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MEDFORD TRANSCRIPT Letter to the editor: City Council ‘fails miserably’ TONY D'ANTONIO
http://medford.wickedlocal.com/news/20180827/letter-to-editor-city-council-fails-miserably
Watching the replay of the Aug. 14 City Council meeting due to a blackout the night of the meeting (not surprising), I had to ask myself several times: Just why is it we have a City Council?
Or, better yet, where did they all disappear to this night?
I thought the council was sworn to be representative of all citizens of Medford.
That night, the Council failed miserably.
The Council exhibited a true lack of mettle on the issue of a banner affixed to a building that houses the VFW. For those on the Council and at the meeting unaware of what the letters VFW represent, they proudly announce, “The members here are Veterans of Foreign Wars.” They are the men and women who signed and continue to sign that blank check for theirs and our country; they are the men and women who left their homes and lives without hesitation (some as young as 15 during World War II) to travel thousands of miles away to fight for our freedom and keep us safe from enemy invasions.
They asked no questions. They just went. And, sadly, many did not return and many of those who returned did so broken.
Their sacrifices made it possible for many of those at the Council meeting that night to spew hateful remarks against our public safety officers, our military veterans and active military personnel, free from any retribution. How many of you councilors and those in the crowd that evening wore the uniform?
So, what is it exactly that this banner states that got some members of our community in an uproar? The banner simply states a fact. It states: ALL LIVES MATTER.
The message on the banner unequivocally declares truth. And, if any group has a right to declare this, without question, it’s the members and families of the VFW. It is not racist, it is not exclusionary, it is not a rebuke to any other group or that group’s moniker. It is a fact.
At the meeting, a motion was brought before the Medford City Council by Councilor John Falco, asking that they review voting precinct sites in the city to “make voting more accessible” to the citizens. Did any one of the seven of you take into consideration the number of people in the 8-2 ward who would be impacted by your decision to change the polling place?
How many of those initiating this change live in the 8-2 ward and actually vote at the current location as compared to the entire ward?
Did it occur to you that this is a de facto suppression of the vote, coming at this late date in the election season, and situating it at a location more difficult to reach for many residents of South Medford?
How many of those initiating this change live in the 8-2 ward and actually vote at the current location as compared to the entire ward?
Did it occur to you that this is a de facto suppression of the vote, coming at this late date in the election season, and situating it at a location more difficult to reach for many residents of South Medford?
My questions don’t require answers. You, as a body, answered all of them by your actions that evening. Your silence was deafening.
Your motion, Councilor Falco, was camouflaged; the true purpose of the motion was to give a group of activists an audience for their attempt to force the VFW to take down the “All Lives Matter” banner. Let me remind you Councilor Falco that when you were elected, you took an oath to serve and represent all constituents equally, objectively and with integrity. You took the oath. What happened? You failed.
In an attempt to appease the progressive crowd that had assembled in the chambers, Councilor Falco brought the motion to the floor. The Councilors were speechless; now what do they do? It certainly seems that you all were afraid of losing favor and votes with the progressive groups in Medford.
Facing a hostile crowd, afraid to debate the true merits of this motion, afraid that if they rattle the cages of the progressive sect at the meeting they could lose votes and their elected position and the $30,000 salary that goes along with the position, what’s a councilor to do? Well, they quivered and then capitulated to a baseless argument. They caved. How shameful. For $30,000 a year (doing what, exactly?) we get this kind of performance?
I would posit this to all of you on the Council. What will you do when you are asked to endorse a resolution allowing those residing without documentation in our city to vote in our local elections? What will your response be when you are asked to endorse a resolution officially declaring Medford a sanctuary city? What will you do when you are asked to remove the Royall from the Royall House or the Tufts from Tufts University or the Brooks from the Brooks Estate?
These issues will assuredly be raised given the current atmosphere in the city as well as the country. You’ve opened the door wide and cannot hide behind it. Where will each of you draw the line? Will it be at the rule of law and in the interests of all of the people of our fair city? I think all of the citizens of Medford should know where each of you stands, if, in fact, you can!
One last question: How many of you councilors will have the unmitigated gall to attend the Memorial Day Ceremony after you threw the veterans under the bus?
We will be watching. It’s way overdue for a clean sweep of the City Council.
Anthony D’Antonio
Yale Street, Medford
