Ferrera a great disappointment

Springfield City Councilor Jimmy Ferrera has surely annoyed several people in the city with his arrogant refusal to schedule a hearing on the ethics proposal submitted by City Councilors Pat Markey and Bruce Stebbings. The Republican has not been shy in stating its annoyance with Ferrara on its editorial pages. Fellow Blogger Bill Dusty of the Springfield Intruder had a commical, yet critical post on Ferrera's arrogance.

I simply do not understand why Councilor Ferrera refuses to schedule a hearing on the Ethic proposal. As I have mentioned before, government must be transparent. After all, it is our government, not Ferrera's government. If Ferrera does not understand this simple concept, then he has no business in city government.

The ethics proposal submitted by Markey and Stebbings is a sensible and good thought out plan in an effort to regain the trust of the people of Springfield. I am sure that Ferrera and the councilors that voted against the proposal are hoping that the voters will forget about this issue.

Well, I want a good and transparent government. Springfield can not afford another financial crisis.

I will not forget.

Obama after the Latino Vote

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama

Barack Obama after securing the Democratic Nomination is now after the Latino vote. Sen.Obama received 35% of the Latino vote during the primaries. Sen. Clinton received 63% of the Latino vote. Clearly, Sen. Obama has a long road ahead of him to convince Latinos that he is the best candidate for the Presidency of the United States.

Sen. Obama has a Spanish website, www.barackObama.com/Espanol. Sen. Obama is touting the endorsement of Globe and Academy Award Puerto Rican actor Benecio del Toro. To win the Latino vote Sen. Obama has to to better than putting up a Spanish website and tout the endorsement of an actor.

During a CNN interview, Arturo Vargas, of the National Association of Elected and Appointed Latinos stated, " There was not a real opportunity for Sen. Obama to introduce himself to the Latino community" What? Sen. Obama has been campaigning for over a year and in all that time he did not get real opportunity to introduce himself to the Latino Community?

Among Sen. Obama's political platform, the issue of immigration promises to be carefully monitor by the Latino community. Sen. Obama supports President's Bush plan, "Comprehensive immigration Bill" to secure the southern border with Mexico and for the opportunity for some illegal immigrants to update their immigration status.
Sen. Obama stated on a May rally, " I like to express my commitment to immigration reform and to do everything I can to bring order and compassion to a broken immigration system"
However, Sen. Obama has the real problem that his Republican opponent Sen. McCain is well liked among the Latino community. Sen. McCain was among the chief architect and early supporter of President Bush's Comprehensive Immigration Bill.

If Sen. Obama really wants to be President, he should really find the time and the "real opportunity" to introduce himself to the Latino community.

I am Baffled

I am baffle with State Rep. Cheryl Coakely-Rivera recent statements regarding Gov. Patrick's bill to extend the $52 Million state loan. The Governor is proposing extending the state loan payback period from 5 years to 12 years. The bill also proposes the creation of a chief Administrator, a Financial Officer, a Director of Internal Audit and placing a binding referendum question on the ballot for the people of Springfield to decide if the want to extend the Mayor's term from 2 years to 4 years. Rivera-Coakely opposes placing the binding referendum question on the ballot, accusing the Mayor of muscling in on the bill.

Coakely Rivera has shown a tendency of not allowing the people to have a say in their government. As it was the case when she voted against placing a referendum question on the ballot regarding the definition of marriage.

Springfield desperately need a clear and transparent government. To achieve this, government must also listen to the people. Why doesn't Cheryl Coakely -Rivera like the people to have a say in their government?

How will the Trash Saga Play Out?

Mayor Domenic Sarno recently took the unusual step of responding to a councilors letter of inquiry through a public release. Councilor Rosamarie Mazza-Moriarty send the mayor a letter asking specifics questions regarding the Mayor's proposed plan to implement a Pay as you Throw (PAYT) trash collection program.

Mayor Sarno actively and aggressively campaigned for Mayor using the elimination of the current $90 trash fee as one of his major platform issues. Now that he is the mayor, he realizes that the elimination of the trash fee will be fiscally hurtful to the city. As the Mayor stated on his press release, "However, five months in office have afforded me a much clearer and comprehensive understanding of the city’s fragile financial state. At this time, it is impossible for the City to absorb the cost of waste collection and disposal while responsibly addressing our top priority of public safety." Is Mayor Sarno admitting that he did not have a clear picture of the City's Financial stability while campaigning for Mayor?

To Mayor Sarno's credit, it appears that the new system will create the same revenue as the $90 trash fee currently in place. But let us not forget that the reason that we are in this trash mess, the reason that we, the common person is paying for trash collection, is in part to the irresponsible financial practices of past administrations which were plagued with corruption. Former Mayor Charlie Ryan, brought the city back on its feet. Former Mayor Ryan made unpopular decisions and stood his ground. It appears that Mayor Sarno is now borrowing the same stance as former Mayor Ryan. At the end, it could be argue that former Mayor Ryan's strong stance on the $90 trash fee contributed to his defeat. Is Mayor Sarno heading in the same path? Is Mayor Sarno, playing a political game announcing this controversial plan so early in his term in the hope that the people will forget come election day?

The people will decide.