"It is already pouring over the spillway."

Today's back of the hand is delivered by State Representative Harold Naughton. An article about the flooding in Clinton and Lancaster included this exchange between Naughton and Lancaster Town Administrator Orlando Pacheco, where Naughton calls Pacheco on the obvious:

[Naughton] said the Wachusett Reservoir was full to overflowing with water pouring over its spillway and down toward the Nashua River.

Flooding problems were also being dealt with in Lancaster and Westminster. Route 117 in the Bolton Flats area, a normally flood prone area, was closed from Route 70 to Bolton. Town Administrator Orlando Pacheco said his concern is that the situation could get worse if water has to be released.

“They don't have to release it,” Mr. Naughton said. “It is already pouring over the spillway.”

Hee!

To be fair, Naughton probably didn't deliver the retort in person. If he did, then good for him for restating the obvious. If not, then kudos to Karen Nugent for arranging the story in such a way that it looks like a smackdown.

Clinton turns to bullying -- again

A couple of years ago, when Clinton and Sterling were in dispute over the fate of the Wekepeke reservoirs, a member of the Clinton Board of Selectmen finally had it to here with Sterling and tried to bully one of our selectmen by dismissing the town as full of lay-abouts with nothing better to do than to harass poor old Clinton.

Now Clinton’s long-running dispute with Lancaster over the Clinton Fish and Game rifle range is heating up again, and once again Clinton has had enough of its neighbors. This time, not only is one of its selectmen resorting to name-calling, but the police chief is threatening to stop or reduce mutual aid to Lancaster. First, Selectman Bill Connolly:

Selectman William F. Connolly Jr., a proponent of keeping the range for target shooting and for police use, is a former member of the Fish and Game Association who has battled Lancaster officials about its use, and tried to work out an agreement to satisfy both sides.

Mr. Connolly said although approval for police was made last year before he was elected to the board in May, he was under the impression all involved had no problem with police certification shooting, including residents near the range...

“Little Napoleon [Lancaster Town Administrator Orlando Pacheco] may think he can tell the Lancaster Board of Selectmen what to do, but he’s not going to tell the Clinton Board of Selectmen what to do,” Mr. Connolly said.

My guess is that Selectman Connolly is exasperated that Lancaster has gone back on what he thought was an agreement to allow the Clinton police to use the range. Frankly, I would be miffed too if the rules had changed out from underneath me. But deriding the administrator of a neighboring town as “Little Napoleon” is rarely a successful negotiating tactic. I can’t imagine that derision will help bring the two towns back into agreement.

(For his part, Pacheco doesn't have a reputation for professional language when it comes to negotiating agreements either. He has likened his own town's police union to "pigs in the mud.")

But more troubling is the implication that Clinton police might not be so willing to help Lancaster out with its public safety needs if they don’t get what the want from the negotiations.”

Chief Laverdure said he is particularly miffed because the stop order has caused bad feelings in the two towns after years of cooperation between the Lancaster and Clinton police departments, which has included using the Clinton police lockup for Lancaster prisoners, and assisting Lancaster with police calls.

Just last week, he said, six Clinton officers helped two Lancaster officers at a break-in on South Meadow Road in Lancaster, near the range, in which the alleged robber was still in the house.

“We combed the woods, we identified a suspect — and it’s a dangerous guy, and he’s still out there. We spent 20 hours on that case. I’ll be reluctant to do that again,” Chief Laverdure said.

It is outrageous for the police chief in one town to threaten to withhold aid to a neighboring community because of a political dispute between the boards of selectmen in the two towns. I guess it speaks to a certain naivete on my part, but I would hope that our police would stay out of public policy disputes. I believe the motto is “To serve and protect,” not “To serve and protect unless your town administrator pisses us off.”

Let’s turn it around for a minute. Would it have been appropriate during the Wekepeke dispute for the Sterling Police or Fire Department to come out and say “Well, since Clinton hasn’t repaired the dams up there, we can’t help out if Clinton calls for help; we need to make sure we are ready if one of those dams should blow.”? Absolutely not. In fact, it would have been offensive.

Just because Clinton is the big dog in the region doesn’t mean it should also be the big bully. It didn’t get them anywhere in the Wekepeke dispute and it likely won’t help out here either.

Swine Flu in Stow

The last thing you're going to get from me is panic over a virus that seems to be about as virulent as any other, but since the rest of the world is panicking I thought I'd add a little investigative research to close a loose end from today's newspapers. There is now a case in Stow.

The Sentinel and Enterprise reported today that a student from the Nashoba Regional School District has a case of the flu:

Officials from the Nashoba Regional School District announced Tuesday that medical officials have confirmed one case of swine flu in the district....

The district includes the towns of Lancaster, Bolton and Stow.

Lancaster Board of Health Chairman Robert Baylis said privacy laws prohibit school officials from revealing which of the district's schools the afflicted student attends.

The state Department of Public Health reports that yesterday there was only one case reported yesterday in Worcester County, a seven-year old from Harvard (which caused Harvard to close school). Seven cases were confirmed yesterday in Middlesex County.

Since Lancaster and Bolton are both in Worcester County, the student in the Nashoba District with Swine Flu must be from Stow, the only town in the district from Middlesex County.

Tags: Swine Flu Massachusetts Bolton Stow Lancaster Nashoba

The "Seventh-day Adventist college"

I have made a conscious effort not to blog about my alma mater, Atlantic Union College. Over the last year a handful of items in the news have frustrated and angered me, but I’ve decided not to write about them because I know and love too many of the people at the college. I don’t go public with my frustrations because I value those relationships. Let’s just say I’m not happy about this or this or this and leave it at that.

But one of the things I have noted as I read coverage of the college in the Telegram and Gazette is that it is almost always identified as a “Seventh-day Adventist college.” Whether it is good news or bad news (and recently, it’s been a lot of bad news) doesn’t matter, the T&G includes the church as an identifier.

It has always stuck out to me. I don’t know if it is included because the T&G thinks the religious affiliation of the college is important, because they think the average reader doesn’t know of the affiliation, or if there is another reason, but it is nearly always there.

I decided to compare the T&G’s coverage of AUC with its coverage of Anna Maria College in Paxton. I chose Anna Maria because it is similar to AUC in three ways: it is a religious school (Catholic), it is a small college (not as small as AUC, but smaller than other religious schools in the area—Holy Cross, Assumption), and it is not located in Worcester, but in one of the outlying towns. In my comparison, I included articles about the colleges that were written by T&G staff and editorials. I did not include press releases or articles from the sports section.

I found that The T&G refers to AUC and Anna Maria very differently. In 17 articles about AUC, 15 of them (88%) referred to the college as a Seventh-day institution. There was no consistency in the placement of the reference—sometimes it was referenced in the lead but more often the reference was added later in the story—but it was consistently there.

In contrast, of 13 articles about Anna Maria College, the institution was only specifically referred to as Catholic three times (23%). There were a couple of occasions where the reference was not specific but a reader might infer the affiliation (by the mention of a bishop, for instance), but generally speaking, the college’s religious affiliation was not included.

Now, I don't know if this is a T&G policy or if it is simply the preference of Karen Nugent, the reporter the T&G has assigned to the Clinton/Lancaster area. On the one hand 88% is pretty consistent, one could argue that the paper clearly has a policy it uses in referring to AUC's affiliation. On the other hand, the only two articles that do not reference Seventh-Day Adventists were two of the three articles written by reporters other than Nugent. In other words, Nugent is 14-for-14 in including the reference, other reporters are only 1-for-3 in including the reference.

Let's look at how different writers reference the college in articles written about the same event. On August 6, 2008, Nugent wrote about an oil spill that took place at AUC:

LANCASTER - Diesel fuel that leaked from a generator at Atlantic Union College Monday was contained before it reached the nearby Nashua River, a state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman said yesterday.

Between 300 and 500 gallons of fuel used by college generators to produce electricity and hot water at the Seventh-day Adventist college were discharged when a gasket in one of the generators broke, spokesman Edmund J. Colletta said.

Matthew Bruun filed this report last month, outlining the action taken against the college:

LANCASTER - Atlantic Union College is facing steep penalties from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in connection with an oil spill last summer that polluted a brook feeding the Nashua River.

The EPA is seeking penalties of up to $177,500 against the college for violating the Clean Water Act, and additional penalties of up to $32,500 per day for violating the Emergency Planning and Right to Know Act, according to a news release issued yesterday.

I can't say for sure, but I'm guessing that Nugent would have written "The EPA is seeking penalties of up to $177,500 against the Seventh-day Adventist college" had she been the one to file the story. When the Clinton Item covered this story, they omitted the religious reference; articles in the Lancaster Times and Clinton Courier also did not find the church affiliation germane.

Again, I'm not sure why Nugent, who I have written about before, always includes the reference. Is it because she finds the affiliation important to the subject of the articles? If so, her colleagues and competitors do not agree. Is it because she thinks AUC is small and obscure enough that most readers won't know what it is without an identifier? Perhaps, but the college has been around since 1882, it's probably well enough established by now. Does she think that Adventists are peculiar? Well, she wouldn't be the only one.

Maybe I should begin referring to the T&G as "a New York-owned publication."

Tags: Atlantic Union College Massachusetts Telegram and Gazette Seventh-day Adventist Lancaster

Lancaster's Potholes

To: Lancaster DPW
Re: Potholes

Putting three inches of new asphalt into a foot-deep pothole does not fix the problem.

Regards.

Tags: Massachusetts Lancaster Potholes

Kerrigan's strategy comes into focus

When he first announced his candidacy for State Representative, I questioned whether or not Steve Kerrigan’s campaign was a Quixotic quest or shrewd politics. Well, yesterday’s news that incumbent Harold Naughton had applied for three court positions last year confirms that Kerrigan is shrewd; whether or not his quest will have been Quixotic will be answered at the polls on Tuesday. Here’s the story:

State Rep. Harold P. Naughton Jr. sought a judgeship and two clerk magistrate positions last year and embarked on his seventh re-election campaign in the spring with two of the judicial applications still pending.

The Clinton Democrat, a lawyer who will face Stephen J. Kerrigan Tuesday in the Democratic primary for the 12th Worcester District seat, has denied rumors that he was interested in a district court clerk magistrate post.

But the Telegram & Gazette has obtained copies of documents submitted to the state Judicial Nominating Commission showing that Mr. Naughton applied for a Leominster District Court judge seat, which was filled in June by former Worcester lawyer Mark E. Noonan, and clerk magistrate posts in the Fitchburg and Uxbridge district courts. . . .

Mr. Kerrigan, 36, a former Lancaster selectman and aide to U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said his opponent “clearly has got to make a decision about what his priorities are.”

The leak of Naughton’s job applications is the “A-ha!” moment that I’ve been waiting for as I’ve been trying to figure out what Kerrigan has been up to. Looking back at the campaign as a whole, it’s clear to me that yesterday’s news is the culmination of a summer-long strategy to paint Naughton as uninterested and uncommitted. In a May 1 Telegram article announcing his candidacy, Kerrigan had this to say:

"I want to do this job," he said. "This has nothing to do with Hank (Naughton). When it comes right down to it, I just want to work in the Legislature. I have a desire to serve."

The article also included unsourced “rumors” about Naughton’s lack of desire and commitment:

Mr. Naughton yesterday denied rumors that he is in line for a district court magistrate post, passing it off as expected because he is a lawyer and former prosecutor, and because there are a few court magistrate positions open in Central Massachusetts.

"I've had several fundraisers, and there is one coming up on June 16. I am running for re-election," he said. "I look forward to the campaign, and I hope the people of the 12th District come forward once again to support me."

I can’t prove it, but there is little doubt in my mind that it was Kerrigan who planted the seed with reporter Karen Nugent regarding these “rumors.” I think he knew concretely that Naughton had applied for the three court jobs a year earlier. He innocuously reminds the reporter of the “rumors” and sets the hook for the rest of his campaign. (To be fair, he also set the hook with me. I have surmised that he is running to build a reputation so that he can win a special election if Naughton were to step down after the election, which means that I, too, have given credence to the rumors of Naughton’s job search. )

If you have been reading Kerrigan’s literature (and to his credit, I get something in the mail almost every week), his message is consistently about representing the people of the district at 100%. That is his entire platform. If he mentions issues at all, it is using very broad strokes. I am not sure that I have heard or read of a specific policy that he would propose or a specific position of Naughton’s that he opposes. Kerrigan did very well at the forum we hosted in July, but the one time he seemed at a loss for words was when I asked him what his first bill would be.

Last month, Kerrigan turned up the heat on Naughton just a little more when he mentioned that the representative had not voted on the final budget. Naughton missed the vote because he was on active duty with his Army reserve unit. I was critical of Kerrigan’s attack, but it was consistent with his “100%” theme.

Now comes the confirmation that Naughton applied for court positions over a year ago. Make no mistake that the Kerrigan campaign or one of its supporters leaked the job applications. The first clue is that the article was written not by Nugent, who is the regular Clinton reporter, but by Shaun Sutner, a writer who has covered statewide political issues. The Kerrigan campaign is savvy enough to make sure that the local stringers don’t screw it up, so the info was leaked to a writer who would know what to do with it and who has not written one story about this campaign the entire cycle.

It appears to me that the Kerrigan campaign has been planning on leaking this story at this time from day one. This story is the next to last brick in the wall that they have been constructing since jumping into the race in May. If I am correct, I would expect that Kerrigan has another mailing at the print press as we speak using this story as the hammer. The only thing the printer has been waiting for is the T&G masthead with the exact headline and a callout quote to plug into the blank space. I’ll bet a dollar to a donut that tomorrow, Saturday or Monday the mailman will deliver one last Kerrigan flyer prominently featuring this story.

What is Naughton to do? Hit back on a couple of fronts. First, it appears that whoever released the information to the Kerrigan campaign or its supporters was at best being unethical and at worst breaking the law. In the list of instructions on the Joint Nominating Commission website, this stands out:

8. This application does not constitute a public record. For confidentiality reasons, once the application is filed with the JNC, applicants should not provide a copy of the application to other individuals. However, upon approval by the JNC, applications, including the confidential portion, are forwarded to the Governor for review. In addition, applicants should note that a portion of the application may be reviewed by the Chief Legal Counsel, the Joint Bar Committee as well as the Governor's Council.

Further, if it was a commissioner who leaked the info, he or she would be in violation of Executive Order 500:

1.5.4 Confidentiality: Except as otherwise may be necessary for purposes of conducting due diligence of an applicant's qualifications and during Commission meetings, each Commissioner shall keep confidential all information concerning any applicant, except that information which may reflect unfavorably on an applicant's suitability for judicial office shall be disclosed to the Chairperson. The Chairperson shall disclose any such information to the Commission and to investigators employed on behalf of the Commission for purposes of due diligence. No discussions, motions, opinions, votes or facts revealed during meetings of the Commission may be directly or indirectly disclosed by any Commissioner to any person other than another Commissioner in accordance with this Code of Conduct. Except as may be required to conduct due diligence, all substantive communications with applicants outside of meetings and interviews shall be conducted by the Chairperson or her designee.

Will Naughton accuse the Kerrigan campaign and its contacts on Beacon Hill of an unethical and possibly illegal breach of confidentiality? Maybe something like this: “Steve Kerrigan’s cabal of Boston lobbyists and Washington insiders will do anything, including releasing confidential records, to get him elected. Steve Kerrigan should condemn this breach of ethics and demand that his supporters in Boston come clean and reveal the source of their information.”

Naughton also ought to point out more forcefully that Kerrigan has mischaracterized his earlier denial of interest in a position. Back to today’s story:

“I’ve made my decision. That’s why I’m running for office,” Mr. Kerrigan said. “I certainly read that denial, that he’s never applied for these jobs, and that appears not to be the case.”

Mr. Naughton, who in 2006 initially supported Mr. Patrick’s primary opponent for governor, former Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, said also he was told not long after applying for the Leominster judgeship that he would not be appointed.

“I got a letter saying I wasn’t going to be considered for that,” he said.

The Clinton lawmaker, who also represents Boylston, Northboro and parts of Lancaster and Sterling, maintained that his assertion in a May 2 [sic] Telegram & Gazette story that he was not in line to be a clerk magistrate was accurate because he believed that the Fitchburg and Uxbridge jobs would not be filled by permanent appointments.

Perhaps this is a little too (Bill) Clintonian in the parsing of the words, but Naughton never denied that 10 months earlier he had applied for magistrate positions. He said that he was not “in line” for those positions. Based on the way the May 2 article was written, I don’t think Nugent ever asked him if he had applied. Here it is again:

Mr. Naughton yesterday denied rumors that he is in line for a district court magistrate post, passing it off as expected because he is a lawyer and former prosecutor, and because there are a few court magistrate positions open in Central Massachusetts.

Kerrigan cannot accurately claim that he “read that denial, that he’s never applied for these jobs” because Naughton has not denied applying for the position and looks like he has never been asked the question.

Even so, a candidate can only gain so much by playing defense, and Kerrigan is trying to put Naughton in a defensive position for the last week of the campaign. Will it be enough to overcome Naughton’s lead in fundraising and the advantages of incumbency? We’ve got a fun five days to find out.

Tags: Massachusetts Election 2008 State House Clinton Lancaster Sterling Harold Naughton Stephen Kerrigan

The $100,000 house race

The campaign finance reports are in, and for what has to be the first time ever, the candidates in the 12th Worcester District primary have raked in over $100,000 in their attempts to win the seat. Here are a few observations from my reading of the reports:

• The $102,482 Harold Naughton and Steve Kerrigan have combined to raise makes this primary the third richest in the state this cycle, behind only the races in the Fifth Essex and Fourth Plymouth districts. The two campaigns have combined to spend $82,855, which places them second in expenditures. Of those top three races, the 12th Worcester is the only two-man contest.
  
  
• Among contested races statewide, only Fifth Essex incumbent Anthony Verga has raised more money than Naughton's $62,841.
  
  
• Naughton has done much better in the district than Kerrigan has, outraising the challenger by more than eight-to-one. Kerrigan has only tapped 18 contributors for a total of $2,505 in the five towns (and $500 of that is Kerrigan's own money). By contrast, Naughton's report listed 200 local contributions.
  
  
• On the other hand, more than half of Kerrigan's nearly $40,000 has come from contributors living outside of Massachusetts. Over $14,000 came from the Washington, D.C. area. In comparison, Naughton snagged less than $900 from outside the state; of that, $424.50 came from the Hillary Clinton for President campaign.
  
  
• Of course, incumbency has it's privileges. Naughton pulled in over $11,000 from Political Action Committees and trade organizations and nearly $2,400 from fellow candidates and legislators in other districts. Kerrigan did not receive any money from these special interests.

What does it mean? Perhaps I'm wrong about this, but I'd say that the ability to only get 18 contributors from the district probably spells big trouble for Kerrigan. All the out of state money can buy a lot of mailings, but none of those contributors can vote. In a local primary, the people who come out and vote are the ones who are committed to their candidate; casual voters don't take the time. If Kerrigan hasn't been able to get his supporters and potential constituents to commit to his campaign financially, one wonders if he'll be able to get them to care enough to get out to the polls.

Below are the numbers:

              Harold Naughton           Stephen Kerrigan
              Contribution       Pct.   Contribution     Pct.
District        $21,825.19      34.7%      $2,505.00     6.3%
Rest of State   $38,287.00      60.9%     $14,750.00    37.2%
Out of State       $899.50       1.4%     $21,051.00    53.1%
Not Itemized     $1,830.00       2.9%      $1,335.00     3.4%

TOTAL           $62,841.69                $39,641.00
   
PAC             $11,250.00      17.9%          $0.00     0.0%
Candidate        $2,374.50       3.1%          $0.00     0.0%

Tags: Massachusetts Election 2008 State House Clinton Lancaster Sterling Harold Naughton Stephen Kerrigan

100% committed or a step too far?

I’ve been wondering when challenger Steve Kerrigan would start taking it to Representative Hank Naughton in their primary contest. I guess the answer is "August 19."

Kerrigan has been beating Naughton in the mail and on the ground—I’ve received five or six fancy, designed brochures from Kerrigan compared to one misprinted postcard from Naughton, and Kerrigan leads 2-1 in visits to the homestead—but he hasn’t been either specific about his plans for the House or willing to contrast his vision of government with Naughton’s. It’s been my thought all along that a challenger can only get so far without making a direct contrast with the incumbent. In short, you have to knock the champ out.

But I figured that if Kerrigan started to draw contrasts with the incumbent, he’d do so around specific votes or issues, or even the old rumors that Naughton may be looking for greener pastures in the judiciary. I didn’t think he’d go there:

“I have a 100 percent commitment to serve, 24-7, and I’m not starting as a traditional freshman because I’ve had to deal with all the issues before,” Mr. Kerrigan said...

Mr. Kerrigan pointed out that Mr. Naughton, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which handles money, was absent on July 3, the day the $28 billion state budget was voted on.

Let me be more precise. I’m not surprised that Kerrigan is mentioning his “100 percent commitment” because this has been his one consistent overriding message. While he doesn’t say so directly, readers and listeners are left to infer that Kerrigan doesn’t think Naughton is as committed to being a representative as he should be. But I am surprised that Kerrigan would use a vote that Naughton missed while serving in the Army Reserves as evidence:

Mr. Naughton, 47, who joined the U.S. Army Reserves in 2003 and did an eight-month tour of duty in Iraq in 2005 and 2006, said yesterday he was on reserve training at the time of the vote.

“I filed my (yes) vote with the clerk, and everyone was aware of what my vote was,” he said.

I just can’t imagine why Kerrigan would pin Naughton down as being less than 100% because he spends a couple of weeks a year with the armed forces, but there you are. Perhaps the item was taken out of context—I tend to arch my eyebrows a little bit when a reporter relays an assertion this specific as a narrative rather than using a quote—or perhaps Kerrigan didn’t realize that Naughton was serving that week. I don’t know. But using one’s military service as a reason he should not be reelected is pretty risky business.

(For what it’s worth, the reason for Naughton’s absence should have been clear. On June 10, the Clinton Item reported that he would be sent on active duty to the United Nations and Fort Dix during the summer. I can also vouch for the representative. I emailed him of June 29 to start the process of scheduling our forum in Sterling and he replied on July 6, apologizing for the delay as he away from email on active duty.)

It will be interesting to see how the campaign sharpens over these last four weeks. Based on a couple of his answers at our forum last week, it sounded like Naughton was aware of the criticism that he is not “100 percent committed.” I wonder if using the Naughton’s military service as an example is taking that criticism a step too far.

Tags: Massachusetts Election 2008 State House Clinton Lancaster Sterling Harold Naughton Stephen Kerrigan

Rep. Harold Naughton forum rewind

Thursday night, the Sterling Democratic Town Committee hosted the third of a series of candidate events, a conversation with Rep. Harold Naughton, a candidate for reelection in the 12th Worcester District. As in the earlier forum with challenger Steve Kerrigan, I hosted the event and asked most of the questions.

Below is the first segment and links to the other segments. You can watch these as well as the video of our earlier State Senate debate on the Sterling DTC YouTube channel.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Tags: Massachusetts Election 2008 State House Clinton Lancaster Sterling Harold Naughton

Knuuttila's endorsement error

Last week, State Senate candidate Brian Knuuttila rolled out an impressive list of endorsements in a release to the local newspapers. The list included current and former state representatives, mayors, city councilmen, selectmen and other elected officials from across the district. It even included a couple of Republicans. But it turns out the list was both a little too impressive on the one hand, and not as impressive as it seems on the other. The Times and Courier took a closer look:

...somebody along the line at Knuuttila H.Q. made a bigger mistake, including Lancaster Democrat Stephen Kerrigan’s name in the press release.

Just one problem: Kerrigan hasn’t endorsed anyone in this race. But we had to call him to get that news, and the Kerrigan-for-Knuuttila press release was up there on our Wicked Local sites in Bolton, Clinton and Lancaster for a day before we corrected it...

...he also lists (as his original press release did before being edited) Mark “Ellworthy” as a Clinton selectman (the real Mark Elworthy, now a Finance Committee member, has been a former selectman for two years) and Esteban Mendoza as “Parks and Recreation Director” — a small quibble here, as Mendoza is chairman of the parks board, but not director of the department.

Knuuttila’s list of endorsements on his website also listed the Kerrigan error until it was corrected last evening (it now just shows a blank bullet point under the Lancaster heading). The Times and Courier couldn’t get anyone to explain on the record how the error was made—was there some sort of misunderstanding between the candidates? Just a clerical error?—but it was made. And it’s still out there. While the Times and Courier got it right before they went to press (although they had published the misinformation online), the Clinton Item listed the incorrect endorsement in their August 5 edition, even though it had been publicly debunked six days earlier.

The non-endorsement and the way it has played in the press might actually help Kerrigan in Clinton. While I doubt that too many voters make their minds up on the basis of endorsements, one might make the leap to one candidate in a race they don’t follow that closely if they perceive that candidate is aligned with one that they strongly support in a different race. Knuuttila has had his signs out in Clinton since February, and many of the Knuuttila houses are also displaying Kerrigan signs. If Knuuttila’s people think Kerrigan is on their side, it can only help.

Conversely, if a supporter of Jennifer Flanagan sees the error and wonders what the deal is with this Kerrigan guy, Kerrigan can point to the Times and Courier correction as proof that he isn’t taking sides in the race.

For what it’s worth, Flanagan’s endorsements are up on her web site and I haven’t heard of any disputes to the...hey! Why aren’t I on the list?

Tags: Massachusetts Election 2008 State Senate Sterling Clinton Lancaster Flanagan Knuuttila

Steve Kerrigan forum rewind

Thursday night, the Sterling Democratic Town Committee hosted the second of a series of candidate events, a conversation with Steve Kerrigan, a candidate for state representative in the 12th Worcester District. I ended up "hosting" the events and asking most of the questions. As such, until I get a chance to really watch the video I can't say one way or the other what I thought of Kerrigan's take on the issues.

I'll probably get the chance over the next few days, as I've loaded the segments to YouTube. Below is the first segment and links to the other segments. You can watch these as well as the video of our earlier State Senate debate on the Sterling DTC YouTube channel.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Tags: Massachusetts Election 2008 State House Clinton Lancaster Sterling Kerrigan

Da-doo-Ron-Ron

The Fitchburg Fitchburg Sentinel Sentinel botched the name of a cop cop in a story this morning on a wreck wreck in Lancaster:

LANCASTER -- Two men were transported to HealthAlliance/Leominster Hospital on Tuesday after their cars collided on Lunenburg Road, near Oakridge Farms.

According to Lancaster Police Officer Ron Ronknoll, who responded to the accident, 80-year-old Lancaster resident Roger Hart was turning his 2001 Chevrolet pickup into Oakridge Farms at about 3 p.m. when he was hit nearly head-on by a 1993 Dodge Shadow driven by 42-year-old Fitchburg resident Stephen Nezuch.

I'll bet long time officer Ron Knoll is looking forward to his comrades calling him "Ron Ron" when he reports for duty in the morning.

Tags: Massachusetts Lancaster Sentinel and Enterprise

State Rep. Candidate Stephen Kerrigan in Sterling Thursday

If you have even the remotest interest in the issues facing our communities and the commonwealth as a whole, you need to get down to the First Church in Sterling Thursday night at 6:30 to take part in a discussion with Steve Kerrigan, candidates for state representative.

Bring friends, loved ones, supporters, enemies, whoever. This will be an open forum, so if you or someone you know have some issue that is near and dear to your heart, come on down and ask the candidates what they think about it.

Here is the official release:

The Sterling Democratic Town Committee will host a forum with Stephen Kerrigan, Democratic candidate for state representative, on Thursday, July 24 at 6:30 p.m. at the First Church in Sterling, 6 Meetinghouse Hill Road, on the Sterling Town Common. The event is open to the public.

Kerrigan, who was formerly a selectman in Lancaster and has served on the staffs of Senator Edward Kennedy and Attorney General Tom Reilly, will discuss the issues facing the 12th Worcester district and answer questions from voters.

Kerrigan is running in the Democratic primary against Representative Harold Naughton, who is seeking reelection. The winner of the September 16 primary is expected to be unopposed in the general election.

The 12th Worcester district includes the towns of Boylston, Clinton, Northborough, and parts of Lancaster and Sterling.

For more information, visit the Sterling Democratic Committee on the Internet at www.sterlingdems.org.

Tags: Massachusetts Election 2008 State House Lancaster Sterling Clinton

Sentinel blows it (again) on Nashoba turf

Two articles this morning characterize the effort to appropriate money for a synthetic turf field at Nashoba High School in directly opposite terms. Can you guess which one is wrong? First from the Sentinel and Enterprise:

LANCASTER -- After barely managing to squeeze its item onto the Town Meeting Warrant, Nashoba Regional Schools got their wish last night. Residents at the Annual Town Meeting voted to approve a $1.28 million bond authorization to install a new track and artificial surfaces on the schools' six playing fields.

And from the Clinton Item:

Lancaster voters may have said yes to the Nashoba field project by saying no to an article to disapprove a bond notice, but it was all moot when Bolton voters, at a simultaneous town meeting, voted to disapprove the borrowing.

Voters in all three members towns – Lancaster, Bolton and Stow – needed to not disapprove the bond in order for the schools to go ahead with the borrowing.

If you guessed that the Sentinel got the story wrong (which would be your default guess even if you hadn't read the articles, since they seem to get everything wrong), give yourself a cookie and a hearty 'Huzzah!'

Despite the Item's mind-bending attempt at a lede ("needed to not disapprove"? a double negative?!), they at least have a fundamental understanding that Nashoba is a regional school district, which means that all three towns needed to approve the project in order for "Nashoba Regional Schools [to get] their wish last night".

The Sentinel is apparently unclear on the concept. (Shocking, I know.)

Tags: Massachusetts Lancaster Nashoba Sentinel and Enterprise

Kerrigan takes on Naughton: Quixotic quest or shrewd politics?

This morning's Telegram & Gazette contained a certified campaign stunner: State Representative Harold Naughton of Clinton will not be running unopposed after all. Former Lancaster Selectman Stephen Kerrigan will compete with Naughton for the Democratic nomination:

Mr. Kerrigan, 36, a Democratic strategist who lives in Lancaster, said yesterday that while he has supported Mr. Naughton in the past, he has wanted to work in the Legislature for some time.

“I’ve worked on behalf of my community, the commonwealth and the country for nearly 20 years, and I consider this another opportunity to continue to use my experience and skills for the people of Massachusetts,” Mr. Kerrigan said....

“I want to do this job,” he said. “This has nothing to do with Hank (Naughton). When it comes right down to it, I just want to work in the Legislature. I have a desire to serve.”

I suppose it's not a total stunner, since I predicted back in February that Kerrigan would run for the seat, but I assumed Kerrigan would run because Naughton would be a candidate for State Senate. If you'd have told me that a Democrat would take on Naughton in a primary fight for his seat in the house, I'd have said you were nuts.

There is no way Naughton can be defeated as long as he is running for reelection. However, it's possible that Kerrigan isn't running to beat Naughton, but to be ready if Naughton steps down before the September 16th primary. The rumors have been circulating. More from the Telegram:

Mr. Naughton yesterday denied rumors that he is in line for a district court magistrate post, passing it off as expected because he is a lawyer and former prosecutor, and because there are a few court magistrate positions open in Central Massachusetts.

“I’ve had several fundraisers, and there is one coming up on June 16. I am running for re-election,” he said.

As of today, I believe that Naughton fully intends to be reelected. If the situation on Beacon Hill doesn't change, Naughton will be easily reelected and be sworn in for another term next January.

But the situation on Beacon Hill could change. The vultures are starting to circle embattled Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi, as he fights charges of impropriety. According to the Boston Herald, two powerful lawmakers are already drumming up support in the race to succeed DiMasi:

Two top lawmakers jockeying to succeed embattled House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi are keeping daily head counts of their backers and even courting members with expensive steak dinners in cut-throat maneuvering that threatens to undermine debate on the state’s $28 billion budget.

Backers of Ways and Means Chairman Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop), a DiMasi ally, and House Majority Leader John Rogers (D-Norwood), are each claiming they have more support among rank-and-file members, even as supporters of both powerbrokers met with colleagues Monday night at Ruth’s Chris Steak House, a restaurant at the base of Beacon Hill.

This is where Naughton's situation could get dicey. If DiMasi steps down, Either DeLeo of Rogers will be the next speaker. Now, we don't know which representative Naughton will support in a potential leadership fight (although I'd guess he would support DeLeo: Naughton serves with DeLeo on the Ways and Means Committee and recently brought DeLeo to Clinton to speak to area seniors), but we do know that the stakes are high. Representatives who support the winner are in line for powerful committee assignments. Those who are on the losing team become relative back-benchers.

If DiMasi steps down and Naughton's candidate is elected, Naughton will stay in the house because his power and responsibility will be enhanced. But if Naughton supports the runner-up, he just might find a court magistrate's position a better career move than being just another representative.

In that case, Kerrigan would be the only candidate standing.

Tags: Massachusetts Election 2008 State House Lancaster Sterling Clinton

Lancaster's Cat Lady and the Lord of the Flies

Apparently, Lancaster has it's own version of Boston's Cat Lady. But not only do she and her boyfriend have cats running roughshod over their home and reportedly "decomposing" in their yard, they also have an interesting take on vegetarianism:

The Board of Health is prepared to bring a local homeowner to court if she does not comply with an order to clean up her Vincent Avenue house in nine days.

Board chair Robert Baylis said that if Claudia Ezinicki and boyfriend John Bottomly do not clean up the 50 Vincent Ave. home within the set time limit, the board will file a lawsuit with the Worcester housing court....

While the board found the pair's 17 cats -- which Ezinicki rescued from the streets of Boston, according to Bottomly -- in good condition, they had concerns with flies in the house.

Bottomly said that the problem has been resolved, even though he is not happy about it.

"We're strict vegetarians. We don't like to kill flies," Bottomly said.

Hey Mr. Bottomly, no one said you have to eat the flies.

All of the stomach-turning details are chronicled in the Sentinel and Enterprise.

Tags: Massachusetts Lancaster Cats Flies

Lancaster selectwoman misleads on Wal-Mart

The Times and Courier published a story in Thursday's edition looking at the impact 24-hour Wal-Mart Supercenters have had on their communities. Lancaster selectwoman Jennifer Leone, an opponent of the proposed Supercenter in Lancaster was contacted for a comment, and she provided this whopper:

Selectman Jennifer Leone, a former member of Our Lancaster First, a group of Lancaster and Leominster residents opposed to Wal-Mart's plan, doesn't believe a 24-hour store in Lancaster is necessary.

"I don't think the town gains anything by having a 24-hour store," Leone said. "Other stores have tried and failed; I mean, how many people need to buy Pedialyte at 3 a.m.? I do think a town needs a 24-hour pharmacy, but we have the CVS in Leominster that is 24 hours, and is closer to most Lancaster residents than the proposed Wal-Mart." (emphasis added)

While I appreciate Mrs. Leone's passion on this issue, she has to know that her contention that the CVS in Leominster is closer to most residents than the proposed Wal-Mart is an outright falsehood. In fact it's not even close to being accurate.

Look at the simple map I've put together here. The only 24-hour CVS in Leominster is at the green arrow. The proposed Wal-Mart is marked by the blue dot. My rough outline of the Lancaster town borders are marked by the blue line. Any way a Lancaster resident tries to get to the 24-hour CVS (assuming they take routes 2 or 190, and avoid all the stoplights in the center of Leominster), they have to pass within a mile of the Wal-Mart. I'd suggest that there is not one Lancaster resident that would have a shorter drive to CVS than to Wal-Mart.

I do not support the Wal-Mart in Lancaster, and certainly don't think we need two Supercenters with in three miles of each other. But the opposition to the project should be based in fact. There are plenty of reasons to oppose this project without making them up.

It also would have been nice if the Times and Courier had fact checked or qualified Mrs. Leone's statement. While the paper has a responsibility to report the positions of town officials, just because a selectwoman says something doesn't mean it's true. If a public official (or anyone being quoted in the paper) presents something as fact it should be verified and either omitted if it is false, or contrasted with the truth.

Tags: Massachusetts Lancaster Wal-Mart

Local journalist assaulted, unharmed

This doesn't quite belong up there with the intimidation that some journalists face in other parts of the world, but still, when the editor of a local newspaper is assaulted at an area seniors' meeting, it's worth noting:

After taking a few photos of bargain hunters browsing (see innocent bystanders in photo), I interviewed one of the dissenters...Behind us, someone started shouting. One of the club members was yelling, others joined in. Next thing I knew I was in the middle of a geriatric brawl....

“Are you recording what we’re saying? He’s recording us!” one fired up member on the porch shouted. Apparently, this is the Lancaster equivalent of yelling “gun!” at a political rally. Actually, I’d shut the recorder off just after the shouting match in the hall. Bearing no concern for her own safety, this septuagenarian leapt forward, grabbed the weapon (voice recorder) with one hand, my arm with the other and struggled to wrestle it from my steely grasp. Not wanting to get into fisticuffs with gram, I let go. With her prize in hand, she scurried back through the door, protecting the device like a football player guarding the ball while running for that 30-yard touchdown...

And that's the difference between Lancaster and Leominster. In Lancaster you get beaten by little old ladies, in Leominster you get shot at.

Tags: Massachusetts Lancaster Crime

Who'll stop the rain?

The flooding in Lancaster (and in my basement!) continues to be a concern. The Telegram and Gazette reported this morning that a handful of homes near the meeting of the rivers were only accessible by boat:

A boat was needed to get to two homes off Bolton Road in Lancaster yesterday afternoon, making that part of town look more like the Louisiana bayou than New England. “One occupant has voluntarily evacuated, but the other is staying,” said Lancaster Fire Chief John T. Fleck. “That means if there’s an emergency, we can only get to them by boat.”...

In Lancaster, the rising water levels of the Nashua River forced the closing of busy Route 117 in the North Village yesterday. Chief Fleck said he expected to open the road by 5 p.m. yesterday if the water had receded.

Bolton and Center Bridge roads remain closed and under several feet of water. The rising water yesterday flooded over a 2-foot earthen berm around a Center Bridge Road home, causing water to pour into the house.

I can tell you route 117 was not open last night as of about 6 p.m. All of the traffic was still being routed through South Lancaster via route 110 and Mill Street. That area of town was near gridlock with all of the traffic heading home to Leominster.

This is the second time in a year (and third time in a little over 18 months) that significant flooding has affected town.

The Times & Courier has posted a couple of videos of the flooding at Center Bridge Road (via you tube):

Tags: Massachusetts Lancaster Flood Nashua River