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Notes from this week.. »

Kevin Willett, we were told by the Town Manager, is working to line up funding for the July 4th fireworks.

Some money still exists in the concert fund, so we may be able to have the concert as well. Anyone willing to donate towards this contact Barb at the Town Hall Selectmen’s office.

Last weekend, a large turnout showed up at the Water District annual meeting.

The commissioners were given an opportunity to try to sell an increase in their stipend, but the people did not go for it, voting 50-13 against.

I was happy to hear the turnout was so great (I was out of town for the weekend, but paying attention).

I really think the use of water fees should be as carefully protected as every other taxpayer dollar, and saw no reason to be increasing these fees other than to benefit the commissioners personally.

The quote in the paper by Mike Blatus indicating that commissioners used to make $8000 bothered me, as I seem to remember being told that as clerk he was taking an annual fee of $20,000.

There is no reason to go back to those days.

The school committee meeting welcomed the new member, Betsy Murphy. A number of students were recognized for achievements, and the board asked that they return next month so that they can be more formerly recognized.  Oh, and it looks like Dr Mike McNamara is the chairman again.

At the Board of Selectmen’s meeting, we finally had the start of a discussion regarding the properties whose use the School Committee is currently considering.  Right now, they are presenting to the Selectmen the leasing of the Parker Elementary to the Middlesex special ed group.

There were no numbers presented, and it seems that the town’s lawyer is in communication with the School Department’s lawyer (anyone want to complain about town/school spending here?  wonder what those meetings are costing us to have us talk to ourselves).

The school committee did add a new meeting for next Monday evening to discuss their town meeting strategy (push for a proposition 2-1/2 tax override).

As you can see in the previous posting, The Library continues to have interesting events. This weekend on Saturday from 9:00 to 3:00 is the book sale, including the Jr Friends bake sale. Stop by and get some summer reading material.

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Dracut Access TV – Open House »

datvopenhousfe

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Whitey Bulger: America’s Most Wanted Gangster and the Manhunt That Brought Him to Justice »

Wednesday, May 22nd at 6:30 pm. 

M.G. Parker Memorial Library.  28 Arlington Street.  Dracut, MA.  978-454-5474.

Raised in a South Boston housing project, James “Whitey” Bulger became the most wanted fugitive of
his generation. In their riveting book, award-winning Boston Globe reporters Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy follow Whitey’s extraordinary criminal career—from teenage thievery to bank robberies to the building of his underworld empire and a string of brutal murders. Join them for
an evening of intrigue.

Kevin Cullen, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has written for the Boston Globe since 1985, was the first to raise questions about Whitey Bulger’s relationship with the FBI. A frequent commentator on NPR and the BBC, Cullen has won major journalism prizes including the Goldsmith Prize, the George Polk Award, and the Selden Ring Award.

Shelley Murphy has covered Whitey Bulger and organized crime in Boston since 1985, beginning at the Boston Herald and moving to the Globe in 1993. She has won a George Polk Award for National Reporting.

This program is free and open to the public.  Please register online at www.dracutlibrary.org.  Sponsored by the Friends of Dracut Library.

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Bone Marrow Drive »

Dracut resident and DHS junior Peter Goulet will be a running bone marrow screening drive Tuesday May 21 from 2:30 to 7:30 at Harmony Hall located on 1660 Lakeview ave, Dracut MA.

All donors must be between the ages of 18 and 44.

The drive consists of swabbing your cheek and testing it to see if you are a possible match to a patient that needs a Bone Marrow transplant.

There will be a raffle with prizes donated by local businesses and all proceeds will go to the be the Match foundation.

If you would like to donate raffle prizes or money to the Be The Match Foundation please contact Peter Goulet at (978) 957-5236

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Dracut Water Supply voting to increase Commissioner Pay »

Just a note to those who might have missed it.

While many are claiming mismanagement of money in the town, nobody is watching what is happening over at the water district, where two of the commissioners have proposed doubling their own pay.

Where is all the outrage about wasted money?

When you look at your water bill, which has gone up significantly over the last few years, don’t you wonder why some of that money didn’t go to the schools? Do the schools get a discount? How do they measure the water use at the schools?

Yet at the DWSD town meeting this upcoming Saturday morning (9:00 a.m. at Harmony Hall), it will probably only be about 20-30 people who show up.. mostly employees and family members, to decide on the spending of those funds.. in this case to the benefit of the elected officials.

But yeah, we can’t blame that on George Malliaros or Cathy Richardson, so we don’t care about that.

 

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George Malliaros considering run for State Rep »

Will he run against Colleen Garry as a Democrat, and thus have a primary election.. and then a final election against a Republican (Richardson?).. or will he run as an independent?

But we have been informed that former Selectman George Malliaros may run for State Reprentative against Colleen Garry in the next election.

Dracut Politics at its Best »

The Lowell Sun has the story on its front page, I actually bought this issue.

Seems like a “fight” or “altercation” or “incident” occurred at the Sports Zone following the election this week.

Billy McMahon and Dan O’Connell seem to have gotten into some sort of disagreement.. police are involved, charges flying..

I had heard about this a couple days ago, but the fact is I just attribute it to the anger and division that has settled on the town.

Election – An Analysis »

I have to admit, my focus was split yesterday between the town election and the upcoming graduation of one of my former foster children, Dave Daigle (who also has a history of support in the town, having worked at the skate park for many years and helping to develop its management structure).

I spent the evening at the UMass Lowell South campus, attending a ceremony where he received a Leadership award that resulted from his creation of a university organization to help former foster children and other students learn their way through the maze of administration.

Good on him.

So thats why I really wasn’t paying much attention at the town.

As to the Election…

The threat of an override was a driving force in the campaign, but its interesting that on the school election the voters chose the two most in support of a large override, while in the Selectmen race (the race that most counts when it comes to actually raising revenue) they chose the two most apt to lack support for the large override.

An evaluation of the “blanks” may tell us something about whether a people just turned out for the school race or the selectmen race.  We’ll have to look at that later.

In the School Race, I was sort of surprised in that Miles came in last. Significantly. But then again, I really didn’t see him trying too hard this time, and even he agreed that all three candidates were good and he wouldn’t be hurt not to win it this time.

The schools need people who can figure out how to do more with less. The school department is tasked with spending, so support for or against an override doesn’t mean much in that race, but some voters may have thought so.  I need to review the figures some more, to compare them to the race for selectmen.

Miles’ focus on the at-risk student population did not bring him the support this time, as the election was about overall spending on education. I can understand that.

The override question will be over in a couple months, and having two members who understand the education system can’t be bad as the board has to figure out how to move forward.

In the race for the two Selectmen’s seats, I always saw it as a three way race between Malliaros, Richardson and Archinski. 

Nason didn’t bring much to the table, and had little knowledge of the issues.  You can’t win on a platform of “they’re all bad, throw them all out” unless you bring a reason for the voters to vote for you.

Dristiliaris had a history of being involved in some town functions, both public and private, but the fact is, she was unknown.  The Garry/Bond campaign behind her did get her some significant votes, but what she did become was the spoiler in the three way race.

Archinski had built up a base in his prior election runs, and continues to have strong union support. Richardson and Malliaros brought their own voting base to the table. All three thus arrived with about the same number of votes.

The “throw everyone out” crowd, that always exists..especially in a bad economy.. threw their support to Archinski and Dristiliaris, thus pushing Archinski to the top of the group of three.

As to second place, Richardson’s strong “no new taxes” stand pushed her over the line.

I’m told that someone started a rumor that the vote for an override was on the ballot, and that brought out a number of people. I think it was intended to bring out the “parent” crowd, but instead I’m told elderly were calling town hall during the day concerned that they didn’t see the question when they voted, or that they didn’t understand why it would be on the ballot yet.

This rumor may have brought out a large anti tax contingent, and be a harbinger for the future.

Town Election Results »

5347 voters turned out, out of 20271 registered: 26%

Selectmen:

  • Tony Archinski: 2360
  • Cathy Richardson: 2285
  • George Malliaros: 2219
  • Tami Dristiliaris: 2008
  • Gil Nason: 471

School Committee:

In other races unopposed races:

  • Leo Gaudette for Moderator: 4017
  • George Nangle for Housing Commissioner: 4047
  • Clee Ace for Library Trustee: 4144
  • Bob Corey for Water Commissioner: 3163

 

Gabriel Gomez won the Republican Primary, and he did win Dracut with 958 out of 1794 Republican voters.

On the Democrat side, Stephen Lynch beat out Markey: 2369 to 1098, out of 3492 Democrat voters.

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