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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
 Posted - 02/11/2008 : 10:42:24 AM
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I do agree with you that Mr. Keverian was treated abominably, especially a former Speaker of the House. I just feel that Speaker DiMasi could have used a different way like call Carlo DeMaria personally to work it out and not say it in a public forum to make the papers. If Mr. Keverian's health permits him to work then we certainly can use his help with his knowledge and expertise. That's if he is even willing to come back, I don’t think I would. I heard he has get-well wishes pouring in to Youville Hospital. That makes a world of difference during a recovery.
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Cam
Member
82 Posts |
Posted - 02/11/2008 : 2:03:00 PM
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| LETS LOOK AT THIS SITUATION. HANLON LOST IN THE PRIMARY. KEVERIAN ENDORSES MCGONAGLE AFTER THE PRIMARY. HANLON IS THEN A NON-PLAYER. HANLON ENDORSES DEMARIA. DEMARIA WINS THE ELECTION. KEVERIAN IS FIRED. DEMARIA PUBLICLY SUPPORTS HANLON'S DECISION TO FIRE KEVERIAN. IT DOESN'T TAKE A ROCKET SCIENTIST TO FIGURE THIS OUT. KEVERIAN WAS FIRED FOR ENDORSING MCGONAGLE, AND IT WAS DONE WITH DEMARIA'S BLESSING. DEMARIA IS NOT JUST A BY-STANDER IN THIS MESS. |
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Citizen Kane
Advanced Member
1082 Posts |
Posted - 02/11/2008 : 3:33:47 PM
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And it's now up to the former Speaker to avail himself of whatever legal avenues are available to him, but with all due respect, I think this notion that we are eternally indebted to Mr. Keverian is a bit over the top. He of all people understood the risk he was taking when he made the choice to publicly endorse Joe McGonagle. Do I think what happened to him was justified? No . . . political retribution is never justified, but Mr. Keverian was a player on Beacon Hill long enough to know how this game is played -- regardless of the political arena.
I wish Mr. Keverian all the luck in the world and send out good thoughts to him for his continued recovery.
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 02/11/2008 : 4:00:25 PM
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| I personally don't think we should be "eternally indebted to Mr. Keverian," but I do feel things should have been handled in a more respectful and professional manner. |
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tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 02/19/2008 : 2:35:55 PM
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This was actually in last Thursday's Boston Globe. I just became aware of it today. Since I had not seen it posted anywhere on this board, I thought I'd share it in case anyone else missed it as well.
EVERETT
ABOUT 12 TO LOSE CITY JOBS - It's taking longer than he originally anticipated, but Mayor Carlo DeMaria said he has started to pare down the number of department heads and other top officials in the city's workforce, as he pledged to do in his inauguration. He said he has pinpointed about a dozen workers who will be notified shortly that they are either going to be let go, bumped to a lower position, or made part time. The mayor declined to say specifically when those employees will be notified. Earlier, DeMaria said he had hoped to tell workers their status by last Friday. "Some of these people have families and kids and health benefits for their families," DeMaria said. "I have been telling them all, if you haven't received a letter from me saying you have a commitment to work for the city, then you should not only try to perform your very best every day, but also look for other employment." So far, the city's treasurer, auditor, assistant city solicitor, parking clerk, community development director, and several nondepartmental directors have been notified that they will be kept on, DeMaria said.
- Kay Lazar |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 02/19/2008 : 4:02:57 PM
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| Thanks, Tetris. I missed that article, too. |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 02/21/2008 : 6:01:15 PM
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I can understand the Board of Alderman wanting to see paper documents, and that’s fine (why haven’t they asked before) but I would like to point out that Commissioner Rice has done a wonderful job for our veterans and they trust him. These funds are for our veterans that put their lives on the line for our safety and they should not have to come home and wait not one day for any assistance they may need, especially heating assistance, which the commissioner helps them with. Thank you Walter Rice!
EVERETT
VETERANS' COSTS RISING - The amount the city has been paying out in benefits to veterans has risen steadily in the past two years as the local veterans office has aggressively sought out recipients who qualify for benefits and explained their rights to them, said Walter Rice, the commissioner of Veterans' Services. The Board of Aldermen has asked Rice to explain at its meeting Monday why his office needs an additional $140,000. The board on Feb. 11 postponed transferring the money from the city's pension fund account to the Veterans' Services benefits allowance account, pending Rice's explanation. In a telephone interview, Rice said that when he was hired in January 2006 by then-mayor John Hanlon, he was directed to seek out all veterans who were eligible for benefits, such as assistance with rental, mortgage, or utility payments, and make sure they are receiving the amounts to which they are entitled. He said the $140,000 is needed to pay for the state-mandated benefits through the rest of the fiscal year, and that the state reimburses 75 percent of that amount, so Everett will receive about $105,000 back. "I have increased the number of people on my rolls from about 27 people to over 90," Rice said. "Prior to my arrival, the office was part time, which was illegal." Last month, the offices of the state attorney general and the governor sent letters to all municipal leaders reminding them that state law requires all cities and towns with populations of more than 12,000 to have full-time veterans' services officers. Everett's population is about 38,000. The letters noted that these officers are responsible for "proactively and regularly seeking out veterans to advise them of all benefits to which they are entitled, and posting and holding regular office hours." Monday's meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in City Hall. - Kay Lazar
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 02/21/2008 : 6:16:12 PM
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| One thing I forgot to mention (and I could be way off base, because I don’t understand it) but, it seemed as if there was no problem transferring from the Pension Fund to the Fire Account or the funds to the General Operating Expense and the 125,000.00 to City Services. Where they asked for paper work too? |
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vets4ever
Member
35 Posts |
Posted - 02/24/2008 : 06:31:23 AM
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(poster's note: I am going to copy/paste two stories regarding Everett Veterans Services. First is from last thurs Globe North and the second is a 1/28 dated story from the the net, Channel 4, Boston. Had Everett Veterans Services not taken the bull by the horns and aggressively sought out eligible veterans and provided benefits, the city would have been one of those named below and those named below are facing some very stringent compliance orders from Comm. of Mass overseers. IMHO, the city was spared significant embarrasment whereas Everettt veterans now have complete and unfettered access to the benefits they deserve.)
EVERETT
VETERANS' COSTS RISING - The amount the city has been paying out in benefits to veterans has risen steadily in the past two years as the local veterans office has aggressively sought out recipients who qualify for benefits and explained their rights to them, said Walter Rice, the commissioner of Veterans' Services. The Board of Aldermen has asked Rice to explain at its meeting Monday why his office needs an additional $140,000. The board on Feb. 11 postponed transferring the money from the city's pension fund account to the Veterans' Services benefits allowance account, pending Rice's explanation. In a telephone interview, Rice said that when he was hired in January 2006 by then-mayor John Hanlon, he was directed to seek out all veterans who were eligible for benefits, such as assistance with rental, mortgage, or utility payments, and make sure they are receiving the amounts to which they are entitled. He said the $140,000 is needed to pay for the state-mandated benefits through the rest of the fiscal year, and that the state reimburses 75 percent of that amount, so Everett will receive about $105,000 back. "I have increased the number of people on my rolls from about 27 people to over 90," Rice said. "Prior to my arrival, the office was part time, which was illegal." Last month, the offices of the state attorney general and the governor sent letters to all municipal leaders reminding them that state law requires all cities and towns with populations of more than 12,000 to have full-time veterans' services officers. Everett's population is about 38,000. The letters noted that these officers are responsible for "proactively and regularly seeking out veterans to advise them of all benefits to which they are entitled, and posting and holding regular office hours." Monday's meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in City Hall. - Kay Lazar
You must be logged in to see this link.
Jan 28, 2008 9:26 pm US/Eastern
Mass. Cities Cited For Ignoring Vet Services Law
Reporting
Joe Shortsleeve
BOSTON (WBZ) ¯ Massachusetts is cracking down on municipal leaders across the state as some communities are not providing legally mandated services for our veterans.
Our soldiers come home heroes but are often forgotten at Town Hall.
Veterans are entitled to certain benefits for housing, education, health care and much more.
These benefits are supposed to be handed out at the local level. In fact, every community is required by law to have a veteran's services officer.
But in this day of tight budgets, many towns are breaking the law and cutting back the position.
State officials are citing Danvers, Fitchburg, Framingham, Gloucester, Melrose and Milton, as well as others communities, with flaunting the law.
All communities are getting a letter signed by the Attorney General. It's a stern reminder that says, all cities and towns with populations over 12,000 must employ a full time veteran services officer
"If municipalities are not stepping up to the plate -- and the good news is most of them are -- but if communities are not, we are seriously going at look at intervening," said Lt. Gov. Tim Murray.
In some towns like Norwood, the veteran's services officer is swamped with work because vets who can't get help in their towns all go to Norwood.
The letter requires town leaders to provide the name of their veteran services officer to the state by March 1.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 02/24/2008 : 08:55:32 AM
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From today's Globe, North Weekly Section
ASSISTANT CITY SOLICITOR HIRED - Jill Barringer, a lawyer who previously was associated with an Everett firm, has been appointed by Mayor Carlo DeMaria to be an assistant city solicitor. Barringer, who was appointed on Tuesday, replaces Victor Dragone, who was notified by the mayor on Feb. 15 that he was being let go, said Erin Deveney, DeMaria's chief of staff. Colleen Mejia, an assistant city solicitor, was promoted to the top spot as the city's acting solicitor shortly after DeMaria took office last month. Deveney said the mayor will decide shortly whether Mejia will be given the post permanently. "If she doesn't get that [position]," Deveney said, "she will be the first deputy, based on her years of service with the city and her knowledge of issues that will be important to the mayor, including zoning matters, and also labor and employment and procurement issues." - Kay Lazar |
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Head
Senior Member
111 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2008 : 12:53:15 PM
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| Go Jill! |
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charm
Senior Member
264 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2008 : 06:10:07 AM
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REGION
Wireless spreading, pole by pole
By Kay Lazar, Globe Staff | February 28, 2008
The nodes are coming. Or as Robert Van Campen, president of the Everett Board of Aldermen, describes them, "gym lockers hanging on the side of utility poles."
With a seemingly insatiable public demand for more wireless phone coverage, Everett, Malden, and Chelsea are on a growing list of suburban communities targeted by a California-based telecommunications company that is building a new type of wireless network.
NextG Networks has sought permits in all three cities to install its digital antenna system, or DAS, on existing utility poles. The setup, called a node, includes fiber-optic cables and a small antenna that is attached near the top of a pole, and an amplifier that is connected about 12 feet above ground level. The amplifiers are in metal boxes that are about 3 feet long, sparking the comparison with gym lockers.
"I don't appreciate having something like that hanging on poles in the city, 10 or 12 feet above the ground," Van Campen said.
Neither, apparently, did officials in Malden and Chelsea. But after learning from their city solicitors that federal telecommunications law essentially grants carriers the right of way and leaves little room for communities to reject the requests, Malden last week approved NextG's petition for installations on nine poles, and Chelsea this week is finalizing a request for 10.
But Everett's Board of Aldermen rejected NextG's request in November to install about 20 nodes around the city, prompting the company to file a federal lawsuit on Friday calling Everett's denial "particularly egregious" and "completely subjective," and requesting a court order allowing the installations to proceed.
NextG's push into suburbia comes at a time when many communities are struggling with the "double-pole" phenomenon.
Utility companies often bolt a new pole next to a rotting one for months as they wait for other service providers - telephone, cable, street-light, fiber-optic - to remove their wires before the decaying pole is taken down.
"We are at the mercy of the utility companies that own the poles. So when NextG came before us, it compounded the problem," said Gary Christenson, Malden's City Council president. "Here we are, dealing with the issue of double poles, and it conjured up all the negativity around it. It wasn't so much what NextG was trying to do."
NextG is trying to install roughly 400 nodes in about 10 communities around Boston, according to Robert Delsman, NextG's vice president of government regulations and regulatory affairs.
Delsman declined to list all of the communities but said Brookline is one of them.
"We have another competitor in the Boston area called ExteNet, and they are doing a system in Brookline," Delsman said. "We have an application pending with Brookline . . . that is covering a larger area."
NextG, ExteNet, and others are vying to build digital antenna systems across the country for wireless companies that need to improve their coverage or expand their capacity. Fueling the stampede are consumers seeking more features with their cellphones - text messages, e-mail, downloaded music, and video.
As wireless companies face neighborhood resistance to cell towers, digital antenna systems are springing up as a more palatable solution.
"In the Northeast, where there are densely populated residential areas and where local zoning regulations make the siting of traditional wireless structures unfeasible, oftentimes carriers find that DAS is an appropriate way to provide coverage within a specific area," said Jackie McCarthy, director of government relations for PCIA -The Wireless Infrastructure Association. "DAS becomes the only way to deploy signals in certain areas."
After hashing out the issue for several months in Malden, the City Council added five conditions to the agreement it reached with NextG last week.
Those conditions called for the company to install "the smallest available and least obtrusive" nodes on utility poles and to agree to remove all of its equipment within 30 days when a utility pole is being replaced. Everett officials say they rejected NextG's request last fall because the company provided fuzzy answers to many questions, including whether there would be any health impacts from radio frequencies emitted from the equipment. The firm provided the city with a report, included in its federal lawsuit, that indicated its equipment would emit less than 1 percent of federal permissible levels.
In interviews last Thursday, the day before the lawsuit was filed, Everett officials said they were leaning toward approving NextG's request, largely because the city solicitor advised them that Everett didn't have much chance of winning. Yet they said they would withhold their decision until after a scheduled March 10 public hearing to gather further feedback.
Then on Monday night, the city's Board of Aldermen met behind closed doors for 40 minutes to discuss the new lawsuit. After that executive session, the president announced that the city would seal its NextG records until the litigation is concluded, and that the planned March 10 hearing, at 7 p.m. in City Hall, would proceed. He declined to answer further questions, citing the pending litigation.
Kay Lazar can be reached at klazar@globe.com.
© Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2008 : 09:02:33 AM
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Not very smart.........
Firecracker breaks apartment windows in Everett
March 2, 2008
Police officials are investigating a small explosion that blew out some windows of a first-floor apartment at a building on Hancock Street yesterday. Police said the damage was apparently caused by a powerful firecracker that was set off in a first-floor apartment at 132 Hancock St. The homeowner was not present and there was no fire and no injuries were reported, police said. Neighbors called police about 5 p.m. citing a loud noise that some said sounded like a gun shot. Police searched the perimeter for more than two hours. |
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charm
Senior Member
264 Posts |
Posted - 03/06/2008 : 05:09:22 AM
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EVERETT
HICKEY MAY SEEK VETERANS POST - Ward 4 Common Councilor Joseph Hickey said he is considering applying for the city's newly posted Veterans Services commissioner position. Mayor Carlo DeMaria last week terminated Walter Rice, who held the position for two years and was appointed by former mayor John Hanlon. "The mayor appreciates the service that Mr. Rice provided to the veterans in the Everett community, but he has decided to exercise his right to put someone in this position, and he will ensure that the veterans community in Everett continues to receive the same standard of services, if not better services, in the future," said Erin Deveney, DeMaria's chief of staff. Shortly after his termination, Rice posted a message on the Everett Mirror blog, which said, in part, "All I ask is that everyone remember the quality of life of several veterans hang in the balance on a monthly basis through any and all debate. Please remember them - they still need the city's help. I have a tentative offer in private industry to commence the first of next year; but for reasons very personal to me, my heart remains with Veterans work and always will." Hickey, 56, said the prospect of serving as the city's veterans commissioner is one that has long been "near and dear" to him, and that he lobbied Hanlon and his predecessor, former mayor David Ragucci, for the spot. "I did two tours of duty in Vietnam when people were burning their draft cards. I brought the Vietnam Moving Wall to the city of Everett in 2005 and I am now working on the Veterans Memorial Park next to the high school," he said. If Hickey does apply, he would have to resign his seat on the council, but would still face a conflict of interest issue unless his appointment was delayed. State ethics law requires that "No councilor shall be eligible for appointment to such additional position while a member of said council or for six months thereafter." - Kay Lazar |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 03/12/2008 : 2:02:33 PM
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At first I was all for this but the more I think about it, we do want the best qualified fire/police on the force and to limit the pool to just Everett, I think, at this time, might be a mistake. Good intentions from Alderman Marchese..
EVERETT
MAYOR TO MULL RESIDENCY RULE - The much-debated proposal of required residency for Everett's firefighters and police officers is now in the hands of Mayor Carlo DeMaria. The Common Council on Monday postponed voting on the issue, and instead referred it to the mayor's office for clarification on several points. "The mayor will review it with the city solicitor and try to come up with a feasible ordinance for everyone involved," said Lorrie Bruno, Common Council president. The proposed ordinance, as written, would require police and firefighters hired after Jan. 1, 2009, to be permanent residents of Everett. Supporters of the proposal say it will increase safety in the city because new hires will have a vested interest in, and be more familiar with, the neighborhoods they are protecting. Opponents say it will prevent the city from hiring qualified candidates who want to live elsewhere. The Board of Aldermen last month approved the measure by a 4 to 3 vote. But passage of a new ordinance requires that the board and the Common Council each vote twice on the issue before it goes to the mayor for his signature. Bruno said she did not know if the mayor and city solicitor would have a revised measure ready in time for the council's next meeting, slated for March 17. - Kay Lazar |
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BOSTON GLOBE
