Left In Lowell

On Saturday’s Democratic convention, a big highlight was watching Worcester hometown boy Lt. Gov. Tim Murray and Governor Deval Patrick’s speeches. As I said on Saturday (in tweets) I thought they really made the case for four more years.

First, let’s just pause for a second and savor the words, “reelection.” How long has it been since we heard those words? A Governor who wants to stick around. The pundits were dead wrong; Patrick did NOT take a job in the Obama White House, though no one could have blamed him if he had. He’s staying around, despite the not-so-pleasant situation this nation has found itself in.

But more than that, these speeches put into stark reality what accomplishments this team has made, how much better off we are today than we were, even with the recession (97% health coverage, 19,000 new jobs in April, #1 in education in the country!) and how much there is left to do. These speeches really made the case for four more years of Patrick/Murray.

I had both of these recorded in the Evo (having been too scared to stream to Qik lest it goof up) but the official recordings are much better so I’ll just embed those below. You can also find the “video introductions” for both speeches at the campaign website, and they’re good (cameo from the famous Kate D).

First, Lt. Governor Murray:

And you have to watch the whole of Governor Patrick’s speech, it was astounding:

Governor Patrick will be in Lowell today, and his office offered me a chance to sit down with him afterwaryd, and even, to stream the interview live online! He is in town for the groundbreaking of the Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center at UMass Lowell (the nanotech center) on north campus. The event takes place at 11am, so the sit down will be some time after that (I’ll get more precise times and post them here and on Twitter).

FINAL Update: Here are the permanent videos for your enjoyment:
UMass Lowell Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center groundbreaking speeches (well, most of them):

The groundbreaking ceremony itself:

Interview with Governor Patrick on innovation, jobs, and a few other subjects:

Another week, another extraordinarily silly attack. He keeps on-a using tha’ tactic. I dunna think it means what he thinks it means.

By this, I mean the Column today where Chris Doherty is attacking Eileen Donoghue for donating some money to an independent candidate for Governor, Cahill, who left the Democratic party to run against Patrick.

First, the Column:

The seeds were planted during the 2007 Congressional election when Donoghue’s opponent raised questions about her donations to John Thibault, A Chelmsford Republican who ran in 2004 against Sen. Susan Fargo, D – Lincoln.

Donoghue, at that time, explained that Thibault is a good friend. He even changed party affiliations to vote for her during her Congressional bid.

Donoghue’s penchant for helping friends in politics has come back to haunt her again. Donoghue donated $250 dollars to independent gubernatorial candidate Tim Cahill on Sept. 30 of last year. The contribution was made two months after the treasurer bolted the Democratic Party, and three weeks after he announced he would challenge Gov. Deval Patrick.

“I think it’s one in a series of puzzling and disappointing decisions and the pattern calls into question her commitment to core Democratic ideals,” Doherty said.

What Doherty think he’s saying: “primary voters, I’m the real Democrat.” What comes across? “There’s reasons not to vote for the other person. Reasons to vote for me? [Silence, sound of crickets chirping.]”

So far, my understanding of the Doherty campaign strategy is, “Hi, my name is Chris Doherty. I’m not Eileen Donoghue.” That’s a compelling reason to vote for him? Okaaaay.

Look, I know why he’s employing this negative attack strategy. One way to win elections is to try and define your opponent before they can define themselves. Generally this means going negative. The problem is, Doherty is trying to define a person who is already very much defined. By both her tenure on the City Council and as Mayor, and in her Congressional bid, the voters really did get to know Eileen. She nearly upset the special election race because she did so well with the so-called “supervoters” who are generally the most active Democrats. Another few weeks and she might well have won that primary - and that’s with the progressive vote split in two or more. And we progressives/liberals/”good Democrats” know all about the policies Eileen supports, and what she has accomplished in public service.

On top of this, the hazard with going negative so early and so often, and forming a pattern of such, is driving up your own negatives as a consequence. Far be it for me to give Doherty advice, since I want Eileen to win, but generally, a “going negative” strategy works most often when it’s employed near the end of a campaign, not at the beginning. Negative works, sometimes, but it also backfires the longer a campaign like this goes on.

But seriously, I have not seen one compelling reason to vote for Doherty. And it’s not like he’s been that active in the Democratic circles I am in. Good Democrat? Who’s definition? By mine, he ain’t so hot at it himself.

Take this post by Jackie (bold mine):

What didn’t ring quite so true, however, was Doherty’s assertion that he was somehow a better Democrat than Donoghue, especially considering his absence at roll call when it was time to vote. As every good Democrat knows, delegates are elected representatives of their neighborhoods whose primary function is to vote at the convention.

Now frankly, if I were a candidate or potential candidate for anything, I’d avoid being a delegate at all. There’s too much to do networking with activists at a nominating convention; you want to focus on the campaign, not sitting around all afternoon (literally) waiting for the various votes.

But Doherty committed in February to be a delegate. That means not showing up late after roll call (as I recall also, Doherty did), and voting on the goddamned ballots at the convention. Not trying to have your cake and eat it too. Who’s the bad Democrat?

And on top of this, Doherty is actively supporting the odious Guy Glodis for state auditor, who has not only the stink of hack surrounding him, but also a colorful history of sexism, racism, and being strongly anti-GLBT. He is also what one would term, I think the phrase is, Democrat In Name Only. I say this with the absolute understanding and acceptance of a “big tent” for our party - but at some point, I draw the line. You gotta adhere to some of our principles at least!

Now, I’m sure Doherty is supporting Glodis for personal reasons. This is, of course, why Eileen Donoghue gave that donation - a friend of hers was doing a fundraiser. From the Column today:

“I gave a check (to Cahill) because Lori Loureiro, who helped me on my Congressional campaign, called me because she was having an event and asked if I could help out,” Donoghue told the Column. “That doesn’t mean I’m supporting him for governor. She helped me a lot when I was first running for Congress, so I did it as a favor to a friend.”

…

Donoghue said she is 100 percent behind Patrick in his re-election campaign. Though she maxed out with a $500 donation to Patrick in 2006 records with the office of Campaign and Political Finance shows she has not donated to the governor this year. She has given $300 to Lt.Gov. Tim Murray in the past two years. She says she gave to Patrick recently via the online fundraising tool Act-Blue, but the donation has not shown up yet in the database.

This is another one of those moments of “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” (You just have to love the Bard for summing things up so aptly.) It’s Much Ado About Nothing, wherein Prince John the Bastard destroys the reputation of fair Hero by spreading the rumor of her unfaithfulness ahead of her nuptials to Claudio in order to cause trouble for John’s brother, the King. But in the end, Claudio and Hero are married, and John flees Messina in disgrace with his own reputation ruined. You get the point.

In the end, it’s the policies that we believe Eileen will fight for that will determine whether or not she’s a good Democrat. Having watched her in other offices and campaigns, I know she is as solid a progressive and good Democrat as they come. I also know that she is honest, smart, and optimistic about the future of Massachusetts. Chris Doherty, I am a good Democrat, and I am voting for Eileen.

If you’ve been wondering where in the world is RichardHowe.com, Dick has been experiencing a lot of technical difficulties with his host and has been working feverishly to get back up and running. Though he hasn’t yet reestablished his template, or moved the archives from before the glitches, there’s plenty of new content on rh.com and the rest will be forthcoming soon.

So get back into the habit of making RH.com a stop on your visit through the series of toobs.

This is the post where you will be able to see (hopefully, if Qik’s servers hold out today) both the Twitter feed indicating when I’m trying to stream, and the video feed of the convention itself. The feed, when it works, is lagged by 15-30 seconds, so be patient. I will post to Twitter when we go live, and again when it goes dark, so you’ll always know when to hit play on the live player below.

If I’m really clever at it, I’ll then post any videos to YouTube or they will be posted (archived) at my Qik account, and you can access the Qik account video page here. Twitter feed archive is here.

I just got my little greedy hands on the brand new (released today!) HTC Evo phone, which has so many cool new things to do, it’s going to be months before I learn it all. And the apps…the apps…oh the humanity…

Anyway, I’m going to run some experiments today on one particular native app to the Evo, which is, live streaming video from the phone to the web via qik.com. If successful, then I will be attempting to live stream some parts of the state Democratic convention tomorrow, which I will be attending as a delegate and as a blogger. I’m so wickedly excited about this ability, that you can be sure that this will be the first of many, many events live streamed from me.

And one in the eye for iPhone - the guy in line behind me was coming to switch off of AT&T and his iPhone to the Evo. Sweet.

In case you have not found it yet, here is the link the FY 2011 Budget.

The file is 3.2 MB and 202 pages. This is an extensive and comprehensive document which will take some time to review and absorb.

The administration needs to be thanked for the depth of the information as well as the easy presentation.

We have come a long way since June 2006. I look forward toward the City Council discussion and decisions.

This evening City Manager Bernie Lynch and his administration received approval from the Lowell City Council for a major re-organization of various City Department to “ensure that the City government is accessible, responsive, and accountable.”

The effected departments are (obviously) Planning and Development, Zoning, (obviously) Inspectional Services, Health, Electrical Services, Historic, and Conservation.

The City Council unanimously voted to accept the plan which was outlined by the City Manager in a 28-page report that he had submitted in the City Council’s packet two weeks ago.

Here is a clip of his presentation:



With this move, Assistant City Manager and DPD Director Adam Baake will now oversee a number of functions, “including planning, zoning, project reviews, permitting, inspections, and enforcement.” The CM re-iterated a number of times, that this change in organizational structure is not made to save money, or though it may occur down the road, it is to be accountability and efficiency to the functions and services provided by our local government.

UPDATE: The CM’s Power Point Presentation is now available on the City’s web site. Here is the link.

As we pass by our five year mark of writing at LeftinLowell.com, we find ourselves in an election season full of choices. We of course have a gubernatorial race of significance; and unexpectedly, we also have an open state Senate seat, though we are hardly the only district across the state where this is true.

It’s no secret that we were excited when former Lowell Councilor and Mayor Eileen Donoghue jumped into the Democratic primary for state Senate. Both of us are longtime supporters of Eileen’s, and Mimi endorsed her in the MA-05 Congressional race (and for Lynne, Donoghue was a close second to Jamie Eldridge).

Ever since we’ve been watching Lowell politics, we’ve observed that there are not only two (or more) “factions” on local issues, but two types of Councilors. Old school councilors are lifetime citizens, who have many familial and personal connections to Lowellians, and they emphasize that in their tenure on the Council. This is, of course, us taking a tactful approach to this description, as you all know.

However, there is a different kind of Councilor who have served or are serving, and this second kind takes the approach that strong ethics, common sense, and far-seeing planning for the city’s future are much more important than scoring political points or extending favors. Well-respected former councilors like Dick Howe, Sr and new councilors such as Frankie Descoteaux or Patrick Murphy fall into this category.

In our years observing the Council, we can remember no better voice for common sense and thoughtful leadership than Eileen Donoghue.

We can remember times of high tension when Donoghue’s contributions were like a breath of fresh air in a stinky, smoky room. She would cut straight through to the heart of the matter at hand and just, calmly and respectfully, make sense. She was esteemed by all sides but never wavered in adhering to strong principles. Her intelligence in studying matters of policy and oversight was evident every Tuesday.

She is also a strong progressive, a practical liberal, whose presence in the state Senate will help to drive policy towards better, smarter government, efficiency in delivering services, and will open up the often-reticent legislative branch to transparency. She will also deliver on the things that progressives hold dear…protecting the vulnerable, supporting and expanding access to our public and higher educational system, advancing substantial environmental progress, keeping our economy strong and moving in the right direction, and of course, serving her constituents in Lowell and the surrounding towns of the district by making sure we get our fair share of attention and funding.

The fact is, Eileen Donoghue has been tested as a policy maker and a leader in our city, and we trust her to bring that experience, and her practical, intelligent manner, to Beacon Hill to help sort out the mess that has often been made there, and to push the successes of the legislature (and there has been many successes) further.

The progressive policies enacted by Governor Patrick and the legislature so far have done the state proud. We are slated to come out of recession (in fact, we were one of the first states to do so) faster and stronger than much of the rest of the country. We have recently reversed the population drain Massachusetts has been experiencing. There are many things going well in our state, but we need to continue to elect leaders who will work to keep us going in the right direction.

We know that Eileen Donoghue will fight for the policies that will help working families and the middle class in Massachusetts and in the district. For all of these reason and many others, with no reservations in the least, we endorse Eileen Donoghue for state Senate.

Signed,
Lynne and Mimi
LeftinLowell.com