Left In Lowell

Yesterday’s Lowell Sun’s “The Column” had a few paragraphs on City Manager Bernie Lynch’s plans to ask the City Council to reinstate the position of Assistant to the City Manager. I am not going to review the whole history, we all know what happened. But just in case, here is the story.

I would link to the Column but the Sun has decided for business reasons not to have “The Column” available on line for its non-paying customers.

Back to CM Lynch, according to the Column “he is evaluating the needs of his office, putting together a job description and planning to ask the council to restore funding for the position.”

And during his weekly radio interview on WCAP CM Lynch has raised this same issue. Here is a 30-second clip from last week’s Finance Sub-Committee meeting where the topic is raised by the CM. (More on the Finance Sub-Committee meeting and the City Budget at a later date).

I am one of those who believe that the results of this year’s municipal election indicate a vote of confidence for the Lynch administration. Any manager, including this one, needs to structure his administration as he sees fit. I do believe that the majority sentiment of the new City Council will be to give him the tools that he needs to accomplish the CCs goals and objectives.

Even if the CC were to approve this in mid-January, the Assistant will not be in place probably until early February. So for the remainder of the fiscal year, the added cost will be less than $40,000; a sum that can be transferred from the Manager’s contingency fund. That money will be a good investment in our future if it gives the CM the opportunity “to identify and implement cost savings idea and improve our efficiencies.” I hope the reinstatement of the position will not be as turbulent as the elimination was but we will see.

Update: Check out this link…not sure who this org is but they purport to grade Congresspeople on their votes to help the middle class. Capuano gets very high marks every year they have a score.

A friend pointed out this ACLU questionnaire where the four Democrats give answers on their views of various related issues. (The Republicans didn’t send back answers…surprise, surprise…)

I found it really telling that not only did Capuano answer the questions but also commented on most of them. He was the candidate with the most expanded answers (Coakley had a few but not nearly as many).

Some highlights from Capuano’s comments:

Question 10: Will you support efforts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act that denies legally married gay and lesbian couples more than a thousand federal rights and protections that are afforded to all opposite-sex married couples?

Capuano
I support the repeal of DOMA and I am a co-sponsor of HR 3567, the Respect for Marriage Act. I have also consistently co-sponsored the Uniting American Families Act which would permit same-sex couples in committed relationships the same immigration sponsorship rights as married heterosexual couples.
[snip]
Question 12: Will you oppose efforts to funnel scarce federal taxpayer funds to create, expand, or continue federally-funded private and religious school voucher programs?

Capuano
I oppose state subsidies or vouchers for private secular or religious schools. I am also opposed to the funding formula for charter schools, which bases payments to charter schools on the average per pupil expenditure of the public school system. This formula ignores the fact that public schools must educate all children, students who are not fluent in English and those with special needs, cognitive, emotional, and physical, while charter schools are free to cherry pick the motivated students of attentive parents.

This is why I endorsed Mike Capuano. Not only is he principled, but he’s also able to express strong reasoning in his arguments. This is the best of all worlds - thoughtful decision making, standing up for what one believes in, and the practical ability to do something about it. All three are necessary for a good Senator.

With only one week to go, we the voters of the Democratic primary need to choose our pick to replace the irreplaceable Ted Kennedy, who will go on to the general election in January (and let’s face it, on to the Senate). My endorsement comes late but no less enthusiastic. I endorse Mike Capuano for US Senate.

In looking at all the candidates, really only two are known progressives, and of those two, one has been tried in office and has stood up against Bush era abuses, against the Iraq war, for protecting civil liberties, and has a practical progressive view on how to get things done in Washington. As much as I’d hate to see him leave the House, I think the Senate needs Capuano desperately.

There is the other progressive in the race, Alan Khazei, and I hope he runs for office in the future. A lot of my progressive friends are on board with his campaign, but I have two major problems with him: one, that on a practical level, he’s highly unlikely to win; and two, some of the missteps in his campaign, though understandable, make him look rather green. For instance, I applaud his stance on casinos, but the forums in which he brought the matter up were inappropriate, and also, irrelevant. The only power a Senator would have in the state debate about casinos is the bully pulpit, and a freshman Senator, not even much of that. A lower office would suit Khazei so that he can gain the experience needed to move further up, but I just don’t see the “ready for prime time” practicality necessary to make something happen in the mess of a Senate.

I am sincerely skeptical about Coakley, and moreso the longer this campaign goes and she listens to her consultants and “plays it safe.” That’s not to say she might not turn out to be a good progressive, but the manner in which she has run her campaign doesn’t showcase this potential whatsoever. She has failed to reach out to the grassroots, or the netroots, and I’m really kinda sick of the only way I actually hear about her campaign: ads on TV, and press releases to my email like every day or so. It would take very little for her to change the impression that we out here in the ‘roots have of her, but no effort so far. More’s the pity. I want to ask: How will she govern, if this is the way she runs?

Her reversal on the increase of troops in Afghanistan is nothing short of bewildering. First she says she’ll wait to hear the President’s evaluation (a “safe” though actually defensible position), and now, that the other candidates say they are against increasing the troops without a timeline for withdrawal, now she is. Way to stick to your guns.

Pagliuca is dismissible, if not for his gobs of money which makes him a household name now. Anyone else tired of Pags ads? Doth protest too much? His is a vanity campaign, except he has spent so much cash that he actually has a bit of a shot. My friend Ryan (who has endorsed Khazei) does a good job running down the reasons why this guy is in fourth place for the progressive vote. I have no use for a guy whose first indication of progressiveness is his ads on TV, when all his previous actions say something different.

But enough about why not to vote for the other guy. Why should you vote for Mike Capuano?

For me, it’s about the combination of practical attitude and steady principles. The man who held this seat for so long had a lot of both of these elements. Kennedy’s time in the Senate was about holding the line against conservative and neo-liberal policies, many of which resulted in the mess we are in today. A shift of the conservatives to the right corresponded with a shift of the Democrats to the right (even right of center) with devastating results. But not for Ted, and a vast majority of his constituents thanked him for it.

That’s why I want someone with similar principles, and similar practicality, to hold this office again. We need to adhere to our ideals…not because we want to be extremist, but because in reality, on issue after issue, we have the American people on our side. If we want to be rewarded with the trust of the people, we should stand for something. And then follow through.

Mike Capuano has a history of working with others to accomplish goals. He seems to know when to compromise, and when to stand firm. (Hint: eroding our civil liberties was one of latter.) Kennedy knew how to garner the respect of his peers, even as they took opposite sides on an issue. I believe that Mike Capuano is best able to replace that man who held constituent services as dear as passing a health care bill.

Finally, Capuano has shown he is of the grassroots. He has held event after event, out on the streets, unscripted. He is knowledgeable on the issues, answers questions from anyone, has deigned to interview with such rabble as bloggers and podcasters (gasp!), and generally displayed an attitude of listening as much as talking. He is down to earth and not driven by consultants (though I’m sure he employs some), and doesn’t apologize for being himself. All of these things make him the best Democrat to replace Ted Kennedy as our second Senator from Massachusetts.