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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2010 : 1:03:31 PM
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| I guess I wasn't clear enough, I didn't mean it wasn't coming from his supporters. I don't think it is Sal himself. |
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carlost everett
Member
41 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2010 : 3:40:01 PM
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| Well, you know the old addage... "Tell me who your friends are, and I'll what you are"!!!!!!!!!! |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2010 : 6:28:52 PM
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I don't know if I would classify supporters as friends. I don't think anyone running for office would turn someone away. It's the nature of the beast.
I am still a bit undecided on this race. I probably won't know who I am voting for until I color in the oval.
I keep going back and forth. |
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crimsontide2487
Member
2 Posts |
 Posted - 04/07/2010 : 6:19:17 PM
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Honestly, I'm still torn right now. I would love an Everett guy to take this seat... but I have no reason to vote for Sal except for that!!
I got a great mailing from the Flaherty campaign today. It was very detailed and listed off what he will do if he is the next senator. I got one from Sal's campaign (crumpled up in my door, not mailed) and it just had a long list of his endorsements. Who cares about endorsements? What has Sal done as a councilor and what is he going to do??
I know Sal and he really is a nice, genuine guy with a great family. The state senate is a pretty serious job and we have a lot of serious problems in our city and state. We need a senator who is going to go in there and get the job done.
Like I said, I WANT to vote for Sal but I don't know if I can bring myself to do so.... FRUSTRATED! |
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everettboy
Member
14 Posts |
Posted - 04/07/2010 : 9:14:55 PM
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I received a mailing yesterday from Sal and one from Flaherty today...I have to say that Sal's was FAR more in depth. It spoke about specific proposals for each community in the district and had some pretty good ideas on how to create jobs. I'm sorry but Flaherty's was basically a blank piece of paper that said "I have a 5 point jobs plan" AGAIN...I took both pamphelts advice and went to the websites and found Sal's Issues page far more in depth as well. He truly has a grasp on the issues that concern every corner of the district. Needless to say I was impressed.
crimsontide2487, if you are undecided, I suggest going to You must be logged in to see this link. to see what I mean. I don't think I have ever seen an issues page go as deep as a community by community breakdown. |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 04/07/2010 : 10:52:44 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by crimsontide2487
Honestly, I'm still torn right now. I would love an Everett guy to take this seat... but I have no reason to vote for Sal except for that!!
I got a great mailing from the Flaherty campaign today. It was very detailed and listed off what he will do if he is the next senator. I got one from Sal's campaign (crumpled up in my door, not mailed) and it just had a long list of his endorsements. Who cares about endorsements? What has Sal done as a councilor and what is he going to do??
I know Sal and he really is a nice, genuine guy with a great family. The state senate is a pretty serious job and we have a lot of serious problems in our city and state. We need a senator who is going to go in there and get the job done.
Like I said, I WANT to vote for Sal but I don't know if I can bring myself to do so.... FRUSTRATED!
I agree a lot with this post. I think Sal is a terrific guy but I also have no other reason than that to vote for him.
I think mailings are a waste of money and a bunch of BS. Mailings and videos are not going to get the job done. We are fortunate enough that Sal is a councilor here in Everett, and we can see what he's done.
Again, great guy, but NEVER questions this administration on anything. He's never spoken out on outrageous spending, Wood Waste, Commercial tax rate......nothing. Even this past week the common council FINALLY did what was right for the residents, but without one word from Sal, or his opinion on it. All he had to do was take a stand on it and say "I'm not in favor at this time, blah blah blah....and he said nothing.
What's he going to do at the state house?
We have trying times ahead and need to make the right choice for all, and who can handle it. May the best candidate win. |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2010 : 4:20:00 PM
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Flaherty, DiDomenico neck and neck
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
By Independent Staff
Last minute campaigning is being conducted fast and furious in the political camps of Everett City Councilor Sal DiDomenico and Cambridge Attorney Tim Flaherty throughout the sprawling senatorial district reaching from Saugus to Allston-Brighton.
With substantial, multiple political mailings, newspaper advertising and high profile visibilities, both DiDomenico and Flaherty are like thoroughbred horses racing nose to nose to the finish line next Tuesday.
Everett officials are expecting about 3,000 voters to turn out for the special election in this city.
Political observers, however, believe the match might well be won in Charlestown, Chelsea and Cambridge that are perceived as growing Flaherty strongholds.
With policy pieces published in local newspapers covering a wide variety of political issues, DiDomenico and Flaherty have outflanked all other candidates running for former senator Anthony Galluccio’s senate seat.
Galluccio was forced to resign the seat following a probation violation.
That set off a special election.
The short period of campaigning that has resulted put Flaherty and DiDomenico nose to nose because of their name recognition and visibility in the district.
DiDomenico gained his visibility as Galluccio’s chief of staff.
Galluccio’s senate office was an active advocate for residents throughout the sprawling district and DiDomenico came to know the district well.
Flaherty ran for Galluccio’s seat once before.
In doing so, he set the standard for the run he has been making for the seat this time around.
Flaherty’s backers have run their campaign with precision and with an eye toward raising his visibility, raising his name recognition, and by reaching out to voters who they know will be coming out.
Flaherty’s performances outdistanced that of DiDomenico at the series of public forums that were held in Chelsea, Cambridge and Allston-Brighton. In fact, Flaherty’s speaking abilities were noted as superior all around the district.
DiDomenico’s supporters admit this but believe that DiDomenico’s strength surpasses that of Flaherty in voting wards and precincts. Speaking isn’t everything, they believe.
With Tuesday barreling down the tracks like a runaway locomotive, mailings have been sent out by DiDomenico and Flaherty.
Michael Albano of Chelsea, another candidate causing a small stir, has also sent out a last minute mailing and is campaigning all over the district.
DiDomenico and Flaherty have raised and spent between them about $240,000.
Albano has raised almost $75,000.
Both DiDomenico and Flaherty are determined to spend whatever they’ve raised before election day. |
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jmkmini
Member
1 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2010 : 2:53:23 PM
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| I heard at Tuesday's meeting Sal was the only one who was against illegals getting in-state tuition. |
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carlost everett
Member
41 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2010 : 2:01:39 PM
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| Well, he squeaked by I'll say that for him. With Simmons supporters backing Flaherty next time, I believe they'll be a change. |
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n/a
deleted
136 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2010 : 3:59:47 PM
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| I heard over the weekend that Sal is having one of his big campaign suporters as chief of staff. |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2010 : 6:04:38 PM
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| Any name? |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2010 : 6:22:55 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Hallowed Dreams
I heard over the weekend that Sal is having one of his big campaign suporters as chief of staff.
I think your referring to his campaign manager?? If so, I don't have a problem with that since he has political background.
The only problem that I would have with him is the fact he was so adamant about the sludge plant and rallied 300 people to get on buses and go out of Everett for an issue that was not even in Everett or an Everett issue. The plant is in Charlestown, and is in full compliance, and is in an enclosed facility. I don't recall him saying a thing about Wood Waste and that is in our own city. That makes me wonder since his father and the prior administration had a falling out.
My question is, does he do things for personal reasons or the best interest for people? If your going to be COS for a senator both you and the senator needs to separate the two.
This election is not over. We need to go vote on May 11th, although it is very unlikely that Sal will loose. |
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cozulady
Senior Member
165 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2010 : 09:51:26 AM
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| He was right to rally Everett residents against the sludge plant. The EIR (Environmental Impact Report) was done for a sight in Boston that was not on the water. Because of citizens' concerns in that section of Boston, Mayor Menino decided to move it to the current location where most people believed the land was in Everett. He used his powerful contacts to get approval without a new EIR and its impact on the residents of the surrounding areas or the water. Because the bridge is in such disrepair, the trucks will be too heavy to go over and must travel through areas of Chelsea, Somerville, Medford and Everett to get there. Sounds like fun, huh? Sludge dripping off the trucks on their way to the recycling plant where it will be placed on a mesh "table" to dry before removal and all that liquid has to go somewhere. How does that sound to you? |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2010 : 11:57:25 AM
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I commend him for what he did including the sludge plant and I was one that attending those meetings along side with all of them.
I’m against ALL dumps around here, especially those that are non-compliant. They don’t belong here, but they are here. I understand that but lets keep them in compliance or shut them down. It’s not rocket science.
We have a mayor that cant come to Board of Alderman meetings although he is requested but the second a BOA member says something about him, he’s barreling up there like a bat out hell. Just last week he’s up there just to defend Wood Waste and complain that “Thibeault” spent so much money on clean-up. All over ONE little comment, which was the truth. He’s so full of bull it’s coming out of his ears! Thibeault boarded up some windows and now the building is knocked down courtesy of Restaurant Depot, not Thibeault.
I’ve said it before… Sal is a great person, but his silence on this matter concerns me. His prospective COS’s silence on this matter is a concern too. I think the guy from Wood waste has gotten away with enough, and I personally do not want to see people on a state level that is going to overlook injustices while Everett Residents and Everett workers (Stop & Shop) are getting SICK because they are all in a clique.
Why don’t you go and take a ride by Wood Waste right now with those trucks barreling in and out of there. He is CLEARLY not in compliance. What is the Senator-elect going to do about it? We already know Galluccio did nothing.
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 04/26/2010 : 5:37:23 PM
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Adam Friedman
The Boston Globe
Torn voters, let’s rank those candidates
By Adam Friedman
April 23, 2010
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WHEN IS a democracy not a democracy? When a candidate wins an election with only 30 percent of the vote.
Last week offered just one more chilling example of the “spoiler effect’’ in our current election system. Six candidates fought for the Democratic nomination for the Middlesex, Suffolk, and Essex state Senate seat. Three of them — all progressives from Cambridge — spoiled the election for one another; they split up the vote in a way that ensured the victory of Sal DiDomenico. The winner received three-fourths of his votes from his base in Everett, but only 30 percent of total votes cast throughout the whole district.
This is a far cry from a majority mandate, and it illustrates the flaws in a voting system that requires only that a candidate get enough votes to squeak past his or her opponents. The problem isn’t just that elections can be decided by a small minority of voters. If there happen to be multiple candidates whose views or political bases overlap, those candidates end up punishing each other. Meanwhile, a candidate who holds on to a loyal voter base — even a relatively small one — wins the entire election.
If elections are like the free market, then more competition should reward the candidate who has the broadest base of support. Instead, time and again, our voting system rewards the candidates who are, in one way or another, outliers.
So, how do we make a democracy work like a democracy? How do we ensure a majority winner in practically every election, no matter how competitive, no matter how many candidates are running?
Simple: we adopt a system of “ranked-choice voting,’’ also known as “instant-runoff voting.’’ Voters rank the candidates on the ballot — 1, 2, 3, and so on. Then the ballots are counted in a series of runoffs. The candidate who finishes last in each round of balloting is eliminated, and his voters are reassigned to their next-favorite candidates. The process repeats until one candidate receives a majority.
This system frees voters to make backup choices while voting honestly for their top choice — even if they suspect that candidate doesn’t have a good chance of winning. The fear of “throwing your vote away’’ is a thing of the past.
Ranked-choice voting is also great for candidates, since never again would they be pressured to drop out of the race because of the potential to spoil the election. This isn’t just a theoretical risk. About a month ago, I attended a meeting of the Progressive Democrats of Somerville, where members were discussing this very Senate race. As expected, the issue of vote-splitting came up, and a few members openly speculated whether one or more of the Cambridge progressives could be convinced to drop out to prevent another “spoiled’’ election.
Alternative voting systems have been criticized as impractical or overly complex for voters. But ranked-choice voting works. Currently, the city of Cambridge and more than a dozen other municipalities around the United States use the system. Internationally, the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, India, and many other countries use it, too, as do more than 40 colleges and universities to elect student officers. The Republican National Committee used ranked-choice voting to elect Michael Steele, its current chairman.
Here in Massachusetts, it’s strange and unfortunate when civic-engagement groups feel moved to consider discouraging people from running for office. This state already ranks the lowest in the nation for state-level electoral competitiveness. But we can’t blame well-meaning activists for strategizing in this way. Because in the end, they’re right. In election after election, their own worst premonitions come true.
Adam Friedman is an executive board member of Citizens for Voter Choice, an organization that advocates for ranked-choice voting.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
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Edited by - massdee on 04/26/2010 5:38:35 PM |
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Senator Tim Flaherty
