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Local News Briefs & Tidbits: 03-07-08

by Bill Dusty

Ah, politics.

A week ago you could almost feel the national media’s collective push to get Hillary! out of the Democratic presidential contest. Then Ohio and Texas came along to put a monkey wrench in their plans – if only temporarily.

Then again, Barack Obama has shown recent signs of cracking under pressure, so Hillary! may yet pull this one off. At least one diehard conservative is hoping so.

I’m actually enjoying the drama play out, myself. I don’t actually have a dog in this particular fight, although I do think Hillary! is the lesser of the two liberal evils. The winner will go up against Republican Party nominee John McCain for the Top Job this November. I’m just hoping McCain doesn’t fade from the media spotlight too much while waiting to see who comes out victorious on the Democratic side. It will probably take the Pennsylvania Primary (April 22) or perhaps even much longer than that before the Democratic nomination is decided. According to this site, Hillary! currently leads in the polls in Pennsylvania for that primary contest.

Here’s columnist Bob Novak’s take on Hillary’s inconvenient survival, while local blogger Tommy Devine had this to say.

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And here in Springfield, it’s silly politics as usual.

The good news is, our parents (aka: the Springfield Finance Control Board) have voted to rescind the contract renewal of School Superintendent Joseph Burke as announced by the Four Conspirators of the School Committee. Despite this, the Conspirator-in-Chief, Ken Shea, still maintains that their vote is valid and binding. Which brings us to the bad news, as the Four Conspirators voted Thursday night to seek an independent review of the legality of their vote to extend Burke’s contract. The Union News Springfield Republican article quoted Shea as saying, “The control board was put in place to deal with the city’s financial crisis, this is an education issue.”

Wrong, Kenny. It’s a hiring issue. And by law, any contracts with the City are subject to review and approval by the Finance Control Board. Why is it that only you four people and Burke have a problem understanding this?

Why these four Committee members insist on ruining their reputations to help out their buddy, Joe Burke, is a mystery. But they are not going to win this one – regardless of the contract outcome. Public opinion is way against Burke’s job performance. If, by chance, the Four Conspirators do succeed in their quest to protect his job, they will be reviled throughout the region as selfish hacks looking out for one of their own instead of the city’s children. Ken Shea says he wants the issue reviewed by an independent counsel so that the matter can be settled once and for all. We want the matter settled once and for all, too, Ken. So do us all a favor: when the matter does get settled, resign your position. You have clearly decided to abandon the well-being of Springfield’s children in favor of your buddy’s own personal interests. Take a hike.

Message to the Four Conspirators: Burke is fired. Get over it.

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Meanwhile, Springfield City Councilor Jimmy Ferrera’s 2009 campaign forged ahead with his recent call for the Finance Control Board to rescind the trash fee. His motion, put forward in the City Council, was defeated by a vote of 5 to 2 (with Councilor Bill Foley giving him the atta-boy vote). The Springfield Intruder predicts that sometime this year Ferrera will issue a press release demanding the FCB leave Springfield by 2:15pm on June 30, 2009. Sharp.

Or else.

(And just think, in little more than a year, he’ll be dipping his hands into our kitty for real.)

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In other news, Merylina Asselin, wife of bad boy Christopher Asselin, has over $200,000 coming to her in back pay as an indirect result of a plea deal worked out with the Feds in the Asselin family corruption scandal. According to this Springfield Republican story, because federal charges against Mz Asselin will soon be dropped as a part of that plea deal, the Chicopee School Department felt compelled to negotiate the buy-out.

Thank God it happened in Chicopee. Otherwise we’d never hear the end of it in Masslive’s Springfield forum.

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TOURING LOCAL BLOGS:
A quick tour of what’s headlining some of Western Mass’s blogosphere…

Tommy Devine reminisces about longtime local radio guy Fred King.

Michaelann Bewsee has a news roundup from other blogs on homeless issues here.

Heather Brandon has an informative post entitled, “How To Solve Neighborhood Problems: Springfield“.

And finally, Local Buzz’s Bill Peters has this story on a visit by Phil Mangano, the Executive Director for the Interagency Council on Homelessness, to Springfield. Also, check out this follow-up interview post.

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Posted by Bill Dusty on Mar 7th, 2008 and filed under Cities & Towns, City Hall, Feature Stories, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.