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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 04/12/2011 : 08:44:16 AM
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| Such good quality people we attract in this city. |
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kittycat
Member
66 Posts |
Posted - 04/12/2011 : 11:12:20 AM
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Massachusetts woman arraigned in DUI fatality case
By Karen Florin
Publication: theday.com
A 26-year-old Massachusetts woman appeared in New London Superior Court this morning on charges she was driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs Friday when her car was involved in an accident on Interstate 395 that resulted in the death of a passenger in another vehicle.
Dina Senibaldi of Everett, who has a history of prostitution charges in several states, is charged with driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated. She was also charged with possession of marijuana, possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics not in the original container and driving without a license.
Lisa Delprete, 45, of New Haven was pronounced dead at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital following the 11 p.m. accident in the soutbound lane of I-395 near exit 77 in Waterford.
Edmund Davis, the driver of the car in which Delprete was riding, suffered head and chest injuries and was transferred to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he was listed in fair condition Monday.
According to state police, Davis was traveling south in the right lane when he was struck from behind by Senibald's car. Davis lost control of the car, which struck the wire rope guard and rolled onto its side.
State police are continuing to investigate the accident, and it is unclear whether additional charges will be lodged. Senibaldi had blood-shot eyes and slurred speech following the accident, state police said. She failed a field sobriety test at the scene and later refused to submit to urine or blood tests. Police said they found plastic bags containing oxycodone pills and marijuana in her property. A passenger in Senibaldi's car, Marirose Lynch, also of Everett, was treated at L&M for a cut to her forehead.
Judge Kevin P. McMahon set Senibald's bond at $75,000 and continued the case to April 14. She has retained defense attorney Michael Blanchard and family members who were present at her arraignment said they expected to post her bond. Senibaldi has a pending case in Massachusetts for two counts of prostitution and two counts of providing a false name. She also has a number of prostitution charges pending in New Jersey and a case in Florida, according to bail commissioner Timothy Gilman.
NOW I KNOW WHERE THE NAME IS FROM, THERE ARE PICTURES OF HER OUT ON THE THEIR WEB SITE |
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Linda M
Member
43 Posts |
Posted - 04/13/2011 : 08:31:57 AM
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Revere officer accused by FBI
A Revere police officer with a checkered record was allegedly captured on audio and video as he collected a $200 cash bribe while on duty, and was arrested yesterday after FBI agents said he lied about the transaction.
Officer Todd Randall is accused of lying to the FBI while being questioned about a public corruption case he was allegedly caught up in. According to an affidavit filed in federal court in Boston, Randall met with a person cooperating with the FBI in early 2010 and agreed to help quash a criminal case in return for cash.
On Jan. 22, 2010, according to court papers, as Randall was under surveillance by federal agents, he drove his police cruiser into Everett to meet with the confidential informant.
At a home that the FBI had wired for video and sound, the informant allegedly gave Randall the cash.
“Randall accepted $200 in FBI funds from the [confidential informant] and then explained the efforts he would make to compromise a pending criminal case,’’ the FBI affidavit said.
The FBI did not reveal what the pending case involved.
Randall also allegedly asked the informant how he could obtain prescription painkillers. Randall boasted that he used to purchase Percocet pills by the “wheelbarrow’’ and “500 at a time,’’ but could no longer find large quantities to buy, the court papers said.
Last month, FBI agents confronted Randall at his home, according to the affidavit. Randall allegedly denied meeting the informant, denied taking cash, and denied driving to Everett in uniform in a marked cruiser, saying he had no reason to lie.
The agents then asked him if, hypothetically, the FBI had a photo of a uniformed Revere police officer at the Everett home, could he possibly be that officer.
“If there is photo of me, I’d like to see it,’’ Randall allegedly told the agents.
A photograph allegedly showing Randall taking the cash was attached to the court papers.
Randall appeared in US District Court in Boston yesterday afternoon. Chief Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein released him on a $10,000 unsecured bond.
“Mr. Randall is a 16-year veteran of the Revere Police Department, and the allegations against him are merely allegations,’’ said Randall’s lawyer, Timothy R. Flaherty, at the courthouse. “He looks forward to presenting a vigorous defense.’’
Randall has been ordered to surrender any firearms and weapons in his house, as well as his passport. He is not allowed to drink alcohol or leave the state and must take part in drug and mental health counseling and submit to random drug tests. He was also ordered to have no contact with the informant.
If convicted, Randall faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
Randall was recently suspended for an “unrelated matter,’’ Captain Michael Murphy said yesterday.
“He has been the subject of some disciplinary matters in the past,’’ he said.
Randall was on unspecified medical leave at the time of his arrest. “The Police Department and other municipal agencies are made up of human beings, and human beings have problems,’’ Murphy said. Reached by phone last night, Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino said he was disappointed but defended the department.
“When any city employee engages in a criminal act, we are likely to take appropriate disciplinary actions as soon as we digest the complaint,’’ he said. “The Revere Police Department is a very professional group of dedicated officers. This is one bad apple.’’
John R. Ellement of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. John M. Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com.
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2011 : 8:52:53 PM
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1 dead, 1 seriously hurt in Somerville car crash
April 22, 2011
SOMERVILLE, Mass.—State police say alcohol and speed contributed to an early morning car crash that left a 16-year-old Everett girl dead and a 17-year-old Somerville girl clinging to life in the hospital.
Four other people in the car, including the driver, sustained minor injuries in the crash at about 3:30 a.m. Friday.
The driver, identified by police as 21-year-old Kenneth Belew of Somerville is facing charges including drunken driving. No other names were released.
Police say the occupants had been at a house party where alcohol was served.
Belew apparently lost control of the car on the elevated portion of the McGrath Highway southbound over Washington Street and struck a concrete barrier.
He is scheduled to be arraigned in Somerville District Court on Friday.
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 04/27/2011 : 08:32:15 AM
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House votes to restrict unions
By Michael Levenson
Globe Staff April 27, 2011
House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly last night to strip police
officers, teachers, and other municipal employees of most of their
rights to bargain over health care, saying the change would save
millions of dollars for financially strapped cities and towns.
The 111-to-42 vote followed tougher measures to broadly eliminate
collective bargaining rights for public employees in Ohio, Wisconsin,
and other states. But unlike those efforts, the push in Massachusetts
was led by Democrats who have traditionally stood with labor to
oppose any reduction in workers’ rights.
Unions fought hard to stop the bill, launching a radio ad that assailed
the plan and warning legislators that if they voted for the measure,
they could lose their union backing in the next election. After the vote,
labor leaders accused House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and other
Democrats of turning their backs on public employees.
“It’s pretty stunning,’’ said Robert J. Haynes, president of the
Massachusetts AFL-CIO. “These are the same Democrats that all
these labor unions elected. The same Democrats who we contributed
to in their campaigns. The same Democrats who tell us over and over
again that they’re with us, that they believe in collective bargaining,
that they believe in unions. . . . It’s a done deal for our relationship with
the people inside that chamber.’’
“We are going to fight this thing to the bitter end,’’ he added.
“Massachusetts is not the place that takes collective bargaining away
from public employees.’’
The battle now turns to the Senate, where President Therese Murray
has indicated that she is reluctant to strip workers of their right to
bargain over their health care plans.
DeLeo said the House measure would save $100 million for cities and
towns in the upcoming budget year, helping them avoid layoffs and
reductions in services. He called his plan one of the most significant
reforms the state can adopt to help control escalating health care
costs.
“By spending less on the health care costs of municipal employees,
our cities and towns will be able to retain jobs and allot more funding
to necessary services like education and public safety,’’ he said in a
statement.
Last night, as union leaders lobbied against the plan, DeLeo offered
two concessions intended to shore up support from wavering
legislators.
The first concession gives public employees 30 days to discuss
changes to their health plans with local officials, instead of allowing
the officials to act without any input from union members. But local
officials would still, at the end of that period, be able to impose their
changes unilaterally.
The second concession gives union members 20 percent of the
savings from any health care changes for one year, if the unions
object to changes imposed by local officials. The original bill gave the
unions 10 percent of the savings for one year.
The modifications bring the House bill closer to a plan introduced by
Governor Deval Patrick in January. The governor, like Murray, has
said he wants workers to have some say in altering their health plans,
But union leaders said that even with the last-minute concessions, the
bill was an assault on workers’ rights, unthinkable in a state that has
long been a bastion of union support. Some Democrats accused
DeLeo of following the lead of Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin
and other Republicans who have targeted public employee benefits.
“In the bigger world out there, this fits into a very bad movement to
disempower labor unions,’’ said Representative Denise Provost, a
Somerville Democrat who opposed the bill.
Under the legislation, mayors and other local officials would be given
unfettered authority to set copayments and deductibles for their
employees, after the 30-day discussion period with unions. Only the
share of premiums paid by employees would remain on the health
care bargaining table.
Geoff Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal
Association, said that, even if the bill becomes law, municipal workers
would still have more bargaining power over their health care plans
than state employees. “It’s a fair, balanced, strong, effective and
meaningful reform,’’ he said.
Unions lobbied to derail the speaker’s plan in favor of a labor-backed
proposal that would preserve collective bargaining, and would let an
arbitrator decide changes to employee health plans if local officials
and unions deadlock after 45 days. Labor leaders initially persuaded
50 lawmakers, including six members of DeLeo’s leadership team, to
back their plan last week. But DeLeo peeled off some of the labor
support in the final vote.
Representative Martin J. Walsh, a Dorchester Democrat who is
secretary-treasurer of the Boston Building Trades Council, led the fight
against the speaker’s plan. In a speech that was more wistful than
angry, he recalled growing up in a union household that had health
care benefits generous enough to help him overcome cancer in 1974.
He said collective bargaining rights helped build the middle class.
“Municipal workers aren’t the bad guys here,’’ he said. “They’re not the
ones who caused the financial crisis. Banks and investment
companies got a slap on the wrist for their wrongdoing, but public
employees are losing their benefits.’’
The timing of the vote was significant. Union leaders plan today to
unleash a major lobbying blitz with police officers, firefighters, and
other workers flooding the State House. Taking the vote last night at
11:30 allowed lawmakers to avoid a potentially tense confrontation
with those workers, and vote when the marble halls of the House were
all but empty.
Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com.
© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.
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Linda M
Member
43 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2011 : 11:35:32 AM
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Deputy arrested on drug charges
Middlesex sheriff suspends sergeant
WOBURN — During his arrest Monday on drug-trafficking charges, Middlesex Deputy Sheriff Sergeant Michael Dell’Isola told police that “he did a stupid thing’’ and was only trying to help a friend when he allegedly agreed to buy cocaine from an undercover state trooper, according to court records.
State Police said they arrested the 28-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department after he accepted 28 grams of cocaine in a coffee cup and $500 cash from the undercover trooper at a Starbucks Coffee shop on Commerce Way in Woburn, according to a State Police report in court records.
The investigation was sparked by an anonymous tip last month. The Sheriff Department’s internal affairs unit also conducted an investigation and forwarded its findings to State Police.
Middlesex Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian said in a statement Monday that the arrest was part of an effort to clean up his department.
“Upon being appointed sheriff, I promised to restore public confidence in this proud and historic department,’’ he said. “The arrest of Sergeant Michael Dell’Isola is a direct result of this commitment. If these allegations are true, the actions of one officer should not taint the good work performed each day by the dedicated men and women of the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office.’’
Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. issued a statement following the arrest, saying: “This defendant is alleged to have accepted illegal narcotics and money from an undercover state trooper this afternoon, in violation of the public trust placed in all employees who engage in the care, custody, and control of prisoners.’’
Dell’Isola, 51, of Somerville, told troopers that his arrest would lead to his divorce for doing something stupid to make some money, according to the police report. The report also stated that the suspect said, “This is what he gets for helping a friend.’’
Dell’Isola was arraigned yesterday in Woburn District Court on charges of cocaine trafficking and pleaded not guilty. His wife attended, and they left the courthouse by a back door.
State troopers assigned to the Middlesex district attorney’s office led the investigation, utilizing the undercover trooper to make contact with the suspect. The trooper and Dell’Isola spoke several times in the past week, and Dell’Isola allegedly told the trooper, whom he believed to be a drug supplier, that he was looking to obtain cocaine, the police report said. In a later conversation, Dell’Isola placed an order for cocaine and indicated that he was to receive a large sum of cash from the supplier.
Last Friday, the two spoke again, and Dell’Isola indicated that he would take the cocaine in either rock or powder form. The two then arranged to meet Monday. They met at the coffee shop, and the undercover trooper handed Dell’Isola a coffee cup that allegedly contained 28 grams of powder cocaine and $500, the report said.
Before Dell’Isola left the shop, he agreed to contact the undercover trooper for “future needs,’’ prosecutors said. He was arrested after leaving the shop, and troopers seized the cocaine and money, prosecutors said.
Dell’Isola remained free yesterday on $1,000 cash bail he posted after his arrest Monday afternoon. Dell’Isola was suspended with pay from his job at the Cambridge jail, pending the outcome of the case. He is due back in court June 8 for a probable cause hearing. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
Mark E. Mulligan, a Stoneham attorney who represented Dell’Isola at arraignment, did not respond to requests for comment.
Brian Ballou can be reached at bballou@globe.com.
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2011 : 2:10:49 PM
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Uneasy times for retirees
Public-worker unions wary of bids to weaken health care benefits
By Kathy McCabe
Globe Staff / May 8, 2011
As a retired public schoolteacher, Marie Ardito worries that state legislation to limit the power of municipal unions to negotiate health care costs will take an unfair toll on public sector retirees.
“There’s an awful lot of fear that people get as they get older,’’ said Ardito, 74, a coordinator of Massachusetts Retirees United, a Wilmington-based advocacy group with 1,700 members statewide. “We do not have negotiating powers . . . A lot of older people can’t afford to pay more for their health care.’’
State law does not allow public retirees to bargain health benefits. Most receive the same benefit levels as the municipal workforce. But since many are senior citizens living on fixed incomes, increases in copays, deductibles, and other elements of health plans can be tough medicine.
“People who have real serious health issues are the ones being hurt by this stuff,’’ said Ardito, a Burlington resident who retired 12 years ago from the Billerica school system. “A lot of people can’t afford to pay higher copays for an MRI or a CT scan.’’
The Massachusetts House voted last month to strip public employee unions of most of the authority to negotiate changes to health insurance.
House leaders said the measure, passed as an amendment to the House version of the new state budget, would save Bay State communities $100 million in the fiscal year that starts July 1.
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo said the measure would allow communities to continue to fund services like education and public safety rather than laying people off to pay for retiree health benefits.
The House amendment is a local option, meaning a city or town would have to vote to adopt it before it could take effect. If it is adopted, a community would have 30 days to negotiate with a committee representing public employee unions. Retirees would have one representative. If agree ment is reached, 10 percent of the cost savings would be put into a special account, to be used for health-related programs, for the first year.
The amendment does require that “a percentage of the savings must address costs incurred by retirees,’’ but does not specify how much, and would only be for the first year. If no agreement is reached, a city or town could then implement changes to plan design, according to the legislation.
One retiree advocate believes the language does little to protect retirees’ interest. “There’s no safety net for retirees,’’ said Ralph White, president of the Retired State, County and Municipal Employees Association of Massachusetts, a lobbying group. “We’re in the same boat as employees.’’
It’s not certain the House’s budget version will stand. The state Senate still is developing its version of the budget. Any differences between the two versions will have to be worked about by a joint conference committee.
Governor Deval Patrick, who filed his own bill to overhaul municipal health care, ultimately must sign the budget.
Ardito noted that retirees across the state have already sacrificed for benefits won decades ago at the bargaining table. “What the public does not realize is that when retirees were active [employees], in order to get health insurance, most of the time we got very little raises,’’ she said.
But data show that retiree health care costs are a concern for Bay State municipalities.
A report released in February by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation found that the state’s 100 largest communities collectively will have to pay $23 billion in health insurance benefits for current and future retirees over the next 30 years.
However, many communities do not have money set aside to meet these future obligations, making them unfunded liabilities. For some local cities and towns, the unfunded liability is estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the report.
Haverhill’s responsibility is $299 million, Methuen $210 million, and Somerville $571 million, according to the report.
The amounts pose a threat to the long-term fiscal health of the communities, local officials said.
“We’re looking at a time bomb that hasn’t gone off yet,’’ said Mayor William Manzi of Methuen. “The numbers are pretty stark.’’
“This absolutely is going to hit us one day,’’ said Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini. “The long-term future of municipal finance is very bleak.’’
Unlike with pensions, state law does not require a community to set aside money to cover their unfunded health insurance liabilities.
Only a handful of communities, including North Andover, have set up a fund to pay for future insurance costs. On June 7, voters at North Andover’s annual Town Meeting will be asked to put $92,000 from Medicare reimbursement payments into a trust fund to pay for retiree benefits. The town has a $115 million liability for retiree health care costs, according to the report.
Since most communities already are struggling to fund basic services, they can’t set aside millions of dollars to pay for retiree health care. Instead, most pay retiree health care as part of their yearly operating budgets.
“They can’t afford these benefits, so that’s why they can’t make contributions to a fund,’’ said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which tracks state finances. “Their costs have just been exploding.’’
Communities have taken steps to curtail the growth of retiree health care costs. More have adopted a provision of state law that requires retirees who reach age 65 to go on Medicare, the federal health insurance program for senior citizens. Others have joined the state’s lower-cost group health insurance program. The move to cheaper health care plans, along with an increase in employee contributions, can be effective in cutting costs, officials said.
Peabody, for example, estimates that its unfunded liability fell to $301 million in 2009, from $420 million in 2006, the figure cited in the taxpayers foundation’s report. The lower number resulted after the city negotiated to change health insurance contributions paid by employees to 15 percent, up from 10 percent, said Patricia Schaffer, the city’s finance director.
“When you roll that savings over the life of the unfunded liability, it’s substantial,’’ she said.
In Lowell, health insurance liability soared to $690 million last year, compared with $433 million in 2008, the figure cited in the report. (Years vary in the report because communities complete their actuarial reports at different times.) “It went up because our rates had gone up,’’ said Tom Moses, the city’s finance director.
“It’s stunning, when you see a liability of almost $700 million and our annual budget is $300 million,’’ he said. “You can’t fund [the liability]. We’re struggling to maintain services as it is.’’
The city, which pays 75 percent of employees’ health insurance premiums, recently negotiated with most of its unions to move from the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Master Medical plan to a cheaper plan.
In exchange, most unionized workers will receive a $1,000 pay raise. Still, the change is expected to save the city $1 million next year, Moses said.
“It gives us some breathing room in terms of our costs next year,’’ he said.
The change will also aid some retirees. While they won’t receive a $1,000 pay increase, they will be covered by a $300,000 mitigation fund set up by the city to cover unanticipated costs that people may face as a result of the plan change.
A committee representing 14 labor unions negotiated the changes. Two members are Lowell retirees, although they were representing other labor groups on the panel. Still, their input about retirees was considered, said Lowell Police Sergeant Thomas Fleming, the lead union negotiator.
“We certainly listened to their opinions ,’’ said Fleming, a 30-year police veteran.
“We’re all going to be retired some day . . . I never would have served as [lead negotiator] for a group that would have harmed the retirees.’’
Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com
© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2011 : 3:11:37 PM
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Everett officers honored by feds
May 13, 2011
EVERETT, Mass.—Two Everett police officers have been honored by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for helping track down a young girl who had been abducted from her home in Texas.
Acting on an anonymous tip, Lt. Demetri O'Malley and Officer Jeffrey Gilmore launched an investigation into a man living in the community just north of Boston who allegedly bragged about how he had abducted his 2-year-old daughter from Bryan, Texas in December 2009.
Working with ICE agents, Bryan police and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Everett officers tracked down the father and recovered the girl unharmed last year.
Bruce Foucart, special agent in charge of ICE investigative services in Boston, presented the officers with plaques on Friday and expressed his appreciation for their efforts.
© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2011 : 10:29:18 PM
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State Senate passes rollbacks on bargaining rights
Posted by David Jrolf May 26, 2011 09:51 PM
By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff
The Massachusetts Senate voted tonight to curb the collective bargaining rights of police officers, teachers, and other municipal employees, making it likely the overwhelming Democratic state will limit union power in an effort to ease budget woes.
The voice vote, with barely any debate, came a month after House lawmakers approved similar legislation in hopes of saving cities and towns $100 million in the next budget year. Governor Deval Patrick has indicated he is eager to sign the bill once the two branches hash out their differences.
While the measures backed by the House, Senate, and governor vary, all three would allow mayors and other local officials to move local workers into the state’s health insurance plan or to design their own plans that similarly trim costs for management. Each plan would leave a window to discuss those changes with workers, but would ultimately let local officials alter their plans, regardless of whether workers oppose it.
Senate President Therese Murray, who negotiated the bill behind closed doors, sounded relieved after it was approved without a floor flight just before 9 p.m.
‘‘No one’s happy — that’s how it was resolved,’’ she said. ‘‘I mean, we did the best we could.’’
This spring, unions fought hard to block the changes in the House, running radio ads, threatening to oust lawmakers, and organizing protests at the State House. They warned that Massachusetts was moving in the direction of Ohio, Wisconsin, and other Republican-led states that have sharply cut the collective bargaining rights of public employees.
But once Senate leaders indicated they would go along with the House, they softened their tone, saying they wanted to tweak, not kill, the bill.
The Senate approved the legislation as an amendment to the state budget, after making several last-minute changes designed to make the bill a bit more palatable to unions.
One change, for example, would require cities and towns to prove that they could save more by moving workers into the state health insurance plan than if they created their own plan with similar parameters. Supporters said the change would encourage cities and towns to design their own health plans, which would be less disruptive for local employees than moving them into the state program.
Geoffrey Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, said he viewed the changes as technical and was happy with the final result.
‘‘The Senate framework is real reform for communities and taxpayers in Massachusetts,’’ said Beckwith, whose organization has been lobbying for more negotiating power for local officials. ‘‘It will protect services and jobs at the local level.’’
One union official said tonight that he welcomed the last-minute alterations, but was not happy with either the House or Senate bills.
‘‘We have lost collective bargaining rights on both sides of this proposal,’’ said Raymond McGrath, a lobbyist for the International Brotherhood of Police and the National Association of Government Employees. ‘‘I hope the Senate version is what is [ultimately] accepted, although the Senate version is not what we would like, either.’’
The state AFL-CIO had no immediate comment on the vote. A spokesman said the organization was still reviewing the last-minute changes.
The issue gained prominence in the Legislature after mayors and other local officials complained that rising health care costs were eating away at their budgets, forcing them to slash services and lay off workers.
They beseeched lawmakers to give them more leverage in contract negotiations, arguing that unions currently enjoy significant bargaining power and have thwarted their efforts to move workers into less costly health insurance plans. Unions contended that they have been willing to negotiate savings with cities and towns, and have pointed to a recent cost-cutting deal that they signed with Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston.
The differences between the plans embraced by the House, Senate, and governor are subtle. Senators have said their plan would give workers a voice in negotiations and would protect retirees and chronically-ill employees by taking more of the savings and putting them into an account for workers.
The Senate bill would also allow a three-member panel to resolve deadlocks if unions and cities cannot agree on a new health plan. The governor would nominate the tie-breaking member of the committee. But that panel would have to rule against the unions if cities and towns raise co-pays and deductibles to the same levels paid by state workers.
Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2011 : 1:16:51 PM
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EVERETT
Parking fees go up
June 12, 2011
Parking at metered spaces in the city just got a little more expensive. Effective last week, parking at meters costs $1 per hour, up from 25 cents an hour. Also, the fee for a monthly parking sticker went from $20 to $30, while an annual sticker now costs $300, up from $240. The Parking Commission approved the increases in January, but officials elected to wait to implement them until the arrival of warmer weather and to allow time to repair broken meters, according to Matt Laidlaw, the city’s director of communications. The new parking meter rate is the first increase in seven years. As a result of related votes by the commission in January, the city plans to install meters at the Spring Street parking lot, next to Everett Stadium, this month. Motorists who buy a sticker and display it on their windshield do not need to place coins in meters. — John Laidler
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2011 : 3:09:49 PM
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Why is Everett always a carbon copy of other cities? Even our proposed Charter is a carbon copy of Melrose. I swear you could replace the word "Somerville and put "Everett" in this article.
All we hear is times are bad, fixed costs, although health insurance costs are cheaper, but this administration goes and forms a commission and takes parking and fee rights away from the city council...right from under their nose.... to raise parking fees and permits because the administration knew it would never pass the City Council. That was a sneaky slimy thing to do just to pad their pockets.
Who gets hurt by these increases anyway?.....The elderly and the businesses. Also, resident parking will be effected. People are not going to pay these increases and will park on side streets instead, taking away from residents and clogging up parking on streets. Those streets by the square are small, and a lot do not have driveway parking, so now there's going to be an influx of street parking.
Might be time to consider 24/7 residential parking on the side streets. Residents wont be able to park, and are the ones getting hit more in the pockets too.
As far as Everett parking increases by 300% goes, the remaining businesses and merchants should vehemently protest against it. We will lose more over this. The Sachetta Building is one of many that will soon be gone, and sit empty.
3 years ago, Steve Sachetta's taxes were $35,000.00 a year and in the last 3 years, they went up to $95,000.00. That's a $60,000.00 increase in THREE YEARS. There's something really wrong here, and I think it's criminal.
These increases in the sticker program and parking is bad for the remaining businesses. The economy is terrible, the elderly cant even afford milk, but we can go and buy visitor bleachers outright for a total of 6 home games. Those bleachers are going to get damaged and wont take long before graffiti will be all over them.
Budget brighter this year
$4.5m deficit less than anticipated
By Matt Byrne
Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone last week unveiled a proposed fiscal 2012 budget for Somerville that closes a $4.5 million gap with increases in fines and fees, and would preserve most city services with minimal layoffs, the mayor said.
The projected bottom line, just shy of $170 million, comes after the mayor and others had braced for much worse this year. A previously projected $7.1 million gap was reduced after health care claim costs came in about $2 million less than expected.
While the proposal still includes some cuts, it is far from the $8.1 million budget deficit last year that forced the outsourcing of 17 school custodial jobs, in addition to the loss of other positions.
To fill the $4.5 million budget hole, the city plans to use about $1.5 million from the free cash, or rainy day, fund; collect about $1 million in increased parking fines; and save $500,000 in reorganization and efficiency tweaks.
An additional $1 million in revenue is slated to come from a new policy for traffic officers to write violations for out-of-date vehicle registrations and inspection stickers. The remaining difference is expected to be made up by increasing the fee for a residential parking pass by $10, to $30, Curtatone said.
Building code enforcement fees are expected to increase as well.
“You have to be very prudent and very balanced, and I think we’re reaping the benefits now,’’ Curtatone said in an afternoon press conference before he presented the budget to the Board of Aldermen on Monday.
The proposed budget would allow for the hiring of four new police officers, a traffic and parking window clerk, a fire management analyst, a police clerk, an internal auditor, an elections clerk, and an Inspectional Services operations manager.
The total budget is about 2.55 percent higher than last year, a $4.2 million bump that comes in the face of continued declines in state aid and the explosive rise in health care costs for the city.
“Our fiscal outlook is continuing to improve,’’ Curtatone said later, and touted the highest bond rating in the city’s history — AA- from Standard & Poor’s — announced recently following the Board of Aldermen’s approval of $25 million in long-term spending for the Assembly Square project. The city will pay for infrastructure improvements to spur a massive redevelopment that will include a new Orange Line station.
Layoffs come only in the traffic and parking department, with the elimination of three parking enforcement positions that Curtatone said was a result of better compliance with parking rules. Another four positions in the department will be lost to attrition, he said. Two other positions — both in the mayor’s planning office — will remain unfilled, with a total of nine positions lost or eliminated.
“We’ve achieved about what we want to achieve — compliance,’’ Curtatone said of the layoffs in the parking department.
The four police hires brings the total officers on the job to 97, Curtatone said, adding that a major police redeployment is expected to help streamline the department in the coming months.
“The force is getting younger, and it’s growing,’’ said the mayor.
In the long term, Curtatone said he hopes to wean the city from a perennial dependency on one-time revenue sources such as the city’s reserve funds. The mayor said “spending is not the problem in the City of Somerville.’’
Per capita, Somerville has the lowest spending rate in the state, ahead of Revere, Malden, and Arlington, according to data culled from the state Department of Revenue provided by the city, the mayor said.
While the theme of “shared sacrifice’’ was trumpeted early by Curtatone, this year’s budget process has been less painful than in previous years, said Ward 2 Alderwoman Maryann M. Heuston, who chairs the board’s Finance Committee.
“The real headline is that this is the way you run a city. We have laid the groundwork for a city that has a future,’’ Heuston said, adding that this time the budget “feels really good.’’
Matt Byrne can be reached at mbyrne.globe@gmail.com.
© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.
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card
Senior Member
117 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2011 : 06:01:56 AM
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EVERETT, METHUEN
Spending, taxes shape mayor races
By John Laidler
Globe Correspondent / June 26, 2011
Spending and taxes are among the top issues being debated as mayoral races heat up in Methuen and Everett.
School Committee member Kenneth R. Willette Jr., City Councilor at Large Stephen N. Zanni, and Al DiNuccio, who lost to Manzi two years ago, have taken out nomination papers and announced their candidacies.
In Everett, Mayor Carlo DeMaria Jr. faces at least one challenger. DeMaria and Ward 1 Common Councilor Peter A. Napolitano have taken out nomination papers and are actively campaigning.
Joseph Santagate Sr., who lost a previous bid for School Committee, also has taken out papers for mayor and for alderman at large. He could not be reached regarding his intentions.
In the Methuen race, Willette, a former councilor at large, last week touted himself as “the only candidate in the race who has voted repeatedly against tax increases.’’ He cited votes he took against the budget as a councilor when he felt “taxes were too high and cuts could be made.’’
Zanni said he stood by his record on taxes and spending, noting for example his support of budgets the last two years that included 10 percent salary cuts agreed to by the city’s unions.
“That’s a testament . . . to what I’ve been part of,’’ said Zanni, a former School Committee member.
DiNuccio, who ran unsuccessfully for state representative last year, said his business background sets him apart from his opponents.
“I believe city government should be run by professionals and not politicians. . . . I’m the professional in the crowd. The other two are lifelong politicians,’’ said DiNuccio, a longtime business owner who with his brother owns a furniture manufacturing company.
“As a conservative, my goal is to at least hold the line on taxes,’’ he said.
Zanni, a retired teacher and administrator for the Hudson, N.H., school district, said he does not see himself as a politician, noting that all his elective service in Methuen — as a city councilor and a School Committee member — has been part time with minimal pay.
“I just consider myself giving back to the community,’’ he said.
Zanni said he brings to the race “a professional resume in terms of my educational background,’’ as well as his experience as a local office-holder. He also pointed to his role in such successful initiatives as the effort to bring a satellite post office to the city’s west end, and his current service on the committee overseeing the high school project.
In Everett, Napolitano is taking aim at DeMaria over what he calls the city’s overly high business tax rate. Currently, that rate is $43.74 per $1,000 valuation.
“We have one of the highest commercial tax rates in the state, and our commercial businesses have been hit hard with tax increases three years in a row,’’ said Napolitano, who spent about eight years in commercial banking before he was laid off from his most recent job last fall.
He said high taxes would lead some businesses to leave the city, which he said would eventually result in residents having to shoulder more of the tax burden.
DeMaria said the commercial tax rate is relatively high in part because Everett does not charge a fee for trash collection — a service businesses receive — and as a result funds all its trash costs from the tax rate. He said the city also has funded water and sewer projects from the tax rate, a practice it is ending through creating water and sewer enterprise funds that will pay for the costs of those systems through rates.
Napolitano says he would lower the business tax burden by attacking overspending he sees in the recently adopted $6.2 million budget increase for fiscal 2012.
He cited in particular $1.2 million budgeted for capital projects, saying that money should be appropriated on a project-by-project basis from the city’s stabilization fund.
DeMaria said the budget had broad support from the City Council, and that much of the increase was due to increases in fixed costs such as health insurance.
He said the capital funding would pay for needed road and sidewalk repairs and that including it in the budget allowed the city to plan for the work.
As he campaigns for a third term, DeMaria is touting the progress he said the city is making under his leadership despite difficult economic times.
As examples, he pointed to the sale of the city public works yard, the collection of $4 million in back taxes, the creation of a new department encompassing all of the city’s inspectional services, the renovations to Everett Stadium, and improvements to parks, streets, and sidewalks. He said the city is also financially sound.
“We’re making some great progress,’’ he said.
© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 07/10/2011 : 11:33:46 AM
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I thought the city council was adamant that they did not want housing at the old high school? There are 198 units going at the Waters Ave Project and now more housing at the old high school? We have too much over crowding already, no parking, overcrowding in schools... and I thought the charter school was the highest bidder, but got refused.
EVERETT
The Boston Globe
Housing plans for school site filed
City evaluating four proposals
By John Laidler
Globe Correspondent / July 10, 2011
Everett is evaluating four proposals to bring residential housing to its venerable former high school building.
The plans were submitted in response to a request for proposals that Everett advertised in April from groups interested in purchasing or leasing and redeveloping the 3.9-acre Broadway site.
The request did not stipulate how the property should be used or that the existing 347,280-square-foot building be preserved. But all four proposals received involve housing projects that would retain the building, said Jill M. Barringer, assistant city solicitor and chief procurement officer.
The proposals, which include affordable and market-rate housing and some senior housing, were submitted by Stratford Capital Group of Peabody, Neighborhood of Affordable Housing of Boston; Women’s Institute for Housing and Economic Development of Boston, and Dakota Partners of Waltham, said Barringer, who added that the city is not making the plans public because they are still under review.
“The old high school project is one that has an effect on our present and future economy, and we’re looking forward to reviewing the proposals and determining our next course of action,’’ Mayor Carlo DeMaria Jr. said in a written statement. “We’re hopeful to find the best and most beneficial use of the property for our residents, the neighborhood, and the city as a whole.”
The old high school was built in 1924, with a major addition in 1974-75. It closed in 2007 with the opening of the current high school on Elm Street.
In May 2010, the City Council voted to declare the site surplus. Currently, a portion of the building is leased by the Boys and Girls Club of Middlesex County for its Everett Clubhouse, and the city allows use of the field house by various groups on an event-by-event basis.
This is the second round of proposals the city has received for reuse of the site. Last September, the city received four responses to a previous request for proposals issued in April 2010. But on the recommendation of an advisory committee that reviewed the proposals, the mayor opted not to award a bid.
“It was a combination of the development concepts, as well as the price not presenting themselves as being very appealing to the reuse committee,’’ Barringer said. All four bidders had proposed to purchase the land, with $2 million the highest price.
The city decided to issue a new request for proposals this spring with the hope of attracting more favorable responses.
“We just figured that we would put it back out there to see if there were developers who didn’t access it the first time,’’ Barringer said. “We just sent it to everyone we could possibly think of. . . . We thought maybe we would get a broader audience.’’
In the end, three of the proposals received in this round were from groups that bid in the first round: Stratford Capital Group, Neighborhood of Affordable Housing, and Women’s Institute for Housing and Economic Development.
But Barringer said it was premature to speculate on whether the city might find any of the new bids suitable, since the advisory committee, which has been reactivated to review the latest proposals, has only begun its work. She also said the three returning bidders have all revised their proposals in ways that could potentially meet concerns raised by the committee last time. The fourth bidder, Dakota Partners, is new, she said.
As a result of a process it established for the new round, the city has unsealed only the portion of the bids dealing with proposed reuse of the site, leaving to a later date the unsealing of the prices offered, Barringer said. She said that process was set up to allow the committee to study the plans first, without being influenced by the prices offered.
Price will be a consideration for the city, which hopes to generate income from the property, Barringer said. But a larger goal has been to look for a project that would bring a good-quality development to a key area of the city, she said.
“The message we’ve gotten from the mayor all along is to seek a development that would be beneficial to the community,’’ Barringer said.
“It’s a great spot,’’ she said of the site, located just off the downtown. “It’s a spot that has a lot of sentimental value to a lot of people within this community. It was the high school most people went to.’’
Alderman Robert Van Campen of Ward 5, who represents the area in which the old high school site is located and who sits on the reuse committee, said he wants to ensure that any decision on the future of the site takes into account the interests of nearby residents.
“It’s a large building smack in the middle of a residential neighborhood, so the objective for me has consistently been to find a use that is least impacting on the neighborhood,’’ he said.
Barringer said that if the mayor opts to award a bid, he would have to obtain approval from the City Council in order to sell or lease the land, due to an amendment included by the council in its 2010 vote to declare the property surplus.
John Laidler can be reached at jlaidler@comcast.net.
© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 07/10/2011 : 7:35:52 PM
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Did Ms Barringers job title change?
"The request did not stipulate how the property should be used or that the existing 347,280-square-foot building be preserved. But all four proposals received involve housing projects that would retain the building, said Jill M. Barringer, assistant city solicitor and chief procurement officer." |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
 Posted - 07/10/2011 : 8:29:50 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by massdee
Did Ms Barringers job title change?
"The request did not stipulate how the property should be used or that the existing 347,280-square-foot building be preserved. But all four proposals received involve housing projects that would retain the building, said Jill M. Barringer, assistant city solicitor and chief procurement officer."
If I recall correctly, Jill Barringer was one of those "merged positions" that State Ethics ruled could not be done, however the salary stayed the same. That's how I remember it. |
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Boston Globe 2011
