Ward 3, specifically the Maple High Six Corners neighborhood, has largely been ignorned by the City of Springfield. Afterall, it was only last year that a former absentee slumlord was hired by the city to be the Deputy Director of Neighborhood Services. http://springfieldintruder.com/?p=1055 . I can’t think of a more compelling argument in favor of Ward Representation.

I, too, have heard that Martin Loughman is a front man for the old political establishment and I also agree that his election would be a tremendous disservice to the residents of lower Forest Park, Maple High Six Corners and the South End. It is indeed a sad commentary on our Ward when one of the City Council candidates does not even take his campaign seriously enough to respond to a civic association’s questionnaire. One has to wonder if the “unseen forces” who handpicked Mr. Loughman to run were out of town that week.

I urge the voters in Ward 3 to come out and vote for Melvin Edwards on November 3rd. He is far and away the “only real candidate in the race for Ward 3 City Council.”

As always, thank you for your interesting and informative commentary on the Springfield political scene.

What about Tom Ashe for City Council?

Your assessment failed to note that Bud has called for a complete moratorium on low income subsidized housing projects (i.e., Longhill Garden type of projects in Springfield). Bud’s moratorium on building more low income projects in Springfield is grounded on the very reasons you cite on your masslive post. You and Bud Williams are on the same page – no crime plan without more, including Bud’s , can solve the underlying causes of crime alone. Bud’s crime plan is linked to a ban on low income projects and his stand other policy issues – thank goodness, otherwise your assessment would indeed be correct.

Now to Mr. Sarno – the Mayor who gave city home funds of $550,000 (and maybe even more from future Stimulus funding) to subsidize Winn Development ( A Boston Company) and more low income projects in Forest Park despite a huge public outcry against doing just this by the residents of Forest Park.

You more than most writers it this City have already castigated Mayor Sarno’s myopic (and the “network’s”) decision to build low income projects in Forest Park and elsewhere in Springfield.

But as you may or may not know, the City of Springfield, with Mayor Sarno’s approval, is now asking for more stimulus funds (approx. $2.5 million in their latest Combined Notice) to do what? To rehab more low income rental units and in some instances, using Stimulus funding to demolish historic homes in violation of Federal Law (e.g., 120% below the AMI in Springfield) – more requests for similar funding are on the way…people need to know that Sarno is feeding crime by using public funds to keep the City of Springfield, as Representative Rivera recently stated, “the City of Poverty Pimps”!

Poverty Pimps cluster low income residents, cluster helpless individuals…trap them and as history has shown time and time again, breed a cycle of crime and despair that we know only too well in Springfield. Who beneifts, the santoucmious Section 8 poverty pimps who have long had too much influnce in Forest Park, City Hall, the Housing Department, the Planning & Community Department and code enforcement in Springfield.

To make matters worse, based on information I have, Mayor Sarno is not seeking RFP’s from Springfield companies or workers to work on these projects. So, not only is Mayor Sarno seeking more funding for poverty pimps, but there are no policies in place that insure that these funds will be used to employ City of Springfield workers.

If there ever was a rudderless Mayor at the helm of City Hall, he works at 36 Court Street, City of Springfield – the problem Bill, is we are all passengers on this ship wreck, we’ve hit the rocks and this sad ending can only be stopped by focusing on the issues you cited.

This Mayor does not get it. But at least Bud get’s it – since there are two choices to lead us forward, guess who I’m voting for?

The moral of this post, contextualize your comments about Bud’s position on crime with his nuanced platform to stop funding for Poverty Pimps, and you’ll see that you and he are right on the same page. In meantime, Mayor Sarno continues to feed the poverty pimps.

Tim Rooke