Blue Light Special

Ward 4 City Council candidate Ed Cameron is leading an interesting discussion over at his blog. The question, how can we amp up voter turnout?

Ed agrees more people should pay attention. But rather than just complain about it like some people (see me) he's offering a few simple suggestions.

He inspired me to think a bit and come up with a suggestion of my own. The city should activate the parking ban lights the night before the election. And keep them blinking until the polls closed. I'm willing to bet that we're not going to see much snow early November, so the confusion will be minimal. And it will give people vivid reminders that they have something to do before they head off to work or go home.

But the real gist of Ed's post was to push for greater communication and transparency in city government. In doing so, he's also taking some fairly precise shots as the City of Newburyport's Web site. It isn't the worst I've seen, but we can do much better. (The task bar along the left drives me crazy at times.)

There are plenty of people in this city with the expertise to make a better site. Perhaps the mayor should consider forming some task force that would enable the IT-savvy folks in Port to donate some time to improving the site.

Ed offers a list of better sites on his blog. Personally, I'd like to see a Web site that presents agendas and minutes of each board; advertises vacancies on those board; pushes emails to remind people to pay their taxes, water bills and to vote. (If the library can shoot me an email that reminds me return the first season of Entourage than why can't a city web site. Why can't I get a note to tell me to vote?)

I recognize this sounds trivial to some. But Web sites provide a service and say a great deal about the company (or in this case the community) they represent. I'll often make business decisions based upon a company's Web site, particularly if it's geared toward serving the customer. It just says the company cares about details.

FULL Disclosure: Ed is a friend and a neighbor and I've got one of his signs in my front yard. His sign is cool, but I think Ives' is still cooler (See below.) Also, check out the comment on her car stickers. Very wise indeed.

A Good Sign

Gardiner Bacon and I agree on at least one thing. Campaign lawn signs are pretty heinous and usually useless.

Note that I said usually.

Kudos to City Councilor-at-Large Candidate Kathleen Ives for putting a fresh twist on the campaign design. See picture.

Not that this will convince me to vote for her. I'm more likely to support someone who has lived in town longer than I have (one year.) But I did find her Web site. I'll give it a read, and I'll consider.

And I'll post a blog item that no one is likely to read.

Big Interest in Little River

I was glad to read this morning that the city is following what's going on just south of the border in Newbury. I had no doubt the city's water and sewer officials were watching the review of the Little River Transit Village to gauge what sort of demand the project could put on Newburyport's water and sewer systems.

But it's comforting to know for sure they're on the case. And city officials shouldn't be the only ones watching and thinking about what this project means to the city. This project is significant enough to affect everyone east of Route 95.

Here's how Stephen Tait describes the project in today's article:

The Village at Little River would be constructed on 72 acres on Route 1 just south of the Henry A. Walker Memorial Bridge at the corner of Middle Road. Current plans call for 200 residences - a combination of condominiums and rental apartments - and about 150,000 square feet of retail and office space, including a small supermarket, a pharmacy, a restaurant and a coffee shop. It would also include a senior center.

This is obviosly an enormous project for Newbury. Hell, it'd be huge for most communities but this would be the first sizable project to hit that town, perhaps ever. (I'm pretending the Expo along Route 95 in Byfield--or whatever that thing is called--never happened. Clearly it shouldn't have.)

But this also will hit Newburyport too. As Larry McCavitt and other point out, this creates competition for the two plazas along Route 113 as well as downtown. (Downtown property owners are a bit concerned, believe me.)

Competition isn't a bad thing, of course. The Carriagetown Plaza in Amesbury apparently hasn't hurt business on Route 113. I suspect the Little River village won't be the end of them either, but it's worth watching.

As for the city, I don't think we should be withholding sewer or water access simply to protect our business. But if our water supply is short, and the sewer system can't handle the additional flow (it apparently can, for now) that's an entirely different story.

But perhaps the one thing this project can shine a light on is how disconnected our city is to our own Commuter Rail station. Visitors from Boston get dumped out at the station with no idea of how to get to the downtown. And even if they know the way, it's a miserable walk. One they're not likely to repeat.

If the Little River project gives life to the idea of integrating the MBTA station into the core of a community, be it ours or Newbury's, than that's would be a positive thing. John Wells had an interesting column on this subject in the News today.

I don't know what the answer is--walking trails, trolley cars, pedicabs, a combination of all three--but we need to connect the train station to the downtown. Not only will this draw new visitors to our shows, but visitors who choose to drive to the city might find that an attractive place to park.

Newburyport Makes The Monitor

Just going through Google and I came upon this story in the Christian Science Monitor describing the "barn star" craze. Frankly I never knew they were called that.

Anyway, a nice photo of the front stoop of Patridge in a Bear Tree.

Overriding Thoughts

A little tidbit from Mary Baker Eaton's blog today pertaining to the weak voter showing at Tuesday's primary election:

As one person said (probably a whole lot more than one person, I just didn’t hear them), “If it doesn’t affect people’s pocket books, I guess they just don’t care.”

That got me thinking, I wonder what the result of the override would have been if it had been decided by the same 25% who bothered to vote on Tuesday.

My first thought was the override would have passed because nothing drives folks out like the threat of a higher tax. Without the threat, they had no reason to act.

But I also could make an argument that the pro-school types--the same people in other towns who leave town meetings once the school budget is passed--just weren't interested in an election that didn't immediately impact the schools.

I'm leaning toward the second hypothetical.

BTW, Amesbury had a 14% turn out? Wow. You'd think with all the talk there'd be some intense interest but the average folks may just be tuning it all out. That's a shame.

UPDATE TO PORT VOTE: Here a piece on the Current's Web site about the election including some strong comments from Steve Cole on the vote. He's right. If I'm right and the 15% of the people (that's about 1,600 folks) who voted in the override were school supporters he might have fared better.

We're going to Vegas, Baby

I'm feeling pretty good about my picks in yesterday's post.

Moak by a lot.
Stiles - This could be McCarthy
McCarthy - This could be Stiles
Cole -
Bacon

Granted, you didn't have to be a Braintree surgeon to see how things might play out (nod to Jimy Williams.) As the Daily News pointed out correctly today, this thing will come down to the waterfront, surprise, surprise, surprise.

I hope there is some real parsing of the candidate's position on this. I think my stance aligns more with Jim Stiles--open waterfront with plenty of public use. But I would like to hear John Moak's phased-in plan. It could merely be a different path to where I want to go. (Disclosures: I sat on the ad hoc parking committe with Jim Stiles. But I also got to know John Moak in the short time I covered City Hall.)

It would be a mistake, however, to rule out the rest of the town coming into play. This will be John Moak's strength. It'll be interesting to see how the next few weeks play out.

BTW, something like 25% of the registered voters in this town took part? I don't know the historical counts, but that's got to be close to the bottom. Seems like if five guys can take time out of their lives to run campaigns the least we can do is vote for them.

The Votinator

Took The Boy to the polls this morning to watch me vote. (He took the picture.)

I think this is the second or third time he's watched me vote. Yes, I'm hoping his watching me will instill some semblance of voter responsibility in him. He's only two so I've got 16 years to keep hammering this point home.

I doubt he'll be going with me every single time.

Anyway, I can't recall ever missing an election, but this one was exceptionally cool. It's the first time voted for a Newburyport office. It won't be the last, I promise.

And here's my predicted outcome. The following is based on an exit poll of one. That'd be me.

Moak by a lot.
Stiles - This could be McCarthy
McCarthy - This could be Stiles
Cole - I really feel he didn't put on his best performance at the forum.
Bacon - I did enjoy Bacon's performance at the forum. But I got the sense he wasn't taking this campaign all that seriously. He's an impressive guy but he needs college and seasoning.

We'll see what happens.

The People You Meet--Volume One

Newburyport has so many fine qualities that they're tough to rank. But one of my clear favorites is how this city seems to present many opportunities to meet new people.


I just like this picture of City Hall. Look at the trees.

I'd say typical meetings happen at Cashman Park. I'll be tossing the ball for Lucy while chatting with another dog owner (or parent if I have The Boy. ) Happens a lot downtown too at Plum Island Roasters or another downtown spot. But last week I didn't have to do a thing to meet Nancy Bartley.

I stepped out of my Green Street office to wait for Nicole to pick me up. I intentionally packed up a few minutes early so I could enjoy the last few hours of a beautiful September afternoon from my little perch. The sunglasses were on, and I casually looked up the street toward the IC to admire the sunlight warming the other side of the street.

Then I noticed a woman in a wheelchair and a young man without one coming down the street. The woman looked my way but we were a good 20-30 feet away so I no idea she was looking at me. She rolled steadily on. The young man kept pace. Then, she started steering the chair in my general direction until it became clear she was indeed looking at me. The young man dutifully followed her lead.

I assumed immediately that she was looking for directions. I have that kind of face--even with sunglasses on. As a younger man headed to work in Boston, people frequently stopped me on the streets of the Back Bay to ask me how they could get to Cheers. Being from Boston I've never gone to Cheers (well have you?) but I certainly knew where it was. So I told them. (Who says Bostonians aren't friendly?)

But this woman knew exactly where she was going.

"Hi," she beamed. "Would you like to buy a copy of my autobiography?"

Um..what? I didn't expect that.

"How much is it?" I can't believe I asked that. I mean it's a reasonable question but this woman--this author--clearly had overcome some intense physical limitations to write a book. She sat way back on the wheelchair. I can't remember how she steered it, but it wasn't effortless. Yet, she wrote a book. I never wrote a book. So can price be an object?

"Twelve dollars," she said, holding it up. It was a paperback book, about the size of a thick play bill you might get at the theater. I could see a wheel chair on the cover. The title of the book was "Look at Me, Not at My Wheelchair." I was happy that instinctively passed that test.

I opened my wallet. I knew I'd taken a bundle of money out earlier in the day. But the withdrawal preceded a bundle of errands. But surely I had $12. Nope, I only had a five and three ones.

"All I have is eight dollars," I said. I was a bit embarrassed but if I'd known I'd be asked to by a $12 book I wouldn't have bought a loaf of Harvest Bread at Greta's. (Love that stuff.)

"That's fine," her friend said. We completed the transaction. We chatted a bit about what I do and how she might get her book published. I didn't have much to offer her except a promise to pass the book over to a friend at the Daily News. I'm sure they'd like to write an article.

We said good bye. I put the sunglasses back on. Grabbed my backpack and headed up Green Street so I could meet Nicole on High.

I also started reading....more next time.

Newburyport on Lake Michigan

Interesting article in today's Wall Street Journal about Waukegan, Ill., about an hour's drive north from Chicago. Apparently, the city is trying to turn itself around by redeveloping its waterfront--sound familiar?

But instead of facing a challenge of rehabbing historic buildings, Waukegan officials are trying to elbow out two not-so-attractive businesses off the waterfront space. One is a cement maker. The other makes sheet rock wallboard. It's name? National Gypsum Co. (Both can be seen in the photo above. The cement maker has the silos. National Gypsum the big piles of....dunno. Gypsum?)

The only thing I know about Gypsum is what I read in the paper about our own Crow's Lane landfill. (And what I just scanned in Wikipedia.) Does make me wonder about the smell around that waterfront, and the water itself is apparently polluted..

Anyway, here's a link to the article. Sorry, registration is required. Sounds like the city is taking on some heavy-handed tactics, but I can't blame them for wanting what we have here.

Welcome to Newburyport Posts

Thanks for checking in. I don’t know what direction this blog will lead me just yet. I’m thinking this will mostly focus on Newburyport and the area since I’m a huge fan of both.

I lived up here in 1990s (apartment in Amesbury, job at The Daily News.) Life and career led me away for a while but I’m very thankful both allowed me to return. I’ve lived here a year, and I’ve loved every day of it. I hope you folks appreciate how good you have it here.

A little background, I was a newspaper reporter. I wrote for the Daily News from 1993-1997 covering business, Newbury, Rowley and, for a short-time, City Hall. Now I’m writing about medical device companies, venture capitalists and the like. Interesting stuff no doubt, but I still have a hankering writing about this town.

I’m guessing this will help me feed that beast, just a little.

I’ll post as often as possible once I get a better feel for things. I welcome any emails or comments. But I’m resigned to the fact that I’ll probably shouting out into the darkness.

That’s fine too.

Tom

p.s. In case you were wondering, that isn't me in the picture. But that is someplace in Newburyport, according to The Office web site.