Newstalk for Wednesday October 31st 2007

No major predictions here (our crystal ball is on the fritz) but it’s probably safe to assume the incumbents are all going to return to office. It’s hard to defeat someone already in office during a controversial election, never mind a boring one. We predict all four at-large incumbents will return, despite the good intentions of Lafuente and Berman. Ward 5 looks to be the closest race in the city; Ward 6 and Ward 7 will see both incumbents return to office and the sticker one in Ward 4 will be close. Fortunately or unfortunately we see no surprises. We wish everyone the best!

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Congratulations to our own Boston Red Sox for making it a great October here in Red Sox Nation, now we can all focus on the Pat’s and watch those Celtics come alive after 15 years of basketball misery. Speaking of the Sox, there was a Champion sighting at Melo & Son’s on Cross Street last week, seems like David Ortiz was spotted dropping off an Antique Chair to be done over.

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The Somerville Little League will be holding its annual meeting to elect members of the Board of Directors for the 2008 season. The meeting is scheduled for this Thursday, Nov. 1.  All members in good standing are encouraged to attend the general meeting, to be held at the Stop & Shop public conference room, in East Somerville.

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Yesterday the VNA (Visiting Nurse Association) broke ground for their new complex up at the old Conwell School site. They will build 90 new units of affordable housing and the Somerville Housing Authority, headed by Joe Macaluso, and his great staff will add 90 more new units in a complex right next door.

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Don’t miss the annual Fall Bazaar at the Little Sisters of the Poor coming up on Nov. 10 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at their home on Highland Avenue. You can find many great things from homemade pastries and Christmas gifts to their homemade and famous Beef Stew. All are welcome to begin their Christmas Shopping season and of course to help the Little Sisters raise some money.

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Elections are this coming Tuesday, and although its a relatively quiet election season we certainly hope that everyone remembers to go out and vote. There will be a lot of activity in Ward 4 with the sticker campaigns of Jamie Norton and Charlene Harris, we know that Jamie will have stickers at the polls for everyone, we assume Charlene will as well, we certainly hope that one of them gets elected so the city won’t have to put up $25 to $30 grand for a special election. They need over 100 stickers or write-ins each to be counted to be eligible to win.

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The Central Hill Memorial Park will be getting a complete make over funded by a State grant with the blessings of the Governor’s office!  Somerville is slated to receive $500K for the renovation project. Did you know Central Hill was the city’s first public park?

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November 3 from 4 to 7 Union Square Acupuncture will hold an open house. All are welcome to attend and enjoy appetizers, beverages and discount coupons for acupuncture, massage and Reiki. Call 617-718-7555 to learn more.

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Another holiday event coming up this Friday Nov. 2 at Somerville Hospital from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Somerville Hospital Ladies Auxiliary will hold their event, these fine and often unheralded ladies put in thousands of hours volunteering at the hospital every year. We say bravo!

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You can have a great night out at “Soul Responsibly”, a fundraiser for RESPOND a group working to end domestic violence against women. The night of fun and 70s music will be held at Dilboy Post on Summer Street this Friday Nov. 2 beginning at 9 p.m., the cover charge will be $10.00. There will be a silent auction, entertainment and raffles.

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Another successful year of ArtsUnion has ended. The Somerville Arts Council and Union Square Main Streets worked together to put on some great events (our favorite was the disco under McGrath Highway) that brought some great attention to Union Square. This series is making Union Square a destination point and highlights some great features of the square. Good job ArtsUnion! 

Comments

[Blank]

I would like to suggest that on Election Day, all voters make a statement against unopposed politicians. I plan to connect the arrow beside the word 'blank' for all of the unopposed races, and for politicians who don't deserve a vote.

[Ron Newman (SF)]

If you really don't like one of the people who are unopposed, why didn't you run against him or her, or persuade one of your friends to do so?

[Tricky]

How about "unopposed" races? I'd be prone to write in Dr. Mrs. McCarthy for mayor (if she weren't keeping such a low profile...)

I'm still trying to figure out the calculus for voting in the at-large race. Vote for three? Or four (but not if it keeps one of my three out)? At least there are *some* meaningful races out there this time around.

[At-Large Prognosticator]

1st. Sullivan-mobile office hours rule!
2nd. White-he's smarter than you, remember
3rd. Lafuente-10th Player on the Red Sox
4th. Desmond-zzzzzzzzz
5th. Jack the Hack-there's always hearing officer
6th. Wingnut Berman-Pat, help me!
7th. Write-in Dr. McCarthy
8th. Write-in Bert Gay

[Credit where credit is due]

Nonsense, At-Large Prognosticator - Bert Gay to top ticket (And win the School Committee seat in Ward 4)

[JARfromWard3]

To "Blank" above;

If you wish to have an office left blank, you need only skip over it and not complete any arrows so long as you vote for at least one candidate in one of the races (it doesn't matter which one). There is no "Blank" option on the ballot which is accomplished by completing the arrow. This was, for me, a problem in the Mayoral preliminary since a person wishing to take a ballot and simply have it counted without having voted for anyone had their ballot summarily spit back out by the machine. The obvious problem here is that the voter's privacy is thus compromised.

This drew more than a couple of less-than-pleasant remarks from people, but there was nothing I could do.

I brought it up at the Warden and Clerk's meeting Monday evening and there are options being explored to address this. For now, however, it was suggested that--in the case of a single or multiple office ballot--if a person does not wish to vote for anyone, they simply connect the arrow next to "Write-in" (and it can be ANY write-in; only one is necessary) and the machine will process the ballot as one write-in (for whatever office) and the remainder as "blank".

73
JAR

[Ron Newman (SF)]

At-large prognosticator: with instant-runoff (single-transferable) voting, like Cambridge has for its city council, you could actually vote in preferential order like what you stated in your post.

[Voting]

JAR: The reason you should complete the arrow beside the 'blank' option is to prevent an unscrupulous person (not that we have any!) from filling in a candidates' name. I have always been told that if you do not wish to vote for anyone, that's fine, but you should never complete the arrow and leave a blank space for the name!

[Credit where credit is due]

or Malta or Republic of Ireland - Ron - but I'm sure you knew that. I think that At-Large prognosticator was giving what he thought would be the results of the At-Large Race

[Mole Fan]

Dr. Mrs. McCarthy campaign headquarters is having a big rally. You can stop in at Dohertys from 2-4 and 7-9 !!

[Ron Newman (SF)]

You could always connect the arrow beside the write-in space and write in the word "Blank", to avoid this possibility. (Unless we someday have a Mr. Blank running for an office -- what fun we'll have then.)

[JARfromWard3]

Once an arrow next to a write-in is completed (notwithstanding whether a name has been written on the line) and the ballot processed, no matter what happens, the Optech Machine reads it, and diverts it into the middle bin of the ballot box (which is exclusively for write-ins). At the end of the night, these are removed and tallied to see that the number of "Write-ins" showing on the tape agrees with the number of write ins shown. There are typically only a handful of these and, unless notice is given of a specific write-in or sticker campaign (as will be the case in Ward 4), the names of those written in do not get noted.

Because there is a write-in campaign in Ward 4, it can be assumed that there will be an inordinately high number of write-in ballots in the middle bin. These will get hand-counted and aa tally sheet for the candidates whose names are either written in or stuck on will be so noted.

Following this, ALL ballots are sealed and carried by the police officer to City Hall where they are sequesterd in a safe for a period of time (I believe it's 60 days) after which, unless there is a recount or other extraordinary occurance, they are destroyed.

Now, it is POSSIBLE that a person or persons involved in the handling of these ballots at the polling place could attempt to write-in names as you suggest. It is also POSSIBLE that I will find the winning Mega Millions ticket unclaimed on the ground on my way into church.

Basically, it would have to be a conspiracy of considerable magnitude . This Optech system with hard-copy ballots is pretty good. Not perfect; but damned close.

By the way, I along with several others were asked by the Election Commissioner to assist with the counting at the Ward 4 precincts after we complete the close-out at our respective precincts (which will hopefully go smoothly for me since there are no write-in campaigns forecast for Ward 3). Thus, a long day gets longer yet.

To address the above concern of possible fraud by election offciials, I would respectfully submit that the candidate or candidates in the subject write-in campaign will very likely have observers overseeing the handling of write-in ballots as they are removed from the bin and throughout the counting process. They have a right to do so as far as I know--and as long as are not disuptive during the counting.

IF (and this is a BIG "IF") the race is SO close between any two or more hypothetical write-ins that a recount is required, rest assured that everyone from the candidates themselves to the local press will be watching it with considerable scrutiny. Ask Bruce Desmond, Bill White, Vinny Piro or Sal Albano about this.

I hope this serves as some salve to your concerns.

73
JAR

[Ron Newman (SF)]

Thanks, John. This also explains why, if you write in the name of a candidate who is already on the ballot, your vote is considered invalid and most likely won't be counted.

[somerville guy]

Beware of the goblins in Ward 7. Traniac just mugged Ugly Betty and took away all her candy, er, she actually had apples, raisins, and some dates in her trick-or-treat bag!

[Ward5Born]

Trick or treat hit ward five this afternoon too. A letter from Mayor Joe and his good buddy the disgraced Alderman Sean announcing more benefits to Magoon Square. Just days before the election. Coincidence? Not.

Vote for Lynch and get rid of the faker O'Donovan.

[open]

weres the vote signs they put out around the city a week before voting

[New Stalker]

Good for the Somerville News. Read the endorsements today. The endorsement of Joe Lynch for Ward 5 Alderman is ceratinly one I agree with.

[Curious]

I heard a rumor that ward 5 candidate Joe Lynch is gay. Can anyone confirm or deny?

[somerville guy]

Hey Curious, who really cares? Gay progressives (or straight progressives that are sympathetic to their gay neighbors in 5-1 or 5-3) that's who. Keep lighting the flame and they will stamp you out, you Powderhouse-drinkin'-Kelly's Diner eatin'-Trum Field scrapin'-O'Lunkavin'voting square-head. When the bomb hits next Tuesday, hope the Brown School fall-out shelter is well-equipped!

[Credit where credit is due]

I love the Newstalk predictions - they are usually dead wrong.

Anyone taking bets on how many of the predictions are right? I'll bet some bucks. Any takers??

[Curious]

Somerville guy,

I think it is important to learn about a candidate's values and social behavior if that person could possibly end up making important decisions for the community. I will take your response as a "yes". Toodles!!

[Imux]

DO NOT VOTE for LYNCH, HELLER, BERMAN, WHITE or GEWIRTZ

Look at what the disgusting PDS stand for (cut/pasted from their "platform"):

(e) promptly implementing the SJC’s mandate regarding the right of same-sex partners to marry; (f) providing translations of public information and otherwise promoting inclusion of residents from varying linguistic communities; and (g) opposing the Patriot Act’s intrusions on residents’ civil liberties.

Translation: the PDS wants to use taxpayer money to promote an anti-American, anti-God, pro-homo (see (e) above), pro-illegals (see (f) above) and pro-terrorist (see (g) above) social agenda. Who the hell would vote for these deviants?

They should all be in jail for ruining the social fabric of the city. We know they're all going to bail once the city is bankrupt and we're all forced to hand over more in property taxes and water bills. They're the ones responsible for the rise in these taxes - all to pay for their pet social programs.

I encourage all somerville residents to confront anyone you know that is a member of the PDS. Get in their face and demand that they back the hell off and stop reaching for our wallets! They are all about using OUR tax money to promote some sick & twisted social agenda and they must be stopped. They represent the most farleft, moonbat, moveon-org-loving group of tree huggers that ever slimed out from under the shitpile. Shout them down and then vote them out. We are at a crossroads in this city and the time to act is NOW. This election. Let's make a statement.

DO NOT VOTE for LYNCH, HELLER, BERMAN, WHITE or GEWIRTZ EVER. Read what these people want to do and become educated. Stand up to this fringe group that wants to demolish what the working and middle class have built in Somerville for some bohemian wet dream these fools have. We cannot afford these libaloons spending our hard earned money on programs that will further destroy our economy, culture, history and future.

ATTENTION: DO NOT VOTE for LYNCH, HELLER, BERMAN, WHITE or GEWIRTZ

A vote for any of the above is a vote for more illegals, more terrorists, teaching our children to be anti-God, more drugs on the street and an end to the working and middle class in Somerville.

[somerville guy]

Sieg Imux!

[Green Cabbie]

Wow, Imux has lost it! I was all excited by the bold type - oh yeah, I will not be voting for Gewirtz et. al. - but it ain't 'cause they love the gays. Or the Haitians. Well, maybe because they love the Haitians!

[Imux is Jehlen]

I think Imux is really Pat Jehlen. She's trying to get Ron's irish up so he'll vote several hundred times for Fred Berman and Joe Lynch.

[Election]

Imux is just a below average jackass with a very low IQ and a strong addiction to alcohol.

[Need to Know]

How does Trane self-contribute over $25,000 to his own campaign as disclosed in his financial discloure? Is developer money that thick in this city?

[Truth B Told]

Bob Trane is the only candidate that does not take money from city employees, department heads, or anyone with business before the city. Not a single dime from a developer or job seeker will be found on his finance forms. He owes no one and it shows in his independence on any issue that comes before the board.

[Ward 5 Neighbor]

I'm new to ward 5, but what I have seen so far has been amazing. I have seen Joe Lynch working non-stop around the neighborhood everywhere I go. To be honest, when I first moved in, I had thought that he was the ward alderman. When I was told it was Sean O'Donovan, I thought "Who is that guy?"

I didn't see Sean until recently when he was door knocking up our street, a month after Joe had come... twice. The thing about my street is that there is a known drug dealer across the street from me, and has been in trouble in multiple occasions. When Sean came knocking, what I heard gave me a 100% definite on who to vote for.

When Sean had gotten to the druggy's home, I overheard the conversation. The dealer said "If Joe Lynch got in, my life would be Hell." Shouldn't that be a red flag? Nope.

Hearing Sean and his possy go back to his truck, they were still talking about it. I overheard Sean saying "A vote is a vote." This is not how a city should run. I need to know that whoever is elected will make the ward cleaner, safer, and more reliable. And nothing makes me happier than seeing all Joe Lynch signs on my street, that is, except for the one O'Donovan sign, that of the drug dealer.

[Open Your Eyes]

I find the post slandering Bob Trane for using his own money for his campaign highly suspect. Who but a member of the opposition would have that information, and then use it to cast dispersions on him for not taking special interest money?

I for one think that we should stand and applaud his stance against those that would try and buy the election process. I would ask the poster ( need to know) to look at the other elected officials finance forms and tell me where they got their money. It is all from developers and city employees looking to feather their own nests. Trane has shown that his ethics are beyond reproach and I just wish that more of our elected officials would take the same stand and refuse to accept money from special interests

[Imux]

I don't know about Joe Lynch. Someone told me recently (I don't know if it's true) that Joe Lynch employs illegal aliens, is an admitted homosexual and has some prior conviction for something or other (drugs?). This was over a beer, so you never know if it's all true. Though I have heard the some of the same stuff from other sources.

Stick with Sean as he gets things done for your ward and wants to bring in more commercial development to reduce our property taxes. He also wants to keep some control on the illegal alien issue and rid our streets of drug dealers.

[Ron Newman]

I find the post slandering Bob Trane for using his own money for his campaign highly suspect. Who but a member of the opposition would have that information

1) not slander if true
2) the post referred to "finance forms" -- aren't these public information?

[Traniac]

Okay..$25,000??? Trane, tell us again, what do you do for a living? Actually, anyone, can ANYone tell us what he does for a living? I heard he used to be in real estate, but is this just developer money lining his pockets or what?

He doesn't say he won't take money from developers that do business in the city, does he? Hey Trane, so is that your mile-wide loophole? You won't take money from companies that do business "with" the city, but will take money from developers doing business "IN" the city??

Yea sounds real ethical...

[Maybe]

The money first goes in the pocket then in the bank?

[Imux_brother]

Dear Somerville community, you can only imagine my shock when I saw this blog for the first time and realized that my brother, who goes under the username of "Imux", has been making a fool of himself for so long. This is so embarrassing for our family and I want to sincerely apologize. We came from Ecuador, and Imux himself was born there, though he was naturalized a few years ago. He has had a bad year, since he dropped out of high school and could not hold a job. He has been drinking a lot and I really hope he does not do something stupid in real life and land in jail. I'll try to keep the computer away from him, but I cannot prevent him from using one at the public library. Please, ignore him, Somerville.

[lifelong res]

Curious,

Are you kidding? What difference does it make whether Lynch is gay or not? Lynch is the best candidate to enter politics in a long time. I feel especially lucky that he lives in my ward and I can cast a vote for him. I'm sure you and all the other O'Donovan supporters will sling as much crap as you can towards Lynch. I hope the voters of Ward 5 are smarter than that. GOOD LUCK JOE (LYNCH)!

[Ward 5 Neighbor]

That's right Imux, you can't believe everything you hear. I don't have any proof. No videos, no nothing. However, I can tell you that I will be voting for Joe Lynch. Why you ask? Because I want someone who will get work done. Someone who is a known face in the neighborhood.

And Imux, he didn't employ an illegal immigrant. I believe he helped a LEGAL immigrant get full citizenship, one of the sweetest ladies there is. That's right, Joe has a soul. Something that Sean O'Donovan lacks.

Next time, get some facts before trying to tell people who to not vote for. It's people like you that make problems for Somerville instead of fixing them.

[Imux]

I find the post slandering Bob Trane for using his own money for his campaign highly suspect. Who but a member of the opposition would have that information

1) not slander if true
2) the post referred to "finance forms" -- aren't these public information?

Posted by: Ron Newman | November 01, 2007 at 09:27 AM

Okay..$25,000??? Trane, tell us again, what do you do for a living? Actually, anyone, can ANYone tell us what he does for a living? I heard he used to be in real estate, but is this just developer money lining his pockets or what?

He doesn't say he won't take money from developers that do business in the city, does he? Hey Trane, so is that your mile-wide loophole? You won't take money from companies that do business "with" the city, but will take money from developers doing business "IN" the city??

Yea sounds real ethical...

Posted by: Traniac | November 01, 2007 at 09:35 AM

Hey PDS/moonbats, don't go slandering people. Bob Trane is the most honest guy you'll meet. WTF? He's not supposed to have his money in his campaign? He's running against a lesbo PDS'er (Heller) who has the backing of all the queers and other liberal deviants (via all the I-really-want-to-live-in-Cambridge PDSers that moved into this city!). The PDS gets $$$ from national farleft organizations (moveon.org, Michael "fatbody" Moore, etc) that want to promote a social agenda that includes no religions (well except athiesm), hate-America, pro-illegal aliens, more "rights" for criminals, love-your-drug-dealer-and-sex-offender and higher taxes.

A vote for any PDS candidate will translate to a Somerville overwhelmed by drug dealers (PDS loves ACLU), sex offenders (PDS loves ACLU), illegals (PDS loves ACLU) and higher taxes and water bills. When they're done destroying the city the pieces of dog excrement PDS'ers are all going to head back to where they came from (MN, CA, NY, etc) and wash their hands off. Of course, when they finally grow up and use their brains they'll be thinking to themselves "Wow, what a disaster we turned that place turned into!", but by then we'll be stuck picking the damn pieces up.

If you care at all about Somerville then DO NOT VOTE for LYNCH, HELLER, BERMAN, WHITE or GEWIRTZ.

[Imux is a terrorist]

Imux, one word... Freedom.

First off, people who are gay aren't anti-America or anti-God. Second, religious beliefs should have NOTHING to do with a political campaign.

People who move to this country LEGALLY need translators most of the time. Yes, I agree, they should speak English (why am I agreeing with you?). Walk a mile in one of their shoes for once. See what they have to see. Illegal immigrants? Or legal immigrants that cant speak English. They have every right to know what is going on.

And no one is pro-terrorist. NO ONE. Read that sentence again, make some sense of it, and if that doesn't work, punch yourself in the face five times. Rinse repeat.

From your post, the only thing I got out of it is the fact that you, sir, YOU are ANTI-AMERICAN. Nuff said.

[Manny]

Imux, you fail. Can't you learn that people here don't like you? Go post on another website. Find some more right wing nut jobs like you, and leave this site alone. Gee, this site endorses people you dislike, it seems like a perfect place to post, is it not?

Imux, get a job.

[Ron Newman]

The Journal's website has an article about the candidates' filed finance forms. I assume it's in the printed paper as well, but I haven't got a copy of that yet. So, it's definitely public information.

[Imux]

Election, I see that you and Ron finished up your daily bukkake-fest and now you're online. Good for you, but how many names are you going to post under? Good lord. What a clown.

I don't care if a person is a homo as long as they don't wave it in our faces and expect special "days" and rights. F them. I'm not advocating kicking their asses - what I am saying is that a vote for a person whose morals are so low as to be buttblasting another human is sick. A peg does not fit in a peg, a hole does not go with a hole. It's not natural and that is just common sense. Again, I do not discrimination against anyone, but by the same token why the F do they waant special rights and parades. They should shutup, stay out of our faces and certainly not run for local office!

LYNCH, HELLER, GERWITZ, BERMAN and WHITE will have this city turned into illegal alien-ville and homo-ville.

[Election]

Imux, follow your brother's advice before you get in trouble with the law. Funny,is seems that Imux himself is an immigrant from one of "those" countries. What a loser.

[Ron Newman]

And sometimes, a brain does not fit into a head. That certainly seems to be the case for Imux.

[Election]

So, not only racist, also homophobic. Move south, pal. Or if you don't like it here move back to Ecuador.

[Imux]

Imux, follow your brother's advice before you get in trouble with the law. Funny,is seems that Imux himself is an immigrant from one of "those" countries. What a loser.

Posted by: Election | November 01, 2007 at 10:40 AM

And sometimes, a brain does not fit into a head. That certainly seems to be the case for Imux.

Posted by: Ron Newman | November 01, 2007 at 10:42 AM

Ron, how can you be posting with Election's little pecker up your a$$? Can he see the monitor through your fathead?

Folks, you know the PDS is a bad organization when much of their platform is catered to deviants and criminals. I recommend that people take the time to really understand what their platform says. Sift through the doubletalk and you will see their vision for Somerville is not the vision that most of us share. They don't care about the working or middle class. They care about the illegal community, protecting criminals and an agenda that favors lesbians/homosexuals. I doubt that is the Somerville that a majority of us want. They're all new to the city - they're not going to be here when the mess they create comes to full fruition (rampant drugs, illegals, sex offenders, etc).

[Forget about it]

Everyone, stop wasting your time responding to the little cretin. Talk about the races. Rebecca is in, SOD and Trane have tough battles. SOD could be going down, I think Trane will prevail, as he should. Charlene in 4 is another story. In the At-Large, Jack should clean out his box, the Tony momentum cannot be stopped!

[Election]

And you care about the working and middle class, right? After bragging about your wealth and how you don't give a damn about anybody else but yourself. Follow your brother's advice, Pedro.

[Election]

SOD is a really mediocre candidate who could even come up with a decent two-page flier to send around. C'mon, that's your shot man, at least TRY to sound intelligent.

[Imux]

Folks, you know the PDS is a bad organization when much of their platform is catered to deviants, illegals and criminals. I recommend that people take the time to really understand what their platform says. Sift through the doubletalk and you will see their vision for Somerville is not the vision that most of us share. They don't care about the working or middle class. They care about the illegal community, protecting criminals and an agenda that favors lesbians/homosexuals. I doubt that is the Somerville that a majority of us want. They're all new to the city - they're not going to be here when the mess they create comes to full fruition (rampant drugs, illegals, sex offenders, etc).

LYNCH, HELLER, GERWITZ, BERMAN and WHITE will have this city turned into illegal alien-ville and homo-ville.