Assembly Square, the Back Story Part 2: False hope and true corruption

Assembly Square, the Back Story
Part 2:  False hope and true corruption

A Commentary by William C. Shelton

(Editor's note -- The views and opinions expressed in the commentaries of the Somerville News belong solely to the authors and do not neccessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Somerville News, its editors or publishers.)

By 1976, Assembly Square was becoming a ghost town.  First National Stores (FINAST), the B & M Railroad, and Ford Motor Company, who had each paid the city over $1 million in annual taxes, were gone.  Two machine tool companies and a trucking concern were the only large employers remaining.

In 1978, city officials began preparing an Assembly Square redevelopment plan that, in many ways, resembles the exercise that they recently went through.  Then, as now, city officials declined to develop a master plan, but embraced a developer’s initiative and presented it as the city’s redevelopment plan.

Then, as now, the developer had site control of the old Ford plant.  Then, as now, the plan called for the city to take properties from existing owners and give them to the developer.  Then, as now, Somervillians were told that turning the old auto plant into a retail center would subsequently bring high-value development across Assembly Square. 

East Bay Development Corporation promised to not only turn the Ford plant into a mall, but to revitalize the office building that had been FINAST’s headquarters, build a 200-400 room hotel, develop ten additional acres of commercial and office property, and all together, create 1,450 permanent jobs. The city approved the plan and got a $3.3 million grant from HUD to build the road improvements that the developer wanted.

East Bay had built the Woburn mall and several others.  In the process, the FBI caught them in a securities-fraud and tax-evasion scheme.  East Bay’s principal, Ray Coots, told then U.S. Attorney Bill Weld that, in return for reducing or dropping charges, he could deliver corrupt Somerville politicians.

Conducting the sting required an operative who would not be recognized in Somerville.  Special Agent John Connolly, now serving time for colluding with Whitey Bulger, recommended Special Agent Jack Callahan, his former Boston College classmate.

They introduced Jack Callahan to Somerville as Jackie Collins, East Bay’s public- and government-relations officer.  Their intention was to catch a low-level politico, offer leniency in return for cooperation, and work their way up the food chain.

The fictional hotel’s restaurant needed a liquor license, but Somerville had recently frozen the number of on-site licenses at 52. A new license would require legislation by the board of aldermen and a home-rule petition passed by the legislature.

Callahan wined and dined Ward 1 Alderman Tim Creedon, who said that he could get the legislation passed, but it would cost East Bay.  Callahan gave Creedon $13,500.  Creedon gave $500 each to five other aldermen.  The only one who he later named was Ward 3 Alderman Michael McKenna, who had complained that he should get at least $1,000.

Vinny Piro was then riding high as Somerville and Medford’s powerful state Representative.  Callahan asked Piro to shepherd the home rule petition through the statehouse.  Piro said that it would cost $25,000, and as proof of his good intentions, told Callahan that he had taken two bribes for successfully rendering favors in the past. In March, 1983, the FBI recorded Piro telling Callahan that he “needed a little walking-around money” to “grease a few guys.”  They gave him $5,000 in marked bills.

At that time, city tax assessors were elected.  Assessor Robert Campo knew a good thing when he saw it.  He went to Callahan and told him that he “needed some help,” because his campaign costs had been high.  In return for $5,000, he reduced the mall’s tax assessment.  Over the next two years, he solicited two more bribes, and the FBI recorded 47 conversations with him, including three involving his son-in-law, Ward 3 Alderman McKenna. He later testified that he had shared the bribes with other assessors.

Campo ended up pleading guilty and received a three-year sentence.  Creedon got a one-year sentence in Danbury for cooperating, and was paroled six months later.  Suffering from cancer, McKenna was given house arrest.

Piro’s attorney argued that his client had been entrapped, and pointed out that he had returned the $5,000 three weeks after taking it.  Prosecutor John Pappalardo said that Piro had been tipped off, and that the currency he returned was different from what he had been given.

Piro’s first trial ended in a mistrial, and his second, in an acquittal.  Somerville voters, however, convicted him at the polls.  He had won the Democratic primary election for the state Senate and faced no Republican opponent.  In the general election, outraged voters elected Alderman Sal Albano in an unprecedented write-in campaign. Shortly thereafter, the board of aldermen abolished the election of assessors.

The mall did not stimulate a wave of new development.  During the period of its greatest popularity, it had the highest incidence of car theft of any location in the Commonwealth.  A decade after it opened, it began a decline that would end with its closing.

Comments

[thenoseknow]

so bill.whats your point? 30 years ago some corrupt politicians held up re developmemt of assembly sq? the only connection i see to now is that you and your non elected,self appointed,re development inexperienced band of renagades are holding it up again and 30 years from now the mvtf will look no different than the pols you write about.except that most of the residents of this city dont know who hardly any of the members of mvtf are.why dont you enlighten us with a complete list of all your members,published in this paper so we can look into some of their pasts? maybe they are no different then the pols from the 70's but again i ask as i asked last week.where is your plan? either come up with a plan,stick to it,sign off on it,give it to the city so they can build it, or back off.oh! i forgot, then you wont have a soap box to stand on and no one will listen to you or anyone else from mvtf again.what ever will you do. i have an idea. go away.

[nose banger]

dear noesguy...you can't see the forest for your big nose, are you a forest developer?

I think Mr. Bill laid it all out. You are either blind, stupid or both. Or maybe you think the deal Somerville got recently is as good as the deal Somerville got 30 years ago?

Why would a citizens group need to submit it's own plan? Do you think our elected officials submitting developer's plans as their own is a good thing?

I remember a certain elected official being unable to answer the most basic questions about a proposal he submitted...that is classic Creedon/McKenna/Piro...

sell the city short for a few "walking around" dollars.

the City Motto should be

Somerville Home of the Chump Change Man

[nose banger]

dear noesguy...you can't see the forest for your big nose, are you a forest developer?

I think Mr. Bill laid it all out. You are either blind, stupid or both. Or maybe you think the deal Somerville got recently is as good as the deal Somerville got 30 years ago?

Why would a citizens group need to submit it's own plan? Do you think our elected officials submitting developer's plans as their own is a good thing?

I remember a certain elected official being unable to answer the most basic questions about a proposal he submitted...that is classic Creedon/McKenna/Piro...

sell the city short for a few "walking around" dollars.

the City Motto should be

Somerville Home of the Chump Change Man

[Othehumanity]

The first poster caught my thoughts rather well, especially the part where the NON-ELECTED and more or less ANONYMOUS mvtf can gum up the works year after year. Just another case of those with a MINORITY VIEW (hmm...Minority View Task Force?) resort to lawyers to thwart the will of the people (who are too stupid to know what's best for them anyway).

[nose banger]

dear odahumanity, do you really think we are "too stupid" to see your dribble: "resort to lawyers to thwart the will of the people" for what it is....an attack meant to obfuscate decieve and hide things?

The Bill Of Rights was put into the United States Constitution by our founding fahers to protect minority views from bullies like you who manipulate and hide behind what may or may not be a majority view.

Are you part of the elected give-my-brudda-a-job crowd otherwise know as the

Myopia View Task Force...or Joey's Pals.

[Martin Edin]

To Othehumanity,

Oh, so I see, “the people don't need a voice because they are just too stupid to know what is best for them anyway.” Well, that really just sums it up for you, doesn’t?
Go try to put this big box stuff on Martha’s Vineyard or next to Dick Cheney's house and see how a fast a bunch of hypocritical, commy, left, pink, leftist, elitist bastards kick you out of their neighborhood. The most conservative bunch of people in our country won’t allow this to happen to their own neighborhood but they want to stick it to ours. And you, The “Sell Out” are ready to just let em. You are just a TOOL.

[WE need a Mayor]

We need a Mayor from Davis square.
We need a Mayor from Davis square.
Where the streets are like the politics
neat and clean.

Hey, why can not we get someone in like John Norquist, former mayor of Milwaukee and CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism?

see here

[Mrs. McCarthy]

Now this is more like it. Opposing views, stated with passion and convinction. I like it.

I normally don't like to flatter Shelton(because then the head swells and the beret falls off)but he's almost 100% accurate in his retelling of the back story. I'm curious though why the current DPW Commish did not even merit a supporting role mention?

Remember friends, "Those that forget history, are doomed to repeat it."

It's such a lovely day, I think I'll go for a ride to Assembly Square and buy myself a Rolex. Or maybe some Lenox china, Egyptian cotton sheets, a nice new Lily Pulitzer two piece, and have lunch by the river at the new Legal Sea Foods...................

On second thought, maybe I'll just buy some more unecessary crap from China for the Easter Holiday and spend the afternoon in the Arcade at Good Times.

Enjoy the Day Kids,
(whoof, whoof)

Mrs. McCarthy

[Andy Dufresne]

We deserve a better Somerville. . What we have is Old Somerville-style politics—backroom deals, cronyism and incessant spin.

I’m not a politician. I’ve never before sought public office. I am not doing so now but what I am saying here is a sign of how distressed I am about the direction Somerville is being taken. We need a whole new group in charge. I know that many others share my concern.

Our first and most urgent task should be to restore the democratic character of our public life. Somerville, of all places, should have a government that’s fair, open and accountable. We should demand that the Aldermen and Mayor rescind the most egregious decision’s in Somerville’s history—the disastrous secret settlements of the city’s lawsuits over expansion. To prevent further secrecy, we should push for a strong Somerville knowledge Ordinance—a law that gives citizens legal access to information about local government, and the right to sue the city if they think the law’s provisions have been violated by city officials. Imagine: Citizens wouldn’t need to file Public Record Act requests to find out what’s going on!

Second, out-of-control development is threatening Somerville’s unique character and its quality of life. Nobody wants to live in a West Coast version of Colonial Williamsburg. But new buildings must enhance our neighborhoods and honor our culture and architectural heritage.
Perhaps a better Landmarks Preservation Ordinance needed. We should lift this siege and work with Somerville’s preservation like communities to strengthen our protections for the city’s historic buildings and businesses. Those protections should include a structure of merit designation with guts. What makes Somerville recognizably Somerville is an ensemble of the old and the new, the spectacular and the mundane. We need to care for the whole urban fabric.
We also need to start asking: How much development can Somerville take without losing its identity, or its original people? To get an honest answer, we have to confront a powerful myth: The notion that if we want to stop gentrification, we have to build as much housing as possible. The fact is that only a fraction of the new apartments that have gone up over the past few years are even officially affordable. Let’s build truly affordable housing and stop using the myth of affordability to justify huge, market rate projects that are beyond the reach of all but the affluent.
And let’s make sure that all development respects our neighborhoods. The city needs to stop foisting out-of-scale, out-of-character, or just plain sloppy projects on Somerville’s residents, and to start taking its cues from the people who are going to be directly affected by any new development. WE should have leaders that genuinely meet with and support neighborhood groups who are working to make their community a place they want to live.

Third, the TUFTS and assembly square are the elephants in Somerville’s room—a un-cultured and un-sophisticated elephant—but an elephant nonetheless. We should do our utmost to defend the interests of Somerville’s citizens against any unbridled growth.
After the any stupid settlements and screw ball deals are rescinded, we’ll still be faced with the hard issues: traffic, the green line and the huge drain on the city’s budget. How much do we currently get Tufts to pay the city? Is it $3 million for city services? Is that fair? I am sure a that an independent fiscal analysis would show that providing police, fire and sewer services for TUFTS’s or Assembly square and other guests and their expanded needs would cost the city of Somerville tens of millions a year each.
We’ve been repeatedly told that when the got the best deal possible. But better terms are easily attainable than what we are ending up with. We need to find out what the city could have gotten if it had pressed ahead with its original plans or a stronger one!

Fourth, in a nation where independent business is an endangered species, thank goodness our neighborhood shopping districts have a few remaining locally owned and operated stores. Stores like Savas Shoe Repair, in the little Elm St. shopping center or Ricky’s flowers in Union Square give us a service and network that binds our communities together. And we still have a community of working artists and artisans.
We need to fight and create zoning that keeps parts of Somerville affordable to artisans and people who have lived here for generations. Instead of shedding crocodile tears as neighbors and artists are evicted from their studios by high-end developers, We should that the city help artists buy their own buildings. Instead of turning areas into strip malls on steroids, the city should be promoting our unique neighborhood shopping districts through creative, year-round marketing events.
Of all our goals, the fifth and last I’ll mention here is the most ambitious: delivering the highest quality city services. “The city doesn’t work”—I hear that complaint again and again, all over town. It’s not just the brush-offs at city hall. It’s the deplorable condition of our streets. It’s our crumbling sewers, the rats. The answers you get when you call and the bullet proof glass when you buy a parking sticker. It’s t he rolling blackouts of Alderman in their wards, the rising rate of property crimes, and the drug dealing and street violence that have left some Somervillians shot and made others prisoners of their own homes.
We pay some of the highest property taxes in the USA. We ought to be getting value for our money. The main reason we’re not is that the city manager and his colleagues are not getting proper direction from the mayor and the Alderman. Last year, the Aldermen set Somerville’s priorities by spinning a bunch of bull. The budget process is another municipal embarrassment, a bureaucratic exercise conducted without meaningful direction or public input. To make matters worse on these crooks we should enact a Citizens Budget Review Commission to monitor what is happening. Not by a “Third Party”; but, by our own concerned citizens that have one common agenda. An un-hidden agenda of keeping our taxes low and getting the most in return.
At the beginning of each budget cycle, the Alderman, and city managers should identify essential services and the priorities to be undertaken during that fiscal year, and then form clear policy framework within which fiscal decisions will be made. These actions should guide the formation of the city manager’s budget. We should also demand the Board of Aldermen to instate a Budget Commission and to give it adequate staff and political support.

Finally, I propose that each year the Board of Alderman evaluate the performance of the city manager, the city attorney and other department heads. And have the city manager to solicit on an annual basis each commission’s opinions regarding staff service. We also need to find ways for ordinary citizens to effectively express their opinions about city services. And we need to make sure that all these report cards aren’t simply filed away, but have practical consequences.

If you are asking what would enable these changes to be made? The answer is that if people knew what’s going on, they’ll vote for change in the next election. I’m sure that’s true. But I’m also sure that our biggest challenge is going to be getting people to see the reality behind the spin. And the old spin is starting to show its face. It won’t be long now.

[thenoseknows]

so nose banger you missed my point.it is this.....if you are going to shoot down every plan for years and years..and nothing anyone else does will please you and your band of naysayers,then get out of the way...it would take a non trusting mind to think that all the pols are on the take and we are again selling out..you have to work with people to get thing done....does that mean they are being paid off? lets move forward and get this done in my lifetime...or would you rather it sit vacant for 30 more years.oh and one more thing,you have to bang a little harder to damage the nose

[Home Boy]

Andy,

Your passion to improve Somerville is commendable and your suggestions are worth considering, but they would have more credibility if you demonstrated a better understading of Somerville city government. Somerville does not have a city manager. Some say that this is why the city is so prone to corruption. I, personlly, think that it's because the city charter gives the mayor too much power.

Since haters like the Nose and Othehumanity have no evidence to support their puss spewing, they resort to name calling calculated to appeal to those who have been taken advantage of more than they have understood who did it to them and how.

If you want to prevail in the market place of ideas without name calling, you have to offer concepts that make sense, support them with evidence, and demonstrate that you know what you're talking about. And if you want a city manager, you can get a publication from the Secretary of State on how voters can change the city charter.

[thenoseknows]

hey home boy what r u the president of the short attention span theater.i never said the city is corrupt. i believe that it is not.i am not puss spewing. i am asking that we work together and move forward to a solution.whatever that bullshit was that you read in some city government 1,2,3 manual sounds great but it wont work. people work when they work together. hey isnt calling me a hater and a puss spewer name calling? i thought it was. unless i dont understand and its some kind of compliment

[The Frozen Hotdog]

I would like to see these liberal beret wearing pussies come face to face with guys like Campo or Piro. They would get slapped across the face and ride home on there little bicycles. Shelton and Mortadella Head are serious nuts and should be watched carefully. Furthermore, why the hell should artists get any housing benefits? Just because they don't want to work doesn't mean they should get their housing subsidized. What constitutes an artist anyway? GET A LIFE!!!!!!!

[SnowFlakes Eleven]

How does SnowFlakes Eleven feel about the Assembly Square issue?

[Home Boy]

Yeah Nose, you're right. Dogging you for calling names and then calling you names was hypocritical. I'm sorry. And your comment about working together did clear up for me what you're saying.

So let me ask you to at least consider that it's not Mystic View who won't work together. Until about a year ago, I got all my information on this subject from the papers and from gossip. I thought pretty much what you've writeen. Then I got to know a neighbor whose a Mystic View member. I checked out what she said with a friend who had worked in the Kelly Gay and first Curtatone adiministrations.

The point is that Mystic View asked for mediation three times, and each time the city and developers betrayed them and lied to the press about it. I hope that Shelton talks about this in his history. Mystic View proposed compromise after compromise that got ignored, while they got attacked.

Now if my elected officials kept breaking the law while they attacked me every chance they got, I'd want to do something uglier than file a lawsuit. My last post shows that I can be stupid when I'm steamed, so I think that respecting the law and filing a suit woud be righteous. Am I wrong, Nose? What do you think they should do?

[Snowflake Says "Off With Their Heads"!]

Snowflake Says "Off With Their Heads"! I just can't stand it when morons such as the MVTF stand in the way of Progress. They would prefer to look at dirty, barren land with it's appearance that reeks like an old, smelly armpit and spreads noting but sorrow instead of a State of the Art Mall Complex that would brings Somerville into the 21st century with fashion Style and class for all to take-in and enjoy!

[Martin Edin]

What about all the Traffic snowflake? I am no expert but one of our biggest arguments for a green line extention (which is one thing we all agree on) is that it reduces traffic and pollution. But at the same time we are doing this? Central Steel is fighting the city’s attempt to seize its property by eminent domain so it can be redeveloped as part of an big box retail plan.
Central Steel has operated a family run steel fabricating business out of its Assembly Square site for more than 60 years. A state Court upheld the city’s efforts to seize the company’s property in 2004, but Central Steel appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court. Can you imangine that snowflakey, they are appeal and stand in the way of progress?

Here is what the higher courts are likely to do:

click here

[Snowflake sayssssss " Off with your Head as Well!]

To Martin Edin:
First of all I don't know you from a hole in the wall. By your ambition to try to prove this mute view to me you come across as some Radical progressive nut case that thinks just because you wear sneakers and to court and voted nine times for Pat Jehlan, that you can rule the world! But you don't! You have the balls to direct me to the Kramer Vs Board of Zoning web-link. WHOPPIE DILL SHIT!!!!! You can find you friends frivolous law-link! Big Deal. Another MVTV Nut Court Case!!! I read in the link""a brick box about 12 feet by 12 feet square and about 10 feet high, blocked Kramer's direct view of the Somerville-Cambridge-Boston skyline."" But in reality and in fact, Mr. Kramer in the Case doesn't really own the partial of land next to him and should keep his nosey - liberal ass out of other peoples progress and too frigin bad for Kramer, tell him if he want's to see Boston, Tell him to go to the Pot Fest on the Common with the rest of his type of nut cases!! Then you bring up Central Steel! That's right he doesn't want to give his property away for less than he want's! It is his property and he has the right to refuse the offer! He OWNS the property Martin Edin! So Mr. Edin you, in my book, are nothing but another crybaby that likes to rant and rave about shit that don't even concern you. Just another typical MVTF @#^*HOLE!
So Snowflake sayssssss " Off with your Head as Well!
Sincerely,
Snowflake's Eleven

[Martin Edin]

No Snowflkey,

I am not just one.

Every day that goes by and every condo that sells brings your imminent, inevidble demise closer and closer. You see, soon your opion will be revoked and taken from you by eminent domain. But right now I can actully see some merit in what you are saying. I understand that you feel that way. I just don't understand why.

From one perspective It could be about about a group of neighborhood residents and small shop owners who feel run over — and duped — by business giants, develpers and allied government bureaucrats who find ways to circumvent public process and ignore neighborhood concerns.
From another perspective it might be about relative newcomers to formerly downtrodden neighborhoods who want to impose their sensibilities on property owners who was here before the neighborhood was “hot” with art galleries and $400,000 condos. And these newcomers aren’t happy the law allows something they don’t like. Not it their own back yard. If this can happen to my neighbor today and I don't speak up then it can happpen to you or me tommorow.
Maybe, it’s a bit about all of the above. The question is not when you moved into the area or what kind of shoes we wear. The question is what are the impacts of this on our community.

[Snowflake takes back previous order! Edin is semi ok!!]

Wow!!! Youre not a bad guy after all. Hey, maybe when you do go to the Pot Fest on the common, can I tag along with you?

[To Edin]

Oh Ya, and no Funny Stuff!

Your New Pal,
Snowflake

[Male Chimp with Boobs wants to go with you!]

Hi MR. Edin, if there is any exta room, could I come with you guys to the PotFest? And if possable can I ask my mate RN as well?

Male Chimp with Boobs

[Martin Edin]

How about tonight then?

Where it began
I can’t begin to knowin’
But then I know it’s growin’ strong

Was in the spring
And spring became the summer
Who’d have believed you’d come along

Hands, touchin’ hands
Reachin’ out
Touchin’ me
Touchin’ you

[Snowflake's Eleven]

Hey You! Remember Now! No Funny Stuff!

[thenoseknows]

ok,now that i have your attention,lets rewind to the very beginning of the mvtf.this is coming from someone who was there.me...they wanted a little input into the process, a voice to bring their ideas to the boa.pat j couldnt do it,who listens to her? dp wasnt elected yet.buonomo..he already had too many faces,he was finished.wp..he's useless...so they go to a guy who they know cares about the city,wants whats best for everyone, and will keep an open mind and be willing to bring all the sides together,in a compromise, and to an end....tell them we want a baseball field, ok you've got it...tell them we want underground parking. done...get us residential. sure,done...marketplace style streets in small grid design.blah.blah blah,yada,yada,yada..so at this point the developer tells the messenger tell them no, were done giving we need to start construction....when the mvtf,who we still dont know who these people are even today 6 years later..accuse the messenger of selling out,accusing him of being'on the take'...calling him a benedict arnold, going so far as to say he is connected and so on ,your all smart you get the picture.so when they loose their voice they resort to good old fashion litigation.its kind of like the kid who cant get his way,so he takes his ball and goes home so no one else can play...only problem is were talking about a one billion dollar development that in the end will be the envy of many other communities.so i ask again,maybe im pleading,how about some help from this paper from you the readers,from anyone who can help.if these people have a charter or articles of organization or some thing can we find out who,by personal names, these people are who are holding up this wonderful project.they are your and my neighbors but who the hell are they?and what do they want?will it ever end?

[Andy Dufresne]

To Thenoseknows,

You don't expect the poeple who live here and who are affected by this to just go away now, do you? let’s make sure that all development respects our neighborhoods. The city needs to stop foisting out-of-scale, out-of-character projects on Somerville's residents, and to start taking its cues from the people who are going to be directly affected by this development. Now, who will continue to meet with and support neighborhood groups who are working to make their community a place they want to live?

You?

Can we plan reasonable growth without sacrificing the environment, social justice, and community culture in Somerville? Can we have truly affordable housing and progressive urban design? don't you agree that we must safeguard the rights of vulnerable citizens and weigh environmental impacts if we are to call this planning process just or smart. And that we must ask ourselves: Smart growth? Smart for whom?

[Fred Mahoney Sullivan]

Nose,

Are you saying that we would not have the baseball field and park if it were not for those guys? What else can they get for us?

[thenoseknows]

thanks andy for answering,my point is that we can not have everthing for every one. at some point people,such as the mvtf, have to compromise. and the point is that they do not ever, ever, give in to anything ....they want, what they want, what they want...they are burning everyone out,from elected official,to developer,to judges,to every day residents of this great city who do want this project completed,and im willing to wager whatever it is you ask, that are more residents for than against this project...this land isnt in the middle of union sq,it is isolated. surrounded mostly by roads and water.the mvtf isnt helping us get more tax dollars they are costing us millions.and again i ask who are they i want some names so iknow who to complain to. are you a member?i know bs is. i know wz is,dp,pj,lp..let me in ..tell me who you know that is

[Andy Dufresne]

You are Joking right? How can you not know who they are? I am not a member.
If your deal is that good you need to start selling it to everyone else. If what you say is true, about knuckled heads stalling, then the answer to your problem is to get as many other people and neighborhood groops involved as you can. Start proving to everyone that this is going to help them, not hurt them. Right now, unless this is completely wrong, I believe some of you are believing these types of myths:
click here

[Mrs. McCarthy]

Andy,

You've been a good boy up til now. Don't get Jamie all in a tither. If the rule about posting links to other websites has somehow slipped your mind.............

Stop now or I'll find you and kick you in the nuts................

Thank You,

Mrs. McCarthy

[Martin Edin]

Yes, this is some of the most valuable undeveloped real estate in the country right now. What is holding it up? You know, the Alskans get oil checks or annual dividends each year from their land. And the Indians get their own soverign land and casinos. What is the rest of Somerville going to get here? I hope you boys are'nt giving the store away down there. You might be able to speed this up if you can make these guys pay the taxes on our houses or something.

[Andy Dufresne]

I thought this only appllied for links to other local competing newspapers?
What is the rule exactly?

[Mrs. McCarthy]

Andy,

Sorry. I thought it was all links. Better ask the "Great One" just to be safe. If I'm wrong, I apologize.

Maybe I'll kick Newman in the nuts just for the hell of it................

Mrs. McCarthy

[thenoseknows]

ok andy your right im sure there are at least 30-40 people holding up this project in the court system....and maybe around 30-40 thousand who would like to see some revenue to help with taxes,schools,street repairs.police,fire and so on....problem is they are all at work or with their families and really havent got the time for a grassroots effort of this magnitude...but i wish somehow,someway..a movement to speak louder than the mvtf would get organized,maybe it would make them realize that they do not speak for the masses.they certainly dont speak for me.

[Martin Edin]

Not to mention the 50,000 stockholders in Federal reality, a bunch of Sweedes, and the Donald trump or Bill Gates of the worlds furniture Industry where 90% of the benifits of these projects are going to end up.
While back at home our taxes increase, we live with more traffic and pollution and to top it off, Kids today already can not afford a house, much less a condo here. Your kids are going live with You in your basement or attic untill they are 40 before they can afford to buy their own home. So you are going to need that Ikea furniture buddy.
what all this means, Mr. nose ,is that the people who are ahead in the community, the owners, are going to get farther ahead, but the poor people, the renters, the young folks, our neighbors of Somerville are going to get the shit kicked out of them.

[History Major]

Yes, This place has a long history of being sold out. I wonder if any liquor was involved in this deal?

[Home Boy]

Nose,

It's hard to find a single accurate statement in your history of this conflict. And who is this "guy who cares about the city,wants whats best for everyone, and will keep an open mind?" If you're talking about Joe Curtatone, it explains where you're getting your history, and why it's fairy tales. More to the point, do you work for Curtatone?

While you post under a psuedonym, you're trying to create the illusion that Mystic View is some kind of secret group. In fact, they regularly advertie their meetings in the farm-team paper. And if you want to know who their officers are, all you have to do is go on line to the Secretary of State's office. But you already knew that, didn't you?

Curtatone's yearning to be a man of influence dominates every other motivation that he has. He courted Mystic View because he saw them as progressive, and he was in his the-Progessives-can-get-me-elected-mayor phase. Then his lover went to work for the developers and made clear to him that it is a three-to-one superiority in campaign spending that wins elections, even if only by 2% of the vote.

Probably your most outrageous piece of disinformation is that what Curtaone's owners want to build will create more new tax revenues than new costs. It's not only not true, but Joe fudged the numbers he gave to the financial analyst, who projected an anemic net gain in taxes. Or don't you read the papers?

The next time you want to post Curtatone-administration propganda, why don't you at least tell us your sources of (mis)information, so we can check out how accurate they are?

[thenoseknows]

so i guess home boy is your real name? sounds like you know more about jc than i do. is your information first hand.you were there with the regressives, at some early meatings,maybe you were holding the candle for the secret lover.my information is inaccurate?i tell fairy tails? this cities chief assessor,db,has been in his position since 1968,he holds no alliance toward any mayor,he is a true professional who tells it like it is,if you talked to him for 5 minutes you would admit to this yourself.these are his number,not the jc administration numbers,the same numbers hes been using since before jc was elected.and im so sorry, no, i do not now or ever have worked in city government.my family has lived in somerville since 1915 and im just a person who cares.

[Snowflake's Eleven]

A simple thought about MVTF:

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked,
"How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.
The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.
"If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I will have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you will have to call an ambulance.

How long can we hold our water with MVTF?

[To Edin:]

Sorry Martin!!!!!!! But It's true!

Yours Truly,
Snowflake

[Martin Edin]

Sounds to me like you guys don't understand what their objects realy are. I here you that they keep asking for more and more... but what is the heart of the problem here?

Maybe they should not be approaching the current administration just yet. Instead they may get more traction if they started approaching other intrested groups like these cats http://www.livablestreets.info/ and others. If these other groups can work together I would be inclined to believe them.

[The Pie Man is standing by with every flavor & answers!]

The link that you provided, and may I also say against the Almighty JN's rules of posting other peoples crap sites on here, is nothing more than a progressive web-site! possibly sponsored by the same type of beings like MVTF's, Jehlen,RN and the rest of the Three Ring Crowd! The same type of Pod People, may I say, that just want to control the way business owners and investors eat, sleep & shit! I'm sorry, but I don't believe in this type on noseyness that interfers with other people's hard earned money. Hey, if it's leagal, let them spend it any way they want! If they want to build to improve themselves, the more power to them. Others should'nt have a say on it at all! Next you guys will be coming out with a site called: www. How-we-wamt to- spend-it-for you.com!

Who's throwing those pies????

[hey there]

Maybe they are just trying to help. Bringing more people into the proces allows the real heroes to be the taxpayers, members of unions, and community groups, watchdogs (bark bark) and investigative journalists,environmentalists and land use activists, bikers and hells angels. We should encourage diversity and get more taxpayers involved. The poloticians will follow.

[dga]

I would like to see these liberal beret wearing pussies come face to face with guys like Campo or Piro. They would get slapped across the face and ride home on there little bicycles.
Funny, last time I heard Piro was out and about, he came home crying because some big scary gay guys made him feel threatened because they were holding Carl Scortino signs in a most threatening way.

[thenoseknows]

you are all alike you just dont think the rules apply to you....or maybe you cant speak for yourself or get an original idea..you have to keep posting links...lets get this party started.lets build at assembly sq