Newburyport has a rare opportunity tomorrow. City Councilor-at-Large Kathleen O'Connor Ives is going up against some fairly entrenched competition in her campaign for the state senate seat vacated by Stephen Baddour.
Her opponents in the Democratic primary are from Methuen and Haverhill, two population heavy communities that dwarf our tiny little city. So by every political measure I'd categorize Ives as a bit of an underdog, especially against former Methuen Mayor Bill Manzi.
But this isn't Ives' first uphill race. She ran and won for a seat on the city council five years ago just months after moving to the city. I'd arrived here around the same time and thought she was nuts. That she'd never win a citywide election without a base.
She was right. I was wrong. She was right because she didn't follow convention. Instead of sitting back and letting others do the lifting she decided to roll up her sleeves and to try to help. In an age when so many of us are consumed by our private lives, public life is suffering. Kids need to be coached. City boards need to be filled. Yet so many of us sit back and let "them" take care of things, making a silent vow to ourselves that someday we'll get involved.
Everyday is someday for Katy Ives. By most account she listens, works hard and tries to come up with the most agreeable solution. I haven't agreed with every stance she's taken, but she's done a great job as councilor and she'd do a great job as state senator.
An article in the Daily News on Monday only added to my belief that Ives is the best person for this job. IBEW Local 103, the electrician's union that made a general nuisance of itself for the past year or more, endorsed Manzi.
Like Ives and others, I've got no problem with unions. They've been very good to my family. My grandfather, father and I have all been in unions. But I didn't take kindly to the giant rat, the omnipresent signs and the overall besmirching of the reputation of Anna Jaques Hospital. My son was born at the AJ. We've been so thankful to have a great hospital up the street to care for our kids, and the IBEW crossed way over a line in nearly everyone's opinion - except Bill Manzi's.
Yesterday, Manzi acknowledged that IBEW Local 103’s endorsement could turn off voters here in Newburyport.
“I hope it doesn’t hurt me. But at the same time, they have been very good to me and I respect the fact they are advocating for their members,” Manzi said. “I know that there were issues that made folks uncomfortable. I don’t pass judgment on anything that was done there.”
Well I do pass judgment. All of our elected officials, including Baddour, passed judgment. And while I understand politics requires Manzi to couch his language after getting the endorsement, I don't like the couch.
Ives, to her credit, offered the following.
“I don’t want their endorsement, period. I come from a union household and the way IBEW Local 103 conducted themselves in Newburyport was a disservice to unions,” O’Connor Ives said. “The representatives from that union were disruptive and rude to the residents of Newburyport for months on end because they were unhappy with their dealing with Anna Jaques Hospital. I don’t know if Mayor Manzi is aware of that, but I am.”
So are we. Newburyporters, this election is your chance to pass judgment and vote for Katy Ives.
Someday is tomorrow.
