Kudos to Ed Cameron

Elected officials often are too coy or reticent to speak about their political intentions. Not Ed, he made them clear as day in his recent blog post. No drama. No waiting for the white smoke. Just transparency. Nice.

In that same spirit, I've been a bit disappointed the Mayor Moak hasn't used his forum on the Newburyport Today blog to address his professional intentions. It's his one outlet where his completely unedited point of view reaches the masses. I think he should have opened up on what's a very important issue.

And here's hoping he decides his political future over the next week or so so candidates like Ed, James Shanley and Donna Holladay can make their plans and align their teams.

Course, Ed probably sought to scoop the Daily News. But so be it. Unfortunately, the article suggested Ed would run against the mayor, which doesn't seem to be the case.

Time to take the Temperature

I'm planning to start running a weekly poll next week on the city's political leaders, starting with Mayor Moak.

The goal would be to establish a pre-election report card for the Mayor and the sitting council. I may do the School Committee as well, but I shamefully know very little about the board.

The poll choices likely will read.

Please indicate how satisfied you are with ______ ______'s performance.

Highly Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Satisfied
Somewhat Unsatisfied
Not Satisfied

God, I'm boring myself. I may come up with some pithier offerings but I don't want to be too flip.

So the plan will be to offer up on official a week, starting with the Mayor. The City Council would follow in alphabetical order.

If anyone has any suggestions on improving the polls, please comment here.

First Church of Christ Building

Is it me or does $899k for the Christian Scientist Church on High Street sound like a really good deal? This is, afterall, a prominent High Street property.

Is it at a feasible site for the Senior Center? Hell, we could buy it, put $2 million into it and still save $2 million from the anticipated $5 million price tag, a portion of which will come from private donations. (Not certain of the private-public breakdown.)

I suppose parking would be an issue, but perhaps the adjacent lot could be used?

PSA: Newburyport Preservation Trust (sorry for Short Notice)

Now What?

Well, Mayor Moak didn't get the Winthrop job. I can't say I wasn't completely surprised. Not that he didn't deserve it, but I had some moles tell me that the Swampscott manager was a shoo-in.

Of course the moles were wrong, it went to the Gloucester guy. Stupid moles.

As a blogger, I'm of course disappointed because Moak's departure would have opened the door for a good ole fashioned throwdown for his successor. Now, most of the potential candidates are saying they'll put their campaigns on hold. Ah well.

As a citizen, I'm happy enough. I've had issues with many of the mayor's decision--solar panel bidding process and the landfill. But no mayor will be perfect, and he does bring a level of stability to City Hall. I'm not sure someone couldn't do a better job. But I am sure someone could do far worse.

But what are we--the mayor's bosses--supposed to think now? Just to be clear, I don't blame the mayor for pursuing the Winthrop gig. Sounds like a new challenge, and the salary bump would be huge and give an enormous boost to his pension (or so I suspect.)

So huge in fact that there really isn't anything stopping him from applying for another town manager position if one opens up.

Again, I wouldn't blame him for doing so, but I think--as one of 15,000 co-bosses--we need to know whether or not he'd throw his name in the ring for another gig if one became available. I think we've all be in a position that once we come close to landing a new job it becomes increasingly difficult to focus on the job we've already had.

It will be interesting to see if and when this issue comes up in the campaign. Will the mayor be asked to pledge not to pursue other work over the next two years? It's not an unreasonable request.

If he doesn't make the promise, I'd still consider voting for him, but I'd so knowing that he might not stick around for the entire term.

Arsonist Revealed

Mystery solved. After hours of tenacious digging in the archive room at the library and over-imbibing at the nearby Port Tavern (a very nice place,) Newburyport Posts is prepared to identify  the party responsible for setting Newburyport's Million Dollar Fire.

We call on King Kong--the only beast ever to defeat Godzilla--to bring this perpetrator to justice (although we still think it ridiculous that a giant gorilla could defeat a fire-breathing, radioactive dinosaur. I mean really, electricity makes him stronger? Where the hell does that come from, and another thing...


*Thanks to the mystery contributor.

Oh

We also have evidence suggesting this same perp screwed up the MBTA yesterday.

When will he be stopped!!!

Ahead, Warp Factor Fun

Funniest Star Trek Skit ever. Hopinged to see the movie tonight. Did not.

William Shatner SNL skit Get A Life 1986-12-20
Uploaded by efly2020 - Watch more comedy videos and sitcoms.

RIP Phil Hartman

HEY! Ward 3 Guy!!

Yeah you, there's another Senior Center meeting this week. Check out the deets on Ed Cameron's blog.

Sign Here, Says the News

Daily News editorial agrees now is a good time to check out the charter.

BTW, nice article by Victor Tine about the Million Dollar Fire. Worth buying the paper to see the pics.

Not that it isn't ALWAYS worthwhile buying the paper. I do every day. I subscribe. I CARE!

Who should lead the city?

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here (by me) are mine alone. I haven't consulted with anyone proposing the review.

Anon2 comment taken from the below post.

in anonymous' defense, just from a cost stand point a city manager is much more money, with little added (if any) benefit. It also makes it really easy to become a hack position, as one with many "friends" on the council can hold the job despite their ineptitude. this is after all, massachusetts. further, what is to keep a strong political influence, such as Karp, from corrupting the whole system? getting his guy in the position would certainly be of benefit to him. further, why create another layer of bureaucracy? Let the people elect a fellow citizen, someone that shares in the community, someone with a vested interest in making newburyport a better place, not because it's their job and how they earn a living, but because they live here and decided to serve their community. eliminating an elected official is a clear restriction on our democracy

Anon2,

The additional salary is a concern, but I do think you'll get more if you pay more.

There is an art and science in managing municipalities, and training, education and experience helps.

As for the hack charges, sorry not buying it.

First, a mayor can be just as easily influenced by a major developer--in fact those pushing the "dark side" theory suggest exactly that.
Second, who is more likely to be friend with councilors or city employees? A resident or a hired gun?
Third, I've got no stomach for the tired "This is Massachusetts we can't do anything right, mentality. It's counter productive."

Sure, you'd argue, but then we'd just vote that person out. Maybe yes, maybe no. But it's no guarantee. Popular people don't necessarily do good jobs.

Your last point is an important one. Who should manage our city? A fellow citizen who sees this as their duty and does the best they can to serve all their fellow citizens (including, btw, city employees?)

Or should the manager be a trained professional who has no skin in the game other than getting a larger paycheck for a job well done.

That's the question.

Who is more accountable?

a city manager would take away our most fundamental democratic right, the ability for each citizen to vote for their leaders. Giving the city council the power to hire or fire someone strips the people of their rights and their power and shouldn't be allowed.

Just wanted to comment on anonymous' post above, see the post below for more.

While we wouldn't elect a town manager, I sometimes wonder if they'd be more accountable.

How? I'll try to keep this hypothetical, but say there is an issue that affects one area of town more adversely than others. (The landfill, the clamshack, Plum Island Sewer, Wind Turbine, take your pick.)

The solution falls exclusively under the umbrella of the executive branch--the mayor's office, but the mayor isn't dealing with the issue to my satisfaction. So I call. I write. I blog, but he or she rests easy knowing that the rest of town really doesn't care about my problem. So I might get a pat on the head.

I complain to my city councilor. Afterall, I can have greater influence in my ward than I do city wide. I can talk to neighbors and hold meetings that might make a ward councilor uncomfortable.

But I get the answer: That's the mayor's decision, not the council's. And he or she is right. A councillor can complain at a meeting but the influence really doesn't go very far beyond the chambers.

Now, if the council is responsible for hiring and firing the person leading the executive branch, the story is different. If I can make the case to the councilor that failure to act might impact their chances at getting re-elected (again, I definitely have more influence over the election of a ward councilor than I do mayor)he or she might be more likely--and more able--to intervene.

So do I have more influence over a mayor elected citywide or a manager hired by the council?

FYI

I'm not quite sure why, but the Newburyport Five earned a mention in this Globe article about cyberthieves breaking into banks. Our local bank apparently hasn't reported any problems, but it is mentioned as possible victim.

Sign Here Please

Perhaps John Moak did the city a favor by pursuing the job in Winthrop. Not because he'd be leaving the city, although no doubt some will feel that way, but because his decision shines a big bright light on the structure of our city government.

In case you missed it, a group of citizens have undertaken an ambitious effort to review the city's charter to see if a change is needed. At this point, the group is just collecting signatures to put the simplest of questions on the Nov. ballot: Should a committee be formed to do such a review. (Paraphrasing of course.)

Moak's applying for the Winthrop job, which pays twice what he currently makes, raises the question of compensation for the city's chief executive. But that's only one question, and a I dare say one of the less interesting ones.

The more compelling question is should we even have a mayor or would the city be better off with a manager or administration making the day-to-day business decisions with broad direction from the city council.

Or, for those people eager to retain the ability to directly hire and fire the chief executive, should a mayor be given a four-year term instead of two, giving them more time to manage and requiring less campaigning.

The group put together a nice primer and published it in the Daily News two weeks ago. Read it here. I'll try to link to additional material as it's available.

A few months back someone asked me why I was in favor of a charter change. The honest answer is, I'm not certain that I am. I do like the fact a mayor answers directly to me. However, at times I wonder whether I might actually have more influence over a town city manager by holding our city councilors' feet to the fire. I have a lot of questions that I hope a review might answer.

But I am in favor of taking a look at the current structure.

Anyway, I'll be posting on this again. The real reason I'm writing is to say that I'll be collecting signatures as well. If you're interested in signing a petition shoot me an email and I'll make sure you get the chance.

Own Your Apathy

I'm getting quite the kick out West Newbury. In case you missed it, voters unseated a sitting selectmen with a write-in campaign. Check the news article for details and names because frankly they don't matter to me.

The point is all I care about.

Elections matter. Even those that are supposedly mundane and not worth attention. In fact, I'll broaden that. Government matters. Your government matters and it warrants just the smallest bit of attention and--dare I say it--participation.

The West Newbury election is an extreme example. But enough voters in the town staged a write-in campaign to kick out a selectman who, along with his supporters, thought he was running unopposed so enough of them didn't bother to show up. (I'm assuming the selectman voted for himself.)

Now, those same feckless faithful want a do-over, arguing that they didn't know there was a race. Had they known, the argument goes, they would have performed their civic duty and actually voted.

Too bad. Too late.

This is an outlier for sure, but this mind-set isn't exclusive to West Newbury or Newburyport. Too many people don't pay attention to government until they're smacked in the face with the results, and by then it's often too late.

So, instead of calling for do-overs or unfairly charging public officials with malfeasance, people should just own the consequences of their apathy. Or they can step up to the plate and get informed and involved.

Sweet Christmas

Kudos to the Daily News for effective use of the Web site in breaking the news about Mayor Moak's seeking a job in Winthrop. (Hell of a commute...man.)

Haven't seen a potential game-changer like this since Lisa Mead took the job with John Kerry back in 1997.

And yes, Gillian Swart beat me to the punch. She's got all the links. Serves me right for working right upon until 5 p.m....or 4:40ish pm on a Friday.

BTW, if you're looking for any indignation, I'm all out. The guy has got a chance to double his salary (and pension) he might as well give it a shot. Still, I have a hunch some people will be upset.

Shocker.

Ugh

LucyDog and I need some air and exercise this morning, so we went for a nice long walk, with one leg taking us along High Street.

Happened upon an old and well worn toilet on the curb. Lying on the ground next to it was a piece of cardboard bearing this message: "For Free, Still Works."

Am I the only one who finds this offer easy to refuse?

Speaking of Ice Cream

The Boy and I just hit the ice cream truck outside of our house. Love this town.

I Scream, You Scream

A month or two ago, the New York Times ran an article on the counter-cyclical nature of chocolate. When economic times are tough, chocolate sales soars. The "why" theories range from chocolate pharmacological abilities to lift spirits; it's tendency to remind people of simpler happy times; or just the fact that it's a relatively inexpensive treat.

Now I'm wondering if ice cream enjoys the same economic qualities.

A gelatto store is opening up on Market Square, at the western-most shop, giving the city--by my count--four spots to acquire a quality bit of ice cream. Number one would be Gram's, of course, followed by Something Simply Sweet on Inn Street, the new "creamery" on Inn Street and what I think is a Smoothie Shop on Unicorn.

I suppose this is the 09 version of the pizza conversation we had last summer when Oregano's and Upper Crust signalled their arrival. Can a town have too many ice cream spots?

I can't help but think the new businesses will eat away at Gram's business just a bit. True, each has a different spin or niche, but at the end of the day they're selling a cool, refreshing treat.

I'm not arguing for or against the additions. If a business owner is willing to commit themselves to opening up a shop selling non-essentials in this economy, I give them credit. But perhaps they know something we don't. Maybe demand for ice will soar if the Dow continues to fall. I'll root for the former and against the latter.

NED Makes Some Moves

Steve Karp's New England Development--owner of a good chunk of our downtown--apparently has the financial means and the appetite to move forward on developing a chunk of Route 9 in Newton, albeit a scale down version of what it had originally planned. Here's the item form the Newton Tab .

I haven't heard of any forward movement on our waterfront plans, but this is still worth knowing.

New Signage for the AJ

Would A(J)-Frames suffice, get it? AJ Frames.....oooo, yah.

Take it away, Ed. ...Perhaps he should get his own blog...oh wait.

Dear Ward 4 Neighbor:

The City Council's Public Safety Committee will meet on Thursday, May 7 at 4:30PM at City Hall to discuss an Order re Anna Jaques Hospital (AJH) directional signage.  I wanted you to know about the meeting and also ask for any feedback from you in terms of the signage locations.

There are a variety of reasons to access the Hospital: patients needing to go to an appointment, patients rushing for an emergency situation, staff going to work, ambulances in a hurry, and delivery vehicles.

Since the Access Road opened, the Hospital has worked with its vendors on delivery routes.  While an emergency obviously requires the quickest route, the Hospital has  worked with Ambulance services to minimize local impact.

In February, I sponsored two Orders to increase usage of the Access Road off Low Street, designed to reduce reliance on the narrow residential streets such as Hunter Drive, Rawson Avenue, Lafayette Street, Arlington Street, and Highland Avenue.

The Council passed the first Order which removed signage on Low St/Hunter Drive and put a sign across from the Access Road on Low Street.  

At the same time a more complicated Order on overall Hospital signage across the City was referred to the Council's Public Safety Committee.  This is the Committee which deals with traffic issues.  I've attached the language of that Order.

The attached Order removes and adds signs to direct routine patient and staff traffic to Low Street and the Access Road.  In other words, if you're coming to AJH from Route 95, you'll be directed down Low Street at Storey Ave.  If you're coming to AJH from the Chain Bridge, you'll be directed around to Low Street via Storey Ave. If you're coming to AJH from Rt. 1, you'll be directed to Low Street. 

That said, I'm also in favor of retaining the signage on High Street at the base of Rawson Ave.   If you're coming to AJH from High Street (ie North End) area, I think it makes sense for people to go up Rawson, especially in the event of a more immediate need, rather than route them all the way around to Low Street.   The bottom line is that Rawson will still have much less traffic than it has in the past.

In Committee at the meeting this Thursday, there will be an opportunity to make any changes/removals/additions to this overall list.  The most likely scenario is that this will be worked on in Committee, then brought back to the full Council.

Again please let me know if you have any feedback or any questions.

Thank you, 

Ed Cameron

Ward 4 City Councillor 

I have ABSOLUTELY no opinion on this. None. I'm just being a good blogging citizen.

I do like the new access road.

Vote for Boats

Mary Harbaugh has taken pity on me and my terminal case of blogger's block and offered up a topic--Lowell's Boat Shop.

Hi Tom. Might you post some encouragement to support Lowell's Boat Shop by simply voting in this grant competition? 

 http://www.partnersinpreservation.com/boston/index.php

 Folks can vote daily between now and May 17.

 If Lowell's receives this grant, it would be great for them, and good for other local good causes who would then have less competition for our scarce local donations and grants.

I couldn't agree more, so I just voted.