Friday, September 23, 2011

Boston City Council elections

So its Friday night and I should be excited about the upcoming weekend.  I have a lot going on, the Duxbury Sprint triathlon (weather permitting) with friends Ali, Vic, Naylor, Patty and others. And of course, College Football Saturday.  ASU plays SC in an important Pac-12 match-up.  After a tough loss agianst the Illini, ASU has a gut-check game.  A win, and its the biggest win conference win in a while for the Devils, and a loss means a long season and the same old Sun Devils.  Anyway, with all this going on, I am actually thinking about the Boston City Council primary elections which take place on Tuesday, September 27.  Now most of my friends probably don't care about this primary, as they live in the burbs, outside of city limits.  I usually don't care about municipal elections, especially in Boston, because in my opinion, the Boston City Councilors are completely worthless.  However , I do have high hopes for Tito Jackson (not the one you are thinking of), who replaced the despicable criminal Chuck Turner (who of course was found guilty of bribery because of racism), and John Connolly, but we will have to see how they pan out.  Let me tell you a few things about the City Council and how they are working hard to make my City a better place.  They supported the Mayor in his efforts to rid public buildings of soda in the vending machines.  Is this really important?  I mean just because Mayor McCheese, I mean Menino is an obese man and cannot control his intake of sugary beverages, that that mean no one else can have that choice?


Next of all, I am sure you are all aware of Arizona SB 1070 -  the illegal immigration law that garnered much attention.  Now I for one praise Governor Brewer for having the foresight to sign a law which she believes will help protect the residents of Arizona.  Now whether you agree with SB 1070 or not, it really doesn't matter unless you are a resident of Arizona.  It affects Arizona resident and is an Arizona issue.  However, after the bill was passed in Arizona, the brilliant members of the Boston City Council decided to waste their time and my tax dollars by passing an emergency ordinance boycotting the City of Boston from doing business with Arizona companies.  Yes, apparently its important to pass local laws because you are "mad" at another state.  However, when the Diamondbacks came into town to play the Sox that week, the City welcomed them, and they had the same public safety support as any other team would have.

So, as you can see, I believe the City Councilors are not the sharpest tools in the shed when it comes to positively governing the City of Boston.  which is why I am taking interest in the District 2 election which covers my neighborhood of South Boston, the South End and Chinatown.  The three candidates are incumbent Bill Linehan, Bobby Ferrara, and Suzanne Lee.

Linehan will definitely not get my vote.  Linehan voted to have a beautiful condo development built in place of the Old Colony Housing Projects.  From the outside these are beautiful looking condos which would probably go for $300K on the open market.  But they are for public housing.  But why shouldn't those receiving welfare and free health care not also get a beautiful place to live, while me and many other taxpayers work hard to support them?

I do not know much about Ferrara, except that he is Italian, so he has that going for him.

But, I am very intrigued by Lee.  I had the opportunity to meet her when she knocked on my door Saturday afternoon, September 10.  I was watching Bama dismantle Penn State laying on the couch in my boxers, waiting for my buddy Geo to show up for Sam Adams Oktoberfest, when she knocked on the door.  I mean unless you are tailgating in Athens or Oxford or somewhere is there a better way to watch college football?  Ms. Lee was simply going around the neighborhood meeting folks.  Of course, I opened up on her and she actually listened.  i complained about all the morons in Southie who think that they own public street parking if they shovel snow (much more to come on this topic in the winter), and that double parking in Southie is not only illegal, its encouraged, which really ticks me off.  So, not only did Ms. Lee listen, she told me about her experience as an educator at the Josiah Bartlett school.  One thing that really perked my interest is that she stated no one got anything for free.  People had to pay for their books to teach responsibility.  Everyone had to pay at least something.  Wow, someone in Boston teaching personal accountability and responsibility instead of handouts, what a refreshing concept.  Well, Ms. Lee, you know have my interest, and maybe my vote.  I guess we will find out Tuesday.

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