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Council President Drove Me Out of My Job
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Step Into Spring with a New Pair of SHOES!Step Into Spring with a New Pair of SHOES!
Captain Thomas J. Hudner, Jr.U.S. Navy - Korean War, Medal of Honor
Page 14
Page 25
DennisPragerPage 17
Editorial/Opinions P. 2 & 3Dr.Ormsby P. 3Haverhill P. 4-5Lawrence P. 6-8, 12-16North Andover P. 8-11Duggan’s Notebook P. 12-13Local Cartoon P. 13Kids & Education P. 20-21Seniors & Vets P. 22-24Georgetown P. 25Methuen P. 26-28Innovaton Valley P. 29Your Health P. 32-33Real Estate P. 30-31Sudoku P. 33Classified P. 34-35
InsideInside
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Volume 4, Issue 5 May - 2007 36 Pages
V a l l e yV a l l e yV a l l e yV a l l e yV a l l e y P a t r i o tP a t r i o tP a t r i o tP a t r i o tP a t r i o tV a l l e yV a l l e yV a l l e yV a l l e yV a l l e y P a t r i o tP a t r i o tP a t r i o tP a t r i o tP a t r i o tA MONTHLY JOURNAL OF NEWS, COMMENTARY AND OPINIONS, SERVING THE MERRIMACK VALLEY
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Jim Rurak
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Valley Patriot of the Month -Heroes In Our Midst
Ted Tripp
Tom Duggan
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Continued on Page 16
Continued on Page 22
CONCORD/ANDOVER – Tom Hudnerwas sitting in the commons area after lunchat Phillips Academy in Andover when wordspread that the Japanese had just bombedPearl Harbor. As with most young peopleof the era, he had no idea where PearlHarbor was but he knew it meant the U.S.was at war. And like many of the studentsin the Class of ’43, Tom expected to becomepart of the war effort after graduation. Butfate would take him to the U.S. NavalAcademy at Annapolis where he would notgraduate until 1946, well after theconclusion of World War II.
Former Lawrence Comptroller:
Essex Street to Becomea Two Way Street When Lawrence resident David Camasso
was being interrogated by members of theLawrence City Council last month, oneissue was repeatedly brought up forCamasso to address: If hired as comptroller,would Camasso bow down to politicalpressure when it came to approvingexpenditures he believed were excessive,illegal or inappropriate?
Over and over, Councilors Gosselin andBlanchette questioned Camasso, implyingthat previous comptrollers had receivedpolitical pressure from the mayor toapprove spending that was illegal,excessive or not properly authorized.
But Methuen resident and former CityComptroller Jim Limperis says he wasshocked to hear such questioning, given thecircumstance surrounding his departurefrom the city’s employment.
“After driving me out of my job forquestioning excessive spending, CouncilorBlanchette had the nerve to sit there andpretended to be the watchdog againstexcessive spending,” the formercomptroller said. “But it was the CityCouncil, in particular Council PresidentPatrick Blanchette who is most responsiblefor me leaving as the city’s comptrollerbecause I wouldn’t go along with givingraises to his friends in City Hall.”
Limperis says that on several occasionshe refused to sign off on city expendituresthat he found contained “very suspicious
Captain Tom Hudner will bethe guest speaker at theNorth Andover Memorial DayService, Monday, May 28th,Ridgewood Cemetery, atapproximately 10:30 a.m. Allare welcome to come by andmeet this true American hero.
Lawrence Mayor Mike Sullivan’s plan to change the trafficflow on Essex Street from one way to two ways was approvedby the city council last month. Construction will begin in June.
See Story Page 15See Story Page 15
2 The Valley Patriot May - 2007
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Come Join The Circus in North Andover
Opinions
Valley Patriot*Editorial*
See page 13 for our new political cartoon from David Sullivan of Dracut
Our parent volunteers make great thingshappen and without them, many programswould be not be run. Every day you haveenriched the life of a child by sharing ofyour time and talent. Thank you!
A truly dedicated parent volunteer whohas spent countless hours working tobenefit students all over town is SandyGleed. Sandy started many of the Thomson-based programs such as Chess Club,Sunshine Math and Building Structures.She also made sure programs likeDestination Imagination and the schoolpaper were funded and staffed by dedicatedparent volunteers.
In addition to her Thomson-basedprograms, Sandy has served on the NorthAndover Schools Enrichment Council formany years. The past two as the chair. The
Celebrating Mothers
volunteer work of NASEC has brought art,music, science and technology to the livesof every elementary and middle schoolstudent in our town. This enrichment hasbeen especially important in the face ofsevere budget cuts to all these areas. Sandyis stepping down this year and we wish herall the best as she explores new horizons!
The Thomson School PTO also wishesto extend sincere thanks to Tom Dugganfor volunteering his Tuesday afternoonswith the student staff of the Thomson schoolnewspaper, “Tigerprints.”
Tom was a wonderful editor and took thestudents through the journalism process,start to finish.
Thomson School PTONorth Andover
Will Describe the Employers role in:• Responding to Unemployment
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A Thank You from the Thomson School PTO
We are looking forward to the circus that will take place at this year’sMay 14th North Andover Town Meeting.
On the town warrant to be decided by North Andover voters is aProposition 2 ½ Override. A memo of agreement signed on by theBoard of Selectman, the School Committee and the Finance Committeecalls for the approval of a $1.65 million tax override.
A warrant article by petitioner Sandy Gleed (Article 13) calls for a $3.5million override. Gleed’s article seeks the amount of additional moneyrequired to fully fund the schools’ restoration budget. The memo ofunderstanding is a compromise, seeking less than the full amount, butmore than the original Town Manager’s recommendation based uponexpected ’08 revenues.
Voters at town meeting can vote on Article 13 as is, or amend thearticle to the $1.65 million ... or somewhere in between. If an overridearticle is approved, then a special election may be called for voters to goto the polls to accept or reject the override.
Town Meeting will be entertaining. There will be the usual hysterical,pro-override advocates like Cindy Jalbert and Diane Huster and the typical“no-override, no matter what” activists like NATA President Ted Trippand Selectman Jim Xenakis.
Hopefully, the rest of the voters are somewhere in the middle, willingto listen to the budget presentations, consider the merits of eachargument and ask relevant questions before deciding how they will voteon the override.
If you come to the circus, before you make a decision be sure ourofficials answer the necessary questions about the town budget.Questions like: is the money for the override needed because we haveto pay a new superintendent $180,000, plus $186,000 for the HarryHarutunian settlement? Make sure the school officials fully provide anitemization of where the override money will go. And do not acceptsuch platitudes like: it’s “for the children” or “for the police,” or it’s tokeep Cindy Jalbert employed at central office. Answers that are notspecific such as these are unacceptable.
Be an informed voter and come to the circus at Town Meeting on May14th. Bring your cotton candy and enjoy the Greatest Show on Earth.
Mother’s Day is May 13th. It’s a day to celebrate mothers all across thecountry. It is a day to spend time with the woman who protected you,who raised you, who guided you, loved you, sacrificed for you and triedto point you in the right direction whether or not you actually listened toher advice.
But you’ll notice we didn’t describe a mother as the woman who gavebirth to you. That’s because being a mother entails a lot more than justthe physical act of giving birth. With all of the broken families today,many people will be celebrating Mother’s Day, not with the woman whogave birth to them, but with the woman who chose to step in and fill therole of Mother: loving, caring, raising, and making personal sacrifices forsomeone else’s birth child. That is a special mother.
To all the mothers out there who have raised their own biological childor someone else’s child, we say “Happy Mother’s Day.” And thank youto all the women out there who have so thanklessly done the work forsomeone else.
Please contact Larry Snow @[email protected] or Susan Ingham @ 978-469-7821
[email protected] by Friday May 11th to register. Allattendees must pre-register.
May - 2007 The Valley Patriot 3Opinions
Just Pay Up and Shut Up
Thinking Outsidethe Box!
Dr. Charles Ormsby, N.A. School Committee
H
The Valley Patriot welcomes letters to the editor on any topic. We also welcome column/article submissions fromelected officials, neighborhood associations, community organizers, average citizens, and newsmakers. Though wemay not agree with the opinions expressed in submissions, our mission is to give readers the unique opportunity toreceive important information from those who are driving important public issues without the "creative editing"policy employed by most newspapers. Submissions from guest columnists/writers in The Valley Patriot are publishedwithout the filtered agenda of an editorial board. If you would like to write a column, letter or article for The ValleyPatriot, please email us at: [email protected]
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Public schools are a monopoly within amonopoly. They have a monopoly on publicmoney for education and the teachers’ unionhas a monopoly on the labor supply thatcan be employed. Teachers with a few yearsof employment are in the catbird seat. Shortof committing an illegal act, they have agood job with lifetime benefits and aguaranteed retirement.
With such ironclad job security, it isunderstandable that customer service andproduct quality may suffer. It is onlybecause most teachers are saints that thingsare not worse than they are. But eventeachers are human. Poorly conceived rules,incompetent administrators, aggressiveparents, and unruly children, not to mentionthe common stresses of everyday life, wearthem down.
In the real world – meaning the nastyprivate sector – similar stresses hauntemployees, but competition and fear of jobloss forces everyone to focus on productquality and customer service.
Even with competitive pressures in theprivate sector, and with the attendant riskof job loss, not all employees performadequately. Nevertheless, customers arestill protected. Since organizations exposedto competition are made up of manyindividuals — from the board of directorsand senior managers down to entry-levelpersonnel — all of whom have a stake inthe company’s success, they are constantlyseeking ways to improve.
Occasionally that means eliminatingemployees that are performing poorly orwho are no longer needed. But, moreimportantly, it means constantly re-inventing the organization to be moreefficient, to provide better products, and tomake the lives of its customers better. Allbecause of competition.
An interesting social experiment wouldbe to take a highly competitive industry thatis efficiently evolving its products to meetcustomers’ needs and take away thatcompetition. Create a state-controlledmonopoly and watch what happens.
Of course, this has been done in EasternEurope, in Cuba, in North Korea and inother socialist/communist states. It
invariably results in poor quality, lessvariety, horrendous customer service, costincreases, and product shortages. Always.
The underlying problem is, of course, thatemployees and managers in the new, state-run, state-protected organization don’t careany longer whether the customer isadequately served. Their focus shifts tosomething else. It could be satisfying agovernment bureaucrat, or focusing onprotecting their positions, or lobbying forshorter hours or increased compensation.Ultimately, everything is focused onmaking their job less stressful, moreentrenched, or more financially rewarding.The customer’s interests are no longer thefocus of the organization.
What would happen if someone fromanother planet, someone who only caredabout improving performance and servingthe organization’s customers, were droppeddown into the management structure ofsuch a monopoly organization?
Well, of course, he would be recognizedimmediately as a threat to nearly everyonein the organization. Since the organizationhad consistently made decisions to onlyserve its internal interests and had not basedthem on the best interests of its customers,nearly every process, procedure, andorganizational value would be ass-backwards.
This interloper would immediatelyquestion all of these decisions. Every timehe suggested improvements – in many casessignificant changes – someone’scomfortable situation would be threatened.The organization would unite to isolate andmarginalize him. He would be consideredan intruder.
Eventually, he might even realize thefutility of trying to reform an organizationwithout the motivating force of externalcompetition. If he suggested thatcompetition be introduced — and after theghastly screams died down — he would bebranded Public Enemy Number One.
Of course, I am describing my ownsituation in the midst of the North Andoverpublic school system. While some
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Continued on Page 8Let’s Bring Respect & Decorum Back to
the City Council!
Roger TwomeyRoger TwomeyLawrence City Council
At-LargeLet’s Bring Respect & Decorum Back to
the City Council!
Lawrence City CouncilAt-Large
Thanks to the Staff ofthe N.A. Middle School
When I thought of my daughter Hannaadvancing from 5th grade at the ThomsonSchool to 6th grade at the North AndoverMiddle School (NAMS), the last thing I wasthinking about was grade inflation.
I was more concerned about issuesrelating to the transition, like bullying, peerpressure and the awkwardness pre-teensface when starting a new school. Those arethe issues that I remember from my ownjunior high experience.
Much to my relief and surprise, and tothe credit of the NAMS’ teachers, principaland assistant principals, Hanna transitionedinto middle school without any problemsat all. In fact, I watched her and her friendsgrow from playful, young 5th graders intoproud, confident and mature young girlseager to further their educational experi-ence. None of which I remember from myown experience at junior high. It was veryimpressive and very exciting to see.
What I did not see, was any bullying orpeer pressure. No one has asked Hanna ifshe would like to try a cigarette or experi-ment with drugs. Hanna and her friends arealso more interested in their grades than inboys. This is another credit to their teachers,the staff and the administration at NAMSbecause the kids are enjoying school andare eager to learn.
To her own credit, Hanna has made highhonors. She is one of those students thatthe School Committee is concerned becauseher grades may be inflated. Well, I see firsthand that Hanna works extremely hard,spending hours after school doing her
homework and meticulously studies for hertests. She takes her grades very seriouslyand thrives on achieving.
Hanna averages three tests and quizzeseach week and she studies hard for eachone of them. I have seen her memorize allof the African and Asian countries, theirrivers, weather and social influences andthe different cultures each experience. Shehas learned all the parts of a biological celland I believe that she knows everythingabout Darwin and natural selection.
The tests Hanna takes are very challen-ging and difficult, yet Hanna still gets A’son all of them. She has earned those highhonor grades through hard work and per-severance. She does complain, though, thatmath is too easy and that her Spanish classwas a joke (with dancing the Marange andwatching “The Land Before Time” in Span-ish. Her teacher also played “Daddy Yan-kee” (a rapper with a reputation you wouldnot want your 5th grader to know about) inthe classroom. Unfortunately, Hanna didnot learn much of the Spanish language.
Hanna transitioned amazingly well intomiddle school, maintaining good gradesand getting involved in after-school activi-ties. Hanna was involved in the 6th gradeplay and is now on the volleyball teamthrough the North Andover Booster Club.If Hanna’s friends work as hard as she does,then they have earned those “inflated”grades as well.
Thank you to Mrs. Poor and Mr. Wrigleyand the rest of the middle school staff formaking Hanna’s 6th grade experience apositive one.
Paula Porten
4 The Valley Patriot May - 2007
Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini
Moving Haverhill ForwardHaverhill
New Business and Downtown GrowthAs we read the papers of The Valley
Patriot and other papers throughout thestate, we see that cities and townsthroughout the state are struggling withtheir budgets. In this area alone, NorthAndover, Merrimac, Newburyport andTopsfield are all considering overrides.Andover has said it will have to do anoverride next year. Waltham just tried,and failed at a $4 million override.Throughout the state, 100 communitiesattempted overrides last year, most ofwhich failed. By last count, over 50 hadalready requested overrides this year,with many more to come. None of thosecities have to face what we face everyyear — a $6.5 million a year Hale debtfor a hospital we no longer own.
Despite this, this year, for the 4th yearin a row, Haverhill will not be requestingan override.
Our goal is to examine every possiblealternative before requesting anoverride. We’ve consolidated our healthcare plans, reorganized government,put in energy efficient light bulbs, andwe’ve made a real effort to expand ourtax base with more retail stores andmore downtown development.
Retail expansion
We’ve made a concentrated effort tobring in new retail stores to our city.New businesses mean new jobs for ourpeople, new places to shop and anincreased tax base to help overcomethe burden of the Hale debt left to usby a prior administration.
We began by asking ourselves whythere had been no influx of retail toHaverhill in decades? The standardanswer was the sales tax. The sales taxexplains why Salem, New Hampshirehas more retail then Haverhill orLawrence, but the sales tax does notexplain why Methuen has the loop andHaverhill does not.
When we looked at our zoning laws,we found that our zoning laws put up anumber of regulatory barriers that madeit difficult for large retail stores to locatein Haverhill.
To bring in more retail, we started byreforming our zoning laws. We removedred tape and regulatory barriers,rezoned selected areas near thehighways to allow for retail, andeliminated the special permitrequirement for large retail stores.
The result was the largest influx ofnew retail stores in our city’s history.After decades of hearing that we couldnot bring in retail because of the salestax, this year, Target, Lowe’s, and BJ’sWholesale Club will all open in our city—the three largest retailers in our city’shistory. Starbucks had a grand openingon May 4. It is the largest retailexpansion in our history.
This past month, we have two morenew national retailers coming to ourcity—Fed/Ex Kinkos and Aspen Dental.The fact that national retailers arecoming to Haverhil l shows thatHaverhill’s progress is being recognizedby national chains. Other nationalchains that have come to Haverhill areMagellan Aerospace and AdamsonIndustries, both providing about 100new manufacturing jobs.
Downtown Growth
For decades, our abandoned factorybuildings in the downtown area weresymbols of a lost shoe shop era. Theseabandoned eyesores added no jobs, noplaces to live and little to the tax rolls.Our second area of expanding the taxbase was to try to bring thoseabandoned factory buildings back to lifeand put them back onto the tax rolls.
We reformed our zoning laws, andbrought in new investors to restore
And this is what it looks like today!
Here is what the Cabot Furniture building looked like before.
these abandoned buildings. Today, theBeacon Company has restored the oldCabot Furniture building on Cabot Streetto modern, upscale housing, bringingin about $200,000 in new tax revenue.
This month, the redevelopment armof the Archdiocese of Boston announcedit was taking another abandoned factorybuilding and restoring that to the taxrolls. Expanding our tax base is onereason why Haverhill is on the move,and one reason we are not requestingan override this year.
Jim Fiorentini is the mayorof Haverhill and is in hissecond term. He is seekinga third term in November.You can email him [email protected]
The 2007 Movie Schedule is as follows:
Mayor Announces that Saturday Nightis Movie Night for the City of Haverhill!
The Recreation Department of the city of Haverhill has teamed up with England’sMicroCreamery to co-sponsor a series of movie nights for the general public at ColumbusPark, located at 109 Washington Street in downtown Haverhill. The films will be projectedonto a temporary screen in the park, admission is free and the general public is encouragedto lounge on the lawn and enjoy the show. England’s MicroCreamery intends to presentvarious films on Saturday evenings at 8:30 PM throughout the summer months.
All films are licensed by the city of Haverhill through SWANK Motion Pictures. England’sMicroCreamery will provide the equipment and display the movies. England’sMicroCreamery will also be extending its business hours on movie nights as well. “Weare proud to enter into a public private partnership with England’s Micro Creamery tobring movie night back to Haverhill,” said Mayor Fiorenitini. “Movie night is a perfectsupplement to Kid’s Fest, the summer weekend concert series and other things going ondowntown to show that Haverhill is a kid friendly, family friendly community. Bringyour kids, come downtown, and enjoy! We are proud to be able to work with England’sto bring fun to the downtown,” he added. Through the assistance and encouragement ofMayor Fiorentini and Vinny Ouellette of the Recreation Department, there was acollaborative effort to bring movie nights back to downtown Haverhill.
(June 23) “Back to the Future” PG(July 14) “Shrek” PG
(July 28) “The Producers” PG-13(Aug. 4) “Peter Pan – Live Action” PG
(Aug. 18) “Grease” PG(Sept. 1) “Spiderman” PG-13
(Sept. 15) Viewers Choice (TBD)
If you are from outside the city, payus a visit. You’ll find 16 restaurants inour downtown area, old shoe factoriesbeing remade into upscale housing, andyou’ll find that Haverhill is on the move.
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May - 2007 The Valley Patriot 5
Hi, I’m Kathy Mamos
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Jim Rurak is a professor at BostonCollege and is the former mayor ofHaverhill. He is seeking to unseat JimFiorentini in the fall election. You caneamail your comments or questions to JimRurak at [email protected].
HAVERHILL'SFUTURE!
Haverhill
Mark Palermo, Haverhill (NECC) Professor
Another Point of View
Jim Rurak, Former Mayor of Haverhill
Whittier Celebrated
Calvary’s celebration ofWhittier is so special itshould make all Haverhillresidents pray for thesame spirit ofenlightenment...
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Calvary Baptist Church, which is nowlocated just east of Monument Square,started in 1872 as a prayer cottage inBradford. This year it is celebrating 135years of life in Haverhill. As well it should,the city as a whole honors the life and worksof this wonderful African/Americancongregation. I remember vividly how thischurch accomplished nearly the impossiblegiven its modest size andbudget, namely,building affordablehome-ownership unitson White Street.
In this same year, thecity is also celebratingthe 200th anniversaryof the birth of,arguably, its most famouscitizen, namely, JohnGreenleaf Whittier. He is known foremostfor his poetry, with Snowbound and TheBarefoot Boy. Last week we held a barefootboy look-alike contest and I was proud tobe asked to be one of the judges. Thecontestants made the imagery come aliveagain. And, while contemporary literarycritics often find Whittier ’s poetryelementary, I think they miss the purity ofthe imagery Whittier’s poetry brings to life.
But there is another bit of pure power toWhittier, namely, his uncompromisingstand against slavery. This power gavemany slaves new hope and encouragedthem to journey north on the UndergroundRailroad. Rev. Greg Thomas, pastor ofCalvary Baptist, suggests that it very wellmay have been Whittier’s fame as anabolitionist that led a group of freed slavesto choose Haverhill/Bradford as a place tosettle, and to start their “prayer cottage.”
For reasons such as those about whichRev. Thomas speaks, and for the generalstand that Whittier took against slavery, theCalvary Baptist Church is honoring JohnGreenleaf Whittier by making his life anintegral part of its own 135th anniversary
celebration during a breakfast at the CitizenCenter on May 5.
It strikes me as quite unique for anAfrican/American congregation to behonoring a white man who lived in its midstin the time immediately following the CivilWar.
It is so unique in factthat I think it should besomething of whichthe city takes specialnote at this time in itshistory. Psalm 127begins with “Unlessthe Lord builds thehouse, those whobuild it labor in vain.”The welcome Whittier
prepared and which thecity of Haverhill extended those freedslaves in 1872 might very well mean thatHaverhill is blessed with a spirit whichwelcomes new peoples, immigrants oremigrants, be they black, white, brown, redor yellow. There have been setbacks, asCalvary well knows, but there have beenmajor signs of light, as the Unitarian Churchdisplayed when it welcomed Calvary to useits sanctuary after the devastating fire.
Calvary’s celebration of Whittier is sospecial it should make all Haverhillresidents pray for the same spirit ofenlightenment which guided Whittier andthe same spirit of perseverance and charitywhich led Calvary to reach across raciallines and honor someone of another coloras an integral part of its life. This is the Lordbuilding a house if I’ve ever seen it. I hopefor awakening of such a spirit and that itguides us, our whole city, in years to come.
Recently, I became aware of a grimreality when I picked up a U.S. Armyrecruitment brochure. It featured agenerous, but carefully worded offer topotential enlistees: the military will giveyou (based on qualifications) up to $50,000plus a sign up bonus of up to $20,000.
The key words here are “up to.” I canpromise you, for example, that I will payyou up to $5000 to paint my house. If youaccept the job and I pay you $800 after youfinish, I have kept my promise and you haveno legal claim against me. In the real world,“up to $5000” usually means below $5000.It can even mean zero, and when it comesto the military’s promise of money forschool- it often does. Very few recruitsreceive the maximum college benefit of$70,000. In fact, most recruits get nobenefits at all.
To earn the $70,000 the militaryadvertises, you must first qualify for theArmy/Navy College Fund. To do this youhave to place in the top half of the militaryentry exams, which means of course that50% of all applicants are eliminated rightoff the bat. If you do score in the top 50%,then in order to get to the $70,000, you mustbe willing to enter a designated jobspecialty that almost nobody else wants,usually because it is extremely dangerousor because it offers zero transferable jobskills.
If you don’t make the cut for the Army/Navy College Fund, there is still theMontgomery GI Bill that you may qualifyfor. The maximum benefit you get underthe Montgomery GI Bill is around $36,000,but the military attaches strings here too.
For example, in order to qualify for thefull amount, you are required to pay a$1200 deposit to the military. You have onlyone chance to apply during basic training.If you leave the military early- as 40% dofor a number of reasons, or get anythingless than honorable discharge, or decidelater not to go to college, the military getsto keep your deposit. Incredibly, the$36,000 they promise you includes yourown deposit money, so the actual amountis around $36,000, less your deposit.
The benefits- if after all this you finallymanage to qualify for them- are paid in 36monthly installments spread out over 4years; You can not receive larger payments
over a shorter period of time. And you mustcontinue college for four consecutive yearswithout interruption, which some peopleare unable to do.
The Montgomery Bill doesn’t even comeclose to covering college costs, even at astate school. At UMass Amherst,forinstance, students pay $7400 in fees and$6200 for room and board. Figure at least$2500 for books and miscellaneousexpenses and you are looking at a yearlybill of over $16,000- of which theMontgomery GI Bill covers about $9000,a bit more if you are married.
If you go to a two year college, you willreceive only half of the money you arequalified for. Remember too that militarybenefits are usually given instead of, not inaddition to, other forms of financial aid thatyou might otherwise have qualified for.
With so many curves in the road andhoops to jump through, it is no wonder onlyabout 16% of veterans ever get a four-yearcollege diploma. The military’s educationalbenefits are an embarrassment. Once upona time in this country, we treated veteranswith gratitude. We need a new GI Bill likethe one enacted for returning World War IIveterans.
“Imagine telling an entire generationthey could receive a free college educationat any school that would accept them —Texas A&M, Harvard University, theSorbonne — anywhere. Throw in a monthlystipend for living expenses, plus moremoney for books. And when you graduate,there’s a government-backed home loanwaiting, no money down and no creditchecks — buy a house cheaper than rentingan apartment. Throw in subsidized farmloans, business loans, free job training, freemedical care, free job placement, and upto a year’s worth of weekly paychecks untilyou find work…And so it was: the post-World War II G.I. Bill. It revolutionizedhigher education, created suburbia,brought us the scientists, engineers,doctors, artists and teachers who built mostof what is good in America today.” Fromthe publisher of “Over Here: How the GIBill transformed the American Dream,” byEdward Humes.
Are Military RecruitersTelling the Truth?
Mark Palermo is a professor atNorthern Essex Community College inHaverhill. You can email him [email protected].
6 The Valley Patriot May - 2007
Ramon Vargas, the poster boy for “victims”of police abuse in Lawrence, according to theLatino media. Vargas admits he received thesebruises after refusing to leave a party andresisting arrest. Just imagine being theLawrence police officers who had to tackle andwrestle this guy to the ground in order to placehim under arrest!
Lawrence
Criminals and Cop Haters “Educate” the ACLU
Paying Attention!(prestando attencione!)
with Tom Duggan
Last month the ACLU came to Lawrencefor a meeting with citizens who had a beefwith the Lawrence police. Packed in the largefunction room at “Casa Dominicana” onEssex St. were criminals, malcontents, racistsand cop haters, all eager to take themicrophone and tell their sad, sorry tales of woe at thehands of the evil, racist Lawrence police department.
One father stood up to tell everyone how his “good boy”of 17 was roughed up by the cops after being arrested for“violating his parole.” This father stood at the microphonewith gang tattoos up and down the insides of his arms ashe told the crowd how his angel was a victim of policebrutality for being a “Latino.”
Real choir boys, these two.
Then there was Lawrence businessman Julio Meran. Itwas Meran who had invited the ACLU to Lawrence inorder to whip up fear and resentment against the Lawrencepolice within the Latino community. He even likened theLawrence police to Nazi “Gestapo’s” when recounting hisown tale of “abuse” at the hands of a Lawrence cop.
According to Meran’s own account, he was given a ticketafter a police officer cut him off on Merrimack Street, eventhough he was perfectly polite and treated the officer withthe utmost respect. In his own words, however, Mr. Meranwasn’t abused. He wasn’t assaulted. He wasn’t arrested.He was not called a racial epithet. No, no, Mr. Meran’stale of victimhood was simply that he was given a ticketby a police officer who cut him off and then demanded hislicense, “Gestapo style.”
Not one of the six Lawrence city councilors sitting inthe audience objected to Lawrence cops being likened tothe German Nazis who executed millions of people inWorld War II. But one of them did side with the criminals.
But, Was Anyone Actually Listening?Then there was Ramon Vargas, a stalky, intimidating
looking man who weighed at least 300 pounds. Vargasstarted off by showing pictures of his bruised face and body.Bruises he claimed were the result of police brutality and,of course, because he was a “Latino.” But as Vargas toldhis own story in his own words, it was pretty clear that theinjuries he received took place because he was resistingarrest and being combative with the police, not the otherway around. Vargas himself said that he was at a partywhen Lawrence police showed up and told everyone whodid not live in the apartment to leave. This is standardprocedure when cops break up a house party.
Vargas freely admitted to the ACLU that he argued withthe cops because “I sleep there on weekends” and didn’tsee any reason why he should have to leave the apartment.The cops asked him three separate times to leave theproperty and when he refused the third time, a cop toldhim he was being placed “under arrest.” Vargas then admitshe resisted arrest and fought with police who sprayed himwith Mace while they were “trying to put on the handcuffs.”
At the end of his epic story, Vargas claims that he onlytried to kick out the windows in the back of the policecruiser because he had “asthma” and he needed “fresh air”from all that Mace that he had ingested. Yet, even accordingto his own recounting of events, all of the other partygoersleft the apartment when the police ordered them to leave.None of them were beaten. None of them were arrested.None of them were sprayed with Mace. None of them werethe victims of racial slurs.
Only Ramon Vargas.
That’s when, Vargas says, Lawrence police stated (inhis presence, of course), “Let’s hurry up, we have plentymore of them to get,” supposedly referring to “Latinos.”
The audience, including some Lawrence city councilors,gasped in horror as Vargas told his story, evidentlydiscounting his own culpability in the situation because oftheir preconceived notions about the Lawrence police. CityCouncilor Nunzio DiMarca (who has his own personalvendetta against the police) burst out loudly, “this is whywe are here, to put a stop to this kind of thing!”
Perhaps if Mr. Vargas had left the party when he wastold to the first time, he wouldn’t have any bruises and hewouldn’t have been under arrest at all. And if RamonVargas had complied with police officers and put his handsbehind his back, he would not have been Maced duringthe arrest. But the very fact that he was Maced while cops“were trying to put on the handcuffs” kind of says it all,doesn’t it? I’m sure that if Mr. Vargas was white and
behaved that way towards police he would have receivedthe same bruises at the hands of the same cops who werelawfully taking him into custody.
But don’t tell that to Councilor Nunzio DiMarca. Hewants the City Council to take up the matter of “policebrutality” and have more public forums so that he can bethe white knight in shining armor to save the poor down-trodden Latinos. Once again, Mr. DiMarca is trying to “out-Latino the Latinos.” It’s political pandering at it’s worst.
No Lawyers, Lots of MediaOf the dozen or so people who spoke that night, not one
of the cop bashers had a clear and convincing story thatwould stand up to the scrutiny of an objective legalchallenge. Maybe that’s why no lawyers have comeforward to represent any of them in suing the city. Thinkabout it. If any of the people in the room that night had alegitimate case against the Lawrence police, there wouldbe dozens of lawyers soliciting them for representation.But that hasn’t happened. If it had, these “victims” wouldn’tbe speaking at a public forum about their cases. The firstthing any good lawyer will tell you is : DO NOT speakpublicly about your case because any inconsistency in yourstory will be used against you later in court.
Yet, there they were. Not in a court of law where ques-tions can be fairly asked of both sides to discern the truth.They were not in a neutral setting where the complainerscould be questioned and their stories could be challenged.They were at an ACLU meeting with like-minded peoplewho had already made up their minds that the Lawrencepolice were racists, corrupt and out of control. And theLatino media lapped it up like Al Gore at a Global Warmingconvention.
The saddest part of this whole fiasco is that the Spanishlanguage media accepts these abuse claims as gospel. Span-ish media reporters do not investigate allegations for theirvalidity. They do not question the motives of the criminals.They only question the actions and motives of the police.Then they portray the criminals’ point of view as fact. Thiskind of “reporting” creates more fear and mistrust byLatinos towards the Lawrence police, all the while it is thehard working Latinos in Lawrence who are most often thevictims of crime that the police are trying to solve.
What’s even worse is that the Latino media takesindividual allegations of abuse and corruption and stringsthem all together to make the entire department lookcorrupt. The fact is, most Lawrence police officers (white,Latino, and others) are willing to take a bullet on amoment’s notice to protect the lives of any one of the cop
bashers crowded into the room that night.They are hard working, honest and decentlaw enforcement officials who follow the lawand put their own safety in jeopardy to protectall of the citizens of Lawrence, regardless ofethnicity.
What About Real Police Brutality?So, what about the police officers in Lawrence who do
abuse their authority? What about the cops who really areheavy handed and disgrace the uniform? What about thefew cops who really are racist and target Latinos, or blacksor whites because of the color of their skin? What happenswhen a complaint is filed against a Lawrence cop and acitizen really IS abused by someone who’s supposed toserve and protect?
Lawrence Police Chief John Romero’s policy is to haveLawrence police officers investigate claims of abuse andmisconduct within the ranks of the Lawrence police itself.Just imagine, you’ve been abused or mistreated by aLawrence cop and Chief Romero expects you to go to theLawrence Police Station (which is intimidating enough)and file your complaint with one of the abusive cops’colleagues. Then you are expected to let Lawrence copsinvestigate Lawrence cops and take their word for it if theysay “no law was broken.’’ How can anyone expect to takethe word of the Lawrence police when your complaint isagainst the Lawrence police? How can anyone expect thatthey will investigate objectively and put one of their ownunder the same investigative microscope that a districtattorney or state police investigation would?
It’s just not realistic. Nor is it fair to the public, thecomplaining citizen, or the police officer who is beingaccused. No matter how this kind of investigation isconcluded, even if the Lawrence police follow the letterof the law, the mere fact that Lawrence cops areinvestigating Lawrence cops takes away any credibility orlegitimacy with the public. And it plays right in to thepropaganda game of cop haters like Julio Meran, who usethis fact to discredit the entire department, further addingcredibility to their claims of corruption and cover-ups.
Of course, there are a few bad cops in the LawrencePolice Department. But each of them should be inves-tigated individually without casting a “stereotype” on therest of the cops in the department. Every suspected badcop should be investigated by an outside agency (like theDA or the sheriff’s department) to restore the faith andtrust of the community. And, when found culpable, shouldbe fired or put in jail for disgracing the badge and uniform.
But let’s not compare the cops who pulled over JulioMeran with the cops who are truly racist or abusive. Let’snot liken the police officers who rightfully arrested RamonVargas with those who are out there committing real crimes.That kind of moral equivalence and sinister rhetoric onlyserves to provide shelter for the abusive cops while therest of the community is busy going after the cops whowere only doing their jobs.
None of the evidence (if you want to call it that) presentedbefore the ACLU last month showed any hint of systematiccorruption, racism or abuse by the Lawrence PoliceDepartment. Believe me, if there was even one person whoappeared to have a legitimate claim of abuse or corruption,The Valley Patriot would be the very first to investigateand publish his story.
I can tell you that there is little I despise more than acorrupt or abusive cop. Those cops disgrace the badge anduniform my father lived and died for. Renegade copsjeopardize the lives and the livelihoods of every good copdoing his job on the street. They make it so much harderfor the cops who truly care and strive to gain the public’strust to make a positive difference in the community.
What’s worse than a corrupt cop, however, is a loud-mouthed, racist malcontent who makes false allegationsagainst police and cannot back it up. Or a city councilorwho campaigns for office by bashing the police and pan-dering to criminals. And that’s exactly what happened atthe ACLU meeting last month. It’s just shameful that theSpanish language media didn’t take advantage of this op-portunity to build bridges between Latinos and the policeby doing a real investigation and telling the truth aboutwho these people are. But I guess that’s what happens whenyour mind is made up before all the facts are all in.Tom Duggan is the president of Valley Patriot, Inc., aformer Lawrence School Committeeman, and hosts thePaying Attention! Radio Program on WCAP, 980AM, everySaturday afternoon from noon-2pm. You can email yourcomments to [email protected] .
Photo: Tom Duggan
May - 2007 The Valley Patriot 7
“A Campaign for Proficiency for ALL”
SCHOOLTRANSFORMATION
Leadership& SchoolCulture
CoherentCurriculum
InstructionalPractices
Assessment& Accountability
ProfessionalDevelopment
StudentSupportServices
Family/Community
Engagement
The “7” Essential Elements
of School Transformation
Lawrence Public Schools
Embraces
“A Campaign for Prof iciency for ALL”
School Committee : Mayor Michael J. Sullivan - Chairperson • Amy C. McGovern - Vice Chair Patricia C. Reyes • Gregory W. Morris • Martina Cruz • Omaira Mejia • James Vittorioso Dr. Wilfredo T. Laboy- Superintendent
School Committee: Mayor Michael J. Sullivan, - Chairman, Peter Larocque, Gregory Morris,Martina Cruz, Omaira Mejia, James Vittorioso, Patrici Sanchez
8 The Valley Patriot May - 2007
improvements have resulted from or been prompted bymy reform suggestions (e.g., a doubling of AP enrollmentat our high school and a replacement of a failed mathprogram in our elementary schools), the system has dugits heels in on most suggested changes.
Recent attempts to address two concerns provide a goodexample of resistance to change that only monopolyinstitutions can engage in with impunity.
Over the last several months I have tried to address ourmiddle school’s rampant grade/honor roll inflation. Also,I have suggested we review our policy that has our teachers,who are paid to teach five classes a day, only teach fourclasses a day.
The grade inflation issue has two aspects. First is thetendency to give out nearly all A’s and B’s – in our case,85% A’s and B’s resulting in two-thirds of our students onthe honor roll! But the second aspect really presents amore important issue. By giving out nearly all A’s andB’s, parents and students are lulled into a false sense ofaccomplishment. The end result is that the motivationof students to work harder is lost, students achieve less,and their lives are diminished.
While I would prefer to fix both problems, I would behappy to ignore grade statistics and put 100 percent of ourstudents on the honor roll if we could just ensure thatparents get an accurate picture of where their students reallystand academically. A simple listing of grade statistics
placed in each report card would suffice. It is an easy fix.It merely tells parents the truth about their student’saccomplishments. It shouldn’t be controversial … but itis!
At a recent School Committee meeting to discuss thesetwo issues, middle school administrators dismissed gradeand honor roll inflation with one, nearly content-free, chart.Their one relevant claim was that communication withparents was already strong. If this were true, revealinggrade statistics in a report card should not be a problem.
The second issue is remarkable when you consider thefinancial strains caused by the collision of our rapidly risinglabor costs – due to an overly generous union contract andescalating healthcare costs – and budget constraintsimposed by Proposition 2 ½. With years of cutbacks thathave resulted in crowded classrooms and loss of services(e.g., art and music classes), how is it possible that ourmiddle school has organized its schedule to have teachersteach only four classes per day when we are paying themto teach five?
At the very same meeting described earlier, thisreduction in class load was justified by the school’s “teamteaching” concept. With team teaching, students are sharedby a team of four teachers, and the extra period – the onenot taught – is used “to discuss our shared students andalso plan together during our team planning period.”
Now, I don’t know anyone in his right mind that thinksthe value of this discussion could possibly outweigh a 25percent increase – from 4 to 5 classes a day – in academicinstruction to our students. The extra 25 percent could beused for additional instruction in subjects that a student isstruggling with, or used to cover more advanced topicsfor high-achieving students, or directed to art, music,foreign language, and physical education.
Note that this increase in instruction is worth theequivalent of nine teachers. At $50,000 per teacher, thisamounts to $450,000.
When I asked the middle school administration whethersuch a tradeoff could be investigated, the fireworkserupted. Answer: “No, we weren’t asked to do that.”
Well, could you? “No, we can’t pursue that option.”
Well, can we meet to look into this … “No, we won’tmeet with you to discuss it.”
But, I think we should … “By the way, people with yourviews are not welcome here.”
But that doesn’t seem right … “Why are you askingthese questions? Didn’t you know that tonight’s meetingwas a celebration of the Middle School?
No, I thought it was a School Committee meeting. Whenwas it changed to a celebration? … Why don’t you everhave anything nice to say about our monopoly?
But I do. Would you like to see the tape? …
At this point, discussion was gaveled to a close. I askedwhen we might meet to actually discuss these vital issues– we never had a chance to discuss grade inflation – andan audience member protested that these issues werealready dealt with and we should go on to more importantmatters. Presumably, this means what we love doing themost, discussing how to get more money from thetaxpayers.
You see, monopolies don’t want their boards to discusshow to reform their operations or improve service. Whybother? They have no competition.
The school monopoly only wants to discuss how togenerate more money, a lot more money. For publicschools, it is always time for another tax increase.
So, citizens of North Andover: Just pay up and shut up.Don’t ask for reforms or higher standards. Don’t askfor improved service for the children. Don’t botherthem at all … they’re busy celebrating!
They know that the children will still show up nextSeptember no matter what.
What else can the children do? They have no otherchoice!
Kimberly Deschenes, a senior at Greater Lawrence Technical School, was honored asan “Outstanding Vocational Technical Student in Massachusetts,” along with 44 others,at an awards banquet in Mechanics Hall in Worcester on April 30. A resident of Lawrence,she is the daughter of Clifford and Jayne Deschenes.
More than 600 people, including honored students, their parents, teachers, othereducators and state education officials, were on hand to watch students come up on stageafter dinner to receive plaques and certificates for their accomplishments as theirbiographies were read and giant slides of them were projected on a screen behind them.Participating in the ceremonies were members of the Massachusetts Board of Educationand representatives of the sponsoring organizations, MAVA (Massachusetts Associationof Vocational Administrators) and MVA (Massachusetts Vocational Association).
An autobody major from Lawrence, Kim is a straight-A student, ranked number one inher class, and a member and secretary of the National Honor Society. A participant in theCooperative Education Program, she works for Adamson Industries, an installer ofequipment in police vehicles.
Kim is a member of SkillsUSA, Tech Prep, and the nontraditional student group. Kimwrites for the student newspaper, GLT Vibes, and has been a Student of the Month. Sheis a recipient of a John & Abigail Adams scholarship, the Daughters of the AmericanRevolution Good Citizen Award, and was selected twice for the Lawrence YouthLeadership Award.
Outside school, Kim volunteers at her church, teaching religion classes to third gradersand serving as a lector. She enjoys both reading and writing poems and stories.
Following graduation, Kim will attend Merrimack College to major in communications,using her autobody skills to pay for college expenses. Kim says that Greater Lawrencegave her the opportunity to do “something interesting and different, and learn in a diverseenvironment, where you can not only be book smart but also learn hands-on skills.”
Greater Lawrence Tech’s Kim Deschenes NamedOutstanding Technical Student in Massachusetts
Kimberly Deschenes, a senior at Greater Lawrence Technical School,was honored as an “Outstanding Vocational Technical Student inMassachusetts.”
Lawrence
Your one stop shop for all your low voltage electronics and homeentertainment needs
Ormsby: Pay up and Shut up - From Page 3
May - 2007 The Valley Patriot 9
Have You Seen Bill Kelly?North Andover
Anybody seen Bill Kelly? You know, the Bill Kelly thatran for School Committee back in 2004 and 2005? He’sbeen missing for two years now and his family and friendsin the community are very concerned. The picture on thenearby card is the last known likeness we have of him.Keep in mind, though, that the picture shown is two yearsold and must be age adjusted.
Bill Kelly is approximately six feet tall, grayish hair,speaks in long, drawn-out sentences and was last seenliving on Rea Street. Just before his disappearance onElection Day 2005, he was running for North AndoverSchool Committee as an agent of change. He wasconcerned that the School Committee was focusing toomuch on money and not enough on academics. He wantedto change that with some fresh ideas and creative thinking.
He portrayed himself as a fiscal conservative withtraditional values and high standards. His campaignliterature clearly stated: “If elected to the School Com-mittee, I will pursue these goals: Fiscal Responsibility- Budget realistically to known available funds.” Theimpression he gave voters was that he would not supportschool budgets beyond the town’s ability to pay for them.Pretty clear and straightforward, don’t you think?
Bill Kelly also promised unequivocally that he “Willnot accept the $2000 annual stipend paid each boardmember.” Most people would read that to mean, “I ain’ttaking the money if you elect me.” Any question inanybody’s mind what this means?
The name Bill Kelly was synonymous with “FiscalResponsibility.”
Just weeks before Election Day, Bill Kelly actuallychanged his political registration from unenrolled toRepublican. One would gather from this that he enshrinedthe traditional Republican principles of low taxes andlimited government. At least that was what many voterswere led to believe. They went to the polls with this inmind.
Now the case of the missing Bill Kelly becomes reallybizarre. The day after that Election Day when Bill Kellyvanished, an imposter and charlatan suddenly appeared.His physical features resembled those of the missing Kelly,but he had none of the defining attributes of the original.Although he had the same gray hair and was of similarheight, this imitator was missing all of the othercharacteristics touted by the lost Bill Kelly. Amazingly,this phony also went by the name of Kelly. That’s howincredibly weird this case has become.
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Valley Patriot Staff And it gets even stranger. Kelly’s imposter ended upbeing elected to the School Committee. His very first actof any consequence was to cast the deciding vote in favorof a teachers contract that was well beyond what the towncould afford … even after being warned in advance of thedire consequences. The missing Bill Kelly would neverhave considered such a thing. The millions more thecontract would eventually cost the district led to dozens ofteachers losing their jobs and put the entire school systemin a financial bind that it still struggles to overcome today.
Was this guy a fraud? Webster’s Dictionary, in-part,defines fraud: “a person who deceives or is not what hepretends to be…” Should we call this guy Fraud Kelly?Whatever we call him, he has directly caused thedisappearance of much of the arts and music in our schools.
But the Kelly fake wasn’t finished. In 2006 he went onto support the disastrous “To Be Balanced Budget” withthe infamous Trash Tax that would have cost the town’scitizens millions more in taxes/fees. Do you remember theTown Meeting last summer where 3000 angry voters turnedout to say “No Way”? We were lucky we didn’t have anymedical emergencies with the elderly who were forced tocome out on that oppressively hot July night to protecttheir retirement money. The Kelly imposter backed thewhole futile effort behind that Trash Tax.
More recently, this fake Kelly has endorsed a new schoolbudget that is – not surprisingly – millions more than thetown can afford. And the charlatan Kelly has also comeout as the lead proponent of a multi-million-dollarProposition 2 ½ Tax Override to pay for it all! Incredible,just incredible!
Oh, did we mention that in 2006 the Kelly imposter tookthe $2,000 stipend that the missing Kelly refused to accept?This year the charlatan Kelly is taking in $2300 as chair ofthe committee. We don’t know what will happen in thefuture, but we do hope that the Bill Kelly of 2005 we allrespected and voted for will be located soon and found tobe of sound mind and body. At this point we have no cluesas to his whereabouts, other than that he was last seen inNorth Andover on Election Day 2005, waving the flag offiscal responsibility.
If you have any information regarding the missing BillKelly, please call either the America’s Most Wanted hotlineor the North Andover Police Department. In the meantime,for updates on the status of the investigation, check outthe back of the milk cartons in your local grocery storewhen shopping.
Monday May 14th2007 @ 7PM
At the NorthAndover High School
Field House
For a copy of the Town Warrantvisit on-line
www.townofnorthandover.com
