A few quick hits!
Yes, there is life outside of Lowell. Here are a few things that I think are of major interest to all of us:
1. MBTA fares will increase. If the proposed rate goes through, those of you (Chris H.) who take the train into Boston to work, will have to spend $2.00 more a day.
2. I like Martha Coakley’s move to challenge DOMA. I heard a Republican official, who opposed Moakley’s decision, call the lawsuits a political move. Some of us would think opposing it, is a political move. Good move A.G.; good move Mass.
3. I am sorry but I cannot get excited about the RMV office closing in Lowell. Most people had to drive or get a ride to the Lowell office; now they will have to go a few more miles down the road.
4. The other day while driving through the City, I saw a car with a placard for the movieThe Fighter. It was resting on the dashboard of a car. I guess filming has begun. Yes, I’m ready for my closeup. 
July 9th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
The closing of the Lowell RMV is in fact a big deal. Lowell is the 4th largest city in the state. This is reflected by the volume of customers served at the Lowell office. Hundreds of people use the Lowell office every day. The last time I did a transaction there I had to wait nearly an hour. I cant imagine adding the round trip to Lawrence, plus the additional wait time for the added volume of customers.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
I don’t want to say I told you so…but I will…suddenly the Lowell delegation is no longer in a leadership role and “BAM” we start taking hits!
Sure Pangy is still there and he may pull this out, but our state reps have been reduced to back benchers and we can no longer count on them for anything.
If they had backed DeLeo and held onto their leadership roles do you think for a minute that the RMV in Lowell would have been targeted? No Way Jose! Instead they backed the next (soon to be) convicted felon to run the House.
July 10th, 2009 at 6:03 am
Well, this will show the antitax crowd (not directed at you, Tom, but in general). I always said that they’ll be the first to whine when services they use and want start getting cut.
Sorry, but them’s the breaks. Have fun standing in line in Lawrence. Hope you all put two and two together and stop talking about eliminating the income tax now.
July 10th, 2009 at 6:41 am
Lynne, This isn’t part of any antitax discussion. The registry is sustained by fees levied. I remember hearing years ago that the registry is the only part of the state government that turns a profit.
Besides all that, it doesn’t make sense to close an office where the customers are.
In addition, the landlord of that building indicated that he’s willing to cut the rent. Smart move on his part as he wont find another tenant in this economy.
July 10th, 2009 at 8:30 am
I don’t see the big deal with the closing especially since there are no job losses. They have good online services for most of what we need. There are better things to grouse about.
July 10th, 2009 at 9:01 am
And I bet there’s plenty of customers in Lawrence, and in Haverhill, and one of them had to be shut down. *shrug*
July 10th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Eleanor Rigby, you told us what? Bob DeLeo is the one who decided to close the RMV? really? Was there a vote that I missed? Last I checked, Rachel Kaprilian (who was a Rogers supporter!) was appointed by the Governor. This has nothing to do with the House leadership at the State House. So please wait for something actually relevant before taking your I told you so.
In fact, the only way it would matter is if Rachel figured that Pangy would be able to come up with the money to save Lowell out of a supplemental.
And what is John Rogers going to be indicted for??? He paid for an investigation to something he had done by the state ethics commission (aka civil, not criminal). If anything DeLeo was the one who signed off on all of Sal’s misdeeds!
I still have no idea how the city of Lowell can suffer without Pangy suffering and Pangy holds the purse strings. He is just as powerful as Bob DeLeo if not more so since the Senate always has a firmer grip on their members.
So no. Sorry. Wait until the HOUSE does something to punish Lowell (and somehow magically able to get Pangy to sign off on it in the Senate) before talking about how the Lowell guys not being in leadership is responsible.
July 10th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
It’s not a vote, it’s the influence. You seem to know how things technically work, but not necessarily how they really do work.
A Rep or group of Reps in an influential place (ie having backed the winning guy) would call the Speaker to pressure him to pressure whoever needs be to change their minds. Things then just seem to happen.
It’s not pretty, it’s quite blatantly sort of good old boyish, but that’s how things generally work. It wouldn’t have guaranteed that Lowell would have stayed open, but without that influence, it certainly can’t help.
July 10th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
The RMV makes money. The consumer should get something for theri money. This move, as all high profile government service cuts, is meant to punish us for not getting on the increased tax bandwagon. I would suggest that we respond in kind to this pounishment. Not just abolish the income tax, but abolish the sales tax as well. And I am willing to match each high profile budget cut, with a elimination of another tax.
July 10th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
For those of you who will miss it, a small clip of it has been preserved.
View this often and remember it fondly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH-h8CoiXWM
July 10th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
No thats the difference, i know how they really do work, and the fact that Senator Panagiotakos is the chairman of Ways and Means in the Senate means that nothing Bob DeLeo does legislatively can’t get done with Pangy’s support too. Considering that the Senate was much more responsible with their budget than the House then I don’t think the Lowell guys having the ear of the speaker would make a difference. And if you look at some recent votes (Suffolk Co Holidays) DeLeo hasn’t had a firm grip on his own votes, so he’s in no position to be “punishing” anyone anyways.
If none of the Lowell delegation was in power, then yes, you’d be right. The influence would be lacking. But once again, Pangy is there. Pangy can offer more money to the RMV. He and Charley Murphy personally control the pursestrings so to speak. He really doesn’t have to use his influence for anyone.
If the RMV was the pet project of Golden, Nangle or Murphy, then yes you’d be right.
But this “Lowell suffers because the 3 Lowell guys aren’t chairmen” is cancelled out because Pangiotakos is in the 2nd most important spot in the Senate.
And of course, the fact that this was a Registry decision. If you want to talk about the Watertown branch being open being political, then you have a point.
The Lowell branch being closed has more to do with the terms of the rent/landlord than anything to do with what office space is being held by the Lowell state representatives.
July 10th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
I dunno. The Speakers tend to act more bully-ish than the Senate President, looking at history. I don’t think the SP interferes in the same manner or uses the bully pulpit in the same manner. Look at Finnerin. Look at DiMasi. Compare that to previous Senate Presidents…I mean, Senate President who?
July 11th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Bulger.
August 24th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Lynne, as a proud member and activist in the “antitax crowd” I must say I am glad the RMV’s are closing. Hopefully someday we can stop paying registration fees and other fees some other states never pay, so there will be less need for the RMV. Meanwhile. hopefully the income tax is abolished and the sales tax repealed down to 2.5% so the legislature and government can stop burning our cash in their furnace of useless spending. If our government knew what it was doing and not wasting our cash we wouldn’t be closing RMV’s or needing bailouts (Texas didn’t need a bailout, they have a surplus, and businesses are moving there in droves).