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December 18, 2007
Humbugs aplenty at mall hearing
THE HOLIDAY spirit continues to elude Billerica officials.
Former Planning Board member Sal Pasciuto and Billerica First member Fred Ciampa nearly came to blows on Monday night, following the first hearing into the $20 million fix-up of the Billerica Mall.
Pasciuto had asked Chairman Paul Marasco to extend the board's 9:30 p.m. curfew, because only opponents had spoken. That takes a unanimous vote, and the motion failed.
With the meeting over, Pasciuto and Ciampa went nose to nose.
"You are monopolizing all of the time," Pasciuto told Ciampa, getting into his face.
"You can be the first to speak next time, OK Sal?" Ciampa retorted. "Sal, stand up and be heard."
The men then took it outside (well, into the hallway of Town Hall), where they continued to argue in front of about 50 people as Planning Board member Richard Tortola attempted to end matters. Pasciuto and Ciampa, still fired up, then made their way back into the auditorium.
"You are acting like two children," Planning Board clerk Kathy McNeil said in disgust.
The Planning Board's practice has been to take audience comments starting in front. Billerica First, in addition to a lawyer and engineer hired by the group, grabbed most of the prime seats.
PASCIUTO DIDN'T run for re-election to the board in 2006. In January of that year, before hearings for the first proposal to bring Home Depot to the mall, he said he received an anonymous letter threatening to ruin his political career if he voted for Home Depot.
The letter warned that he should "put Billerica first." Members of the group Billerica First denied sending the letter and the author has never been fingered.
LAST WEEK, Pasciuto said he is angry that the project has "languished for two years," and accused the board of stalling to further political and personal motives.
He pointed to former Billerica First officer and current Planning Board member Bob Casey's call for an architectural review of the project, which was approved in a vote of a board. Attorney Steve Lentine disagreed, saying architecture is subjective and that the board's business is upholding zoning bylaws.
And Pasciuto said board member Justin McCarthy's failed motion to require an economic-impact study also was out of line.
That puzzled fellow board member Ed McLaughlin, who said the board never wanted such a study when it approved three tire stores -- or when it approved a Starbucks 50 feet from a Dunkin' Donuts on Boston Road.
Lentine argued the board was trying to saddle the mall developers with costs not required of others.
"Is the Planning Board doing what they were elected to do under the bylaws, or are they counting votes for the future?" asked Pasciuto. "The Planning Board is stepping out of their purview and it will come back to bite them."
EILEEN DONOGHUE does not sound like a woman who will be riding off into the political sunset.
"With any luck and the opportunity" she will be continuing her public-service career, Donoghue said during her farewell speech at Tuesday's City Council meeting.
That opportunity could soon come in the form of a vacant Lowell state representative's seat. State Rep. David Nangle, who represents Lowell's Belvidere and South Lowell sections and a slice of Chelmsford, appears likely to be tapped as the next sergeant-at-arms on Beacon Hill.
Donoghue said she will "strongly consider" running for Nangle's seat should it open.
It's widely expected Donoghue will run.
Donoghue opted to leave the council to focus on running a spirited but unsuccessful Democratic primary campaign for the 5th District congressional seat vacated by new UMass Lowell Chancellor Marty Meehan. Niki Tsongas won the seat in October. In September's Democratic primary, Tsongas bested Donoghue and state Reps. Jamie Eldridge, Barry Finegold and Jim Miceli in the Democratic primary in September.
Donoghue beat Tsongas by nearly 2-to-1 in Lowell, capturing 5,400 votes to Tsongas' 2,900.
Donoghue would be the favorite in any state rep's race, though such a move would be a high-stakes gambit for her. A second loss could end her political career in Lowell.
Other likely candidates are Zoning Board of Appeals Chairman Stephen Geary, and Assistant City Solicitor Maria Sheehy.
Geary ran in 1998, finishing third behind Nangle and current Mayor Bill Martin. Sheehy is the daughter of Paul Sheehy, a former Lowell state representative, senator and city manager.
AROUND THANKSGIVING, Nangle's confidantes in Lowell -- state Rep. Tom Golden, City Councilor-elect Michael Lenzi, Nangle's cousin, and state Sen. Steven Panagiotakos -- all were saying quietly his selection was imminent. Now we hear that a decision won't be made until sometime after the start of the New Year, and could even involve legislative confirmation, that means conspiracy theories are bound to arise.
By delaying the Nangle appointment, House Speaker Sal DiMasi ruled out holding a special primary race for the seat on Feb. 5, the same day as the state's presidential primaries. Donoghue's name recognition from the Congressional race would make her a strong favorite among more-casual voters. An off-day primary will be low-turnout affair featured by a knockdown fight to turn out core supporters. That could benefit Geary and Sheehy, both of whom have deep roots in Lowell. (Much of Nangle's crowd appears to have lined up behind Geary.)
But there are mitigating factors:
* DiMasi must fill a number of vacancies on his leadership team, including one created by Nangle's departure. One well-placed insider noted that it would make sense for DiMasi to reshape his team just once.
* The state primary was originally set for March 5. Gov. Deval Patrick approved the change on Nov. 26 -- after the Nangle rumors started.
* The House speaker has a reputation for being deliberative. Clearly, he wouldn't have delayed his selection just to help Geary or Sheehy.
PEOPLE WHO live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Councilor Rita Mercier should have adhered to that old saw, said former Councilor Peter Richards, before she criticized City Manager Bernie Lynch last week on his handling of George Gatzimos' replacement on the Lowell Memorial Auditorium Board of Trustees.
Mercier was upset Lynch didn't notify Gatzimos in advance that he wasn't going to be re-appointed.
"I'm not a professional by any means, but I would have taken him to my office," an irate Mercier said. "This is not the way to run government."
Lynch said he was unaware Gatzimos even wanted to job again. His seat on the board is filled by a member of the Lowell Veterans Council. Gatzimos' term expired Dec. 1. His name wasn't on the list of three nominees sent to the manager for his consideration by the veterans council.
Richards said Mercier never told him that she was replacing him as a City Council representative on the Community Teamwork Inc. Board of Directors after she became mayor in 2002.
"She never said anything to me about it after the fact, either," said Richards, who left office in 2000. "I had been a colleague of hers. She had a right to appoint who she wanted. It certainly would have been a nice thing to let me know before the appointment got made."
Mercier said she has no recollection of the incident.
"I have no clue what he's talking about and neither does he," she said. "He's just sticking up for his friend, the city manager, who he went to school with. Besides, Bernie Lynch is a professional. I'm not. A professional should know better."
WHILE THE rest of the Mill City was getting socked in with snow on Thursday, Lynch and Councilors-elect Alan Kazanjian and Michael Lenzi enjoyed a three-hour get-to-know-you session in the manager's City Hall office.
Lynch said he has run city and town governments for more than 20 years, and has always hosted an orientation session for new elected officials.
He said Thursday's discussion featured Police Superintendent Kenneth Lavallee, Assistant City Manager T.J. McCarthy, Chief Financial Officer Tom Moses, Solicitor Christine O'Connor and Fire Chief Edward PItta.
"I thought it went very well," Lynch said. "They had some great questions and some great ideas. We spent a lot of time talking about energy costs and improvements to save the city money."
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: James Gookin has stepped down as Dracut Housing Authority commissioner.
First appointed by Gov. Paul Cellucci in 2000, Gookin pushed and pushed hard over the summer to ensure that Mary Karabatsos got the job of housing authority executive director after Joe Tully Jr. suffered a massive stroke and was forced to resign.
In July and into August, Gookin was at the center of court proceedings, special meetings that violated commission bylaws, and an 11th-hour end-run around the commission that resulted in Karabatsos' name being added as a finalist for the job. Then he, along with fellow commissioners Thomas Salem and Robert Audet, had the votes to trump then-chairman Kenneth Martin and commissioner Gerard Suprenant, to hire Karabatsos, a 24-year-employee with the Lowell Housing Authority.
Gookin handed in his letter of resignation to the state Department of Housing and Community Development on Nov. 15.
The letter was addressed to former DHCD director Jane Wallis Gumble. Gumble stepped down in 2006. Tina Brooks has been at the helm since January.
Also interesting is that Gookin made no mention of his resignation at the commission meeting on Nov. 19.
A FRIENDLY discussion among Westford selectmen took a snide turn on Tuesday.
Selectmen Chairman Valerie Wormell said she appreciated the benefits of regionalized planning, which would allow streets to retain their character when crossing into other towns.
Selectman Bob Jefferies said that would never happen, "as long as there's a Billerica."
MARK WALSH sits on the Pepperell Zoning Board as its associate member.
When it came to controlling a standing-room-only audience fired up over a local garden center's right to run a trucking operation on Wednesday night, there was nothing "associate" about Walsh's attitude. As residents from both sides of the issue began to talk back at each other during the public hearing, Walsh jumped in, without waiting for other board members to do so.
"We understand this is a very tense situation for everybody here. But take emotion out of it so the board can decide just on the facts," he said, quieting down the crowd.
I'M IN the phone book.
That was the punchline to Tyngsboro School Committee Chairman Bill Downing's diatribe on bullying in the schools at last week's School Committee meeting.
"Parents, we are not the policemen of your children," Downing said. "We need you to set the example at home. Teachers are not there to get your students on the straight-and-narrow."
Downing's fellow committee members sat in silence.
"If something happens at school, the first reaction should not be, 'What did the school do?," added Downing. "Johnny and Sally are not blameless."
Smiling into the camera, Downing then told the audience they could reach him to complain.
A GOOD man is hard to find.
But Chelmsford resident Jim Good, who also serves on the Board of Directors of the Merrimack Valley Food Bank, not only lives up to his name, say town selectmen, but he has made an incredible difference in the lives of others.
A town volunteer since 1987 -- he's served on the Planning Board, was a Town Meeting Representative and a member of the Lowell Regional Transit Authorities Board of Directors -- Good knows the meaning of giving back and teaches by example, said Phil Eliopoulos before presenting Good with a proclamation for his continued service.
After listening to officials rattle off a long list of praises, the ever-humble Good accepted the honor and joked, "It sounded like I was dying there for a while."
Contributing to the Column this week were City hall reporter Michael Lafleur, Billerica reporter Jennifer Amy Myers, Westford reporter Bridget Scrimenti, Dracut reporter Dennis Shaughnessey, Pepperell reporter Hiroko Sato, Tyngsboro reporter Chris Camire, Chelmsford Reporter Rita Savard and City Editor Christopher Scott.
Posted by Admin at December 18, 2007 12:52 PM
