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Ellen
Senior Member
173 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2007 : 2:41:12 PM
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| I watched the tape of the meeting, I don't know what to say. This whole thing has turned into a bad soap opera. The only good thing that I can see is that every time someone from this Administration comes before city government it helps ensures Hanlons defeat. Sal DiDomenico seems to be a leveled head elected official who might end up with a lengthy tenure in Everett politics. I can see him as mayor some day. |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
 Posted - 08/08/2007 : 4:23:30 PM
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| Thank you for the information. I am sad right now. I dont know if I can keep my house. I may be a little better off then other people but not much. My kids are in private school. I know it's my choice but I should be able to have the choice. There will be no way that I can afford my mortgage even if it goes up 100.00. I met Mr. Hanlon and he seemed genuinely concerned. I dont understand this. It's the tax payers that pay eveyones salary so why do the taxpayers get it shoved up their @sses? |
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EverettsPride
Advanced Member
1140 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2007 : 5:36:22 PM
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I wish Sal Di Dominico was running for Mayor.
Sally |
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justme
Advanced Member
1428 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2007 : 9:18:32 PM
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| I was very impressed with him last night Sally. He not only held his own with those idiots............... he did it with class! We need more like him representing us. |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2007 : 10:29:27 PM
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From The Mirror
The Arrogance of Perceived Power
If you have not yet seen the replay of the special meeting of the Common Council held on August 7, set your VCR, program your TiVO or cancel your plans to be available for the next viewing. It's quite a show, full of drama and emotion -- particularly drama -- discussing the Mayor's letter informing the City Council that their vote on the budget was illegal because of a number of alleged technicalities cooked up by the Mayor and his "advisors" after the Council had made their final vote.
The most shocking scenes in this melodrama were performed by City Solicitor John Kryzovic and Assistant City Solicitor Victor Dragone. The arrogance with which these men -- these public appointees -- addressed the Common Council and the disrespect they showed, through this performance, to the citizens of Everett who pay their salaries defied imagination and explanation. Mr. Kryzovic indicated that he would refuse to provide the Common Council with a detailed opinion explaining why it was his conclusion that the Mayor could essentially override the City Council's budget vote. If requested to provide a written opinion, he said, it would be one sentence -- "I agree with the Mayor." Arrogance and hubris. A deadly combination in a public appointee. The City Solicitor, who claimed that his 40 years' experience as a solicitor qualified him to interpret the snippets of law that were cited in the Mayor's letter, should read city ordinance Division 2, Section 2-48, Powers & Duties, which states "The city solicitor shall act as advisor to the city government and representative of the city in all matters of law." Advisor to the city government. Not special counsel to the mayor. It is his duty, per city ordinance, to provide advice and opinion when called upon to do so. His refusal to do this would, in most any business, be grounds for dismissal.
And along came Victor Dragone, not because he was asked to appear, but because he apparently felt an overwhelming need to hear the sound of his own voice, to express his own opinion, indignantly insisting that the Mayor and his advisors were in the right because the City Council had allegedly failed to follow proper procedure when debating the budget. More arrogance and hubris. Again, Mr. Dragone should check the city ordinances and review parliamentary procedure, because it was not proper procedure for him to suddenly appear at the podium without being requested to do so.
Credit must be given to members of the Common Council who allowed cooler heads to prevail, particularly Ward 3 Councilman Sal DiDomenico. Councilman DiDomenico came prepared and patiently presented the case for the Council, acknowledging that mistakes were made on their part, respectfully disagreeing with the Mayor and his advisors and showing a degree of professionalism sorely lacking in this administration. The Mayor should have been embarrassed by the performance put on by the City Solicitor and the Assistant City |
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Lynda
Advanced Member
1282 Posts |
Posted - 08/09/2007 : 08:55:48 AM
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| I still haven't seen the whole meeting. I put it on when cleaning up from supper but, after being with the kids all day to watch these grown adults act like a bunch of children I had to shut it off my head was just throbbing trying to make heads or tails of their bickering with no resolves to questions asked. What a embarrassment/disgrace to this City. |
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ItalianDevil021
Member
41 Posts |
Posted - 08/09/2007 : 6:11:11 PM
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I feel bad for the city and what it is going through....with the arrogance of some people in this whole thing it does not seem like much of anything is happening...other than the city ripping itself apart...Ive been out of town for a bit but was sorely dissapointed to see this when I got back.
Hold onto your hats taxpayers...it is gonna be a doozey....or better yet should I say wallets?
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justme
Advanced Member
1428 Posts |
Posted - 08/10/2007 : 6:15:46 PM
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CCLou, unless you're the person who wrote this propaganda (which I sincerely doubt you're capable of doing), you shouldn't be posting it without properly citing the source.
Why don't you and the other hanlon supporter start your own site and leave us in peace? We're all tired of reading about Ragucci and his faults. He's not our concern anymore. We're interested in having a mayor who will work with the council and look out for the best interest of the city, not just his friends. |
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turk182
Member
88 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2007 : 1:37:52 PM
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CCLOU the City goverment has not always been hostile to WEO (alking Eagle Ouch) I remember right after he got elected at the last alderman's meeting when Ragucci wanted to transfer 2 million into the Tax Levy (which never happened) and the BOA all 7 of them standing up and telling Ragucci that they were going to let the new Mayor (WEO) do it. I also remember when the BOA did not approve the money for the Forensic Audit and WEO started it with budget money and then came back to the BOA to get the money to finish the Audit and replace the money in the budget that he was told not to use. So the City Goverment was not always hostile towards him. He ans his staff have pretty well earned it. He can not Duck, Dodge or Hide anymore My family, mt friends and anyone else I speak to are all not voting for him.
ADIOS WEO
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Money Flew, Taxes Grew, Sludge Too, Hired a Few, Hanlon Knew, We got screwed,
Hired a few more now there is 104, What do we do?
Turk 182
WEO |
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Home
Member
97 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2007 : 10:09:13 PM
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Mayor, council meeting erupts into chaos
over bloated budget and proposed cuts
By The Advocate
EVERETT - In a contentious and stormy special session Tuesday night at city hall, the mayor and members of the common council continued to spar over their disagreements concerning the city budget.
Mayor John Hanlon reiterated his claim that the city council acted illegally in making massive cuts to the budget, but Council President Sal DiDomenico asserted that the mayor was hiding behind “technicalities.”
Hanlon recently rejected $2.5-million in city council budget cuts, contending that the council had acted “illegally.” He said he was substituting his budget proposal as the city’s official spending document.
But before Tuesday night’s meeting was over, the council voted in favor of a motion reaffirming its support of the $2.5-million in cuts that it had originally made last month. But at this late stage of the process, that motion may not carry any legal weight.
One of the so-called illegal acts cited by the mayor developed because the council began a budget-cutting meeting early one evening, but didn’t conclude the meeting until after midnight. Because of that, Hanlon and his law department ruled that any cuts made at that “two day” session were illegal since the aldermen met later on the second night to vote on the cuts and that’s prohibited under the charter.
Another alleged “illegal” act by the council, said Hanlon, was the fact that in several cases they passed cuts with an insufficient number of votes being in favor. The mayor said a minimum of 10 “yes” votes are always needed, no matter how many members attend the meeting.
That prompted DiDomenico to question the “legality” of last year’s budget, which he said the council passed by a 9-2 margin. “Was that budget illegal?” asked the council chief. Mayor Hanlon replied: “Yes it was.”
Visibly irked by the mayor’s attempted dismantling of the council’s budget role, DiDomenico told Hanlon straight to his face that “it’s not sincere when you look for every way possible, after the fact, to disqualify our cuts.”
“You can’t act unilaterally. It’s not the way to run government,” Council President DiDomenico complained to the mayor.
Nevertheless, Hanlon went on with his list of reasons why the council had “illegally” cut his budget. He claimed that the council didn’t meet with all of the department heads before acting on their budgets. But DiDomenico pointed out that the department heads had, in fact, been invited to the meeting by the council, but the mayor “uninvited” them in an e-mail and is now unfairly criticizing the council.
Surprisingly, the mayor admitted that he had told the department heads that they didn’t have to go to the meeting because, according to Hanlon, the council allegedly didn’t follow the right procedure to invite them.
DiDomenico also stressed that several department heads – after being “uninvited” by the mayor – still showed up at the meeting and offered their views on the budget.
“There seems to have been an attempt to make sure the budget process did not run smooth,” charged DiDomenico. “I’m very disappointed in the whole process.”
Mayor Hanlon apparently had no qualms about throwing his appointees as city auditor (Larry DeCoste) “under the bus” for having told the council that the mayor’s proposed budget was over the tax levy and posed a serious Prop. 2 ½ dilemma.
Hanlon said DeCoste had worked in the private sector for most of his life and he erred in his evaluation of the budget situation because he “lacked municipal experience.”
Asst.City Solicitor Victor Dragone wasn’t scheduled to speak, but he boldly took the rostrum on his own initiative to lecture the councillors on the law and to defend the research his office did to pave the way for the mayor’s rejection of the council cuts.
Dragone, with his openly combative style, turned the meeting into chaos. At one point, he yelled at Councillor Joe Hickey when the Ward Four lawmaker called the city charter ridiculous because it is full of holes and has outlived its usefulness.
“It’s the city law,” bellowed Dragone.
The assistant solicitor, an appointee of the mayor, went on and on about how the mayor is right – and the council is wrong – on the budget cuts.
Councillor DiDomenico finally interjected, telling Dragone that he was “confusing the issue.”
“He’s the mayor, not the king,” DiDomenico snapped at Dragone.
City Solicitor John Kryzovic, nevertheless, took the opportunity to also publicly opine that the mayor is right when he says that the city council acted improperly on the budget. Asked for a written legal ruling, Kryzovic said it would consist of just one sentence – the mayor is right.
Kryzovic said if the council wanted to challenge his ruling, they could go out and hire their own attorney at their own expense.
With the meeting threatening to spiral out of control, Councillor Mille Cardello attempted to calm things down, telling the mayor that she could work with the administration for the benefit of the city and would be willing to personally talk to individual council members to adopt a similar stance.
But Mayor Hanlon – while saying he could work with Cardello – said he was unsure about the rest of the city council.
Councillor Rosa DiFlorio, maintaining that she’s not willing to gamble with the taxpayer’s money, offered a two-prong motion. First, she proposed that the mayor’s letter dismissing the council’s budget be rejected, and secondly, she called for the council to reaffirm its $2.5-million in cuts. DiFlorio noted that the $2.5-million in cuts would save the average taxpayer about $250 on their tax bill later this year.
The council voted 8-3 in favor of DiFlorio’s motion. Only councillors Stephen Faia, Joe Hickey and William Cardello were opposed.
Hickey, speaking on personal privilege after the roll call tally, stressed that “this was only a symbolic vote, that’s all.” |
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justme
Advanced Member
1428 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2007 : 5:08:09 PM
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The mayor did indeed toss Mr DeCoste under the bus! In fact, if you pay attention, he's quite good at blaming anything people don't like on whoever is handy. He has not taken responsibility for anything since he took office. It's always someone else's fault.
Even his inflated budget is someone else's fault. He blames fixed costs (while he makes no attempt to control basic expenses) and the CC & BOA because they didn't do the cutting properly. He used technicalities that they worked long and hard to find instead of taking the initiative and making the necessary cuts. We don't need to be paying Ravanesi 35K to work (and I use that term VERY loosely) part time and we don't need many of the new positions that have been created since he took office. We need a mayor who will accept the responsibility that goes with the position and will forgo technicalities in favor of what the people in this city want.
The council president said it best.............. He is the mayor, NOT the king! |
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Citizen Kane
Advanced Member
1082 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2007 : 6:32:27 PM
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| Louie, I want to live in your little fantasy world. Hanlon has thrown DeCoste under the bus on at least two occasions, the most recent one being at last week's meeting when he essentially said that DeCoste wasn't qualified to speak regarding a municipal budget because the bulk of his experience was with the private sector. And let's not forget the infamous article in the Wednesday Co-Dependent that called for DeCoste's ethics to be investigated. In reality, DeCoste is one of maybe five people in city hall who have any clue about what they're doing and who have any ethics at all. It's mind boggling that you can continue to drink the Hanlon Kool Aid. |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 08/13/2007 : 08:37:25 AM
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| Citizen, who are the other four people in city hall that knows what they are doing? I'm having a hard time coming up with five names. LOL |
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Citizen Kane
Advanced Member
1082 Posts |
Posted - 08/13/2007 : 08:43:19 AM
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I think maybe I was being generous, massdee! LOL.
Actually . . . there are some very competent people working in city hall. Perhaps I should have specified that none of them are advising the mayor. |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 08/13/2007 : 09:43:20 AM
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| I agree, Citizen, there are many hard working, knowledgeable employees up city hall, they are just not in administrative positions. |
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Council Meeting 8/7
