Left In Lowell

The Sun has posted on their web site the resumes of the semi-finalists as selected by the School Superintendent Screening Committee, chaired by former Mayor and City Councilor Eileen Donoghue.

Eight of the 21 individuals who applied were selected but two have already withdrawn their names, so the semi-finalist contains 6 names. The Screening Committee will now interview them and recommend 5 of them to the School Committee for the final list. The School Committee reserved the right to add any of the names that did not make the short list. By the way, two of the six semi-finalists also have applied for positions in other communities and two others are already employees of the Lowell School Department. (more…)

First they shove Dr. Karla Brooks Baher out the door and now are they trying to do the same to a prominent Lowell non-profit , ONE Lowell, whose sole purpose is to assist Lowell’s immigrant community.

Last night at the High School Sub-Committee meeting, by a vote of 2-1, recommended to the full School Committee to have ONE Lowell activities suspended at the High School. Jackie has all the details on her blog. She writes:

For the last few years, the nonprofit agency has worked with the school district regarding student attendance (they are currently involved with truant students and their families from all but one of our middle schools as well as the high school). Funded completely by grants, the group improves student attendance at no cost to the district on a referral basis—schools refer severely truant students, parents sign waivers to allow the agency’s involvement, and ONE Lowell’s bilingual staff visit with families and refer them to other programs and services as needed to get their children to attend school.

So what did ONE Lowell do that required such a drastic move? Although the organization has provided a report, it seems that 2/3 of the Sub-Committee would like to have regular, prepared narrative on each student. I think it would have made sense to pass a motion formally asking for this information; isn’t suspension pretty drastic?

If you read the High School’s report presented to the Sub-Committee, you will notice that the school has a number of programs in place to combat truancy. However, the “home visit” component has run out of funds for the year. I would think that the School Committee realizing that fact would welcome a partnership with a non-profit and be eager to work out any communication issues they may have.

Stay tune for next Wednesday’s School Committee meeting to see how the vote goes. We need to start paying just as much attention to the School side of government as we do the City Council; otherwise our School system will remain in the hands of the politically motivated.

Lowell Women’s Week begins this Saturday, March 1 through Sunday, March 9th.
In case you din’t know, March is Women’s History Month. At the center of this is International Women’s Day, which is March 8th.
There are many events to participate in, throughout the City, so take a peek and join in! (more…)

Sorry for ze lack of post today, but paid duty calls. I’m workin’ on some stuff. So like, I dunno, thread it yourselves! There’s lots to talk about.

I’ll be out for a bit so hopefully the other mods will approve comments (hint hint heh) until I can get back to the internets. Hope you are all having a swell day. Think spring!

What, you don’t trust these guys with your open and fair internet? From Free Press:

Comcast Blocks Public Debate at FCC Hearing
WASHINGTON — Comcast has admitted hiring people to fill up the limited number of seats at yesterday’s Federal Communications Commission hearing at Harvard. More than 100 people were turned away when the event reached capacity. The public hearing was part of the federal agency’s ongoing investigation into allegations that the cable giant is blocking consumers’ access to legal Web traffic.

Timothy Karr, campaign director of SavetheInternet.com, issued the following statement:

“First, Comcast was caught blocking the Internet. Now it has been caught blocking the public from the debate. The only people cheering Comcast are those paid to do so. Clearly, Comcast will resort to just about any underhanded tactic to stack the decks in its favor. And yet Comcast still expects us to trust them with the future of the Internet?”

Read Portfolio’s story.

Read the SavetheInternet.com blog.

On tonight’s City Council agenda is an item that frustrates me. “#9: Resolution-Supporting legislation licensing resort-style casinos in Commonwealth.”

The actual resolution is here. I shake my head reading it. To quote part:

WHEREAS, the Governor’s resort-style casino plan will generate $600 million-a-year in new public revenues, and $800 million in upfront license fee payments to the state. In addition, tens of millions of dollars per year will be generated in income, sales, meals, hotel and other taxes and economic activity;

Right. So the Governor, listening to casino proponents (ie, casino lobbyists) gives out a bunch of numbers. Is the city council going to actually fall for this? I hope not. There’s a word for people who do: gullible.

There is, of course, nothing in the resolution about the dollars lost having to pay for addiction councilors, added police and court costs, the loss of taxable revenue of the entertainment dollars that will fail to go to other venues, or the closing of many restaurants and entertainment businesses as people decide to go to the casino instead. No mention of the dirty casino lobby, its penchant for screwing the state later on by getting the legislature to lower the tax on casinos, or the deteriorating situation you get with casinos in your vicinity. Nope. Just pie-in-the-sky numbers and a hope and a prayer.

If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Someone’s going to have to pay for it. I don’t think $600 million is worth it. In fact, it’s not going to be $600 million dollars, is it? It’s going to be significantly less, given all the other factors that are being ignored. Probably even a net loss. But we don’t know for sure, do we? Because we have not gotten any sort of objective study that tells us the real numbers. Just lobbyist dribble.

Vote it down, guys. Or, if you really want to examine this issue going forward, support a resolution for studying this issue for serious, get the real numbers, the real data, so that we can make sure that this route isn’t the screwfest for our state that I’m pretty certain it will be. That would be a real useful resolution if you ask me.

On today’s WBUR news, I heard a snippet of important reporting from yesterday’s Cambridge FCC public hearing on net neutrality. It sounds like the Chair, who is a Republican Bush appointee, is quoted as being against allowing the ISPs (internet providers) to pick and choose what traffic they can stifle. That’s good news for the future of free and fair use of the internet. You can listen or read the transcript of the report.

The Federal Communications Commission may have fired the first shot in what some are calling a fight over the future of the internet. Following a hearing in Cambridge yesterday, the head of the FCC said he’s ready to punish internet providers who purposefully slow down the transfer of massive files such as videos. WBUR’s Business and Technology Reporter Curt Nickisch has more.

[snip]

NICKISCH: After the hearing, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said he’s prepared to stop Internet providers from hobbling traffic. That’s a key statement from a Republican who generally favors the market sorting things out on its own. Martin and the rest of the panel may get some help from Massachusetts Congressman Edward Markey. He introduced a bill last week that would give the FCC more authority on the issue.

I just received the following call for volunteers from the Merrimack Valley Food Bank and thought I might pass it along to all of you for consideration. Keep in mind, that this is the last food drive until the Fall.

Spring Pantry Raid
March 15-22, 2008

The Merrimack Valley Food Bank is planning a Neighborhood Food Drive, known as
The Pantry Raid. At this time, the Food Bank, as well as most of our member agencies, struggle to keep enough non-perishable food on their shelves to feed the neediest populations in Greater Lowell, the Merrimack Valley, North Shore and Southern New Hampshire. The Pantry Raid helps us replenish items here at the food bank until the annual Postal Carriers’ Food Drive in May. The collection will benefit the Food Bank and the Dracut Food Pantry. (more…)

This is why.

Commonwealth Care, the subsidized insurance offered by the state, is likely to get a hell of a lot more expensive this year — premiums up by 14%, co-pays way up.

Look, I’m all for universal health care. But I am not interested in poor-quality, expensive corporate welfare windfalls to piss-pot corporations. (Does it show that I’ve tangled with my own HMO far too often, given how much we’re paying?)

Public money for private health care is neither practical, affordable, or even that much help for the people who can afford it/get subsidized. It costs too much in overhead (private insurances’ administration costs far exceed that of public care here or in other countries…hiring people to deny you care), plus then there’s that pesky need to make a profit besides (that Medicare does not have). Health care solutions that mandate the public to buy into private health insurance explode into wasteful taxpayer boondoggles that only benefit the wealthy corporations that are already fleecing those of us with health insurance in the private sector.

Health insurers have proven time and again that they cannot, will not, or enjoy not fixing the problem. Their corporate need to make as big a buck as possible collides with the public good. That’s why health care mandates that do not include an option to opt into a central public health care system are doomed to failure while giving free money to private corporations that are already making a pretty penny. Maybe Obama’s health care won’t cut it either, but I refuse to think that the best way to go about this is to punish the middle class which won’t be subsidized and force them to get substandard care via the private sector, as Clinton’s health care plan does.

First, let me start off, I disgree with requiring a residency requirement for all City workers.

However, should this become voted into place, I would hope that the following is considered;

1.) All City employees (that’s City workers, School teachers, Police and Firemen) should have to fall in compliance with this requirement. Furthermore, any aspects of geography need to come off the table in negotiations and allow every employee who lives outside of Lowell, one year to move to the City of Lowell.
2.) As this motion is being introduced with the premise that it would stimulate economic development, perhaps our CC should put their mouths where our money is and actually bring into Lowell, venues that are attract those dollars (department store type venues, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Home Goods, etc..). Irrespective of residency, consumers in Lowell, travel out of Lowell to fulfill their needs, for lack of sufficient businesses to support those needs.
3.) While we are on the economic development train for Lowell, perhaps all business entities in Lowell should require residency for their employees. For example; the Lowell Sun. The Sun has always been a strong propronent of economic development, surely the powers that be at the Lowell Sun, would realize the economic value in hiring only those employees that are from Lowell.
4.) Why not incorporate ordinances that would only allow the City of Lowell to do business with businesses (w/ 100% of their employees from Lowell), from Lowell (sorry, Demers Towing!), irregardless of cost.
5.) Now if we were to demand that all employees live in Lowell, perhaps we should mandate that our public safety personnel should live in the worst areas of the City? Guarantee, the atmosphere of those neighborhoods would improve very rapidly.
6.) And lastly, since our CC is on the verge of considering that their be a residency requirement; One argument that has some validity (which no CC will touch), is that when it comes to Union negotiations, perhaps the contracts would take a differant tone, if the members of the Union were Lowell Tax Payers, like the rest of us.

Please do remember, that alot of what I had written above, is tongue in cheek…but certainly items to consider.