I caught Pags new ad this morning. Did you know he had something to do with the Celtics? And he wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth? And he has turned businesses around? And made jobs?
Great job by the ad people btw. Good music. Nice way of reminding us about the Celtics connection with vintage Bob Cousy shots. (Hey Doug, tell me, did u have to talk Pags out of an ad with him and Doc Rivers or Paul Pierce?) I like the shot of him which look as if he were coaching Celts in practice. Guys in green playing ball and him barking at them. Boy I want to be you.
But Pags, really. I just don’t get it. I got Mitt. I don’t get you.
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Pags took a stand in the ad. No money from “special interests”. WTF is that Pags? Do you mean you won’t take money from PACs. You know what PACs are, right? They are groups that make no bones about what they want. It is not uncommon for a politician to take money from competing PACS. Reporting laws let the people know which special interests the politician maybe sympathetic too.
Instead, Pags will get money directly from the people who give to special interests and have special interests with out the PAC red flags.
PACs are good. They were created as one of the reforms coming out of Watergate.
And of course Pags has his own money. So in his world, wealth gets you entry to anyplace you wish to go.
At least Romney’s old man was a governor. It’s in his blood.
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http://bluemassgroup.com/d…
[Hand down winner. The new name for George “Half-Man” Regan’s bobo Howie Carr is “The Wellesley Dough Boy”
Howie got to mail in another column today thanks to a state senator having a drinking problem. This allowed Howie to dig up the name of a little known Somerville pol who has been dead for 20 years and remind everyone, including the dead guy’s family and friends, that he had a drinking problem too.
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A couple of things recently written by one of the BMG founders whose name I will not mention (it was Charley) bothered me to no end.
1. he didn’t know Dan Grabuskus was head of the RMV at one time;
2. The hospital being developed into a commercial and residential community smack dab in the middle of Middlesex Fells Reservation is “just a hospital” thus no big deal what they do to the property.
Both of these statements hit home as to how new and unappreciative of this area many decision makers in the state are.
The Middlesex Fells development is a disgrace. However, the local reps are not natives and seem not to care.
Look for a post regarding the Fells development. I hope you read it Deval.
And Charely, as for you. How could you have not known Grabuskus ran the Registry? It was mentioned in every story about him for crissake.
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e-mails? e-mails? We don’t need no schtinkin’ e-mails!
Ahhh. Remember ladies and gentleman. Michael Kineavy’s home town of South Boston is not a place. It’s a state of mind. And that meshes great with da Mayor.
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How will the Red Soxafford to keep up with the Yankees?
I say a state bail out. Steroids aren’t cheap you know.
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Have you made your Howie carr Boycott calls yet? Here is the call list. C’mon. We are counting on you!
Or would you rather just see the old hospital sit there and decay? Can we at least agree that the status quo doesn’t do anybody any good?
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p>Personally, I’m hoping we can find some long lost Indian tribe living in the Fells that can claim the property as native land and turn the hospital into a casino.
Route 28 is a tough place to drive if you don’t know your way around and it’s tough getting in and out of any property on that particular stretch of the road. I see accidents and near accidents there all the time. Putting much of anything there is going to require some serious road improvements. Perhaps the good governor will give up some of the cash he was given to stimulate the economy and fix it up?
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p>I’m curious though, and you do not have to answer. But, did you grow up in these parts?
Though being active in the Stoneham community I’m friends with many who did and I understand people’s feelings about the property. I also understand the impact it would have on the town’s finances were we to be asked to totally forego any potential tax revenue from the site. The amount of PILOT money we currently receive from the state barely covers our expenses for providing emergency services within the Fells as it is.
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p>So again, I’m asking the question. If you don’t like the current plans, do you have a better idea?
jcsinclair. What exactly will the average Stoneham citizen, homeowner see in benefits that will directly effect thier quality of life. Please do not say more money for schools, roads, and public safety. What does that mean?
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p>And just as impiortant, are you a Town of Stoneham employee or is your spouse?
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p>thank you
I will be posting my better idea shortly. I think.
Your answers will be helpful. You make good points.
I am a volunteer member of the Stoneham Finance Board. I don’t have any personal financial stake in this issue, just hundreds of hours of my free time devoted to studying these problems. I’m also single, so there’s no spouse lurking in the wings that could benefit.
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p>And yes, more money for schools and public safety would be nice. We have a high school that is on an improvement plan to maintain its accreditation, a middle school that’s 50 years old and seriously in need of repair or replacement, fire and police departments that are staffed at a levels that I don’t think either chief thinks is adequate.
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p>Over the last two years we’ve lost 100 students in the school system. I don’t know all of the stories, but I have good friends who moved almost solely because of the condition of the middle school.
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p>Looking forward to hearing your ideas.
do you work for a government entity or a non-profit that recieves funding from the government?
Software developer for a defense contractor. We have a whole separate division that does state/local work, so again, no conflict.
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p>I’m done answering questions. Put up or shut up đŸ™‚
The old hospital sits in the middle of a park and is served by a limited use parkway. The go for broke approach taken by Stoneham will do untold damage to the Fells Reservation. Woodland Road cannot properly serve the huge complex contemplated by Stoneham. The property should be taken by the state so that the Fells and the sensisitive MWRA reservoirs within the Fells will be protected.
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p>Get on this EB3, educate those carpetbaggers.
you just challenged EB3 to a duel of sorts. A hush falls over the BMG town square.
out the saloon door, looks up, and retreats into the saloon.
And he spent five comments probing my biography for an excuse to give me a snarky answer. I’m still waiting.
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p>BTW, it’s not Stoneham’s fault that the state didn’t want to come up with the money to seize that property when they first created the fells.
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p>Can you explain to me why the current plans are more damaging to the park than the hospital that operated there for years?
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p>BTW when was that jc? When did the state not buy it?
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p>
In the pamphlet Creation of the Fells , Michael Ryan writes:
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p>
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p>Several years ago the Town Assessors office went back through the old property records and estimated that if those properties that were purchased had stayed in private hands they would be generating around $150,000 in property taxes, which is the reason we feel that the $14,000 we receive in PILOT money isn’t exactly adequate.
It’s not about Stomeham.
BTW does Stomeham send fire engines with the men to operate it to medical assistance calls? There’s a way to get back the $150,000.
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p>BTW what does Chelsea get for having the Tobin Bridge and expressway run through it. They took property for that. What about Milton. What does it get for the Blue Hills?
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p>And Cape Cod? What does Truro get for the national Sea Shore? What does Boston get for having the State House there? What does mattapan get for having the Franklen Zoo? What does Boston get for having the Esplanade? What does Lynn get from the Lynn Woods? What does Cambridge get for the river frontage along Memorial Drive? What does Colrado and Wyoming get for have National parks in their states? What about the many towns in MA that have state parks in them?
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p>It ain’t all about making your job easier as finance committee member js. In other words, it ain’t about you.
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p>
The question should be what Pagliromney’s vote to expenditure will be. I think the over/under is probably $1000 per vote.
First, thanks for the shout-out, Ernie. Now that the Herald has made you famous, it is an honor to be included in one of your posts.
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p>Pagliuca is a person who worked hard to build a successful career, who has spent a lot of his time helping children (most recently as the chair of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children), and who brings real experience helping companies grow and a deep knowledge of the economy. He seems to me to be the kind of candidate we should be trying to attract, not dismissing out of hand. But, just my opinion.
Having a successful career and raising money for worthy causes, while admirable qualities are not exactly qualifications for Senator, and so far I have seen no evidence that he actually does have a “deep knowledge” apart from his paid supporters saying that he does.
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p>Someone who is too lazy to vote but not too lazy to write big checks for Republicans is exactly the kind of person we should be dismissing out of hand when we have other obviously better qualified candidates to consider.
But I was quoted in a Joan Vennochi Sunday column.
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p>Good answer BTW Doug. Got the theme across.
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p>Does Pags know that all the political operatives working for him are thinking about their real clients in real campaigns when they are every minute they are not doing something for him. You know what I mean. Driving to meet with Pags you’re probably thinking about Deval. When you are going up the elevator to meet Pags you are thinking about Deval, when you are waiting outside his office to see him you are thinking about Deval.
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p>Same for Tim Cahill guy Pags hired. All the other people are thinking how they can get hired in either campaign.
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p>I’m not knocking you Doug. Really.. You shouldn’t be knocked. I’m just pointing out Pags unrealistic view of himself..
Ernie, why did you troll-rate Doug’s posting? It’s a bit snarky and thus worthy of a “needs work”, but I want BMG’s readers to be able to see it. As you say in your own post, Doug “got the theme across” for the campaign. You apparently agree with me that this “theme” shows that Pags’ candidacy is not worth much consideration, but shouldn’t everyone see what Doug has to say and make that judgement for themselves?
thanks for pointing out. I corrected it.
Not even sure what “troll-rate” means. And as to a post farther down the line, I am working for the Steve Pagliuca campaign, for full disclosure.
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p>Oh, and congrats for the mention in Joan’s column. It’s nice to see the work on this site recognized by other media outlets.
Thanks for posting, Doug. Don’t assume everyone knows which candidate you support.
If you would have said the kind of “citizen” we should be trying to attract, I’m with you. Big tent. Gotcha. Great. Need a majority to win most elections and all.
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p>But he is the type of “candidate” I think we should try to avoid at all costs. Shallow, symbolic candidacies do not help our party or our governments.
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p>Let him study and learn issues then develop sophisticated positions and plans for handling them. Let him get involved in something a little more government-y and see if he really wants to operate in a collective environment with all that red tape. (cough, cough, Deval, cough)
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p>If I had to have a super rich guy, I’d much rather a guy like Gabrielli, who has shown his interest and commitment by consistently funding studies and groups pertaining to public policy issues. Who has shown a bit of personal leadership in trying to stimulate discussion and action.
When did I say I didn’t know Grabauskas was at RMV?
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p>I do remember saying I don’t remember Grabauskas’ quality if work at RMV, because I wasn’t living in the state before he took over. So I have heard that he did a good job with it, but I personally can’t judge, since I can’t compare before and after. But as long as I’ve known who he was, I’ve known he was head of RMV.
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p>As for the hospital site, I merely pointed out that it was already a developed site, not a pristine chunk of the Fells Reservation.
A new comer trying to tell us how to live.
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p>You know very little about the Fells and how it fits into so much of the life for people growing up and living within Metro Boston.
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p>But that is for another post.
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p>Have you been watching Ken Burn’s special?
I live in Medford, Ernie. I go there fairly frequently. I’ll bet you I live a hell of a lot closer than you … unless you want to tell us a bit about yourself.
or about where you live Charley.
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p>BTW Charley, while driving by the fells have you ever stopped and walked through?