Chico's Coming to Town?

Mary Eaton has a blog post that apparently confirms an item the Current had yesterday. The chain store Chico's is moving into the former Water Street lot that housed Newburyport Lighting.

To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, I've generally supported the idea of some chain stores coming to town. However, I didn't really have Chico's in mind when I was making those comments.

I'll refrain from saying much more until I actually see the store. UPDATE: Here's the link.

Poll Comment

Happy to have Tom Ryan visit us in the comment column of the post below.

He raises an interesting idea about a binding referendum, but I sometimes I do wonder if referendums are the right way to make these decisions.

They sound nice in theory. And, hey, I love Democracy as much as the next guy, but in the the end I wonder if the campaigns that preceded such a vote would further divide the community, if that's even possible.

I also wonder if folks could shake hands, congratulate the winners and then move forward.

Seems to the the more natural solution would be to have an influential leader or leaders who could unite these visions--somehow--and sell the a single project to everyone. But we haven't seen that happen yet.

Until it does, I like the idea raised by John Macone in the News:

There have also been requests that the dialogues that Port In Progress has opened be extended and expanded. Issues like the future of the waterfront, the downtown, the balance between preservation and development, and the impact of gentrification have all been raised. We would like to help see this dialogue continue through public forums, opinion pieces and follow-ups to our series. If you would like to be a part of this, please let us know by e-mailing me at jmacone@ecnnews.com

Also, I'm told there are groups experienced in mediating disputes and breaking stalemates.

Perhaps this just invites more talk, but who knows someone might actually say something that is agreeable to everyone.

Wouldn't that be neat.

More Poll Stuff

Mary Harbough was nice enough to answer my question as to why few open waterfront folks or park advocates were participating in the poll. Here's her point.

Why have I not responded to your poll? As a central waterfront park advocate, I find that the poll options do not express my views. If you were at the NRA's recent meeting, you'll know that many park advocates think a simple cafe, a bad-weather/summer-shade pavillion with hot chocolate and lemonade, or even a hot-dog stand would be just fine, as part of the park. A glass or open-sided pavillion tucked into the southwest corner of the east lot could also be a revenue-generating performance venue. Many of us also think it would be nifty if the lawn behind the Custom House were used for museum exhibition/expansion. The point is not that a park can't have any buildings, the point is that the buildings are there because they serve a park function. A park is about people coming together in a free and lovely outdoor setting. When Waterside West and "Waterside East" are developed, many more people will be using the park, and the small existing park is already overused. Newburyport's identity is bound to the river. We need access and space to be able to enjoy it.

I didn't want this comment to go unaddressed because it's an important one.

The proposal put forth by James Shanley--and supposed by others--goes well beyond an isolated structure or two that supports the function of a park. Instead, advocates of developing the lots see an opportunity to extend the downtown to the river, inviting all the human traffic and commerce that goes with it.

Green spots could be part of this, but they wouldn't be the keystone of the development. Buildings and businesses would be. (NOTE: I edited this last paragraph a bit. I may have overstated the extent of desired development.)

So here's my take. If I held a similar view, I'd likely vote for either of the negative offerings, either "I don't think so" or "No bleeping way" depending upon the strength of your stance.

Thanks again to all those who have participated (and commented.) Looks like we're hitting a wall at 35 votes, which is too bad.

More Newspaper Stuff

Community Newspaper Holdings, owner of our own Daily News, once again is mentioned prominently in talk about Dow Jones selling its Ottaway community newspapers.

Buy Local-Nantucket Style

A word from a buy local advocate in Nantucket. The K-man is featured prominently.

Sorry for the short posts. Busy work week.

Combined Karp Coverage?

Hmm, perhaps Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.--the Daily News' parent company--will buy the Nantucket Inquirer & Mirror and combine all Karp coverage.

Incidentally, Dow Jones' Ottaway group owned the Daily News prior to selling out to the Lawrence Eagle Tribune Co., which in turn was acquired later by current owner Community Newspaper Holdings.

BTW, there's a new comment under the "New Comment" entry below.

New Comment

On the second installment of "Oh No He Didn't." The anonymous poster seconds Bruce Menin's, hell, I'll just paste it here.

Amen to that Mr Menin. More density downtown is a good healthy sustainable solution. Cities are more efficient than suburban or rural communities RE:energy use. We should think of Newburyport as somewhat 'undersized' By that I mean that our fixed costs can support a larger amount of variable costs, thus lowering cost/unit of service delivered. A number 'over 55 'residences on newly allowed extra floors downtown would be a net revenue plus for the City with very little incremental cost.

She/he raises an interesting point about whether this is the most sustainable solution. Is a green waterfront the most responsible use of the land?

Again, I'm surprised by the lack of response from the open waterfront folks.

There's still time. Get out the vote.

More Waterfront Stuff

Mary Eaton posts again at the Newburyport Blog on the question of what to do with the Waterfront lots. She gets some straight poop from Mary Lou Supple, former NRA chairperson. Plus a link from an actual survey. Worth a look.

The Poll-Vote Early and Often

Incidentally, one thing about the Blogger polling system.

I can't explain this with any degree of certainty. I'm sure it involves cookies, and not the good kind.

But the Blogger polling program supposedly only permits you to vote once. However, I've noticed that if I access the blog from different Internet Service Providers I'm given the opportunity to vote again.

So I voted once from the in-laws house over the weekend. When I got home on Saturday, the Blog appeared as if I'd never voted.

I haven't done so, and I'm guessing that 90% of the people checking out the poll also haven't done so.

But since I can't fix this little bug, the only fair thing to do is reveal it to all.

So if you're really desperate to sway the outcome you may want to grab your laptop and access the wireless signals available at Plum Island Roasters, Nutcracker and our other fine establishments downtown.

But house rules say one vote per visitor.

Thanks for the Memories

A nice sign off of the Port in Progress series by the Daily News today.

John Macone delivered a nice piece on the ever-changing character of Newburyport while Victor Tine knocked another one out of the park with some thoughts on the tasks left undone.

Kudos to those individuals who came up with the idea and executed on the series. It isn't an easy thing to do. It's even more difficult to keep the content interesting.

There were only one or two Monday papers that left me wondering if there were any topics left at the bottom of the barrel. I feared the series would die a slow, painful death but inevitably the following weeks delivered.

Now, Monday mornings just won't be the same.

Looking forward to the Port in Progress Book. I may just have to buy a coffee table to rest it upon.

Poll-Day Three

Well,

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving.

In the spirit of the most favoritest of holidays, I'd like to thank Mary Eaton for alerting her readers to the poll. The more voters, the merrier.

I must say, I'm still a bit suprised at the outcome so far. Of the 19 people who voted, only one has registered any sort of reservations. I expect that to change shortly, but who knows.

To Mary's point that she feels this issue already has been settled, I can certainly understand that position. As I noted previously, I shared the same sentiments when James Shanley first shared his thoughts.

But clearly he's not alone. There is a significant number of people--I'm not willing to say majority--who believe neither park nor parking is the right way to go. At this point are they the most expedient? Perhaps. But is either right for the city? I'm not so sure.

I'm familiar with the history. Victor Tine wrote two excellent articles for the Port in Progress series. I also foolishly thought I was writing the final chapter on Roger Foster's fight in 1997 when I covered City Hall for a short-time. He and then Mayor Lisa Mead came up with a plan that appeared to green light the project.

How wrong was I?

So, I'll agree the idea of developing the NRA lots is a long shot. A mixture of parking/park seems to be the more likely arrangement. But I learned one thing back in 1997 when I smugly thought my words would be among the final ones about the decades old confrontation: Just when you think this story is over, someone goes on to write another chapter (or two or three or four...)

Please spread the word, email the poll to as many interested people as you like. Polls are open until Sunday.

Poll-Day One

Interesting first 10 votes cast so far in the poll. Nine of the 10 say this should happen with the holdout suggesting he or she is leaning toward the idea but needs more info.

I recognize this is a small sampling. We'll see what happens Monday when people break out of their holiday slumber.

But if this pattern holds the readership of this blog isn't nearly as progressive as I thought. It's that or my definition of a progressive doesn't hold water. (Course Shanley himself is supposedly a progressive and he started all of this.)

So, we'll see if the open waterfront folks show up or if the pro-development folks do a superior job of getting out the vote.

Karp in the News

Just a few quick hits regarding Mr. Karp.

The Globe on Friday had piece by Daily News Alumnus James "Jamie" Vaznis on the rush of development in the suburbs. The article centers chiefly on New England Development's plans for Westwood Station.

The Daily News Tribune of Waltham ran an article a few weeks ago on some zoning changes being contemplated in Newton to accomodate another Karp project.

UPDATE: Why is the second article noteworthy? It'll be interesting to see if the Waterside Group requests any changes to zoning covering Waterside West or East. No idea whether they will or won't.

The Poll is up.

I figured it might be a wild, crazy and completely unique idea to poll people on what they'd like to see on the waterfront, specifically is any level of development on those lots a good idea?

Ward 3 Councilor James Shanley thinks so as does every person who has taken time to comment and shoot emails. I'm rather surprised that no one from the open waterfront side has spoken up. Perhaps now they will.

So, if you think some development on the waterfront is prudent and even appropriate but you're afraid to speak up at the NRA meetings the this is your chance.

And if you think this idea is so completely whacked, once again, this is the time to say something.

Finally, if you know someone who would enjoy the question pass it along.

This poll will be as binding as all the other surveys that have been conducted throughout the years.

Thanks for taking part and, again, Happy Thanksgiving.

Case your wondering...

I removed the Salvation Army links. I couldn't find subsequent articles on the Daily News site.

Won't be posting much if at all over the weekend. Will try to get the poll on the Waterfront up for Monday morning.

Happy Thanksgiving, my favoritest of holidays.

Oh No He Didn't, The Conclusion

So should we consider developing a portion of the NRA lots as James Shanley suggests?

Hell yes.

I admit, this might be seen as a bit of a flip-flop on my part. I've classified myself as an open waterfront guy, but I've always advocated an active, busy waterfront as opposed to a pastoral, passive waterfront. I've consistently been against parking, which I think would be the worst possible waste of this precious resource.

As someone pointed out in an email, if we want to hold true to the historical dynamics of this city, then the waterfront was once the crux of our commerce, the very heart that pumped the city's economic blood. (Now I have Starship's "We Built This City on Rock and Roll" echoing in my head. Crap.)

I initially thought I'd be satisfied with an open Waterfront that had a playground (an idea that got COMPLETELY trashed by the hearing vote a few weeks ago)or some other less permanent use, perhaps a farmer's market or marketplace that moved in an out with the seasons.

But all that would leave a barren wasteland for 9 months of the year (and I'm being generous.) Some have proposed a skating rink, but I couldn't see that adding more than another two months.

A small bit of development--a row of buildings running perpendicular to the river--would deliver year-round energy to these parcels. Plus, it would better fit the characteristics and the nature of this city.

Think of the downtown. Where do people congregate, lay about, sit and people watch. The boardwalk is one obvious answer, but the year-round focus point of human activity is Market Square, a bricked over bit of open space. People are drawn there by the comfort and vitality that even Market Landing Park lacks. Admit it, Market Landing Park is rarely crowded with revelers even on the warmest summer day.

As beautiful as Market Landing Park is, I can count on one finger how many times I packed a picnic and plunked down on the grass to enjoy the river this past summer, my first here as a husband and dad.

How many times have I enjoyed a bench in Market Square. No idea. Maybe a dozen. More telling. How many times have I sat in or outside Plum Island Roasters? I can't even guess. Literally too many to count.

What's the real point. As a city dweller, I honestly see myself enjoying the waterfront lots if they're integrated into the downtown rather than just left open as token representation of the parks that line the downtown and the city's borders. This isn't New York, where people need Central Park as a reminder that something other than humanity populates this earth.

Plus, I'll admit it, as a taxpayer, the extra dough wouldn't hurt. I don't understand how we'll pay for the construction and maintenance of a park of this magnitude while still stemming the bleeding at the schools and (somehow) building and maintaining a senior center.

So let's start a discussion. Perhaps it's too late. The NRA already seems to be moving down a path of a park and parking combination. But the city waited this long, what's a few more years.

Amen

Look, I recognize I'm on a James Shanley kick right now. But I'll stop talking about the guy when he stops making sense.

Here's his letter in today's Daily News.

Letter: Time to stop subsidizing parking in Port

To the editor:

Former City Councilor Ralph Ayers was spot-on in his recent letter to the editor regarding paid parking.

Bluntly put, we do not have free parking in Newburyport. We have subsidized parking. The streets, municipal parking lots and, in an indirect way, the NRA property, are all owned by the taxpayers of Newburyport. Three or so decades ago we as a community chose, rightly, to bear the cost of the terminus of a transportation system: the automobile. Now is not then, and we cannot, must not, continue to give away and bear the cost of the inherent value of our shared municipal property. The time for change is now.

One need not look too far afield to find sister communities that require payment for use of their streets and lots. Portsmouth, N.H., Rockport and Northampton all have paid parking, and none have tumbleweeds rolling down Main Street. As anyone who has visited these communities knows, the opposite is vibrantly true. I firmly believe that paid parking is responsible citizenship, and even more importantly, creates parking space turn-over, which promotes local, sustainable economic activity. This is critical for our current and future prosperity.

The time has come for us to fairly assign the cost of automobile storage to the proper party: the user. Newburyport taxpayers can no longer absorb that cost. Our needs are many and great. The technology of paid parking is sophisticated, flexible and visually unobtrusive. The time for paid parking is now. Let us work together to do what must be done.

JAMES G. SHANLEY
Ward 3 councilor
Newburyport

I actually had started to put together a post praising Ralph Ayers for his letter but got distracted by something else. But kudos to both him and Shanley for raising this very important point.

Guess what: our parking isn't free.

In fact, it's worse than not free. It's costing us money. You could argue that dollars spent on upkeep and maintenance could be better spent on our kids and seniors. But the clear and indisputable argument is this city is leaving money on the table by not charging for parking.

This has got to stop. Even if we never construct another parking space in the downtown, we should be charging those folks who use the ones we have just as we charge people to use the compost facility, play high school football, or install a hot water heater. (Seriously, I had to get a permit to install a new hot water heater.)

So let's hold off on blaming state funding formulas, unions and salaries for a second and take a long look in the mirror. We're not doing everything we can to raise revenue for the city until we start charging for parking. We only have ourselves to blame for that one.

Quick Post, III

I advise folks to check out Bruce Menin's post on this issue. It's the second item down. He asks some excellent questions that need to be answered.

It's Snowing Out

This Eyewitness Weather Report brought to you by Newburyport Posts.

Incidentally, I'm wearing a parka and standing along Route 128 while typing this post just to add a level of credibility to my report.

Quick Post, II

I honestly have no interest in pitting the city union's against the city or fostering a taxpayer vs. city worker fight. There's no sense in it. Frankly, I didn't vote for the override to save the jobs of city workers. I did so to save the services they deliver to our children.

If someone told me how we could eliminate positions but maintain or add to services, I'd have to consider it. This is the world in which we live.

But I did want to link to an letter that ran in today's Daily News. It gave a counter-argument to the Daily News' editorial that I linked to yesterday.

Plus, there are two thoughtful comments on the original post.

Salvation Army

FYI, the Daily News has start running its articles telling the tales of people who need help for the holidays. I'll include the links to the right if anyone is interested in helping out.

Newburyport Posts has nothing to do with this effort so if you do want to donate use the info in the articles.

This Explains So Much

I always wondered how this bit of ugly slipped through the renewal project.

Quick Post

Life has taken over, so I'll continue more on the Shanley conversation/poll sometime in the next few days.

But in the spirit of providing something semi-fresh, I'd like to second Mary Eaton's thoughts in her blog today. In fact, I had intended to write something similar last week after the Daily News blasted the city's unions for not signing up to the state's health care program.

To be sure, I wish it could have happened. The city certainly needs the money. But I do think folks sometimes are inclined to take the, "You work for us," sentiment a little to far when it comes to municipal employees.

They're people, and their first responsibilities lie with their families. I'll be honest. If I wasn't convinced the health plan being offered by the state offered my wife and kids the same level of protection as the existing health plan I'd be reluctant to sign on myself, not without more info.

Now, if the conversation develops--as it just may--into a "accept this health plan or watch (fill in the number here) of your coworkers get laid off," my reluctance might wane. But the conversation hadn't reached that point yet as far as I could tell.

Furthermore, a switch in health plans is a major concession for unionized employees. They'd be taking a pretty big bargaining chip off the table by agreeing to the health plan switch without discussing pay or other benefits. These discussions should come during collective bargaining talks, in my uneducated opinion.

I recognize un-unionized private sector employees don't always have the same choices. We're more likely to get a letter that says, "Here's your new health plan," suck it up.

But union folks don't pay their monthly dues for nothing.

So I'm willing to withhold my resentment for the time being. Now, if this dance is repeated before the next deadline then there will be plenty of blame to go around, starting with the mayor and trickling right on down to every last union member.

As far as I'm concerned, the clock is ticking. The mayor and union heads need to get on it .... now.

JL Coombs opens...Again

This press release ran on MaineToday.com announcing the opening of J.L. Coombs' Newburyport story.

For those who care about these things, you can see why reporters often ignore press releases. This release--dated Nov. 15--says the store will open when, in fact, it opened over a month ago.

Why not just say the store has opened? Or why not issue the release back in October? It's a small matter, maybe, but the truth is a good thing.

Anyway, I know some folks have a problem with the store, saying its too high-end or reflects a movementof selling high-end goods. I don't have that same problem and I could see myself buying a shoe there in the future. I like a good shoe. I walk a lot and have big feet.

UPDATE: I also agree with Jabberwocky owner Sue Little's comments in this Daily News article. We're lucky to have stores to fill vacancies.

I do have one teensy complaint though...

I went in there a week ago because I need a new shoelace for my relatively new shoes. I saw the same exact shoe in the store so I figured I could pick up a shoelace there.

I was told by the nice enough clerk that they don't sell shoelaces. How is that possible?

Anyway, here's the release. I thought this line was interesting.

Continuing in the tradition of the town, J.L. Coombs is a family-owned and locally run business catering to residents and tourists

Someone is paying attention.

J.L. Coombs opens 7th store in Downtown Newburyport Ma.

Freeport, Maine - Maine-based retailer J.L. Coombs, specializing in fashion/comfort shoes and apparel will open a new store on Market Square in downtown Newburyport, Ma. Carrying lines such as Ecco, Dansko, Uggs, Timberland, David Meister, Clarks, Cole Haan, Donald Pliner, and Arche, the store stocks a variety of price-points and classifications.

Continuing in the tradition of the town, J.L. Coombs is a family-owned and locally run business catering to residents and tourists. Other J.L. Coombs locations in the region include Portland and Freeport, Maine, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Daher's of Andover. Spoil Me Rotten, a distinctive women's boutique is located in Portland, Maine.

A Grand-Opening celebration is scheduled for the weekend of November 16th-18th beginning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday the 16th at 10 am to be attended by Mayor Moak and other key members of the community.

Oh No He Didn't, II

So there I was, sitting with James Shanley at Plum Island Roasters. A first, he reminded me a bit like a World War II Japanese soldier who'd been holed up on a remote island with no idea the war was over. After all, many wars had been fought over the right to develop those parcels, and by all measures those opposing development have won.

Victor Tine presents a Ken Burnsian chronicling of these various battles as part of the Daily News' Port in Progress series. Here is Part One. Here is Part Two.

Coming back to Newburyport after a decade away, it appeared to me that the front-line has shifted away from developing the waterfront. Now the trenches had been dug on either side of the question, "How much Park. How much Parking?"

The idea of developing the parcels, to me, was dead. It's clear that lawyers were the only ones making money on development proposals.

But Shanley doesn't see it that way, and he says he's not alone. (Judging by the initial comments and emails generated by my first introductory post, I'd say he's correct.)

In our talk, Shanley noted that the NRA didn't seize those lots through eminent domain to be park or parking lots. Indeed, they were suppose to be part of the larger redevelopment going on downtown, a commercial connection between the river and Market Square.

I could go on recalling the meeting, but Shanley, in response to an email that Bruce Menin sent to both of us after the first post, lays out his position nicely. Why don't I just let him take it from there.

I was a very vocal advocate for the City spending CPA funds to purchase open space on the outskirts of town. This makes sense for many reasons, ecological and quality of life being the most prominent. But to save what must be saved, you need to build what must be built. Density is the other side of the open space coin. We have been kidding ourselves into believing otherwise.

Bruce is correct in his assertion that historically the waterfront was heavily developed. Its spelled out nicely in the study of Newburyport called Port and Marketplace (sic. I later learned its called Port and Market). Even though we are not shipping goods out of the waterfront, it still is a major economic driver for Newburyport. The trouble is that we have been viewing it through the lens of July and August. The rest of the year, much of what could be generating tax revenue, economic activity, and equally important, daily human interaction lies fallow. Car and dock storage is a very poor use of land that could be helping us meet our challenges.

What challenges? Well, money. The city is strapped for cash. Shanley says the city must maximize the value of the holdings we have, and the waterfront property is extremely valuable. A parking lot certainly doesn't do this, even if we ever did adopt a paid parking system.

As for creating a larger park, Shanley says the city doesn't have the cash on hand to maintain a park of this size. We have enough trouble maintaining the parks and playgrounds we do have. (I was surprised to learn that most of the playgrounds in town were built with private funds. Yet another reason to love this community.)

Shanley makes a great deal of sense. Yet, I was surprised this opinion still exists in our polarized political landscape, a rare third point-of-view in a city where you're either progressive or conservative; pro- or anti-override, or favor putting parking or park along the waterfront.

Shanley says many in town want a third option. He may be right. Perhaps that's why the city has had trouble reaching a consensus all these years. "There are many others (who support this idea,)" he wrote. "But they have been worn down by the issue. I intend to keep speaking out, so that maybe those who are at least willing to have a conversation about the waterfront being something other than a park or parking will feel safe to do so."

Next post: Is he right?

Also, you know we're going to have to have a poll on this thing. Warm up the browsers and dust off the mouse pad. Check in on Monday.

Oh No He Didn't

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I enjoy hearing James Shanley speak at meetings.

First, he speaks well. Second, he makes sense. Third, his positions typically mirror my own. (Yes, two and three are inextricably linked.)

So imagine my surprise when, a few weeks ago at the NRA's public hearing on the waterfront, I found myself having no idea what the hell he was talking about.

To set the scene, the NRA had just rolled through its Powerpoint presentation and opened the floor to comments. Not surprisingly, a slight majority of the comments (like 99.99 to .01) denounced the plan as having too much parking. The collection of politicians and candidates--the only folks wearing jackets and ties--had to rush to get their words in. They they were due to attend the Newburyport Mothers Club's candidates forum at another location.

Shanley was among the well-dressed fast talkers.

But, unlike the others, Shanley didn't talk about park space. Instead, he talked about economic engines. Instead of crediting or criticizing the NRA for its King Solomon-inspired proposal, Shanley said the NRA good intentions were being misspent, that this wasn't the right time for this project. That the land was too valuable to the city.

To be clear, he was using complete sentences that expressed lucid thoughts. But without some further context I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The NRA lots as a economic rather than aesthetic engine?

A few days later I emailed Shanley asking him to expand on his thoughts because I couldn't quite grasp his point. He graciously offered to do so, admitting he had rushed through his comments at the NRA meeting. He said he'd given similar testimony to the the NRA members before so he didn't feel the need to go into great detail in that setting.

So we met at Plum Island roasters, sort of Ground Zero for the Waterfront, and he explained his position further.

Shanley isn't in favor of park or parking. Nope. He'd like to see some commercial and mixed use development somewhere along the waterfront lots.

Interesting, more in the next post.

Karp Kernal

Something else I didn't know about Steve Karp. He's on the board of Suffolk Downs.

Think that will grab some mindshare over the next couple of years?

Personally I'm not a big fans of the casino plans. I grew up about a mile from Suffolk Downs. We could watch the races from my kitchen window. I just don't see a "destination casino" revitalizing that area, and I LOVE destination casinos.

That said, wouldn't a Merrimack Riverboat Casino be an interesting addition to Waterside East or West.

A Growing Empire?

The Daily News has a story today about Chuck and Ann Lagasse's purchase of Fisherman's Wharf in Provincetown, but they're a little too slow in getting the article up on their Web site so check out the news in the Provincetown Banner.

I'll update with the News link later on. I've got no real insights on this at this point other than I was surprised by the news.

Makes you wonder though if City officials from Provincetown, Nantucket and Newburyport ought to meet somewhere in the middle (maybe a cafe in the new Pinehills Village in Plymouth) to compare notes. It would appear they're all facing similar, albeit not identical, issues.

This is good news

Was happy to read this in the paper this morning. Nothing against Tom O'Brien. I don't know him and can't offer opinion one on his time as council president but I've gotten to know James Shanley and his dog, Lucky, a bit, and I like them both.

Plus he was kind enough to serve as a sounding board when I pondered an Ives-like run for School Committee. At the time, no one else had stepped forward so I was thinking, Why not? The insights of James and a few others showed me the only thing tougher than running for school committee is being on the school committee. (Note, an email prodded me to edit that text a bit. In short, Shanley laid out the clear pros of cons of running and serving on the school committee. It wasn't right for me at this time. Maybe someday.)

I'd rather be blogging (at this point and time.)

If Shanley were elected president, I expect things from this council. In my conversations and on the council floor Shanley seems to make a lot of sense (which is one way of saying his positions largely mirror my own.)

More on these expectations later.

Stupid Question

One of the things I enjoyed most about being a reporter is you have a license to ask a stupid question.

At my time at the Daily News, I covered so many things I knew absolutely nothing about: fishing, hunting, Title V septic system regulations, invasive water weeds, boating...etc., etc., etc.

So, the only way to get enough info to put some words to paper was to ask stupid questions. The recipients of such questions usually didn't mind. They accepted that you were..well ignorant...about their area of expertise and they were eager to straighten you out. More often than not it worked. The only time I recall getting outed as an idiot was when I wrote that a hunter pointed his rifle at a flock of Canada Geese. It was actually a shotgun. Big difference.

So sue me, I grew up in the city. We hunted for parking spots.

I'm sure you know where this walk down memory lane is now headed. I have a stupid question about the politics in the city. Two stupid questions, actually.

What is a progressive?
What is a conservative?

I obviously know the larger meanings of such terms, but they are tossed around so easily in this city by politicians, bloggers and, well, I'm sad to say, myself, and I'm not really sure how they apply to the politics in our fair city.

The questions first came to me when I was reading Stephen Tait's article on the new council in yesterday's news. The article included this:

Three of the incoming members - at-large councilors Donna Holaday and Kathleen O'Connor Ives and Ward 4 winner Ed Cameron - are tabbed as more "progressive," or liberal-leaning politically. Councilor Barry Connell described those three wins as a "boost" for "progressive government."

Brian Derrivan, the new Ward 5 councilor, will join those three as the freshman members.

Moak, who is considered by many to be more conservative in his political ideals, said he doesn't know why he's been tagged with that characterization.

"That is the peg people put on me all the time, that I'm conservative," he said. "I don't know how true that is."

I guess I don't know either. That's why I'm asking. Here's my attempt at identifying progressives and conservatives. Tell me if I'm wrong. I'll use the Daily News' candidate questions as a guide.

A progressive is someone who...

thinks there should be fewer than 250 parking spots on the NRA lots.
favors historic districts.
would support an override.
opposes the practice of crotch-snif...er drug-sniffing dogs on Inn Street.

So a conservative obviously....

hopes to see more than 250 spaces.
opposes historic districts.
opposes overrides.
is okay with the sniffing dogs.

I recognize this breakdown is far too simplistic, but I'm honestly having a hard time defining conservatives and progressives. Is there a clear set of ideal assigned to each group? Or are we sort of working with a Potter Stewart type of classification. I can't define a progressive/conservative but I know them when I see them.

Or is this simply a way of saying: These guys are new to town and these folks have lived here forever and then some.

Any help would be appreciated.

This is the 100th post on this blog

Pretty lame, no?

I'll do better with 101.

For those who like the Polls

You gotta check out this one on the Wall Street Journal's health blog.

Vote: Should the U.S. allow people to sell their kidneys?


Insert joke about how this would be easier than getting an override passed here.

The Tree is here

Saw it going up this morning. I'm not a big fan of the whole gift-giving aspect of Christmas, except when it comes to The Boy, but I do love the trees, the Market Square tree in particular.

Selling a Big Project

There's clearly a natural connection between Newburyport and Nantucket, two of Steve Karp's major holdings.

But the other project worth keeping an eye on is The Pinehills in Plymouth. This massive residential/commercial project essentially is creating a New England village with surrounding neighborhoods of nearly 3,000 homes in varying prices and architecture. I've never been down there but the Web site is pretty impressive. (No sarcasm intended.)

Getting this done took some doing on the part of New England Development. Over the years the Pinehills project has drawn considerably attention from the building press, which gives us a great deal to delve into in coming weeks and months.

Here's one particular article that I found interesting: the title, "Elements of a Successful Entitlement Campaign;" the gist, what it took to get a community behind a massive project like the Pinehills (or downtown Newburyport for that matter, although you get the feeling we're small potatoes compared to this project.)

So, here are the three easy steps laid out in the article. If you're skimming read the bolded text: (By the way, Tony Green also appears to be Steve Karp's pointman in Newburyport.)

1) Have a uniquely positive vision and staying power.
Tony Green, managing partner at The Pinehills, was drawn to the property for several reasons. First and foremost was the hilly, view-laden character of the land itself. As a home builder that had built for the growing empty-nester market, he knew the inherent value of views to buyers. He knew that people pay a premium for homes on such lots.

The second and equally important draw to the parcel for Green was an intimate understanding of the flexibility offered by the Open Space Mixed Use Zoning law as it was originally written and passed during early phases of the development process. He knew that it would allow for building homes on the upland portions of the site spread as they were through most of the area while leaving the valleys and the kettles in between for open space and view shed.

Pinehills partner Steve Karp of New England Development noted that "3000 acres of pine forest on a state highway interchange with a historic dirt road offered the opportunity to create an entire town with environmental sensitivity."

Green also believed that his process for siting each home to maximize views of open space, along with a demonstrated philosophy of being as non-intrusive as possible on the land would be strong selling points to local officials who must approve the plan.

2) Know that there is no such thing as "too professional".
Elspeth Franks, a neighbor to the Pinehills parcel, quickly converted from being a skeptic of any development on the property to being a proponent of it as presented by Tony Green. Her experience mirrors that of many other neighbors as well as local and state officials who came to eventually understand and advocate the development. Franks says her initial opposition to the development began to fade based upon the professional tenor and tone of the first meeting the development team held with the local community in June of 1997.

"They flew in experts from around the country to talk about how this project was going to be the best of its kind," says Franks. "Right then I knew that this was not going to be a fly-by-night operation."

For their part, Green and his team never let down on their thoroughly professional way of operating. This meant going well beyond the typical renderings and site plans. They performed volumes of analyses from soil percolation and aquifer studies to complete surveys of plant and animal life in the area. Usually these were offered to the public well before they were required by the authority with jurisdiction over whatever the particular matter happened to be. During one of the key votes of the Town Meeting, legendary golf professional and a designer of one of the four Pinehills golf courses, Jack Nicklaus made an appearance on behalf of the team. Also appearing that night was Terry Harwood, a top executive with Marriott Corp. Green and other members of the development team acknowledge that although the visits did not make the ultimate difference between the success and failure of the entitlement process, the message of commitment to professionalism was clear.

3) Never waver or renege on an opportunity to demonstrate commitment to the process.
Pinehills’ developers scored their biggest psychological benefit among the Plymouth community by their willingness to share as much information about their plans as possible. The theory was: when presented with the facts, nobody, except for even the staunchest open space advocates, could deny that the community was bound to be both beneficial to the area and sensitive to historical and environmental concerns. With that in mind, the developers issued several standing invitations to neighbors and state and local officials. First, they offered site tours in which Tony Green and Pinehills’ project manager John Judge were able to fully enunciate their vision for the property. Part of each site tour was conducted on foot on machine-mowed pathways through the underbrush that wound in and out to preserve all the trees. This approach enabled the hundreds of tour participants to best understand the view-oriented character of the land. Another standing invitation to neighbors, officials, supporters and opponents was the opportunity to tour any of the neighborhoods built by The Green Companies. The message became clear to all: we like what we do, we do it well and we are willing to absorb the costs of showing each and every last person what that means.

Steps two and three clearly can be applied to Newburyport, and the hope here is that they will be. No doubt, the Pinehills project is having an enormous--and I hope beneficial--impact on Plymouth. But Mr. Karp's work in downtown Newburyport will have an even greater impact on this city.

Clearly, Karp's team knows what it takes to sell an idea. We'll just have to wait for the selling to begin.

The problem is, I think, is that they're not really sure what's they want to sell.

If that's the case, maybe they ought to just come up and say so.

So what happened?

As you can see, the majority of the 25 folks who participated in the poll see Gary Roberts' sixth place finish in last week's election surprise. So what happened? Any theories out there?

I've got nothing. I tried to figure out if there was some backlash from his opposition to the override, but that just doesn't seem to hold up. Mary Eaton takes a shot at the Newburyport Blog today.

I'm taking down last week's poll results tonight.

I'll post another poll about the Council later this week. I decided to hold off a bit. I think I'm sounding a little too preachy.

Unique Insights

Victor Tine had another great piece in the Daily News today centered on interviews with two of the downtown stalwarts, Sue Little at Jabberwocky and Richard Osborn at Dyno Records.

(The photo, btw, is taken from the Daily News Web site. That's Sue Little standing in her new shop in the early 1970s.)

The pair bring interesting perspectives on the downtown. Both of their shops have been in downtown for three decades, renting their space while the downtown was still being reborn. Plus, both shops, as purveyors of books and records, compete directly with the dreaded chain stores (although I have to think a great percentage of Dyno's stock can't be found at your local Wal-Mart.)

Yet neither storeowner seems to be sounding the alarm so readily rung by critics of how the downtown is being managed.

From the article:

The change to boutique-style stores — carrying gift and decorative items, fashion and accessories — began in the ‘70s, but accelerated in the early 1980s. Prices and rents started to go up, and Little said the artists and musicians began to move north to less expensive communities.

Osborne and Little attribute the disappearance of basic stores downtown less to the changes in Newburyport than to changes in the retail industry itself, what Little called “buying patterns that were foisted on us.”

“Those shops haven’t left because of anything that happened in downtown Newburyport,” Little said. “They left because of the large chain stores.”

She also said the smaller, high-end boutiques that replaced the basic stores are a boon to the city.

“Newburyport’s lucky that it’s had alternative stores that could come in,” she said.

They have watched the city become a tourist destination with more stores that cater to visitors, or gift-giving locals, but neither of them see that trend as negative. They also said the evolution of the central business district has been gradual, rather than sudden and jarring.

“I know people complain, but if you look at other desirable towns, it’s happening all over,” Osborn said. “The changes have happened relatively slowly and that’s good. People want to look long and hard at everything here.”

“Newburyport has become a destination for upper-middle class families,” she said, not just to shop but to live. “You can’t hold back that type of evolution and I think it’s been done relatively gracefully.”

Osborne and Little said there is a segment of the population that values smaller stores and personalized service that are more likely to be found in Newburyport than at a typical mall.

“As long as we have unique stores, people will come back,” Little said.

Just an aside, I would add unique stores with exceptional customer service like the care I received at Jabberwocky on Saturday night.

I give these opinions a great deal of weight. Osborn and Little own perhaps two of the more long-standing shops downtown. Both have gone toe-to-toe with chain stores and they're living to tell about it.

Favorite Season

You may think I'm nuts but Fall is my favorite season in Newburyport.

I can't put my finger on why.

Perhaps it's the drop in traffic.

It's entertaining watching folks trying to extend the summer by squeezing in jogging, biking softball, etc. before the sun sets.

And there's something reassuring about watching the boats and floats being pulled off the river. It's sort of like we're gating the doors against winter. Of course I don't own a boat nor do I do the pulling.

The dusk light is just right. The Christmas Tree is coming. The Boy is old enough to take to watch Santa arrive on the Coast Guard Cutter.

Hell, I didn't even mind raking leaves any more, of course having a mega-leafblower does add to the amusement.

It's just a cool time of year.

Feel free to toss this post back in my face with my first complaint about the cold. That should come in three weeks.

(photo is a j. vaiknoras original)

Goal-setting time

How often do I start with this line?

Stephen Tait does a nice job today in The Daily News covering the seismic shift in the council. As noted a few posts ago, the election of this new council reflects a shift in attidudes of the general populace--and a shift in the populace itself with new folks like myself moving into town and wondering why completing Big Dig took has taken less time than finishing the central waterfront.

This new council has the potential to really break some logjams in this city. Ward 3 Councilor James Shanley summed it up nicely a few days ago when he said. "I think this is potentially going to be a fabulous council," he said. "All I can say is fasten your seat belts."

But what will it get done. And, more importantly, what should it get done?

Like any employer--and they do, afterall, work for us--folks really need to stop and take measure for a moment. What does this council need to accomplish over the next two years to be successful? We should be realistic in our expectations, but we should lay them out as clearly as we can so our new and returning employees (or represenatives if you prefer) know what to shoot for when they start up in Jan.

I've got ideas on this subject which I'll present on Monday or Tuesday along with a poll that will enable you folks to rank the goals on their importance to you. But this is your chance to get your own ideas on the table. Submit your ideas through the comments page and I'll include them on the Monday post and perhaps in the poll as well.

Councilors and councilors-elect are free to chime in as well. It'd be a nice opportunity for you to lay out what your personal goals are as well.

Then we'll all be on the same page when the fun starts in January.

MY name is Steve Karp

We're not done with the election yet, stay tuned for another poll. But here's a bit a diversion.

Since folks haven't seen Mr. Karp much around town, we thought it might make sense to flash you a picture.

But nothing in life is free. Below is a list of several Steve Karps. You'll need to match the appropriate photo of our Steve Karp with the description below.

Answers later this week. Please feel free to guess in the comments page. Correct entries get a three-month free subscription to Newburyport Posts.


A


B


C


D


I am a .....

1. Doctor and Local TV Host
2. Founder and producing director of the Stamford Theatre Works
3. Lead Character on "Undeclared."
4. Billionaire who owns most of Downtown Newburyport.



We'll have some legitimate Karp content coming later on.

The People Have Spoken

And they like the polls, so there's a new one up for you.

What was the biggest suprise of the election, pleasant or otherwise.

*Kathleen O'Connor Ives' win
*Ed Cameron winning Ward 4
*Gary Roberts loss
*Jim Stiles' finish
*Brian Derrivan winning Ward 5.

You get ONE vote. Polling ends Monday morning at 12:01 a.m.

Always Remember

The lesson here, always go with your gut. From yesterday's post...

Turnout prediction?

Gut says 43% but my fingers want to type 53%.

I'll go with the fingers. 53%

I let me enthusiasm blind my instincts. From today's Daily News.

Voter turnout was lower than the previous two general elections with 43 percent - or 5,327 - of the city's 12,141 voters casting ballots in the mayoral race. In 2005, 52 percent voted; in 2003, 51 percent went to the polls.

So how'd we do?

Well, not bad I guess.

First off, I think every correctly assumes the readership--and voters--are going to be slightly more progressive than the general populace. This isn't by design. All are welcome to this blog. But the leaning seemed pretty evident going in, so I didn't expect the numbers from the poll to match the actual numbers.

But it did accurately pick up some races.

Wards

Greg Earls and Ed Cameron absolutely crushed their opponents in the poll, and both won somewhat easily on the actual election day.

In fact, if you're labeled a progressive and didn't kick butt than you were in trouble. See Ward 5. Bruce Vogel actually picked up 57% of the poll vote, but he'd only garner 48% on election day, losing to Brian Derrivan.

This wasn't a surprise. In fact as early as Saturday we were expecting trouble for Vogel. He simply wasn't winning by a large enough margin in this progressive friendly poll.

Mayor

The same could be said for Mayoral challenger Jim Stiles. In fact, his numbers were fairly close to Vogel's. Stiles secured 58% of the poll total but he'd finish with 45% of the actual vote.

At Large
I'm not going to get into percentages, but here is the poll's Top Five:

Tom Jones
Gary Roberts
Barry Connell
Donna Holaday
Katie Ives

That's pretty much how things finished with one surprising exception, Roberts was out and Steve Hutcheson was in. Hutcheson did finish with the sixth highest vote total, so if anyone were to slip in he'd be the one. But Roberts was among the top vote getters in the poll so his defeat is puzzling (and disappointed a lot of folks last night.)

School Committee
Finally, the blog poll accurately predicted the Top 3--Stephanie Weaver, Bruce Menin and Nick deKanter although we had the Top 2 being Menin and Weaver. In reality, Weaver finished first.

So there you have it. Thanks again for all who participated and keep checking back to the blog. We'll have some more Karp stuff later.

I probably shouldn't be writing this right now.

I'm tired. The Boy found his way into our bed Monday night, which means no one sleeps well except for The Boy. And here it is 11:56 p.m. on the next night, Election night. My mind is baked and tired, but still a little wired from trailing candidates from party-to-party-to-party.

And I didn't even run for anything.

Still, something happened last night that's worth writing about before it slips out of my compromised brain. A baton was passed--or more accurately wrenched away--from the folks who have been helping to run the city and it was handed to folks who want to help to run this city a bit differently than their predecessors.

How else can you explain Kathleen O'Connor Ives? I mean, she moved to town six months ago. She applied to sit on a few city board but never heard a response so she opted to run for City Council. But what should have been a coming out party. a campaign that introduced a potential future leader to the folks of Newburyport, will result in a swearing in ceremony in January.

I doubt any of the 2054 people who voted for her had even heard her name before she moved to town (with the exception of her husband Jeff). But they saw enough in her to put her on the city council.

That's got to be unprecedented. Six months?

Closer to home, Ed Cameron managed to unseat Erford Fowler, a long-time fixture on the City Council and--in my meetings with him--a very nice gentlemen who spoke for a lot of people in this town.

Shortly after announcing Ed and Susanne came over our house for a neighborly get together. I'd only met Ed once before on our first Halloween night so I didn't know him well. I recall sitting at our dining room table, saying, "Erford is going to be tough," and thinking, "Well, I at least hope it will be close." Yet, last night Ed drew 554 votes to Erford's 438.

I'm not surprised yet I am.

Then voters turned away former mayors Mary Carrier and Al Lavender in favor of Tom Jones, Donna Holaday, Barry Connell and Steve Hutcheson. Frankly, I forget who the progressives or the conservatives are. I know they're in there. (By Mary Eaton's measure the progressives and "in the middle' candidates won the day, with the exception of Gary Roberts. More than a few folks last night said he'll be sorely missed.)

But the fact that well meaning and once popular folks like Carrier and Lavender couldn't defeat an Ives is telling.

Things are changing. This isn't meant to denigrate the people who have run things in the past. Newburyport is a wonderful place largely because of their service. But we may have found the tipping point where newcomers--like myself--and change-minded resident are forming a majority that is willing to listen even more closely to new voices, some brand new voices.

This is a good thing.

Congrats to all the candidates. Those that worked hard and won, and those that worked hard and lost. It's easy to forget that people running for office are, in fact, people. They put a great deal of work into this effort, sacrificing time with family, in order to try to make a difference. By next week we'll forget many of their names because they didn't win. But they do deserve credit for stepping forward and wanting to serve.

Also, thanks to those who did serve but didn't get re-elected.

More on how the poll results matched up against the actual results tomorrow or rather later today. I actually think we did pretty well.

Polls are closed

Well,

We will see how you all did in a little while. Got to Mary Eaton's Newburyport Blog for the final results.

Thanks to all who participated. It was fun.

What the...

Your genius blogger just realize his Blog time stamp was set on Pacific Time. The problem has been fixed, but the polls still read 7 hours left to vote.

In reality there are only four more hours. It would be great to get the Mayoral vote up to 100 folks, so if you can send this along to anyone please do.

I hope the site will correct itself. Otherwise....well, I don't know what I'll do. I'll kindly ask people not to vote after 8 p.m.

FOUR MORE HOURS!

But more important, the weather has cleared so now you've got no reason to skip the actual vote. Get out there.

p.s. A commenter in the previous post made a very good point. The Hope Church driveway was lined with sign holders standing in the driving rain this morning. Major kudos to them and all sign holders for taking time off work and risking pneumonia.

All right I voted

Friends Jill and Alex can testify on my behalf. They saw me.

The Hope Church parking lot was humming, a lot busier than it was during the override vote and significanly more activity than the primary.

Perhaps we'll have a good showing. But the rain won't help.

Turnout prediction?

Gut says 43% but my fingers want to type 53%.

I'll go with the fingers. 53%

Check in with your first-person accounts from the polling places if you could.

You Be The Voter-TODAY

With over .04% of the eligible voters checking in, it looks like we're in for a horse race in today's mayoral campaign.

Well, perhaps 50 out of 12,000 eligible voters isn't a completely representative sampling, but considering that only half of those people may vote, we're getting close to a 1% sampling. (Yes I'm using fuzzy math.) Our polls will be open until 8 p.m.

Of course, some participants may not even live in Newburyport. And I can't vouch for the complete accuracy of the Blogger voting system, but hell it never kept us from counting Florida's votes.

So keep those votes coming and don't forget, "TODAY IS ELECTION DAY."

Polls opened at 7 a.m., and they'll stay open until 8 p.m. tonight.

For all your voting info, go here.

And, if you haven't already, take a few minutes to participate in our polls. It'll be interesting to see how these results match the real results tonight. Check out the Newburyport Blog for the real tally tonight.

We interrupt this election...

for our regularly scheduled Karp carping.

Found some news on Steve Karp, aka Downtown Newburyport's Largest Landowner, all hailing from Newburyport South, aka Nantucket. Some of this might be comforting, but the rest will probably concern.

All these articles ran in the Nantucket Inquirer & Mirror.

This first piece covers the comings and goings in the retail district, which shop has opened, which has closed. Frankly, the Daily News has run a ton of these (and I've written a few) over the years so nothing too drastic.

There is one complaint about an eviction, but those things do happen. Don't know the details.

It is worth noting that many of the new businesses mentioned in the article are locally owned.

The second one, however, is a bit troubling. Apparently, Karp's Nantucket Island Resorts gave a rather swift kick to a store called Stephen Swift Furnituremaker, telling them their lease would not be renewed when it expires on Jan 1.

I don't know what industry standards are, but it seems a bit much to kick someone out with less than two months notice.

Warning: This is a one-side-of-the-story article, but here it is.

“I have no place to go at this point and I’m frantically looking for another place to move,” Swift said. “I expected they’d be looking for more rent, but I didn’t expect they would tell me to leave without an option to pay more, or to move to another location.”

Phone calls to both Karp and NIR leasing agent Henry Wyner were not returned.

Swift said she was told the space was not going to be used for a retail operation, and that NIR simply had “different designs” for the 34 Main Street building. Representatives of the two other tenants in the building, clothing store Vis a Vis and the Robert Wilson Galleries, declined to comment for this story. It was unclear whether those leases would also not be renewed. Swift said NIR representatives advised her to look into relocating to Amelia Drive.

“With the type of business I have, I would be really hard-pressed to stay in business out on Amelia Drive,” Swift said.

The company’s namesake and Swift’s husband, master craftsman Stephen Swift, died several years ago, but the showroom continues to feature his designs. All of the company’s custom-made furniture is produced in a workshop owned by Swift in Killingly, Conn., where she employs seven people. On Nantucket, Swift has two employees, and the 34 Main St. location is the company’s only showroom. Before moving to Main Street, the showroom was located on Centre Street for 15 years. The company has been in business on Nantucket for more than three decades.

While Swift said she does some business through her website, stephenswiftfurnituremaker.com, and through catalog sales, she said 99.9 percent of her business comes from the Main Street showroom.

Some other downtown NIR tenants said they were surprised to hear that Swift’s lease would not be renewed, while a number declined to comment on the matter.

“They’ve been there a long time and if all of a sudden they were ousted, I would feel bad for them,” said Weeds owner George Davis, who is waiting to hear about the status of his lease with NIR. “That would be bad on Karp’s part. Every day we come in and there’s another rumor (about NIR leases).”

John Harding, the owner of the Fragrance Bar on Centre Street, was also surprised to hear about Swift’s lease.

“This shocks me,” said Harding, who has two years left on his lease with NIR. “It’s unbelievable. The word was that this guy (Karp) was such a nice guy and that he valued how unique downtown Nantucket is.”

If Nantucket shopowners find that a bit unsettling, then this news will tip them right over. Steve Karp is buying even more of the island's downtown.

I'll include this bit of the article because the web site is slow, but do check out the entire article when you have time.

Steve Karp is one step away from increasing his Nantucket holdings yet again, agreeing this week to buy 21 downtown storefronts, offices and apartments from Winthrop Financial Associates.

Neither side was willing to disclose the price of the deal, which Karp confirmed yesterday but must still be approved by Winthrop’s 677 limited partners.

In June, Karp, principal owner of Nantucket Island Resorts and chief executive officer of New England Development, bought 94 storefronts, offices and apartments – including Old South Wharf and Straight Wharf – from Winthrop for $55 million.

Included in the latest deal is the bulk of Winthrop’s remaining properties on the island, including the buildings that house The Atlantic Cafe, 21 Federal and Sushi by Yoshi restaurants, and The Spectrum, Camera Shop and Wayne Pratt Antiques on Main Street.

Not included in the proposed sale are the Grand Union supermarket and adjacent fuel tank farm near the Nantucket Boat Basin, and several other of Winthrop’s island properties in the same area.

“We’ve agreed to a price and sent out a notice to their limited partners,” Karp said. “We had a right of first refusal on the first portfolio. On this one, we didn’t have that right, and there were other offers. Winthrop has accepted our offer.”

Karp said the properties included in the most recent deal fit in well with his current holdings.

“These properties are very complementary. It’s all quality real estate. There’s a lot of terrific real estate in there. The properties are in really good shape,” he said.

Winthrop’s limited partners – who approved Karp’s last purchase with no publicized opposition – have 30 days to approve the latest deal.

I don’t anticipate anything different,” Karp said yesterday.

I'm not sure what the takeaway is. The first article on the Storefront Shuffle doesn't seem out of the ordinary.

The article on the furniture store closing is troubling, but we may not know the entire story.

The final piece leaves me wondering excactly how much bandwidth Karp's team really has. We keep waiting for someone to come down from the mountain top carrying stone-carved plans for Waterside East and Waterside West etched in each arm. But is Karp's bench deep enough to manage his projects in Nantucket, Plymouth and Newburyport? Who knows.

I also wonder what impact the sagging economy will have on Karp's plans. Clearly, this is a good time to buy property. But is now the time to develop it? The residential market is getting softer and softer. The financing market is in turmoil. I'm not sure how solid the "high-end" consumer market might be.

I'd love to hear from some folks who know development more intimately than me. Comment anonymously if you'd like.

But I'm beginning to wonder whether we may have to sit tight for a while.

Today's News

I was going to toss these into a larger post with some fresh Karp material, but the Web site containing the Karp tidbits is painfully slow. So I'll provide those a bit later.

But I did want to point you toward a few worthwhile tidbits in today's Daily News.

The first piece details a story that's been told but it never seems to get old. Victor Tine writes a profile on architect Edmund Burke who was among the handful of people who saved this town from destruction.

From the article:

Edmund Burke was a native of the central Massachusetts town of Lancaster. He graduated from MIT with a degree in architecture and moved to Newburyport when he married city native Ruth Connolly in 1939.

He had a professional interest - and a personal one - in the architectural heart of his adopted city's downtown. Newburyport's central business district boasted the largest collection in the nation of intact Federal Period commercial structures, most of them built in the 10 years after an 1811 fire destroyed the city's downtown.

"He used the word 'handsome' a lot, and I think he considered them handsome buildings," said the Burkes' nephew, local attorney James Connolly.

In the early '60s, the original urban renewal plan proposed demolition of many of Newburyport's downtown buildings.

Ruth Burke was a multi-generational Newburyporter whose grandfather had owned the Phoenix Building at 20 State St., the first structure to be rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1811.

When Ruth Burke learned that the Phoenix Building was one of those slated to be razed in the urban renewal program, she decided to work to stop it, according to her niece, Elizabeth Enders of New York.

She found a willing ally in her husband.

I recognize times have changed, and the downtown looked like hell. But I just can't imagine any rational plan that involved tearing that building down.

The piece ran exactly on the right day--Election Eve. If enough people read how one or two people can change the fate of the city perhaps more than half of us won't forget to vote tomorrow.

The other piece I was going to direct to you was Stephen Tait's City Hall notebook. He writes that the city will not be the recipient of the toxic waste from Woburn after all. I can't find it on the Web site, otherwise there would be a link.

Back to our "for entertainment purposes only" voting.

You Be The Voter-Day 3

Well,
Welcome to the third day of voting. Welcome Newburyport Blog readers and welcome back Newburport posts readers who haven't checked in since Friday. It's been a busy weekend.

First off, the ground rules. The ballot runs along the right side featuring every contested race. You may choose one candidate for each two-person race. As for Councillor-At-Large and School Committee, there's no limit on the number of candidates you can support. You could vote for one of each if you'd like, but what's the point in that? (In real life you'll be voting for five At-Large candidates and three school committee members.)

Also, you can change your votes once they've been cast. A nifty feature that would be useful in real life, alas...

Polls close at 8 p.m. tomorrow, the same time the actual polls close. As stated in the previous post, voting here does not relieve you of your civic duty to vote tomorrow. It really does matter, especially at the local level.

This weekend has been wild. Mary Eaton (your Newburyport blogger) and I have been emailing a bit, and we're happy to see the interest. Perhaps things will pick up even more today and tomorrow as people set down at the work desks and start surfing the Internet for interesting things to read. (Yeah, we all do it. It warms up the brain.)

So, if you haven't already, cast your vote. If you have but know someone who hasn't email them the link or pick up the phone.

If you need a refresher on where the candidates stand ideologically check out Mary's blog here and here.

If you want to dig deeper (well bless you) the Daily News has profiles Mayoral Candidates James Stiles and John Moak. You can also find the profiles for the At-Large Candidates buried in these headlines. I'm sure the school committee profiles are in there as well. Unfortunately, the News' Election Connection isn't offering links to candidate profiles, just their names. Too bad, seemed like a good idea.

We'll offer a post game wrap up here on Wednesday. Meanwhile, at the Newburyport Blog, Mary intends to post the results of the election on her Web site as soon as she can pry them out of the City Clerk's office. So make sure you check it out tomorrow night.

Finally, if you need information on where to vote, what the hours are, and an official list of candidates go directly to the City Clerk's office. Or call 978-465-4407.

You Be The Voter-Day 2

First off, welcome to Newburyport Blog readers. Cast your vote along the right column.

Looks like the progressives have taken an early lead in voting (going by the Newburyport Blog's classifications, which look spot on to me.)

But polls don't close until 8 p.m Tuesday night, which happens to be the REAL election day.

It should be stated that participating in this poll doesn't relieve you from the responsibility of actually voting.

Thanks for taking part.

Great Opportunity....and Photo Op

This is fantastic idea. Extending the board walk under Route 1 all the way to Cashman is one of those, "Gee I really wish they'd" kind of things that just doesn't seem to happen.

Yet, the Daily News reports this morning that we're at least being considered for a state grant that could help the effort along. Think about the possibility of walking a full mile-plus along our mighty Merrimack, starting at the Towle building and ending on the East Lot (and who knows, maybe someday all the way to Joppa.)

Combine that with the new/improved trail extending from the train station to Merrimack Street and you've got a one-of-a-kind attraction. Hell, you could actually see folks taking the train from points south just to have take a long, uninterrupted walk or bike ride.

This is enormous. (Admittedly, these aren't unique thoughts as the story reports.)

It also presented an great opportunity for our local pols and pol-wannabes as well.

From the News article:

Michael's Harborside yesterday as [John] Moak, [Lt. Gov. Timothy] Murray and [State Rep.] Mike Costello praised the work of those who helped with the rail trail. Costello and Moak touted Newburyport as deserving of continued funding to extend the project.

The crowd included Sheriff Frank Cousins; Michael's Harborside owner Chuck Lagasse; Ann Ormond, president of the Chamber of Commerce; and City Councilor James Shanley. Geordie Vining, the city's senior project manager, also attended and was praised by Moak and Costello for his work on the trail.

The event also seemed to serve as a mini-campaign stop heading into the last weekend of campaigning for some locals seeking public office: Bruce Vogel, the Ward 5 incumbent; at-large council candidate Donna Holaday; mayoral candidate Jim Stiles; and Ed Cameron, who is seeking the Ward 4 council seat, all attended the event.

It's nice those folks got visibility. But the biggest winner of them all is the guy with the big, color photo on the front-page of today's Daily News. If the city does get the $450,000 discussed, it'd be a big two-fer day for John Moak.

The cynical side of me would like to check the Lt. Gov's calendar to see if he made any similar stops along the way. (UPDATE: A mole tells me Murray made similar stops up and down the Merrimack Valley.)

Anyway, this would be a wonderful thing for the city. So here's hoping it happens.

You Be The Voter

Okay, here's the chance to practice for Tuesday.

Along the right column are polls for all of the contested races. You're permitted one vote for Mayor and the Ward Councillor seats. I couldn't put a cap on the number of At-Large or School Committee folks so you'll have to go with Scout's honor.

You get no more than three School Committee votes and five At-Large votes.

If you need a little guidance, Mary Eaton can provide some from the Newburyport Blog. Get to know your conservatives and progressives.

Blogger, btw, will be able to determine if you're a registered Newburyport voter or not, so visitors from the outside won't be able to participate.

Okay, that was a complete lie.

I got the list of candidates from the City Clerk's office. Lots of other info regarding the election as well.

The polls are now open. Oh and please tell your friends, the larger the sampling the better the poll.

You Be The Candidate

Wish I'd thought of this.

Actual Candidate Ed Cameron (Ward 4) is giving readers the chance to play the candidate. He copied the questions posed by the Daily News on his blog giving us all a chance to answer them.

I filled out mine. Give it a try.

Ed lays out few ground rules (other than no libel).

I'd only ask that you take a stand and refrain from employing the "I'll do whatever my constituents want me to do" answer.

One can assume that any good politician would work to represent the views of his or her constituents, but let us know where you stand on an issue so we can have an intelligent dialogue.

Otherwise you'll look like a weather vane.

Disclosure: Ed's a friend and neighbor and I've got one of his signs on my front dirt.

Comments, we get Comments

Got a few bits of fresh feedback on the scorecard including one from Jim Stiles that clarifies his position on the Kelley School. He also believes that I gave too much weight to John Moak's incumbency, a point worth addressing tomorrow.

Thanks for commenting. Keep them coming.

BTW, I corrected my spelling on the Kelley School. Sorry about that.

It's Final

The first Newburyport Posts poll closed last night. The people have spoken ... again. Of the 16 people polled--a representative sample, no doubt--62% thought the NRA's proposal had too much parking.

This should put an end to all discussion.

Or not.

BTW, you'll notice the percentages don't add up to 100. Blogger probably should have rounded up to read that 19% or the participants thought the plans were fine and another 19% thought they didn't have enough parking.

Thanks to all who took time to participate. I'll try to post a Mayoral Poll by the end of the day.