Last week I announced my candidacy to run to be the next mayor of the City of Lawrence.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/124317342/2-6-13-Rivera-Press-Release-English
http://www.scribd.com/doc/124317259/Bio-English
Here is the Commonwealth Magazine article on my candidacy:
Please share widely!
Christopher says
Lantigua is an embarrasment.
danfromwaltham says
to rehire Tom Sapienza, a guy who was fired from the Lawrence DPW for taking unpaid leave to care for his dying wife. How heartless!!!
Give him back his job for God’s sake.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2013/01/07/tom-sapienza-dpw-worker-fired-dying-wife-sues_n_2424460.html
hlpeary says
Dan Rivera is a good man, an honest man, a smart man and a determined man. Many BMGers know him through his efforts for any number of Democratic candidates. He is top notch. Lantigua has robbed Lawrence of its resources and its pride, Rivera can finally be the one to send Willie packing and get busy bringing Lawrence back to life. Right now Lawrence is a lawless open city where corruption in the Mayor’s office and fear in the streets reigns.
EVERYONE should pitch in and help Dan Rivera restore Lawrence to its good people. Every little bit helps. Do what you can because it is the right thing to do to help a neighbor in need and the people of Lawrence are surely in need of new leadership.
merrimackguy says
The statement above (EVERYONE…) should have been written in Spanish. Better yet said on Spanish radio. Whatever you say is not going to be heard by anyone who’s voting. It’s not like other cities, and they’re not reading BMG, that’s for sure.
The majority of Dominican voters of Lawrence love Mayor Lantigua. He’s probably still got most of the Latino votes he had last time, less a few Puerto Ricans. I just heard (last week) the owner/publisher of the major Spanish language newspaper on the radio and she is still behind the mayor (she blames a lot on the previous administration).
Most Anglos don’t like Rivera because
1. When he supported Abdoo in the previous election, he didn’t deliver the votes.
2. For a while after Lantigua’s election, it certainly seemed like he was on the mayor’s team. He voted with his bloc up until recently.
3. Rivera’s biggest political backer is former Rep David Torrisi and people don’t like him.
He’s got to articulate why this isn’t just an opportunistic move on his part.
If there is an Anglo in the race (former councilor and 2009 runner up Abdoo, or current councilor Marc LaPlante), Rivera will be hard pressed because all Anglo votes will go to that candidate, and he will either be left looking for PR votes or trying to slice some of Lantigua’s Dominican base, which I would view as unlikely. So he would be third or lower (note there is a chunk of the PR vote that throws in with the Anglos). If an Anglo doesn’t run, it might just mean the Anglos stay home or get split amongst a number of candidates. It’s not clear if he did manage to be the number 2 whether an “anyone but Lantigua” voting bloc would emerge.
My prediction: Lantigua tops the ticket in the multi-candidate race and then wins the top spot handily. Not what I want, but unless the state can get an indictment rolling (I think they are looking for the Mayor’s former chief of staff Lenny Degnan, or his campaign manager and the deputy Police Chief Melix Bonilla, both indicted, to turn on him), I don’t see how the votes add up any other way. One of the councilors, a Puerto Rican Grisel Silva, turned on him a couple years ago and not only did Lantigua rustle up someone to run against her who knocked her out of office, Lantigua but pressure on her boss at her part-time job and got her fired from there as well.
hlpeary says
but, the biggest thing I get is that Rivera (although not perfect) is a million times better than the crook who is pillaging this city. Someone needs to get through to the Dominican families who are the biggest victims of Lantigua.
merrimackguy says
and the voters are not receptive to change from their guy.
In 2009 Lantigua was elected despite the fact that he refused to debate. Not once. He refused to even answer the candidate questionnaire. from the newspaper.
For several years he refused to even give his home address.
He refused to follow OCPF rules, rules that every single candidate in the state thinks are important to follow.
For most of the people on this site, those would all be warning signs of someone who doesn’t really believe in the type of government we all want.
Why does anyone support him? Because he has the power and people don’t care about anything except “having one of their own” in office.
I have numerous photos of pols, including Tsongas, Murray, and Patrick lining up behind him. Everything Lantigua is now, he was then. Only with the threat of indictment over some actual stealing (and he probably overall stole less than McLaughlin) have they moved away from him.
merrimackguy says
I am using Chrome.
SomervilleTom says
I’ve been wondering about this too, I posted a related thread last month.
Having “preview” broken, combined with no “edit” function, creates a real obstacle for participants who (like me) are sloppy typists who still want to put our best foot forward.
drivera01843 says
I must say, while it sounds insightful, and thoughtful even knowledgeable your whole premiss is wrong and based on false assumptions and old political math. Reality is that you, like many others, love to perpetuate the “Lantigua Power Myth” because he must be all powerful if he beat all those candidates. Not my campaign. We will field a tough thorough campaign and communicate with all voters. Also a lesson to all, Latinos (like most communities of color) are more complicated, then your simple, dated, stereotypical demographic break down.
I post here for no other reason than to put all on notice that there is a campaign in Lawrence for the future of the city and good people who want to see it happen should join up, contribute, or spread the word about our campaign http://www.makelawrencebetter.com
We are going to take this campaign to the incumbent, and to the people of Lawrence. Indictments shouldn’t change bad governments nor mold a community’s future, people should. That is our intent and the votes are there, you just have to be a little less lazy with your research to see it.
danfromwaltham says
Actually Dan, Mayor McCarthy of Waltham will not be seeking re-election in 2015, so if you are unsuccessful in the Lawrence race, please move to Waltham, you are exactly what we need.
That said, why won’t you comment on the termination of Mr. Sapienza b/c he chose to care for his dying wife? The guy didn’t even want to get paid, just spend the last couple months with his wife. Why do I feel there would be more sympathy for Mr. Sapienza if he left his job to protest an oil rig in North Dakota or a gas company fracking in PA. You chose to answer merrimackguy’s post on his prediction on the election, but ignore my post that has to do with a persons livelihood.
I got one positive response, thank you metheunguy, you obviously have a heart. The silence from you Dan, and the rest you who like to give out negative ratings, is deafening and most disappointed.
merrimackguy says
Particularly you’re earlier efforts to do something the city itself should have done, like this
http://citybudget2011.blogspot.com/
I still think you have a tough road.
Maybe if you get Dalia on your side and and the people in the Mt Vernon Association change their mind about you.
You must remember voting with the Mayor for at least two years. That’s going to be tough to discuss.
If I can give you a little bit of campaign advice, you might want to think about updating some of your material. Your 2013 stuff looks a lot like a cut and paste from your 2009 stuff, as evidenced here.
http://makelawrencebetter.blogspot.com/2009/09/meet-dan-rivera_29.html