnouts in years. While the two gubernatorial debates have been congenial in tone, look for the gloves to come off in ad campaigns that are soon to kick off in the mid-August homestretch. For Republicans on the sidelines, there's nothing better than a three-way, cash-infused Democratic catfight! POTENT NOTABLES: More and more legislators at the Statehouse are talking silently about a year-end departure for Senate President Robert Travaglini. It's no secret that Travaglini has four children who are of college age, and he's anticipating some hefty bills down the line. A job in the private sector is likely. When Trav leaves, Sen. Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, has the votes to succeed him while Sen Stephen Panagiotakos, D-Lowell, is destined to take over for Murray as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee... There are growing indications that Chelmsford Town Manager Bernie Lynch will take at least one top financial administrator with him to Lowell.
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Posted by JimC at 7:18 AM | Comments (8)
