My view about Councilor Kennedy’s line of questioning has changed since Tuesday and Wednesday. I was originally upset with his badgering of the City Manager especially after the Manager answered his question truthfully stating he had no idea how a ‘blogger” found out who was being interviewed.

The Manager stated clearly he had spoken with members of the Republican committee to get some names. They as far has I know were not sworn to secrecy (Nor could they be) and that they spoke to others who told someone who told someone and Jack Mitchell who the Sun column identifies today found out and called Ann Marie Page. To be honest even I knew but kept my mouth shut about a number of people whose names had been submitted. I didn’t call anyone and neither I nor Jack posted anything.

Apparently Councilor Kennedy did not do any follow up questioning of the candidate he was referring to because he would have known the ‘blogger’ Jack called as a friend not has a blogger, which he states in today’s Sun.

Or was it a well intended shot at Jack and Left in Lowell?

Very telling to me after rewatching this meeting was Councilor Kennedy voiced NO ISSUE with Chris Scotts Lowell Sun Column Blog published on Thursday January 3rd. A column about the same candidate being interviewed and considered and spreading her name on the papers Blog site which is viewed by far more people than read this and other Lowell blogs combined.

Neither did Councilor Elliot who was more concerned about the Mayor’s
aide blogging on Friday AFTER it was public knowledge.

How come neither one asked the question HOW DID THE SUN KNOW?

I’ll tell you why I think it happened..Could it be that Councilor Kennedy and Elliot have issues with Bloggers or is it more specifically they have an issue with A PARTICULAR BLOG and those Bloggers?

I don’t believe those who say that Councilor Kennedy has an issue with Bloggers or that Councilor Kennedy doesn’t consider blogs part of the media. Any time I have ever emailed or called Ed Kennedy whether he was a candidate or councilor he has returned my message and answered every question I asked.

I may have beaten up (and probably will again) Councilor Elliot on occasion but I have also agreed with him and championed issues were I felt he was being unfairly treated.

I think Councilors Elliot and Kennedy along with Councilor Mercier ( soon to include Councilor Leahy) are fed up with Left in Lowell constantly berating them and their actions and are venting some of that frustration towards the Manager who Left in Lowell is a strong supporter of.

Supt. Santoro certainly stood her ground and took her own swipe at them recently. Maybe that inspired Councilor Kennedy.

I find it very ironic that Left in Lowell gets upset and accuses these particular Councilors of wanting the Manager who works for the Council fired or get so defensive when they speak to him in harsh tones, yet have no problem themselves calling for people’s job that they have no oversite over or direct personal dealing with.

Left in Lowell has called for the Tech School Supt. and the Lowell Sun Editor to be fired. I and I am sure many others wonder why it is freedom of speech when LIL does it but dirty politics when a Councilor disagrees with the Manager or beats him up on an issue?

I expect to see Councilors standing up more for themselves especially in an Election year and especially when so many of the Lowell Blogs are PRO Manager and beat up any who oppose him even a little. I expect the Manager to take some heat for the continuous attacks fairly or not.

These Councilors realize that while all of us who blog play to a very small portion of the voters, being painted as petty or always opposing the Manager isn’t in their best interest and will fight back when they can and maybe just maybe take out their frustration on the Manager who the majority of blogs seem to support and protect. Myself to a degree included.

I’m a huge believer in Freedom of Speech, I just think that if it is okay for a loud mouth, flip-flopper opinionated guy like me and activists, home-owner, tax-paying residents who have decided to utilize social media to make their point and try to draw others into the discussion then it is fair for City Councilors who under the plan E charter are the ones elected by the citizens to represent them to return the criticism of the Blogs and direct their anger at the Manager who the blogs support and defend.

Which includes the right to hire / fire, disagree and be critical of the City Manager.

At the risk of being called her media rep or Protector, I have to ask what has Supt. Mary Jo Santoro ever done to Jack Mitchell? To my knowledge he has never met the woman nor called and talked to her or asked her any questions. Has he ever explained what exactly, specifically she has done that is wrong or illegal? I have been critical of her at times but have repeatedly stated she is only a part of the problem and should not be the scapegoat.

I have noted on many occasions that the head of the Water dept. Mr. Lahiff stole city equipment for personal use, used city workers and compensated them well under the going rate and was fined $5,000 by the Ethic commission and has been allowed to keep his job. The police are investigating his dept. for other infractions yet he remains and a worker who took less than $250 in gas gets fired.

To my knowledge Supt. Santoro hasn’t been fined by the ethics commission nor has any of the Lowell Tech School Committee people and yet Jack without showing any real hard evidence other than his political preferences calls for her job.

I disagree with the Manager keeping Lahiff but have NEVER called for his job. Why hasn’t Jack called for his job? Could it be out of loyalty to the Manager? That is is right but I have a real problem with calling for people’s jobs because we have a political disagreement with them. This isn’t our livelihood and we do it has a hobby. To call for someone to be fired is flat out wrong and unfair.

All BLOGS but especially mine and Left in Lowell which are political blogs have our own agenda and viewpoints. It is because of the one sided bias people see on Left in Lowell and here on my blog (which is our right) that has some upset.

Now we appear to be witnessing a push back and an expression of their frustrations with the constant attack on them directed back on the man that they feel gets his main support from the blogs. Is it correct or proper?

I say it is has proper has it is for calling for people to lose their livelihood or Council seat because of our own political disagreements.

A few other things…

Mayor Patrick Murphy I thought did a great job running the meeting, letting people speak and not playing defense for the Manager. He was fair and unbiased. Everything you would want in a Mayor or anyone running the meeting.

Happy Birthday to one of the nicest men in Lowell Bob Lekites who celebrated a milestone birthday this past week.

George Anthes this past week on City Life kept asking about What’s going on at the Auditorium? Particularly because Bill Taupier who is a member of the Board of trustees made some comments on City Life indicating he was unhappy with the method or process of the RFP.

Has anyone looked at it or compared it to the original RFP that dates back to 2005? Is there a HUGE Difference?

It appears to me that the answer is NO!

How do I know? Because I requested and received a copy of the current Mill City contract and then called around to friends and family who are in the building management field and was able to get me a copy of the RFP.

Rather than scan it and post it I will talk more about it this Thursday when I am a guest on City Life from 6:00 -8:00 am on Comcast Ch. 8 repeated at 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm (Yes I know another cheap plug but hey I take what I can get).

I will say that maybe Mr. Taupier who I was informed crafted the original RFP back in 2005 was upset that he wasn’t asked to be part of crafting this one.

However the fact he is a trustee and has a close friendship / working relationship with the present Auditorium General Manager who has publicly indicated his interest in submitting a proposal,maybe the City wanted to insure that No other bidder could say that Mr. Taupier or the trustees were in conflict of interest so they were not asked for impute.

It appears to me that this current RFP uses 95% of the original except there is no mention of the city contributing funds has it now does.

Lowell lost some longtime valued members of the community this week with the passing of 104 year old Ethel Callahan, Ernest Lambert and longtime Daley School Principal Joe Hogan. Condolences to all those families and friends.