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October 1, 2007
Bad blood behind Bubba hubbub
THERE HAS been much ado made about former President Bill Clinton's visit to Lowell tonight, the fundraiser he is headlining for Democratic congressional candidate Niki Tsongas at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium.
Political fundraisers have been shunned at the municipal theater. Even former U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan was told to go elsewhere when he tried to hold his 50th birthday fundraiser there last year.
But perhaps overshadowing his concern with breaking precedent, LMA Trustee and former City Manager Bill Taupier had an ax to grind with the trustees' Chairman John H. Costello Jr.
The auditorium is a municipal building. There have been real questions in the past as to whether the auditorium may be used legally for raising money for politicians. Those issues seemed to be cleared up by a recent change in state law and a legal opinion from City Solicitor Christine O'Connor.
Costello made a mistake: He didn't talk to Taupier before the event was announced publicly. Ostensibly, this in-fighting was about giving the board the opportunity to approve or reject the event as a collective body.
If the meeting a week ago was any indication of the dynamics of the LMA trustees, this is a two-man show.
For starters, Taupier did all the talking. Costello sat quietly by, allowing Taupier to vent.
Taupier took several minutes -- needed or not -- to explain to fellow trustee Bunrith Lach why they were meeting and who Clinton and Tsongas were. (Trustee Ken Hughes did not make the meeting.)
Taupier made the motion to allow the Tsongas-Clinton fundraiser, but never again. Lach became the deciding vote, and after some convincing from Taupier, voted to go along with the motion.
TAUPIER'S MOTION is bound to be challenged some day. The auditorium bylaws allow for fundraisers, so long as the beneficiary pays for use of the building.
So how, exactly can you say "yes" to Tsongas but "no" to the next politician who comes knocking looking for a venue?
What if Rudy Giuliani or U.S. Sen. John McCain decide to hop over the New Hampshire border to campaign Tsongas' Republican rival, Jim Ogonowski?
The sensible thing to do, as has been pointed out privately by many observers, would have been to say that any event like this must come before the trustees for a vote, instead of the new carte-blanche rule that any other fundraiser would be dead in the water.
So why did the trustees vote as they did?
Believe it or not, some on the board can't even answer that question.
After making the motion to adjourn, trustee George Gatzimos turned to LMA General Manager Tom McKay with this question: "So what did we just do?"
NOT TO be outdone by Clinton, Ogonowski will be having his own party. The Dracut farmer will celebrate his 50th birthday from 3 to 5 p.m. at Harmony Hall on Lakeview Avenue in Dracut.
Supporters will come bearing gifts -- a minimum donation of $100 is suggested.
Harmony Hall is a public building, much like Lowell Memorial Auditorium. But the Ogonowski fete has not raised an eyebrow. Town officials say the party violates no laws or ordinances and there has always been an open policy for its use.
"Selectmen have used the hall (for campaign parties) in the past," said one official.
The hall is leased to the Dracut Historical Society, and the Ogonowski camp is paying to use it.
UNION LEADERS Keith Rudy and Paul Georges are known as the two most outspoken labor-union presidents in Lowell, and they are certainly making good on their reputations.
In recent weeks, they have spoken against extending City Manager Bernie Lynch's contract, arguing he shouldn't get an extension until every city union has a new contract. (Of course, contracts might be settled rather quickly if members agree to no pay increase this year as Lynch did.)
Rudy has publicly complained that contract negotiations are taking too long, even though in the past 12 years the earliest a Local 1705 contract has been settled was mid-November; others took far longer. The last 1705 contract, negotiated between Rudy and then-City Manager John Cox, wasn't settled until 10 months after the previous contract had expired.
Georges has been on local radio, alleging that Lynch is pushing to cut retiree health benefits, which the manager says is not true. Lynch has publicly stated the city needs to develop a strategy as to how to pay for the escalating cost of retiree health benefits, but he is not looking to reduce retiree benefits.
MATT COGGINS silenced his critics last week, at least for now, by announcing he's resigning as Division and Planning and Development director to accept the top marketing spot at Enterprise Bank. Those jealous of Coggins frequently grumbled that his ultimate goal was to be city manager, and every preceding position was just Coggins positioning himself.
Coggins surely entertained the thought of occupying the corner office. Yet when Cox was ousted last year, Coggins took himself out of consideration early. That led to talk that Coggins' days in City Hall were few.
Lowell politics being the contact sport that it is, moving to the private sector is a no-brainer. Coggins replaces Virginia Dolloff, who in one week went from high praise from then-City Manager Brian Martin to seeking other employment.
Coggins got along well with Martin, and then Cox, initially. Cox and Coggins eventually severed ties and Coggins found himself on the outside looking in.
Coggins won his way back into the inner circle during the Lynch Administration.
Adam Baacke, currently one of two DPD deputy directors, has the inside track to replace him.
SLOW DOWN there, Karla.
That was the message last week sent to School Superintendent Karla Brooks Baehr from School Committee member Regina Faticanti regarding hiring a replacement for high-school Headmaster William Samaras. Samaras is retiring at the end of the current school year. His request to work one additional year was rejected by Baehr.
In an e-mail to Faticanti last week, Baehr wrote, "I have no intention of interviewing for, or naming, a new Headmaster until after January. I have planned to post and advertise around Thanksgiving with applications closing sometime in January. Interviews and an appointment will happen after that with the goal of making a selection by February vacation. While the new headmaster will not assume the p position until July 1, an early decision will permit a reasonable transition period."
Faticanti wants no movement until after Jan. 1, when a new School Committee is sworn in, one that might contain the will (i.e. challenger Dave Conway) to force Baehr to keep Samaras for another year.
Despite the comments in Baehr's e-mail, Faticanti suspects the superintendent will try to speed the hiring process before the election, for obvious reasons.
U.S. SEN. Ted Kennedy had crossed the aisle, and was well into Republican real estate on the Senate floor.
His incursion occurred minutes after convincing nine GOP colleagues to defect from their party Thursday and help pass a hate-crimes amendment that for the first time includes gays and lesbians.
On his way back to the Democratic side -- home to three Kennedy brothers in the past 50 years -- Kennedy happened by a Republican sitting alone and patted him on the shoulder.
Perhaps Kennedy was saying goodbye, for it could be the ostracized Republican's final days in office. Or perhaps the touch signified a deeper meaning, for Kennedy's amendment is meant to chip away at the prejudice that afflicts gays around the country.
The senator was Larry Craig of Idaho, arrested for soliciting gay sex in an airport bathroom this summer.
Craig voted against the amendment.
DIANA PRIDEAUX-BRUNE, one of UMass-Lowell's high-profile administrators, is resigning effective Nov. 1. Contrary to what several insiders are saying, Meehan insists it is amicable departure. Over the summer, when Meehan was hired, Prideaux-Brune's title was changed from vice chancellor to executive director of facilities.
Meehan said it's no secret that Prideaux-Brune has been looking elsewhere for a job, like Lowell City Hall.
"Diana Prideaux-Brune has left a tangible mark on this university, through the construction projects she managed and the blueprint for growth that she envisioned," Meehan said. "She is a highly effective administrator who will excel in any new role she undertakes."
THE RIFT between the Lowell Veterans of Foreign Wars post and the Lowell Veterans Council also involves suspicions directed at Lynne Brown-Zounes, executive director of the Lowell Senior Center and the wife of Dracut Veterans Agent William Zounes.
Lynch has named Brown-Zounes, who is not a veteran, chairman of the new five-member committee charged with vetting requests for veterans square dedications.
In a letter they sent Veterans Council Commander Robert Page in June informing him of the VFW's departure from the council, VFW Adjutant John Mowatt and post Commander Roy McGaunn said they objected to the council's "requesting" of Brown-Zounes for the post.
There also is suspicion that Brown-Zounes is angling to steer the Lowell veterans agent job for her husband, fueled largely because she has been coordinating her operations with the city veterans' office lately.
Lynch said he picked Brown-Zounes to serve as his representative on the square-naming committee because of her work with veterans at the senior center and because she is respected by the elderly and veterans.
Brown-Zounes said her main focus is running the senior center. She said she does not want the job held by Lowell Veterans Agent Eric Lamarche, whom Lynch said he does not plan to replace.
Lynch said he is pleased that Brown-Zounes and Lamarche are working closely. Brown-Zounes now holds regular office hours at the center and writes a column in the monthly Lowell Council on Aging newsletter.
Lynch said: "There's no conspiracy."
Conspiracy theorist do have some grist for the mill.
Brown-Zounes' husband and Page are friendly. Page's wife, Ann Marie Page, is one of the most influential neighborhood activists in Lowell and a big Lynch supporter. Page and other Veterans Council members lobbied Lynch for policy changes that led to the new square-dedication system.
Still, a change at the helm of the city veterans office seems highly unlikely any time soon.
THE SPLIT from the Veterans Council was justified, VFW heads Mowatt and McGaunn said in their letter to Page, because Page unilaterally tried to quash the Voice of Democracy essay contest the VFW has run for years.
"This post does not need the consent and/or guidance from the Lowell Veterans Council, nor do we want it, concerning any and all affairs conducted within this organization," Mowatt and McGaunn wrote.
Lowell's VFW post was perhaps the most active participant in the Lowell Veterans Council, an umbrella group for local veterans organizations. A widespread belief is that the VFW split from the body because its board president, former city Veterans Agent Joseph Dussault, has a rather dim view of Page for pushing through the new square-dedication process. Dussault previously was the only voice on such matters.
Mowatt contends that the departure and any bad blood between Page and Dussault are unrelated.
"Us leaving that has absolutely nothing to do with Joe," he said.
Page said he never tried to quash any VFW events.
He said he was upset that the VFW had scheduled its Veterans Day event in 2006 for the same time as council's observance. He said he wrote former VFW Post Commander James Hall and called the scheduling as an "error in judgment." He said he just wanted the VFW -- which had always participated in the annual council observance, always held at the same time -- to hold its event at a different time, not a different day.
"Evidently, some people took offense," Page said, adding that he contacted Hall and made amends last year.
"It's a wonderful program," Page added of the VFW essay and scholarship contest. "What fool is going to oppose that?"
FRESHMAN GOV. Deval Patrick's plan for three resort-style casinos is directly at odds with House Speaker Sal DiMasi's economic plans for the state.
The two have played nice so far. DiMasi helped Patrick keep gay marriage off the 2008 ballot, and they both pushed forward a biotechnology-development plan.
But this issue is different, and both are using all of their political clout to sway the Legislature.
The outcome could be proof of who wields the most power in Bay State politics. So far, odds are on DiMasi.
STATE SEN. Steve Baddour, D-Methuen, couldn't help but gush over his longtime buddy and political hero Sen. Steve Panagiotakos this week.
The Lowell Democrat testified during Baddour's Transportation Committee hearing about a bill to increase the penalties for drag racing.
Baddour introduced Panagiotakos as, "the great and powerful Senator of the Ways and Means Committee."
The adoration was a little tongue-in-cheek, but Baddour still claims the title of Panagiotakos' biggest fan.
This week's Column was prepared by City Editor Christopher Scott, City Hall reporter Michael Lafleur, Statehouse reporter Matt Murphy, Dracut reporter Dennis Shaughnessey, Statehouse Bureau Chief Hillary Chabot and Washington Bureau Chief Evan Lehmann.
Posted by Admin at October 1, 2007 10:59 AM
