Blue Mass Group

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Jack Hurd, No Assembly Required

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Recycled from the Arlington Advocate:

It was almost [eight] years ago, during the summer of 2000, when several neighbors met for the first time with Jack about the neglected and deteriorated condition of Waldo Park. While we subsequently organized neighbors to do a park clean-up, Jack worked with various town departments to address late night loitering and repair existing play equipment that was unsafe.

Later, in 2003, with town funds stretched to the limit, Jack identified federal community development block grant funds to re-build the park and successfully proposed their use for this purpose to the Board of Selectmen. Throughout the design and construction process, Jack regularly consulted with us [Waldo Park Working Group] and collaborated with town officials to ensure the project’s successful completion.

Today, the park is transformed. When it officially re-opens this spring (2006) after major renovations, it will truly realize its potential as a welcoming and safe gathering place for the community. Without Jack’s active and ongoing involvement, Waldo Park’s dramatic revitalization simply would not have happened.

Jack’s work on the park is but one example of his commitment to Arlington’s neighborhoods, his attention to quality of life issues, and his ability to work effectively with residents and officials to produce real results. His skills and leadership are not only a great asset to our neighborhood, but to the town as a whole.

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Comments

  1. Just another political hack dispensing pork to a pet project.

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    p>Arlington gets a nice chunk of Community Development Block Grant funding, that the selectmen can distribute like plums for pet projects.  

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    p>The grant is a federal entitlement for Arlington.  Jack did no work to “find” the money. He just dispensed it to a favored group.

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    p>Hackery and quackery, not leadership.

    • but only for projects someplace else. Bringing home the bacon seems to be the “thing” we judge a politician’s worth by, yet that same thing is what is killing our budget every year. Tip O’Niel and Moakley… bathed in the money from the Big Dig for Massachusetts yet it turned into a $26 BILLION tax bill for the country and a giant debt for the State which we will be paying forever, but nobody cares as long as union laborers were employed and bought their summer homes on the cape with OUR MONEY!

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      p>Let’s stop grading our politicians by how much of OUR MONEY we get back and instead grade them on how much of OUR MONEY they DON’T TAKE.

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      p>And if “experience” is good thing for this job, imagine how much “EXPERIENCE” would help the Presidency!!!!

      • Instead of talking about saving OUR MONEY, let’s talk about the state of OUR ROADS, OUR BRIDGES, OUR SCHOOLS, and yes OUR MILITARY.

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        p>That isn’t a conversation any honest Republican wants to have.

        •  OUR ROADS, OUR ROADS

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          p>Didn’t we pass a tax to fix our roads and bridges? What happened? What did the MASS Democratic House and Senate spend the money on?

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          p>OUR SCHOOLS

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          p>The biggest budget item, by far, on any town/city budget. And look at the results. Obviously the Democratic solution for everything is to spend MORE money on it. I blogged before about the old dilapidated high schools in some of our towns that have the HIGHEST student scores on testing and college acceptance. The problem with our schools is not money, they have plenty of that… it’s families.

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          p>, and yes OUR MILITARY.

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          p>Our Military has NEVER been stronger. They are battle tested, equipment tested and the Reserves are on top of their game vs. the weekend warriors who drank beer on their “duty” weekends with no connection to being actual soldiers.

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          p>

    • Looking at the selectmen’s minutes, the CDBG funds appear to be the routine funding source for park improvements.

      Mr. Lyons expressed his concern over possibly losing CDBG Funds from the government and reported it would be a major loss of $1.5 million dollars used for programs such as; Dial-A-Ride, expanding affordable housing, park restorations.  He said on March 15, 2005 there would be about 3,000 officials that will descend upon Capitol Hill to convince the lawmakers that CDBG must stay.  Mr. Lyons urged Mr. Sullivan to get information on an 8 ½ by 11-inch paper from Kevin O’Brien on how this program assists poor and moderate-income people of Arlington and how it helps expand development especially in business districts.  He also stressed that for every one dollar of CDBG money spent, eleven dollars of private monies are spent.  Mr. Lyons also requested that the Board send a letter to Rep. Markey, Senators Kerry and Kennedy regarding loss of CDBG Funds.
      Mr. Lyons made a motion to send a letter outlining the impact of CDBG Funds.    
                                                                                     SO VOTED (5-0)

      What’s next?  Jack Hurd takes credit for Dial-A-Ride?

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      p>Jack Hurd or no Jack Hurd, I don’t think there’s much difference.  On the other hand, we should be thanking Ed Markey, Ted Kennedy, and John Kerry for the CDBG funds that allow the town to restore parks.

  2. I couldn’t find that in a Google search.  Did you write this as a letter to the editor?

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    p>Recycled from the Arlington Advocate appears to be Recycled from the Jack’s Hacks propaganda office!

    • Burlington Maul,

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      p>There’s no hack political office here.  I’m just a truth teller.

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      p>And, I’m happy to help you. I realize Google is challenging and all – you know, with the entering of keywords, spelling them correctly, and clicking the button. It’s tough stuff.

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      p>The original letter appeared March 15, 2006. Here’s the link.

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      p>http://www.wickedlocal.com/arl…

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      p>ArlingtonDem, JohnD, et al,

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      p>It’s true that community development block grants originally come from federal resources. But the ease in which you argue that these grants are doled out is extremely misleading. And not all block grants are necessarily examples of pork.

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      p>Congress gives States the authority to dispense the funds, but State government relies on local communities to determine how to spend it. Thus, local governments have the responsibility to consider local needs, prepare grant applications for submission to the State, and carry out the funded community development activities. Local governments must comply with Federal and State requirements.

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      p>So, it is not as if Waldo Park was earmarked for this grant. Jack Hurd proposed the idea to use community block grants for this project when there appeared to be a shortage of funds, convinced the Board of Selectman to sign on, and then followed-through on the process to make the proposal a reality. It’s that kind of leadership and action that lends itself to serving as a state senator.

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      p>Furthermore, back to you BurlingtonMaul, if you look at the source of the letter you will find that credit goes where credit is due. I am confident the Waldo Park Working Group thanked and endorsed the right Selectman.

  3. …Ken Donnelly has been endorsed by the Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts, and he’s a member of the PDM Half-Dozen for this cycle.  The PDM Half-Dozen is a select list of truly progressive candidates targeted for extra help from PDM chapters in their area.  More info on the program can be found here:

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    p>http://vps28478.inmotionhosting.com/~bluema24/s…

    • Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts is a select group of progressives, who target a select group of selected candidates for sponsorship and help.

  4. Among other things:

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    p>– a bag of hammers
    — a pile of fertilizer

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    p>any more entries?

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