News Talk for the week of Nov. 22

News Talk for the week of Nov. 22

According to sources, a few more Police-Fire picket protests are scheduled for later on this month and next - we also heard that it might be set to coincide with the “Christmas” (Holiday?) lighting ceremony…if that’s true, it could prove to be a very interesting event.  With the raid of the DPW workers at Engine 7 on Monday we wonder what they were looking for?  Are things getting worse here in the city?       

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You know that fancy fundraiser scheduled to be at the Rack on the 29th for Mayor Joe?  Rumor has it that it was cancelled because the owners of the Rack found out somehow that Joe’s new favorite friends - the Somerville Fire & Police unions - were going to picket him there and the Rack owners didn’t want the bad publicity…all that expensive mailing that went out and nice literature even with a union label on it, man we bet he’s pissed, and who says he doesn’t support unions?   
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Congratulations to Mayor Joe for the huge pay raise - we think the Mayor of our city deserves it, he works hard, but according to the list of pay raises for non union workers, he was the big winner and most everyone else when said and done will receive far less then expected.    
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Buying and testing a brand new Harley-Davison in Somerville might just be a reality sometime soon.  Rumor is that plans for a Somerville-based Harley dealership is being considered.  The plans would include a state of the art showroom, service-parts department and an outdoor test ride track.
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Pat Norton of the paper was recently rushed to Lawrence-Memorial one night last week and a great bunch of medical personnel there referred her to the Mass Eye & Ear Infirmary, which after several tests did emergency operation on her eyes.  Again, thanks to the quickness of the medical staff over there in Medford, everything turned out fine.  Pat wanted to publicly thank both Lawrence Memorial and Mass Eye & Ear for doing a great job.
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Bob Publicover is on the mend and was recently back from Arizona, where he was visiting his sister…we think he needed to get some warm desert sun to help him recover from his recent medical situation.  You can’t keep Bob down - word has it he wants to see some ads - and we like the sound of that.
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Officially we heard its true - Jack Connolly is going to seek the vacant Alderman At Large seat, along with Marty Martinez - the Secular Progressive candidate.  This should prove to be interesting…two so called “Progressives” - Jack and Marty - and then there is Maureen Bastardi, who is still thinking seriously about running…we also heard Mary Jo Rossetti from Ward 7 is thinking about it as well.  We even heard a faint rumor that Bill Shelton was considering…that would make it very interesting wouldn’t it?

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We heard from one of our progressive News Talkers that Marty Martinez will have access to the full array of progressive resources in his campaign for alderman. We have been told he will even use state Rep. Carl Sciortino’s office, which begs the question, who will be using Stan Koty’s office?

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The Somerville Divestment Project elevated the level of discussion in this city. We encourage them to go back to the planet Mars, consult with their leaders and to go pick on another city. Bye bye divestment project.

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Keep an eye on Ward 7 Alderman Bob Trane. We’ve been telling you for weeks now that there are plans for a coup d’ etat for President of the Board of Alderman. Bob is Vice President and expects to be elevated to the presidency but rumors abound that Ward 1 Alderman Bill Roche has his eyes on the prize.   

Comments

[Somerspeak]

I think Bob Trane will make a fine President of the Board. I watched the BOA meeting last night and with such unforgettable catch phrases like "I'm gonna chew on some butt" while expressing his displeasure with the Planning staff at City Hall, the man will be a credit to the City and the Board.

Hey Bob, can you chew on my ass while you're at it?

[r.carney]

Since everone else got a raise it's time to settle with the public safety unions. The police dept. is one of the busiest around and the fire dept. does more work than three quarters of other dept. in the state. So its time to pay up joe.

[Whatever]

The Rack will soon become a Hard Rock Cafe (though lawsuits are flying). Not sure "bad publicity" will hurt them much.

[Johnny Protester]

whatever,
Who cares, all we know is the fundraiser was cancelled by the Rack. A victory for us. If he moves the venue, we'll be there.

[The Mole]

Anyone really listen to the BOA meeting last night? If you didn’t here are a few items that I am sure you would be interested in:

Item # 49: Mayor’s request; Requesting approval to transfer $522,294 from the Salary Contingence Account to various department Salary Acct. to fund non-union wage adjustments effective 7/1/06. Is this on top of the $153,000 for the Mayor, BOA and School Committee?

Voted on 8-0, with 3 absent. Then Alderman Sullivan made sure everything would stick to the wall by asking the vote just taken by asking for another vote in hope that the one just passed prevails. Did you know, within Item #49; Boss Hog received a $13,000 increase by the Mayor just to keep his mouth shut? And an additional $5,000 went to none other than his long time shadowing, blonde female companion. This is retroactive to July 1, 2006 folks. The City Clerk certainly didn’t read that out loud to the home audience now did he? Another fast track passage by the BOA.

In a couple of more weeks, your going to see how the City will be paying for all these NON-UNION increases when the City’s Chief Assessing Officers goes before them to RAISE our taxes. He will stand there at the podium for what will seem like 30 hours going on and on about how Somervilles’ residential tax base is the lowest compared to the cities and towns around us. He will through out numbers until there are no more left. Alderman Taylor will ask 6 questions, Whitey will commend Dick on how well he has done with the same speech he has given over the past 10 years. SOD will say something stupid like he always does, but this time he will be laughing because he no longer lives on Rogers Ave.

It is the same thing over and over each year with Dick. When Dick speaks, it is like eating turkey with tryptophan injected in each phrase of his presentation. Watch who yawns and then how many get up and walk away from the Horseshoe.

Then the other evening, Item # 51 and 52 were Mayor’s Requests to transfer a total of $1,000,000 to reduce the FY 07 tax levy. What’s up with that shit? The Mayor got half that amount from T&P receipts and the other half is coming out of Overlay Surplus that Dick declared on Nov. 20, 2006. What’s up with that Dick? Where did you find that surplus amount?

I am probably wrong with Dick and the extra $500,000 Overlay Surplus but for the City to have the maneuverability to send cash flowing in opposite directions sure makes me wonder? Anyone Else?

The Mole

[question for the Mole]

I missed the part about the blonde shadowing female companion. what is her initials?

[The Mole]

To "?": her initials are the same as a popular drink with the Men back about 30 years ago and is still being served today, "Hey Bartender, give me a "CC" on the rocks will ya?"

The Mole

[But I thought....]

I thought it was 'JL'

[Where's Bert]

Lets here from bert? We haven't heard from him in a while

[Secular?]

Why do you call the progressives "secular progressives"? Just because you don't like them (neither do I), does not mean that you should write such idiotic things. The word “secular” does not even describe them correctly. Does it mean that those of us not in the group want payer in school? Does it mean that they are not religious? If you want people to take your views seriously, then you have to stay away from petty name calling.

[Somerspeak]

And so Curtatone's long awaited reward for escorting Deval Patrick through Somerville during the campaign has been announced.

Seems that our Mayor, along with 14 other Mayors, will be elbowing each other in the ribs for the next month tryin to gain favor with the new Governor. This
particular transition team is mandated to provide Deval with recommendations regarding local government.

Poor Joe, with the likes of Mayor Menino of Boston, McGlynn of Medford, Reeves of Cambridge and other heavy hitters in local government, our Mayor will be lucky if Deval remembers which exit off Rt. 93 to use to get to Somerville.

Looks like all that hard work for Deval just ain't gonna have that big payday, huh, Joe? Too bad. But there is hope yet. Maybe that job with Palmer and Dodge will pan out. Until they figure out the only thing you know about the law is how to break it.

[The Mole]

Does anyone really know how the Administrative Assistant to the Project Manager, Gerry B, husbands company got the winning bid to erect the steel at the New Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School?

Zitchelle Erectors is out of Leominster, MA., and the owner, MZ, has recently been under scrutiny by a Government Agency. He actually was away for a while on sort of a vacation.

Do we hire these questionable types of contractors? OH yeah, If forgot this is Somerville.

The Mole