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More ‘good government’ needed to help Winona Street neighborhood residents

7 Jun

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

It’s been almost exactly four months since the city slapped a cease and desist order on the project owned by builder Richard Marchese near Route 1.  And today, the people who live on Winona, Anderson, Mouton, Cardigan and other affected streets, wait, worry and wonder how their properties and lives are going to be further affected as the remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea dump five inches of rain between now and Sunday morning.

Recently, while campaigning for Ward 5 Councilor, I had several conversations with residents living in this neighborhood where this irresponsible developer has operated with total disregard for peoples’ quality of life. They told me stories of flooded basements that had never previously flooded in 35 years of living there, and of their concerns over suspicious cases of cancer, which they feel might be the result of disturbing long-buried contaminants. I met Lou Maio, whose Winona Street property has been devastated by Marchese project runoff. A pool the Maio’s put in for their grandkids is now destroyed, and there is worry that their property will soon be worthless.

I live two miles from the project, yet even I now notice from my backyard how much louder the cars sound speeding down Route 1 since Marchese clear-cut that property of all of its trees. Make no mistake, this developer’s disregard for doing things right, has had a negative effect on a wide swath of West Peabody.

As I’ve written in this space before, good government means protecting the quality of life of residents above all else. But while the city has slapped a cease and desist on this developer, and the Peabody Planning Board continues to back that decision, the residents now need to know what else can be done.

They are waiting for the city and their elected officials to fight harder for them, and maybe even find a way to keep this developer from ever again conducting business in Peabody.  Currently, the cease and desist order only applies to the back part of the property, where residential homes were to be developed.  But work, for some reason continues on the commercial part of the property facing Route 1.

Meanwhile,  residents wait to see what comes next, and hold their breath in the wake of another torrential rain storm. Good government means standing up for people and against scoundrels intent on infringing upon their quality of life. So I ask you today, where is our good government?

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Council expected to side with Mayor on removing Civil Service as criteria for picking police, fire chiefs

27 Mar

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt

Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt

The Peabody City Council’s Legal Affairs Committee did the right thing last night in voting to advance to a vote of the full City Council Mayor Ted Bettencourt’s request to remove the police and fire chief’s jobs from the jurisdiction of Civil Service.

Councilor At-Large Jim Liacos said it best last night when he argued that the Mayor should have the ability to “pick his own team” without being hamstrung by Civil Service scores. Removing the barrier allows Peabody to find the best candidate for filling those executive positions, starting with the selection of a new police chief when Chief Robert Champagne retires on June 1.

There is also the issue of a Mayor being able to fire a department head based on performance.  Right now, unless there is some malfeasance, that’s not allowed under the Civil Service system.

Although Civil Service test scores need to remain an effective way of avoiding political patronage when it comes to hiring rank-and-file firefighters and police officers, a Mayor should have the right to pick his/her own department heads and executive team, regardless of test scores. I wrote about this earlier in the Eye, if you’d like to read more.

“We all want the best candidate, the most qualified person, for this critically important position and I believe removing the chief position, for both police and fire, from Civil Service gives us the best chance of finding the right person,” Bettencourt said.

Just three members of the Legal Affairs Committee were present last night, with Councilors Liacos and Bob Driscoll supporting the Mayor’s request. Councilor At-Large Anne Manning-Martin wasn’t supportive of the Mayor’s request.

The matter will now go before the full council on Thursday, where it’s expected to pass. The vote would serve as a home rule petition that the state legislature would then have to approve and have signed by the Governor.

You can read the full story here in the Peabody Patch.

Please let me know where you stand by leaving a comment.

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Frasca hopes to bring experience, Peabody roots to job of Councilor At-Large

15 Mar

(If you are running for any office in Peabody in 2013,  please send us your statement, and we will post it here as written by you. Scott Frasca has pulled nomination papers to run for Councilor At-Large in this fall’s City Election.)

 Submitted by the Scott Frasca for Councilor At-Large Committee

Councilor At-Large candidate Scott Frasca and his sons

Councilor At-Large candidate Scott Frasca and his sons on the day he pulled papers to run for Councilor At-Large

Scott Frasca was educated in the Peabody school system from Kiley Elementary to Peabody High School. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Management from Salem State and worked hard to achieve a Master’s degree in Management from both Northeastern and Harvard University where he won the prestigious Derek Bok Public Service Prize. He also completed an executive education at the Kennedy School of Government in 2009.

Based on his strong Peabody roots, entrepreneurial background, and compassion for people, he created Making a Difference in Peabody Foundation in 2002 on the belief that there was a need to help Peabody residents with basic emergency needs such as oil, rent, electricity, clothing, housing items, and fire and flood relief.  The organization has fulfilled its mission and continues to assist hundreds of people a year.

 

He has been a business owner with a downtown office since 1997 and is the owner of Frascati Clothiers and Frasca Strategies and is involved with numerous other business ventures.  After he sold his first business in 2001 and immediately after the 9/11 attacks, he was on a waiting list to work for the FBI and worked the night shift for Homeland Security at a government base while developing a new business and charity during the day.

He then decided to work 4 years as a Budget Manager on the site integration phase of a new classified Missile Defense Agency contract while developing his business and charity part time. This defense system is currently deployed to protect the United States and its Allies from incoming missiles. Once this system was deployed, Scott decided to focus full time on developing his business and charity.

Scott serves in numerous community positions and is President and Founder of Animal Health Fund, Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides funding to Peabody residents for preventative and emergency animal care. He is also a member of the Peabody Historical Society,  Peabody Area Chamber of Commerce, Harvard Club of North Shore, Celiac Disease Organization, and American Labrador Rescue.

He previously served in numerous community positions including Vice President of the Peabody Chamber of Commerce, President of the Library Board of Trustees, Higgins Middle School Council Member, Chairman of the Peabody Republican City Committee, member of the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce, and American Cancer Society fundraiser.

Now, Scott wants to take his education, experience, and community service to a new challenge and serve Peabody as Councilor at Large.  He wants to be a voice for open space and beautification, an advocate for increased senior housing and services, and a strong voice to demand world class public schools in Peabody.  His business and management background will bring leadership and energy to help revitalize downtown, expand the economic base, and ensure that we have a strong public safety.

Please consider supporting Scott so that together we can make Peabody the best that it can be!

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City should hold firm on its decision to ban pot shops

14 Mar

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

Although the Attorney General yesterday ruled that cities and towns can’t enact outright bans on marijuana dispensaries, here’s hoping that our elected officials stand their ground on this one.

Due to its vagueness and lack of regulatory control, the Medical Marijuana Dispensary Law is a potential threat to public safety and quality of life.  Most, including myself,  aren’t against medical marijuana, but many people thought it would be dispensed through a qualified, well-regulated pharmacy, and not through fly-by-night pot shops that anyone can own and operate.

The Peabody City Council voted in January on a request from by Mayor Ted Bettencourt to fully ban medical marijuana facilities from any zoning district in the city. But AG Martha Coakley has ruled a similar ban in Wakefield illegal. Here’s a rundown on the latest details surrounding this issue in the Peabody Patch.

Will be interesting to see how this all plays out. But as we’ve written here before: some lawsuits are just worth fighting. Let’s hold our ground on this and every quality of life issue

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Mayor is right: Hiring of new Chiefs shouldn’t be determined only by test scores

12 Mar

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

Mayor Ted Bettencourt

Mayor Ted Bettencourt

When a community searches for a new police or fire chief, the process shouldn’t be hamstrung by a test that has a primary intent of keeping politics out of hiring.  Civil Service tests are a good thing when it comes to keeping the hiring of police officers and firefighters “honest.”

But it’s just too limiting of a tool for evaluating and hiring public safety chief executives.

This is why I support Mayor Ted Bettencourt in his request that a Civil Service test score no longer be the determining factor when it comes to Peabody hiring for these two critically important positions. The Mayor is asking the City Council to vote to remove both the police and fire chief positions from the jurisdiction of Civil Service.

Not worrying about how a candidate scores on a Civil Service test will help broaden the pool of potential candidates for the new Police Chief when current Chief Robert Champagne retires on June 1.

“My research has shown that the best process for the city is to take the (chiefs’) positions out of Civil Service,” the Mayor told the Peabody Patch.

And he’s right. Who the right person is for the job needs to be based on several criteria,  and to eliminate people simply because they didn’t get a Top 3 score on a Civil Service exam would be to eliminate some of the best candidates for a position that is essential when it comes to public safety.

Bettencourt says that he wouldn’t totally eliminate the test as criteria, but other criteria would carry as much, if not more weight, than the Civil Service score.

The Mayor’s request is likely headed for the Council’s Legal Affairs Committee. But the Council should act quickly here,  and I feel the councilors should approve this request so Peabody is assured of the best possible replacement when Chief Champagne leaves.

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Seeing the trees through the forrest, and catching up on other Peabody news

7 Mar

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

Catching up on some things today while taking a break from writing about the state rep special election.

Capital punishement for Peabody trees?

Capital punishement for Peabody trees?

Turns out that Massachusetts’ ban on capital punishment doesn’t extend to trees.

Jennifer Pinkham Davis, Peabody’s Director of Parks and Recreation, recently told the City Council’s sub-committee on Legal Affairs that — under state law — any citizen can have trees on city property cut down at any time and at taxpayer expense.

Davis says that, if a citizen asks for a tree to be cut down, the city must go out, examine the tree and determine if it’s a danger to the public. In some cases, the roots of these trees make sidewalks impassable, and potentially dangerous. But it doesn’t stop there: Davis says that, if the city determines the tree is healthy and no danger to public safety, citizens can still petition and have it removed. And most times, the citizen wins.

But here’s the rub: Many times completely healthy trees that pose no danger to the public are cut down, and it can cost the taxpayers up to $8,000 per tree.  And … sometimes the resident’s reason for cutting down the tree can as frivolous as “the leaves are making a mess on my lawn.”

To stop this process, Davis is hoping the City Council can create an ordinance that would send that $8,000 bill to the person demanding the destruction of a healthy tree.

Stay tuned.

Peabody Police: Alert on a utility scam

ppdThe Eye is running the following alert from the Peabody Police:

This is a regeneration of an alert sent 02/21/2013 regarding National Grid. PMLP has received customer reports that they are now calling alleging to be from PMLP.

They tell the customer that their account is delinquent and to avoid power shut off they must pay now via credit card. They then use the credit card data to make fraudulent purchases. If you get a call from someone stating they are from PMLP collections, report it to PMLP and the Peabody Police Department. PMLP does not collect over the phone nor threaten shut off in this manner. If you can capture the originating phone call on caller ID please report the number.

Free parking for veterans coming to Peabody?

Postal worker Daniel Heafey has asked the City Council’s Legal Affairs Sub-Committee to pass an ordinance that would provide free parking for veterans in Peabody.

Heafey, a Cold War veteran (1974 to 1978), who blames some hearing loss and a bad knee to some tough work as a military police officer, said he was parking downtown recently and was troubled when he could only park for 15 minutes after putting a nickel in the meter.

“I put a nickel in the meter,” Heafey said. “I was gone for 15 minutes, and I got a ticket.”

No details yet on how the city would enforce this possible new ordinance.

 Tickets still available for St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast & Roast

Ttickets remain for the City of Peabody’s First Annual St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast and Roast,  which will take place on Saturday morning March 16th from 9:00 to 11:00AM in the Frank L. Wiggin Auditorium at Peabody City Hall.

“We have gotten a terrific response for this first St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast and Roast,” said Mayor Ted Bettencourt, “Judging by the demand for tickets, this event is destined to become a longstanding Peabody tradition.”

The public is welcome to attend the breakfast, which will feature Irish music by “McGeney and Moore” and good natured roasting of some of the city’s best known politicos. The cost is $30 per person and all proceeds benefit the Haven from Hunger. Tickets must be reserved in advance as there will be no tickets sold at the door to the event.

Those interested in attending the breakfast should contact Mary Bellavance at 978.538.5704.

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Update: Full council to take up St. Adelaide pedestrian light safety issue

22 Feb

By Eye On Peabody

Just a quick update on an earlier story here: The Peabody City Council Public Safety Subcommittee last night voted to recommend that the full council commission a study for installing a pedestrian light in front of St. Adelaide Church at the spot where an elderly pedestrian was struck and killed by a car on Jan. 27.

It was another step in the process of making the Lowell Street crossing safer for those attending mass and other events at the church. To read full details on last night’s subcommittee meeting, please click here.

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City right to protect Ward 5 quality of life by fighting billboard location out in court

19 Feb

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

Billboard pole must be moved

Billboard pole must be moved

File this one under:  All resident quality of life issues are worth fighting out in court.

Rather than move its monstrous 92-foot tall billboard pole and put  it where the Peabody City Council voted it could go, Total Outdoor Corp. is taking the city back to court.

City Solicitor Michael Smerczynski told the Peabody Patch that the company’s response to the cease and desist order from the city last month was that there was a mix-up in the version of plans filed in court and the company is unwilling to spend the $200,000-$250,000 necessary to relocate the pole behind the building at 532 Lowell St.

The city, meanwhile,  contends that the plans submitted in court — when a judge ruled in the company’s favor — showed the pole located in the rear of the property,  and out of sight of Lowell Street and neighbors who live in the vicinity.

Those same plans were then included with the permit approved by the council in the fall.  This is a big quality of life issues for the residents of Ward 5.  This one is worth fighting out in court.

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Pay increases approved for Mayor, City Councilors and School Commitee

15 Feb

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

I’ll weigh in during the discussion, but for now I just wanted to get our readership’s  reaction to the Peabody City Council last night voting pay raises for the Mayor,  School Committee members,  and City Councilors.

Here are the basic details.  (You can read more in this article from the Peabody Patch.)

The City Council voted 8-2 to hike the Mayor’s pay from $94,933 per year to $105,000 per year (10% increase). It’s the first mayoral raise in 12 years.

Councilors also voted 7-3 to increase their salaries to 9 percent of the mayor’s salary, starting in 2014, and give School Committee members an $1,100 raise. School Committee members will now earn $5,100, while councilors will earn about $9,450 (up from $7,466).

Please give me your thoughts in the comments section. I’ll try to weigh in with my opinion during the discussion.

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Learning what the job of being a member of Peabody’s City Councilor is all about

13 Feb

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

Peabody's St. Adelaide Roman Catholic Church

Peabody’s St. Adelaide Roman Catholic Church

In this quest of running for the open Ward 5 Councilor seat on Peabody’s City Council, I’m learning that sometimes it’s not only about campaigning.  Sometimes, it’s about being a student. It’s about sitting back, watching, listening, and learning what it truly means to be a public servant.

That was certainly the case last night when I attended a special meeting at Wiggin Auditorium at Peabody City Hall. The meeting was held because people from a neighborhood community had a major concern about a pedestrian safety issue.  In this case, the community was  St.  Adelaide Catholic Church, my family’s parish, near the neighborhood in which I grew up.

The meeting was prompted by the tragic death less than two weeks ago of 87-year-old Ted Buttner. Mr. Buttner was struck by an elderly driver in the Lowell Street crosswalk outside of the church after attending a Saturday mass, and passed away shortly thereafter. He was from Somerville, but he often visited his daughter Patty Caton in West Peabody, and liked to attend mass at St. Adelaide.

The meeting last night came about because this horrible tragedy was another reminder of the dangers of that crossing. Recognizing the concerns of the St. Adelaide community, Ward 6 City Councilor Barry Sinewitz requested his fellow city councilors convene a meeting to discuss what could be done to make the situation safer for pedestrians.

The meeting was well attended, almost 40 parishioners, and five City Councilors. Mrs. Caton spoke first, telling everyone about how her dad was a wonderful, vibrant gentleman, and how important it was to keep a tragedy like this from ever happening again.

“We are heartbroken to have lost such a gentle, loving man who always had his arms extended to help everyone who knew him,” said Caton, the first of several parishioners who spoke, including church pastor, Father David Lewis.

Mayor Ted Bettencourt, who is a St. Adelaide parishioner, was there too to speak, as were City Councilors Mike Garabedian, Tom Gould, Anne Manning-Martin, and Arthur Athas. Peabody Police Captain John DeRosa spoke about more immediate visibility by officers, and other steps they are taking now to make the crosswalk safer.

The parishioners would like a pedestrian crossing light, a matter that will be taken up shortly the City Council’s sub committee on public safety.

You can read the full details of what transpired last night here in this well done article in the Peabody Patch.

My reason for bringing it up today was to not only update you on something we posted here earlier about this safety concern, but to point out an example of how government should always work for the people. Citizens have concerns. Elected leaders are supposed to bring everyone together to address those concerns.

I learned a lot last night about the type of City Councilor I’d like to be.

Sometimes campaigning isn’t just about working hard to become the most-popular name on a ballot. Sometimes, it’s about learning what the job is all about first, and taking those lessons with you into office.  It’s not about me, or what I know.  It’s about doing the peoples’ business,  first,  foremost, and always.

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