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HARMONY leads to Unity, TRANSPARENCY leads to HARMONY
a JV essay
Medford
can get on the right track with all issues - handling Covid-19,
upgrading the school system, improving efficiency at city hall, bringing
true harmony into the community.
Breanna
Lungo-Koehn has an obligation, and an oath, to heal the polarized world
created by the previous two administrations. Renewing Medford is about
renewing the spirit of Medford.
Grading
the city council and school committee on that efficiency noted above -
by planning and organization - is the breeding ground for the unity
Breanna promised. You see, when citizens are kept in the dark, that
unification process is eradicated and the "public trust" dissolves. If
you are going to promise Transparency (with a capital T) and integrity
then utilize the mayor's office to bring some sunlight to the operation
of city government.
If I
sound like a broken record, well, I am a record producer, and was
business partner of one of the greatest rock and roll producers of all
time, relocating the legend into Medford back in the 1980s. Listen to
"Gimme Shelter" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" to hear the work of the fellow I
worked with. Breanna ran on hiring those with the talent and
experience, yet the most qualified people in Medford have yet to be
hired.
There is still time for Breanna to make good on her promises and rebuild Medford after decades and decades of autocratic rule.
Rewarding
those who made remarkable changes in our city, and who did so because
it was the right thing to do, should supersede political favors. That
means a changing of the guard over at the Park Commission in the
position of Foreman. That means a devoted television producer at the
access television station who has vast experience with Medford's cable
activities past, present and future. That means a Chief of Staff that
the citizens know, trust and can work with.
Fill
those three positions with smart, capable, passionate people, and Adam
Knight won't be able to perpetuate his "One Term Mayor" myth with his
stumbling over simple words at the city council. To earn
thirty-thousand plus a year should be an honor that makes a city
councilor go beyond the call of duty, and a mayor under Plan A
government should fine an Adam Knight when he tears paper up in the
microphone so a female army veteran doesn't get harassed by some bored
juvenile delinquent who should know better. Mayor Lungo-Koehn should
fine and remove a Rick Caraviello for lying to the police. Neil "paper
shuffle" Osborne sure in hell isn't going to do it.
And, by the way: it doesn't have to be a perfect world to make these adjustments, just a sane one.
We
MUST do better than George Scarpelli and Zac Bears and Rick
Caraviello. Replace them with Erin DiBenedetto, Jean Nuzzo and Natalie
Breen and Breanna suddenly has HER city council, not the council McGlynn
built for Stephanie Muccini-Burke.
McGlynn
would do this in a heartbeat. Just ask Jay Griffin. And if you don't
know your Medford history why are you being paid to be on the school
committee and city council? McGlynn was a bully who got what he
wanted. Breanna Lungo-Koehn should employ a different approach: make
Adam Knight, Caraviello, Scarpelli and Bears an offer that they can't
refuse - make being a city councilor a VOLUNTEER position. Ask the town
of Wakefield how that allegedly works out for them.
Lower
taxes and less self-importance. Take away the paycheck and watch
Scarpelli, Knight, Bears and Caraviello, LLC vanish into the fog. Let
Isaac Bears go back to playing video games in mommy and daddy's basement
so that we adults can take charge and bring some harmony and efficiency
to Medford. Seventy Thousand Dollars to Patrick Gordon, really? when
he is better suited to wiring Zac's bunker where they can both play Ms.
Pac Man to their heart's content. Or is it hearts' content? Who cares,
just get rid of them and let Medford start to heal. The private
government access station that Mark Rumley lusted for is the current
reality, and that hurts Medford. It is what dictators want and relish:
no transparency, no free speech, a clear violation of the oath of office
of a city lawyer, a mayor, a city councilor, a school committee person,
etc. etc. etc.
The
Paul Ruseau convicted felon and ex convict problem has to be addressed.
Here's a little ad "vice," Breanna. The term vice chair shouldn't have
to include the dictionary definition of the word "vice" when it comes to
the school kids. Not after the previous superintendent joked to me
that he was "hiding sexual predators" in the school system. After M.S.
and Jenna Tarabelsi and allegations against D.G. the joke was on old
Roy as he was, clearly, hiding them in plain sight. That "transparency"
you keep promising us, Breanna, your friend Roy delivered, though not
in the way that was healthy or good for Medford.
This
all starts with a strategy for the access television station. Let the
qualified people build an access station of the future, not dependent
upon cable subscriber franchise fees but a true community station.
This veteran of access TV with his first show in 1979 knows how to do
effective outreach, knows how to bring in hundreds of members while
simultaneously fostering programming and promoting those shows
properly. Instead our Mayor has a lazy, ineffective young man with no
love for Medford and no vision for the city. Yet Breanna Lungo-Koehn
offered so much more.
We
elders have the knowledge that the mayor should tap into. Breanna
knows how good I am in a court of law...and that I'm also smart enough
to let a good team of lawyers lead the way. What I'm thinking is that
we need to get people together for a Class Action Suit to wake up the
behemoth that is those Medford residents fast asleep and apathetic.
Breanna, being a lawyer, knows that this is one way for the people to
have their say, listing ALL the issues in legal documents that will go
on the public record.
Medford
United isn't very. Our Revolution or the Medford Revolution or
whatever they are calling it this week divides the community. Mobilize
Medford is just another bit of evidence that Medford is polarized and
fractured. If you need Anna Maria Cugno to pick you up in her
Mercedes, park in a fire lane to pick up the coffee, and drive you to
her house in order to "unite" Medford, then you're crazier than I am.
Me? I've been called crazy as a fox. I'll take the compliment AND help you get elected to another term, Breanna,
but
you have to wake up, smell the coffee, stop auditioning for Walt
Disney's reboot of the Polyanna series, and start acting in a
professional manner.
From what I'm hearing there are a LOT of disgruntled people who got you elected.
Be
honest about your campaign promises. I'll build you an access station
that will be the envy of every community in Massachusetts, and you, of
all people, know that I can do it with my eyes closed. It's why God
put me on this planet.
Do you really want a second term? Are you serious about that integrity, transparency and unity that you sold us?
Your actions are what will damn you or propel you back into the corner office.
The choice is yours. I'm just the messenger, twice your age, and with a wealth of life experience.
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