The election.. write what you will
Anyone who reads this blog and wishes to comment on any race please do so. As a member of the League of Women Voters, I'm not permitted to take sides or endorse anyone.
http://207.172.210.8:5002/cablecast/public-site/index.html#/show/1313?channel=1
posted by Jim Pillsbury @ 9:25 AM
23 Comments
23 Comments:
this is the link to view last weekends candidate showcase sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the MWDN.
http://207.172.210.8:5002/cablecast/public-site/index.html#/show/1313?channel=1
Ok, free and open discussion. District 4. I voted for you. Surprised that not everyone did. But now we are down to two choices, one bad, and one even worse. But we have to vote for someone. Shepard has no experience, and seems clueless about what are the real issues in Framingham. Sidewalks and bike paths? What about overcrowded schools, high taxes, and over development? But Cannon has his own agenda and is the least honest candidate I have seem in a very long time. Google the MA Tax Liens on his home in the past, or the fact he was on the agenda for a Selectman's meeting because he was going to contest paying his water bill. And what exactly does he do for a job? He is fiscally irresponsible personally, is that the type of person you want overseeing our city budget? Shepard may be inexperienced but at least she is not hiding things.
No one more surprised than I Anon. I never saw it coming. Getting bested by someone who hasn't lived here in 20 years is the utmost in humiliation.
True.. she's not hiding anything... but hasn't an idea of what this Town is facing. If you've ever spoken with her, you'd swear she was living in another world. She has no platform, no ideas and stands for nothing. Evidence of this can be seen in the replay of the League's showcase on Gov TV.
And last night at Town Meeting we saw how unethical the vote was to approve the FF's contract. He sits on FinCom and did not recuse himself for the vote. He was endorsed by Framningham Fire Department. They finally got even with me for the years of my questioning the huge amount of sick time at FFD and the millions of dollars in OT caused by sick time. And lets not forget, he was the main character in bullying Judy Grove from the Skate Park Committee.
Neither one would do this district or city any good. Pick your poison.
so the guy on finance did not pay his state taxes until they were going to put a lien on his house in 2013, had his home up for foreclosure at least once that I can find when Googling him, and then was going to try and get an abatement on his water bill all while claiming he makes $300K a year. Cannon either does not have any idea how to manage money or he is a scammer. I would rather have a clueless rep than a dishonest one. At least Shepard can learn. Cannon already learned how to be dishonest.
What about the other candidates? They all seem to have issues that make their ability to serve questionable. There are a lot of good people here in Framingham, well educated or well informed, responsible and honest people. Yet when they run (like Jim and George King) they get their ass kicked by upstarts or liars. What does that say about Framingham voters?
Good points.. what does it say? It indicates to me that some of the voters that voted in the prelim didn't do their home work and ignored the obvious. You think Town Meeting got nothing done, just wait until the City elections are done. Then you'll see real grid lock.
On another related topic is the Framingham PD. The two mayoral candidates were asked about re-instilling confidence in FPD. I do admit Stephanini had the best reply. No mention of the killing of an innocent black man in his home years ago. I would have thought Spicer would have jumped on that and offered a statement condemning the killing. No one has ever been held accountable for the killing. Also not mentioned is the fact that Trump is allowing local police departments to get from the military, military style weapons, including tanks, armored personal carriers, grenade launchers, etc. FPD had some of the equipment but was turned back into the Feds, but now we could see that stuff back. There is no reason for FPD to have this typed of military gear.
With Police Chief Ken Ferguson, a 30-year veteran of the department, reaching retirement age, Stefanini said the community’s first mayor will likely choose Ferguson’s replacement. He said the mayor must work to restore public confidence in local police and change the “culture” of the department.
“We have an issue of confidence in the department that stems from the lack of support outside the department,” he said, citing pending lawsuits filed by former police officers and the arrest last year of Framingham’s former evidence room supervisor, who is accused of stealing cash under his care.
“We need to change that culture, day one,” said Stefanini, a former selectman and former state representative. “And we need to make sure that not only are we addressing that and having an honest conversation about it, but we need to make sure that we’re dealing with community policing, and restoring and bringing our police officers in touch with our neighborhoods and our communities, so that they’re dealing with the quality of life issues.”
Jim, how about going for a write in campaign? Both choices for dist. 4 stink!
no write in for me.. the voters spoke.
The voters are going to regret their choice, not just in your district. Many good, experience people lost in the preliminary. Not a bad idea to look for something new but the city is new we need experienced people to guide this transition, EXCEPT in district 4. I would vote for the fox in my backyard before I would vote for Cannon. he is dangerous with his fact to the public being so different from his true face. The guy is irresponsible, and a chauvinist. We need to make sure he does not get elected.
Whats the deal with the school committee candidates? Seems like they are all smearing each other instead of talking about the issues and there are plenty of issues to be talking about.
The two guys I support are not in my district, but if they were they would get my vote. Both Giombetti and Steiner. Giombetti brings years of experience with Framingham issues the last few years working with Sen. Spilka means he knows the ropes at the state level also. Steiner is a new guy, but smart, willing to listen, and bringing some fresh new ideas to the table. I hope people in these districts take a good look at their choices.
I live in District 4. I am either voting for Amanda Shepard, or writing in Jim Pillsbury. You could not pay me to vote for Mike Cannon. I saw the way he treated Judy Grove at a skate park meeting. Could never vote for someone that rude and ignorant.
I agree.. the city needs some experienced players on the council to keep an eye on the Mayor, whomever it is. The Mayor will have a great deal of power in appointments, 160 or so. There's so much history that needs to be referenced when making decisions. Dennis and I have had our share of battles, but I do admit he's got what it takes to move us forward. Case is just to nice of a guy. We were on Ways and Means together and I never heard him question any of the spending on the budget. Steiner is a smart guy for sure, needs to rent a sense of humor perhaps, but has what it takes as well. The Council can't be just be ass kissers and rookies. Nothing will get done.
School committee candidates are a power hungry bunch who all want to rule the world. Lot's of history here as well and it will take an act of congress and big tax increases to get our schools all performing at better levels than they are now. The HS is packed to the rafters and increase in little kids will be entering the system yearly hasn't slowed in a few years. Parents want to move here.
The Skate Park thing got so bad, Judy called me in tears and was in fear of Cannon and his bullying. So I went to the next meeting ready for battle. I sat up front and waited for Cannon to bully Judy. I had made arrangements for bail if I were to get busted for grabbing him at the table. A stupid thing to do.. but to bully an elderly women because you disagree just infuriates me. Everyone that night respected Judy.. Thank God.
But FPD endorses him and that counts in this heavily unionized City.
I wish I new what I did wrong.
.
I doubt you did anything wrong. Shepard knocked on every single door I think in District 4, plus she went to school here for 12 years so has all her classmates, their families, and their friends voting for her. Cannon just smiles and sweet talks anyone stupid enough to listen to him. He dated someone I know for a very short time and when he was done with her he dumped her and bad mouthed her and verbally threatened her. What a poor excuse for a man he is. Would never vote for someone like that but no one knows that side of him. From what I hear he has done the same thing to many, many women but all are too afraid to speak out about it. He donates to every dam cause in Framingham but never ever shows up to any public event to support the cause. To busy screwing around I guess. Anyway, he talks the talk but he does not walk the walk and people will see him for what he is if he gets elected. He won't get elected for a second term. I think he sees himself as a future mayor of Framingham. Young enough to sit on the council until Stefanini or Spicer finish the allowed term limits and then he thinks he will step in to the slot. But I can not believe people won't see through his act.
Fire Dept. endorsing him is a good enough reason to not vote for him, but he has given me plenty more reasons.
Who is the right choice for mayor? Niether? so which is the less bad of two bad choices? Do we vote for horrigan to send a message?
Curious about why we are seeing such a move toward women and newbies. Any thoughts on this Jim?
I'm puzzled at the attention the women and newbies are getting in some races. Other's make sense. We are lucky to have a few strong female candidates to run for office. Not only are they smart but have excellent experience dealing with our Town's issues. Inexperience will cause severe frustration for the new administration as many have no idea of what makes our Town run.
The Mayor's race.... it boils down to who has the experience to run a 258 million dollar organization. We've seen how bad it gets when politicians appoint people, (for political reasons) get jobs they are unqualified for. And you can bet, whomever gets appointed, it will be based on who was loyal and who was not.
Lets see how many voters take this election seriously or not. In my mind, unless the voter turnout is over 30%, no clear mandate will be established. And if it's as close as the Charter vote was, no amount of reaching out will overcome the bad feelings this election will undoubtedly create.
At the last debate at the Town Hall, 6 Townie's asked if I was going to do a write in. At the time I was still recovering from my embarrassing loss to Shepard and Cannon.
If 500 voters from 6 and 9 were to write me in... I may stand a chance. So.. if you feel Cannon and Shepard are not good, unqualified or unaware for our district, write me in. If elected I would work my butt off to stand tall for the residents and businesses in Distrait 4.
This blog has over 83,000 page views since 2008. And if a small fraction of the readers wrote me in, I'd stand a chance.
Write in's are a tough sell, but I admire your guts at doing this.
Cannon is not the guy he presents himself to be. Sheppard has no experience, but seems to have a good heart. i will write you in, but I suspect you will get very few votes because no one votes for the underdog, and a write in, no matter level of experience is still an underdog.
Spicer is a smart women, but does not seem to be an honest woman. My fault with Stefanini is that he is not honest. In a choice between two dishonest candidates my vote goes to the one with experience and a proven track record, and that is Stefanini.
Make informed choices people. The future of our city depends on that.
we now have a mayor and council.
Lets hope they can come together and make it all work for the residents and business.
Good for Dennis and Charlie, bad for Phil who I thought would have been a shoe in.
Now we are stuck with an x state rep (Pammy) who has a very bad track record. A few who haven't a clue. And no more Labarge.
Something to watch for... per the new rules.. Judy Grove, being the oldest of all the council members, will lead the group for now. It will be interesting to see if Cannon tries to bully Judy at any point or any other female on the Council. As you may remember, Judy was bullied off the Skate Park Committee and Cannon was the reason.
Regarding the amount of women who were elected in our area. It appears to be a sea change, prompted in most part to Trump and all the bad behavior of men, in all walks of life and continuing even today.
I see their point now.
Good point Jim. I hope that people pay attention to the behavior of all the new councilors when it comes to women, or any type of bias. We now have a woman for mayor and if she is the one actually in charge instead of her minions, I think we will see a new dynamic in our government officials. Cannon is a loose cannon (pun intended!) but he is smart enough to know that a female mayor is unlikely to allow bullying of other women, so if he has any hope of being a friend of the mayor he needs to watch his attitude.
Came here today because I thought you would be posting about Veterans Day. Do you know what the schedule is for events in Framingham?
Thanks for the reminder..
Veterans Day Medal of Liberty Ceremony will start at 11AM at the Town Hall. Medals are presented to Gold Star family members 1 from WW 11 and 6 from the Vietnam War.
I've written to the acting VSO last week about giving Nam Vets their 50th Commemorative pins, but have not heard back. An ideal time to do this. I hope the new guy is not like the old VSO.
Women being elected is related to Trump for president for sure. At least that is one good thing to come out of his campaign. But I suspect we have a Trumpesque man on the council so it will be interesting to see how that plays out. Lets hope Judy has the backbone to control those first meetings and not let some guy run her over. A weak women in office does lots of damage to the hopes of other women running for office
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home