When Ron DeLucia and TV3 misappropriated over Eighty Thousand Dollars in monies and lost numerous suits, Councilor Paul Camuso endorsed their wrongful conduct and attempted to embarrass this writer at a council meeting.
That moment will be remembered, and Mr. Camuso's bad behavior is going to be under a microscope, and a spotlight. Tune in Tuesday December 3 to see if Camuso is man enough to answer the tough questions about to be presented to the "man who would be president."
Medford residents are so busy with their daily lives they don't always understand local politics. The terms charter change, Plan E government, Plan A government, home rule petition, City Council rules, Rule 17 - it appears to be intentionally complex in order to confuse the public. Almost like going to church week after week saying "PATER NOSTER, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra..." until Vatican II (1962-1965) came along and put the Lord's Prayer into plain English so people would have a chance to comprehend what Jesus was preaching. The Mass of Pope Paul VI in 1969 was no longer "Latin immersion."
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So let's have some Plain English for Medford politics. Just because people are good at campaigning doesn't mean they are fit to lead. In the city of Lawrence, the embattled Willie Lantigua almost got back in. Luckily, for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Lantigua is out. That one was so obvious, but a "city divided" came within less than 100 votes of bringing back an individual whose first four years were marred with controversy and problems.
The city of Medford had Thirty Seven Thousand Five Hundred and Fifteen registered voters by the cutoff in October. The question is, why would all those people register if they didn't feel like performing their civic duty and looking into the backgrounds of the legislators who control the taxes, the parking regulations, the rules that we the people have to obey - rules that some politicians think they are above. When a repeat offender parking in a bus stop is politically connected (and you see this all over town, not just at Bocelli's in South Medford and Nappi on Salem Street, though it happens near those two restaurants on almost a daily basis) or a city councilor flying through a DO NOT ENTER sign behind city hall isn't fined after being reported to the police (as well as to the sheriff's office), the residents are at a disadvantage.
On September 5, 2013, former Medford Transcript reporter/defacto editor Nick Iovino wrote: "
The role of Medford city councilor comes with many duties: responding to constituents, voting on proposals and speaking on important issues. But in order to perform those functions, councilors must first take one crucial step — being present at meetings. "
To Councilor Bob Maiocco's credit, he attended most of the meetings, only missing one. Councilor Michael Marks only missed 2 meetings a year over a three year period (total: 6 absent). Paul Camuso, however, missed 14 meetings since 2009 AND, very important, would skip out on votes by leaving Alden Chambers at a critical moment and, most incredibly, after being long-winded about Hallmark president Michael Sack (now Chairman of the Massachusetts Hospital Association) the week before. When Mr. Sack arrived to speak on October 8, 2015, audaciously, City Councilor Paul Camuso got up, walked by me and said "hello" and walked out the door. I looked up at the clock. It was 7:35 PM. Mr. Camuso really meant to say "goodbye" (play Beatles song Hello/Goodbye here) ...he left for the night and didn't come back.
Paul Camuso, paid over 27K to work for the citizens of Medford, left at a critical moment. There would be no votes on record for Mr. Camuso, no discussion with the head of Hallmark Health that Camuso was so adamant the prior week about interrogating...nothing. Chalk up ABSENT for the FIFTEENTH TIME for Mr. Camuso. He skipped out on the people who elected him.
See my previous article on PATCH for more about this:
http://medford.patch.com/groups/joe-vigliones-blog/p/higher-standards-for-elected-officials-in-medfo...
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Council President receives $29,700.00 or so. Thirty grand a year. Do we reward those who are politically savvy but not very conscientious or dutiful in their obligations to the community? Does political shrewdness deserve reward rather than performing the business of the people, the business in the MOST EXPENSIVE CITY COUNCIL in 19 cities and towns in northern Massachusetts.
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Mr. Camuso thinks this is all a big joke. Look at Camuso's track record. In 2011 and 2013 Camuso promised to clean up the empty storefronts and bring in taxpaying businesses to fill those empty storefronts. Sounds great on paper, but where's the beef?
Mr. Camuso has been strangely silent on the shuttered public access station, yet Camuso's good friend is scheduled to be back in Somerville District Court on December 11th on charges of a "False Bomb Threat." What did City Councilor Paul A. Camuso do when complaint after complaint after complaint was filed on Camuso's good friend? Camuso enabled the bullying. Mr. Camuso interrupted victims of that individual, didn't let them speak, even imposed "Rule 17" in a lame - and failed - attempt to stifle free speech at what they facetiously call "the People's Forum."
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Here's a promise to Mr. Camuso, and he can read this into the record some evening if he does step into the presidency and grab three extra thousand dollar bills he did not earn. Try more political maneuvers and buffoonery as council president and there are residents ready to legally chew your flagrant actions up and spit them out. This is the PEOPLE'S FORUM and Mr. Camuso and his cronies not only appear to have forgotten the definition of "public service" - they never fully understood the meaning of it to begin with.
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Public Service means showing up for council meetings, voting the way your constituents want - not the way the Mayor orders you to vote - and not getting into conflict like the proverbial "p#%#^# contest" we see week after week at the council, usually when Mr. Camuso starts a filibuster and gets agitated, animated and creates unwanted distractions.
The definition of "p#%@#@ contest" found online is:
"...any argument that just goes back and forth between two individuals but never gets resolved."
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Anyone who thinks that a Camuso presidency at the Council is going to RESOLVE conflict must want to buy some toxic mold from a now dissolved public access station; or has some allegedly environmentally-challenged land to sell the Mayor for River's Edge 2.
Paul Camuso, Freddy Dello Russo and Adam Knight are the new alliance. Rick Caraviello appears to have totally fallen off that fence he was sitting on towards the way he was leaning: the way of the Administration that controls Medford. Has Breanna Lungo-Koehn been swayed in any way by the cabal? Time will tell.
This is why it is important to go to the council meetings, not just watch them from your home. On November 19, 2013 in succession walked Camuso, Dello Russo, Caraviello, Maiocco (their names all end in "o") and Magneto from the X-Men...oops, sorry, I mean Adam McGknight-0. Five minds aligned with the Mayor means they are not aligned with you.
Michael Marks has stood up for Medford residents. He finally got religion on TV3 (after much badgering from those on the right side of the issue) and he should have run for Mayor. Mayor Marks would have been that "crop rotation" in the corner office so desperately needed. In 2015 members of the school committee might run for city council, that's the big rumor (I won't print the names being thrown about, but if you've been watching local politics, you have an idea who the usual suspects are), but residents don't have two more years of rising taxes and crumbling infrastructure to wait.
A "Council president Camuso' brings the Mayor dangerously close to wasting your money on an EIGHT MILLION DOLLAR GARAGE and an EIGHT MILLION DOLLAR WATER TAXI. If you have the 16 million in your pocket as chump change well, find. If you don't, then you are looking at less money for you and your kids and more money for the Mayor. That's what this is about, people. It's a very serious problem and it is at a critical juncture.
If a resident has to go to the authorities in Boston and have a lawyer start demanding answers from the City Solicitor, which I noted as Mark Rumley sat behind me at the council on November 19, 2013, then do you really think you are going to get a straight answer on how hundreds of thousands of dollars in studies are coming in from - and equally important - how they are spent?
City Solicitor Rumley sent me some highly unprofessional e mails. They were silly. We don't pay an attorney One Hundred And Two Thousand Dollars a year to be a jerk. Nor do we expect that city lawyer to use his city-funded e mail on a church website (how 'bout that separation of church and state) or to be seen, allegedly, at Somerville District Court on Thursdays allegedly moonlighting for credit card companies...allegedly.
Writing this material down and presenting it to you, dear residents, the ones funding the bill for this stupidity makes me highly unpopular at City Hall. If Linda Colletti and Mark Rumley had permission ...well, from the looks of their eyes, chock full of daggers, my name would be on a missing persons report and not on this byline. IF they had permission. Or, as Lou Reed masterfully put it "When you're looking through the eyes of hate....oh woh woh woh...." ("Oh, Jim" - the Berlin album.)
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If you cross Paul Camuso you'll be "looking through the eyes of hate." These petty individuals and their petty agendas do not help the city of Medford.
This article is written to help improve the city of Medford. When the City Solicitor engages in a shouting match with a city councilor, the checks and balances (allegedly) between the people and the Administration, one has to just shake their head. Shame on Mark Rumley for that stunt. A city lawyer being paid $102,000.00 plus a year should show more decorum and professionalism. Mr. Rumley was being baited when called a "henchman" of the Mayor's and he protested way too much.
Look, Mark Rumley is a good guy outside of City Hall. But as City Lawyer he has no problem donning his Darth Vader mask and cloak. The Reverend Rumley on Sunday and Darth Rumley on Monday is an exquisite paradox. One that isn't very good for Medford. One that is certainly messing with Rumley's head. Crop rotation. Term limits. Charter change. Because right now, people, Medford is going to hell in a hand basket, and you are all the froggies in warm water not realizing that the Mayor is gleefully turning up the heat on all of you.
Happy Thanksgiving.
P.S. To add to your "Happy Thanksgiving" former Medford Transcript writer and now Stoneham/Wakefield editor Matt Reid has an article in this week's paper about your taxes going up. Happy Thanksgiving from Medford City Hall
Medford — by Matt Reid The average single-family homeowner in Medford will pay an extra $187 in property taxes next year if city officials approve new proposed rates.
The Medford City Council reviewed a proposal for new tax rates at a Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 26.