..Thirty companies paid no income tax 2008-2010: report
By Kevin Drawbaugh | Reuters – 2 hrs 50 mins ago....
Share8EmailPrint......Politics slideshows.
.Tibetans clash with police in Nepal
15 photos - Tue, Nov 1, 2011Herman Cain denies harassment claims
76 photos - Tue, Nov 1, 2011World population: 7 billion
30 photos - Tue, Nov 1, 2011...See latest photos »....(Reuters) - Thirty large and profitable U.S. corporations paid no income taxes in 2008 through 2010, said a study on Thursday that arrives as Congress faces rising demands for tax reform, but seems unable or unwilling to act.
Pepco Holdings, a Washington, D.C.-area power company, had the lowest effective tax rate, at negative 57.6 percent, among the 280 Fortune 500 companies studied.
The statutory U.S. corporate income tax rate is 35 percent, one of the highest in the world, but over the 2008-2010 period, very few of the companies studied paid it, said the report.
The average effective tax rate for the companies over the period was 18.5 percent, said Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, both think tanks.
Their report also listed General Electric Co, Paccar Inc, PG&E Corp, Computer Sciences Corp and NiSource Inc as among the 30 that paid no taxes. All 280 corporations examined were profitable over the period.
Corporations will say rightly that the loopholes that let them slash their taxes were perfectly legal, the report said.
"But that does not mean that low-tax corporations bear no responsibility ... The laws were not enacted in a vacuum; they were adopted in response to relentless corporate lobbying, threats and campaign support," the report said.
As Congress and the Obama administration struggle with a sluggish economy and high deficits, corporations are pressing Capitol Hill for more tax breaks, including one that would let them bring home overseas profits at a reduced tax rate.
The congressional "super committee" tasked with finding at least $1.2 trillion in additional budget savings by November 23 is so far deadlocked across a familiar divide -- Republicans refusing any tax hikes, Democrats defending social programs.
On Tuesday, a panel of budget experts warned super committee members that they would fail the country if they do not meet their goal. Financial markets have been waiting for many months for signs that Washington can get its financial house in order, but few have been forthcoming.
LOOKING BACK AT REAGAN
The report referred back to the 1986 tax reform pushed through by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, who approved the largest corporate tax increase in U.S. history, largely by ending tax breaks, while cutting individual tax rates.
"Reagan solved the problem by sweeping away corporate tax loopholes," said the report, which was co-authored by Citizens for Tax Justice chief Robert McIntyre. His research 25 years ago played a key role in convincing Reagan reform was needed.
The industrial machinery business enjoyed the lowest effective tax rate during the study period, while the highest rate was paid by healthcare companies, the report said.
What are the tax breaks that corporations enjoy? One big one is accelerated depreciation that lets them write off equipment faster than it actually wears out. Deductions on executive stock options help. So do tax breaks for research and development and for making products in the United States instead of overseas. Offshore tax shelters play a role, too.
The average effective corporate tax rate, as calculated by McIntyre's group, was about 14 percent before the Reagan reforms; afterward it shot up to 26.5 percent in 1988.
As companies found their way around the reforms, the effective rate fell back to about 17 percent by 2002-2003.
Unlike in Reagan's time, taming corporate tax breaks alone will not solve today's deficit problem. Such breaks cost the government about $102 billion in lost revenues in 2011, a year when the federal deficit was an estimated $1.3 trillion.
Corporate loopholes are dwarfed by tax breaks that benefit individuals, such as the mortgage interest tax deduction -- a middle class sacred cow -- on its own worth $104 billion.
Still, said the report, "If we are going to get our nation's fiscal house in order, increasing corporate income taxes should play an important role."
(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh; editing by Carol Bishopric)
..
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Folks on the way
When the Folks on the way up heard someone loudly say what the fuck in a public place it was unsettling. The fact it was in Starbuck on a Saturday morning made it more uncomfortable.
The two guys reading the Herald noted that one of their colleagues had been arrested on a murder charge in Atlanta. What the Fuck one said to the other without considering the young children within arms length.
The young couple with their two children where more than uncomfortable by the outburst. And, though it was not intended to offend- it did. The young college age girl at the counter turned with her mouth open- thinking like this stuff still happens here.
Thus the FOWUP got a taste of Somerville from my days. The two guys commenting looked like they had a rough night and stopped in to get the brain functioning for the day.
Had they done this in the Somerville of 20 years ago- they would have been told or demanded to make an apology and shut up. However the FOWUP approach was to ignore the two and leave quickly.
There approach probably is the better one. And thats a luxury the can afford because these types are not long for that part of Somerville. One way or another they will be forced out by prices or their own bad decision making.
The two guys reading the Herald noted that one of their colleagues had been arrested on a murder charge in Atlanta. What the Fuck one said to the other without considering the young children within arms length.
The young couple with their two children where more than uncomfortable by the outburst. And, though it was not intended to offend- it did. The young college age girl at the counter turned with her mouth open- thinking like this stuff still happens here.
Thus the FOWUP got a taste of Somerville from my days. The two guys commenting looked like they had a rough night and stopped in to get the brain functioning for the day.
Had they done this in the Somerville of 20 years ago- they would have been told or demanded to make an apology and shut up. However the FOWUP approach was to ignore the two and leave quickly.
There approach probably is the better one. And thats a luxury the can afford because these types are not long for that part of Somerville. One way or another they will be forced out by prices or their own bad decision making.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Stop Coddling the rich
Stop Coddling the Super-RichBy WARREN E. BUFFETT
Published: August 14, 2011
Recommend
Twitter
Sign In to E-Mail
Print
Reprints
Share
Close
LinkedinDiggMySpacePermalink. Omaha
Enlarge This Image
Kelly Blair
Related
Times Topic: Income Tax
Related in Opinion
Editorial: The Truth About Taxes (August 7, 2011) OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.
While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.
These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.
Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.
If you make money with money, as some of my super-rich friends do, your percentage may be a bit lower than mine. But if you earn money from a job, your percentage will surely exceed mine — most likely by a lot.
To understand why, you need to examine the sources of government revenue. Last year about 80 percent of these revenues came from personal income taxes and payroll taxes. The mega-rich pay income taxes at a rate of 15 percent on most of their earnings but pay practically nothing in payroll taxes. It’s a different story for the middle class: typically, they fall into the 15 percent and 25 percent income tax brackets, and then are hit with heavy payroll taxes to boot.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, tax rates for the rich were far higher, and my percentage rate was in the middle of the pack. According to a theory I sometimes hear, I should have thrown a fit and refused to invest because of the elevated tax rates on capital gains and dividends.
I didn’t refuse, nor did others. I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone — not even when capital gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 — shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain. People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off. And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation.
Since 1992, the I.R.S. has compiled data from the returns of the 400 Americans reporting the largest income. In 1992, the top 400 had aggregate taxable income of $16.9 billion and paid federal taxes of 29.2 percent on that sum. In 2008, the aggregate income of the highest 400 had soared to $90.9 billion — a staggering $227.4 million on average — but the rate paid had fallen to 21.5 percent.
The taxes I refer to here include only federal income tax, but you can be sure that any payroll tax for the 400 was inconsequential compared to income. In fact, 88 of the 400 in 2008 reported no wages at all, though every one of them reported capital gains. Some of my brethren may shun work but they all like to invest. (I can relate to that.)
I know well many of the mega-rich and, by and large, they are very decent people. They love America and appreciate the opportunity this country has given them. Many have joined the Giving Pledge, promising to give most of their wealth to philanthropy. Most wouldn’t mind being told to pay more in taxes as well, particularly when so many of their fellow citizens are truly suffering.
Twelve members of Congress will soon take on the crucial job of rearranging our country’s finances. They’ve been instructed to devise a plan that reduces the 10-year deficit by at least $1.5 trillion. It’s vital, however, that they achieve far more than that. Americans are rapidly losing faith in the ability of Congress to deal with our country’s fiscal problems. Only action that is immediate, real and very substantial will prevent that doubt from morphing into hopelessness. That feeling can create its own reality.
Job one for the 12 is to pare down some future promises that even a rich America can’t fulfill. Big money must be saved here. The 12 should then turn to the issue of revenues. I would leave rates for 99.7 percent of taxpayers unchanged and continue the current 2-percentage-point reduction in the employee contribution to the payroll tax. This cut helps the poor and the middle class, who need every break they can get.
But for those making more than $1 million — there were 236,883 such households in 2009 — I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And for those who make $10 million or more — there were 8,274 in 2009 — I would suggest an additional increase in rate.
My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.
Warren E. Buffett is the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway.
Published: August 14, 2011
Recommend
Sign In to E-Mail
Reprints
Share
Close
LinkedinDiggMySpacePermalink. Omaha
Enlarge This Image
Kelly Blair
Related
Times Topic: Income Tax
Related in Opinion
Editorial: The Truth About Taxes (August 7, 2011) OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.
While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.
These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.
Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.
If you make money with money, as some of my super-rich friends do, your percentage may be a bit lower than mine. But if you earn money from a job, your percentage will surely exceed mine — most likely by a lot.
To understand why, you need to examine the sources of government revenue. Last year about 80 percent of these revenues came from personal income taxes and payroll taxes. The mega-rich pay income taxes at a rate of 15 percent on most of their earnings but pay practically nothing in payroll taxes. It’s a different story for the middle class: typically, they fall into the 15 percent and 25 percent income tax brackets, and then are hit with heavy payroll taxes to boot.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, tax rates for the rich were far higher, and my percentage rate was in the middle of the pack. According to a theory I sometimes hear, I should have thrown a fit and refused to invest because of the elevated tax rates on capital gains and dividends.
I didn’t refuse, nor did others. I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone — not even when capital gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 — shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain. People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off. And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation.
Since 1992, the I.R.S. has compiled data from the returns of the 400 Americans reporting the largest income. In 1992, the top 400 had aggregate taxable income of $16.9 billion and paid federal taxes of 29.2 percent on that sum. In 2008, the aggregate income of the highest 400 had soared to $90.9 billion — a staggering $227.4 million on average — but the rate paid had fallen to 21.5 percent.
The taxes I refer to here include only federal income tax, but you can be sure that any payroll tax for the 400 was inconsequential compared to income. In fact, 88 of the 400 in 2008 reported no wages at all, though every one of them reported capital gains. Some of my brethren may shun work but they all like to invest. (I can relate to that.)
I know well many of the mega-rich and, by and large, they are very decent people. They love America and appreciate the opportunity this country has given them. Many have joined the Giving Pledge, promising to give most of their wealth to philanthropy. Most wouldn’t mind being told to pay more in taxes as well, particularly when so many of their fellow citizens are truly suffering.
Twelve members of Congress will soon take on the crucial job of rearranging our country’s finances. They’ve been instructed to devise a plan that reduces the 10-year deficit by at least $1.5 trillion. It’s vital, however, that they achieve far more than that. Americans are rapidly losing faith in the ability of Congress to deal with our country’s fiscal problems. Only action that is immediate, real and very substantial will prevent that doubt from morphing into hopelessness. That feeling can create its own reality.
Job one for the 12 is to pare down some future promises that even a rich America can’t fulfill. Big money must be saved here. The 12 should then turn to the issue of revenues. I would leave rates for 99.7 percent of taxpayers unchanged and continue the current 2-percentage-point reduction in the employee contribution to the payroll tax. This cut helps the poor and the middle class, who need every break they can get.
But for those making more than $1 million — there were 236,883 such households in 2009 — I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And for those who make $10 million or more — there were 8,274 in 2009 — I would suggest an additional increase in rate.
My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.
Warren E. Buffett is the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Raising the S
There where two competing groups. One wanted to exploit and enjoy the resources that came with the power of winning an election. Or as they put it "to the victah goes da spoils"
The other wanted to raise the S. The others had been outside the walls that existed and believed it could get better- and that in any case the explotation and corruption was not working.
The S was really down and hurting. To some it meant Slum to others Scum ... there was little question that it meant the white trash of the Boston area to many outsiders...
Much of that was not deserved. But some of the pols
The other wanted to raise the S. The others had been outside the walls that existed and believed it could get better- and that in any case the explotation and corruption was not working.
The S was really down and hurting. To some it meant Slum to others Scum ... there was little question that it meant the white trash of the Boston area to many outsiders...
Much of that was not deserved. But some of the pols
Thursday, May 5, 2011
this is the crap we dont accept
See article below ... I think we can write a comparable tale...
The sums are little smaller (so far/ and/ or that we know about)... but the end result seems quite similiar... Taking money from a senior and then not reporting it as income ...
Looks like that could be two possible felonies.... wonder if anyone we know should be concerned about that?
One dime away...
By David Abel, Globe Staff
The elected tax assessor of Needham was arraigned in federal district court today on charges he failed to pay more than $100,000 in taxes on money he allegedly filched from an elderly woman, prosecutors said.
Kevin Foley, 53, who is also a longtime firefighter in Needham, pleaded not guilty to three counts of “willfully attempt[ing] to evade and defeat the income tax due … by concealing and attempting to conceal from all proper officers of the United States of America his true and correct income.”
“I wish not to comment,” Foley said after claiming to be indigent and in need of a public defender. A public defender representing him today declined to comment.
He was released on $50,000 bail and on condition that he have no contact with a 77-year old Needham woman, whom he allegedly stole money from, or her family.
Assistant US Attorney Robert A. Fisher said in court that Foley has failed to pay his taxes over the past 20 years.
“That’s including taxes on legally earned income,” Fisher said, noting Foley knew the woman well.
In the indictment, a grand jury charged that Foley withdrew cash from the woman’s bank accounts and purchased money orders for his personal use; endorsed checks drawn from her bank accounts to pay personal expenses including his mortgage; transferred money from her account to his bank accounts; used her ATM card to withdraw money for his own use; and withdrew money from her account to purchase a cashier’s check, which he used to by a boat for himself.
The indictment alleges Foley failed to pay $115,552 on nearly $500,000 in income between June 2006 and April 2010.
Neither the alleged victim nor her family members could be reached for comment.
Needham Town Manager Kate Fitzpatrick said the town is reviewing the charges and will decide soon whether he should be suspended from his position as a firefighter, which he has been since 1987. He was elected tax assessor in 2007.
“The town’s expectation is that our employees will conduct themselves to the highest moral and ethical standards, and we will act expeditiously to address illegal activity or other improper conduct,” she said in a statement.
If convicted, Foley could be sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in prison and be required to repay the taxes he owes.
He will have to reappear in court on June 16.
The sums are little smaller (so far/ and/ or that we know about)... but the end result seems quite similiar... Taking money from a senior and then not reporting it as income ...
Looks like that could be two possible felonies.... wonder if anyone we know should be concerned about that?
One dime away...
By David Abel, Globe Staff
The elected tax assessor of Needham was arraigned in federal district court today on charges he failed to pay more than $100,000 in taxes on money he allegedly filched from an elderly woman, prosecutors said.
Kevin Foley, 53, who is also a longtime firefighter in Needham, pleaded not guilty to three counts of “willfully attempt[ing] to evade and defeat the income tax due … by concealing and attempting to conceal from all proper officers of the United States of America his true and correct income.”
“I wish not to comment,” Foley said after claiming to be indigent and in need of a public defender. A public defender representing him today declined to comment.
He was released on $50,000 bail and on condition that he have no contact with a 77-year old Needham woman, whom he allegedly stole money from, or her family.
Assistant US Attorney Robert A. Fisher said in court that Foley has failed to pay his taxes over the past 20 years.
“That’s including taxes on legally earned income,” Fisher said, noting Foley knew the woman well.
In the indictment, a grand jury charged that Foley withdrew cash from the woman’s bank accounts and purchased money orders for his personal use; endorsed checks drawn from her bank accounts to pay personal expenses including his mortgage; transferred money from her account to his bank accounts; used her ATM card to withdraw money for his own use; and withdrew money from her account to purchase a cashier’s check, which he used to by a boat for himself.
The indictment alleges Foley failed to pay $115,552 on nearly $500,000 in income between June 2006 and April 2010.
Neither the alleged victim nor her family members could be reached for comment.
Needham Town Manager Kate Fitzpatrick said the town is reviewing the charges and will decide soon whether he should be suspended from his position as a firefighter, which he has been since 1987. He was elected tax assessor in 2007.
“The town’s expectation is that our employees will conduct themselves to the highest moral and ethical standards, and we will act expeditiously to address illegal activity or other improper conduct,” she said in a statement.
If convicted, Foley could be sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in prison and be required to repay the taxes he owes.
He will have to reappear in court on June 16.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Shitting where you eat
As long as you did not take from your family or one of us then you could still be a good guy. If you robbed a bank, took payoffs, or had a no show job. That was OK and you could still be a good guy as long you could be counted on when it mattered. That is you where a stand up person.
The fakers where also held in low regard. These where the people who said all the right things but did not show up for the stand out ... hold the coffee party ... or otherwise get involved.
The fakers where also held in low regard. These where the people who said all the right things but did not show up for the stand out ... hold the coffee party ... or otherwise get involved.
Monday, May 2, 2011
He's a good guy
One thing that always concerned Somervillians was whether someone was a "good guy".
This was the gut check on whether this person could be trusted- or was accepting of what it was- And, if he or she would be with you when it mattered.
This was the gut check on whether this person could be trusted- or was accepting of what it was- And, if he or she would be with you when it mattered.
Gratitude
One of lifes best learned lessons is being grateful for what we have. And, that we appreciate our gifts by making best use of them..
Be ready to recieve by listening - believing- embracing the messages and gifts.
One joy of life is that each of us is unique. We see things and experience things in a way that no one else does. If we want to keep this then giving it away seems to be a good approach.
Be ready to recieve by listening - believing- embracing the messages and gifts.
One joy of life is that each of us is unique. We see things and experience things in a way that no one else does. If we want to keep this then giving it away seems to be a good approach.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Direction, Decisions, and follow through
The first step is knowing where we want to be. Its clear that making the right decisions are the most efficient and best path. But sometimes we make the wrong decision. When we do the best approach is to recognize that a change is needed. And the sooner we recognize and make the correction the more likely we are to get on the path we want.
It was not always clear where Somerville wanted to be. In some minds it was a city that did not deserve much and was happy being the runt of the litter. In others it was simply a city of opportunity to rape and pillage the terrain for personal gain- and what better than to have elected leaders who could be bought and dance on the end of the payoff string.
The revolution came with Lester. He saw an opportunity that was lurking in the minds of many. And he was swept into office.
The class of 1980
The reconcilation of the city was to come with the election Mike Capuano. Not a Lester Ralph person... a Somervillian with roots in the city who could be trusted... and an intellect with integrity who would not be bought.
It was not always clear where Somerville wanted to be. In some minds it was a city that did not deserve much and was happy being the runt of the litter. In others it was simply a city of opportunity to rape and pillage the terrain for personal gain- and what better than to have elected leaders who could be bought and dance on the end of the payoff string.
The revolution came with Lester. He saw an opportunity that was lurking in the minds of many. And he was swept into office.
The class of 1980
The reconcilation of the city was to come with the election Mike Capuano. Not a Lester Ralph person... a Somervillian with roots in the city who could be trusted... and an intellect with integrity who would not be bought.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
The chosen one
SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2011
THE CLASS OF 1980 WAS A BIG DIFFERENCE MAKER IN THE REVIVAL AND SURVIVAL OF SOMERVILLE. THESE WHERE THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST THAT SOMERVILLE. THEY WHERE BORN AND BRED IN SOMERVILLE. SO THEY HAD THE ESSENTIAL FAMILY AND FRIEND ROOTS THAT PROVIDED CREDIBILITY AND ACCEPTANCE. AND THEY HAD GONE TO COLLEGE AND DECIDED TO STAY AND PARTICIPATE IN THE CITY POLITICS. IT WAS MACKEY, ALBANO, CAPUANO, ODEA, CALLAHAN, ET AL..
THE CHOSEN ONE FROM THE CHOSEN CLASS HAPPENED TO BE MICHAEL CAPUANO. HE WAS CHOSEN IN LARGE PART BECAUSE HE WANTED IT MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE. AND SECOND ONLY TO LESTER RALPH SAVING THE CITY FROM BECOMING LAWRENCE- HE WAS ABLE TO NOT ONLY KEEP THINGS ON TRACK- BUT KEPT THE CIY TOGETHER AS IT WENT THROUGH GENTRIFICATION AND INTEGRATION AT ALL LEVELS. LESTER RALPH WAS THE REVOLUTION… AND CAPUANO WAS THE LINCOLN WHO BROUGHT THE CITY TOGETHER AT ANOTHER IMPORTANT AND DECISIVE TIME.
THE CLASS OF 1980 WAS A BIG DIFFERENCE MAKER IN THE REVIVAL AND SURVIVAL OF SOMERVILLE. THESE WHERE THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST THAT SOMERVILLE. THEY WHERE BORN AND BRED IN SOMERVILLE. SO THEY HAD THE ESSENTIAL FAMILY AND FRIEND ROOTS THAT PROVIDED CREDIBILITY AND ACCEPTANCE. AND THEY HAD GONE TO COLLEGE AND DECIDED TO STAY AND PARTICIPATE IN THE CITY POLITICS. IT WAS MACKEY, ALBANO, CAPUANO, ODEA, CALLAHAN, ET AL..
THE CHOSEN ONE FROM THE CHOSEN CLASS HAPPENED TO BE MICHAEL CAPUANO. HE WAS CHOSEN IN LARGE PART BECAUSE HE WANTED IT MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE. AND SECOND ONLY TO LESTER RALPH SAVING THE CITY FROM BECOMING LAWRENCE- HE WAS ABLE TO NOT ONLY KEEP THINGS ON TRACK- BUT KEPT THE CIY TOGETHER AS IT WENT THROUGH GENTRIFICATION AND INTEGRATION AT ALL LEVELS. LESTER RALPH WAS THE REVOLUTION… AND CAPUANO WAS THE LINCOLN WHO BROUGHT THE CITY TOGETHER AT ANOTHER IMPORTANT AND DECISIVE TIME.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
The Ward Alderman
While the Mayor ruled the City Hall and all things related to its function. It was the protocol that the Ward Alderman owned the decisions and streets in their ward. The effective Ward Alderman built their base by taking care of their Ward. This in turn made the Ward Alderman the strongest political capital after the Mayor in the City.
When Cathy O'Dea became Ward 7 Alderman she immediately took on both the apparent and less apparent issues. She battled Tufts and won a moratorium to stop their buying residential property. She made life so difficult for the Jumbo Lounge that they effectively went out of business. When the CHT was about to expire ... she got the resources together ...and saved 600 units of low and moderate income housing.
The quid pro was that when another ward alderman wanted something in their ward... almost always things where approved without question.
When Cathy O'Dea became Ward 7 Alderman she immediately took on both the apparent and less apparent issues. She battled Tufts and won a moratorium to stop their buying residential property. She made life so difficult for the Jumbo Lounge that they effectively went out of business. When the CHT was about to expire ... she got the resources together ...and saved 600 units of low and moderate income housing.
The quid pro was that when another ward alderman wanted something in their ward... almost always things where approved without question.
April 24 thoughts
April 24
Our Greatest Fear was Change …. That’s why blacks and barneys where not welcome….
Resentments where many…. And so where rivalaries….
Next Stop…. Could have been Lawrence or Chelsea…
George Wallace Was Welcome here
Giving Up Control… and letting the change flow in….
Selling the Farm
Our Greatest Fear was Change …. That’s why blacks and barneys where not welcome….
Resentments where many…. And so where rivalaries….
Next Stop…. Could have been Lawrence or Chelsea…
George Wallace Was Welcome here
Giving Up Control… and letting the change flow in….
Selling the Farm
globe 1985
IN SOMERVILLE, THE OLD GUARD RULES NO MORE
[THIRD Edition]
Boston Globe (pre-1997 Fulltext) - Boston, Mass.
Author: Chris Chinlund, Globe Staff
Date: Mar 24, 1985
Start Page: 1
Section: METRO
Text Word Count: 1443
Abstract (Document Summary)
It took a few years for [Eugene Brune] to establish his style of government, and to muster support on the Board of Aldermen. It was not until last year that the city's State House delegation was reconstituted. Rep. Marie E. Howe, a veteran conservative Democrat, remains but McKenna, also a conservative Democrat, retired and state Rep. Vincent J. Piro was defeated in his Senate bid. Their replacements were epitomes of the new political camp, Aldermen Salvatore R. Albano and Joseph Mackey, both of a progressive bent.
A few ran afoul of the law. Bretta, the former mayor and General Services Administration official, is now serving four years for extortion. Alderman Timothy Creedon, a friend of Piro, was sentenced to a year and a day in jail for conspiring to extort money from a developer. [Vinnie Piros] political career also suffered because of his two trials on charges of conspiracy and attempted extortion. Albano used the "corruption factor" to engineer his defeat of Piro in the Senate race. One of Albano's leaflets quoted from FBI tapes of Piro allegedly arranging a payoff, planning to "grease a few guys."
according to Brune, the newcomers don't have the numbers to be responsible for the ousting from office of the old establishment. James Bretta, a former priest who now runs an elderly services program and who has been active in city affairs for many years, says, "I don't think at this point the yuppie thing is consequential. The backbone of Somerville politics are the people who have been here for a while: the second- and third- generation Irish and Italians."
[THIRD Edition]
Boston Globe (pre-1997 Fulltext) - Boston, Mass.
Author: Chris Chinlund, Globe Staff
Date: Mar 24, 1985
Start Page: 1
Section: METRO
Text Word Count: 1443
Abstract (Document Summary)
It took a few years for [Eugene Brune] to establish his style of government, and to muster support on the Board of Aldermen. It was not until last year that the city's State House delegation was reconstituted. Rep. Marie E. Howe, a veteran conservative Democrat, remains but McKenna, also a conservative Democrat, retired and state Rep. Vincent J. Piro was defeated in his Senate bid. Their replacements were epitomes of the new political camp, Aldermen Salvatore R. Albano and Joseph Mackey, both of a progressive bent.
A few ran afoul of the law. Bretta, the former mayor and General Services Administration official, is now serving four years for extortion. Alderman Timothy Creedon, a friend of Piro, was sentenced to a year and a day in jail for conspiring to extort money from a developer. [Vinnie Piros] political career also suffered because of his two trials on charges of conspiracy and attempted extortion. Albano used the "corruption factor" to engineer his defeat of Piro in the Senate race. One of Albano's leaflets quoted from FBI tapes of Piro allegedly arranging a payoff, planning to "grease a few guys."
according to Brune, the newcomers don't have the numbers to be responsible for the ousting from office of the old establishment. James Bretta, a former priest who now runs an elderly services program and who has been active in city affairs for many years, says, "I don't think at this point the yuppie thing is consequential. The backbone of Somerville politics are the people who have been here for a while: the second- and third- generation Irish and Italians."
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
stand up guys
Stand Up Guy
Some may wonder why Somerville voters did not leave Denis McKenna or Vinnie Piro during their personal and legal struggles. One of the main yardsticks that everyone was measured by was whether they where a stand up guy. That the litmus test in Somerville. You didn’t rat on your friends- and you did not walk away from them when the needed you. about being a stand up guy. That essentially meant that you kept your word and your bond through thick and thin. Most insiders where not surprised when John Buonomo was caught stealing from Middlesex County. John was the consummate two faced
Some may wonder why Somerville voters did not leave Denis McKenna or Vinnie Piro during their personal and legal struggles. One of the main yardsticks that everyone was measured by was whether they where a stand up guy. That the litmus test in Somerville. You didn’t rat on your friends- and you did not walk away from them when the needed you. about being a stand up guy. That essentially meant that you kept your word and your bond through thick and thin. Most insiders where not surprised when John Buonomo was caught stealing from Middlesex County. John was the consummate two faced
You might leave
You might leave the city… but the city would not leave you
Somerville has been a safe haven for its residents. Despite its sometimes dubious reputation it was a place that many where accepted for better or worse. One might be able to call on a friend or relative to help find a job … One could walk to the a bus stop to get to their job, a bar, or court… and one needed never feel inferior … because it was a place that academic and work credentials did not provide a right of passage…. Those who wanted that sometime left… or the may send their children to a private school… One thing was certain … if the new neighborhood or elite school did not work.. .you could go home and find the normalcy that you once had… no matter how imperfect that might be.
Somerville has been a safe haven for its residents. Despite its sometimes dubious reputation it was a place that many where accepted for better or worse. One might be able to call on a friend or relative to help find a job … One could walk to the a bus stop to get to their job, a bar, or court… and one needed never feel inferior … because it was a place that academic and work credentials did not provide a right of passage…. Those who wanted that sometime left… or the may send their children to a private school… One thing was certain … if the new neighborhood or elite school did not work.. .you could go home and find the normalcy that you once had… no matter how imperfect that might be.
April 18
In 1977 people running for public office often believed they could make a difference … change the system.. help people… In Somerville one ran because they wanted to help their families and friends, and, or themselves by taking as much as they could… or opening the cookie jar for others to take…
When Tom August got elected in 1978 he was largely surrounded by people who wanted to take as much as they could… and since Tom had no financial needs … nor did he have any family or friends in need… nor did he really give 2 hoots about the general public… He quickly decided being in the Mayors office was at best a waste of time… and at worse something that might cost him his reputation and his law practice…. If not his life…
As an 8th grader Cathy O’Dea had an unusual interest in politics. She had posters of the great orator Humber Humphrey on her wall … and was intrigued by the new minister who was running for office in Somerville. When she walked to his campaign office on McGrath Highway she was very surprised that she would be given an assignment to hold a sign on election day was told that she could hold a sign- she was
When Tom August got elected in 1978 he was largely surrounded by people who wanted to take as much as they could… and since Tom had no financial needs … nor did he have any family or friends in need… nor did he really give 2 hoots about the general public… He quickly decided being in the Mayors office was at best a waste of time… and at worse something that might cost him his reputation and his law practice…. If not his life…
As an 8th grader Cathy O’Dea had an unusual interest in politics. She had posters of the great orator Humber Humphrey on her wall … and was intrigued by the new minister who was running for office in Somerville. When she walked to his campaign office on McGrath Highway she was very surprised that she would be given an assignment to hold a sign on election day was told that she could hold a sign- she was
Sunday, April 17, 2011
important events
Corruption is an insidious disease that seeps its way into politics and politicians when least expected.... The impact is not just to them... but to the people who they are elected to serve...
Its not always as clear cut as it seems on the outside. If you are living in the city you get to see all of the dimensions and its often necessary to just keep going with the devil we have.
There are few instances where this has had a more profound impact than in the City of Somerville...
The Bretta and McKenna era begins
Ralphs Election
The Piro era begins
Ralph gets ready to move and the scramble to fill the void
Pinballs
Tom August elected ...
Tom August and Larry Bretta defeated
The redline
Assembly Square erupts and Bretta and Piro lose stranglehold on the city political scene
The 1980 elections
John Buonomo defeated by Mike Capuano
rent control ends in Cambridge
Steady as she goes- Capuano keeps it boring
Capuano to Congress
John Buonomo defeated again...
Its not always as clear cut as it seems on the outside. If you are living in the city you get to see all of the dimensions and its often necessary to just keep going with the devil we have.
There are few instances where this has had a more profound impact than in the City of Somerville...
The Bretta and McKenna era begins
Ralphs Election
The Piro era begins
Ralph gets ready to move and the scramble to fill the void
Pinballs
Tom August elected ...
Tom August and Larry Bretta defeated
The redline
Assembly Square erupts and Bretta and Piro lose stranglehold on the city political scene
The 1980 elections
John Buonomo defeated by Mike Capuano
rent control ends in Cambridge
Steady as she goes- Capuano keeps it boring
Capuano to Congress
John Buonomo defeated again...
Maslow and McClellan
If you miss the good old days of Somerville- you can still get them- try moving to Lynn, Chelsea, or Lawrence.
The social fabric via Maslow
The leaders via McClellan
- Ralph and Capuano both similiar... low need for affiliation... High need for power and accomplishment..
Ralph purged the political establishment and brought in the new blood that was desparatly needed...
Capuano carefully brought back established families and kept many of the "outsiders" in place....
The social fabric via Maslow
The leaders via McClellan
- Ralph and Capuano both similiar... low need for affiliation... High need for power and accomplishment..
Ralph purged the political establishment and brought in the new blood that was desparatly needed...
Capuano carefully brought back established families and kept many of the "outsiders" in place....
Saturday, April 16, 2011
april 16
Many things can be seen as contributing to the rebirth and ascension of Somerville as a desirable place to live. The extension of the redline to Davis, the end of rent control in Cambridge, the election of Mike Capuano as Congressman, the first generation Somerville born college graduates who became the city leaders in the 1980’s, the defeat of John Buonomo, the exposure of Vinnie Piro …. However the foundation of this was one person … and that was S. Lester Ralph… whose unexpected election as Mayor set the groundwork and foundation that prevented Somerville from becoming another Chelsea, Revere, Lynn, or Lawrence… which it clearly was on the path to being when he was sent to us …
Gene Brune carried on the S Lester Ralph ways… but no one took him seriously since …
Mike Capuano was the first Mayor to appreciate and respect the work or Ralph.. and be able to respect the best of the Rogues who came before him…
Political toughness…
Gene Brune carried on the S Lester Ralph ways… but no one took him seriously since …
Mike Capuano was the first Mayor to appreciate and respect the work or Ralph.. and be able to respect the best of the Rogues who came before him…
Political toughness…
Friday, April 15, 2011
howie c on buonomo et al
A serious breach of etiquette, even for sordid Somervilleans
By Howie Carr | Friday, August 8, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com
You can take the boy out of Somerville, but you can’t take the Somerville out of the boy.
That’s the lesson, one of them anyway, learned from the squalid tale of John Buonomo, the Middlesex register of probate, lugged Wednesday night after being caught stealing on some of the most outrageous surveillance video in recent memory.
He was allegedly absconding with $1 bills from the copying machines operated by the Middlesex Register of Deeds, another Somerville hack named Clean Gene Brune.
Which proves the truth of another old Somerville saying: The schools there teach you how to add, but never how to divide.
But even by Winter Hill standards, this is a breach of etiquette, one former Somerville guy robbing another one. Why didn’t Buonomo steal from, say, Sheriff DiPaola? He’s from Malden - an open city. DiPaola ain’t connected.
There’s one thing about this I don’t understand. About six weeks ago, I got two different letters saying that something was amiss in East Cambridge. Being from Somerville myself, I figured it was better to farm out the hit, so to speak, so I passed it on to a reporter here at the Herald.
This other reporter called Buonomo and told him about the rampant rumors of thievery in his office, and Buonomo angrily denied it. That’s to be expected, of course. We didn’t expect him to confess and curl up into the fetal position.
But according to the Middlesex district attorney, these surveillance videos of Buonomo were made as recently as last week. That means Buonomo took the call from the Herald saying we suspected something, and yet he was so brazen he kept sneaking back to the machine.
I can’t tell you how shocked I am. Buonomo is a guy who used to crash wakes at Doherty’s looking for votes.
But Buonomo does have a defense. He has a disease - kleptomania. Which reminds me of yet another old saying about the All-American City: A lot of the people there are so crooked they’d steal a hot stove, without gloves, and then come back for the smoke.
I’m not saying the office is a joke, but candidates over the years have included Ronald McDonald (in 1996) and Ed McMahon (in 2000). Just consider the hacks who’ve actually won the jinxed job.
We’ll start with Paul Cavanaugh, who became a judge and later resigned under murky circumstances. He was replaced by a Middlesex commissioner who was then voted out of office and replaced by a nutty Republican woman who was then voted out of office by Robert Antonelli, the son of an ousted Middlesex treasurer who was then himself ousted by the Supreme Judicial Court because of alleged abuses.
Young Antonelli was replaced by a seat-warmer Republican who was defeated by Buonomo.
Buonomo won a 12-person Democrat primary, thanks to a fortuitous recount that turned a 22-vote deficit into something like a 16-vote victory. Another candidate was the daughter of a disbarred governor’s councilor.
The last time I saw “Landslide” Buonomo was when I needed something from his office, and he hand-delivered it to me, in Brighton. This seemed like service above and beyond the call of duty, even for someone from the old neighborhood. But who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?
And now Clean Gene Brune has burnished his “clean” credentials. A woman has been sworn in as acting registrar - for the third or fourth time. In the registry of deeds yesterday, Brune’s minions briefly put a hand-lettered sign under the surveillance-camera peephole that said, “Smile, John, you’re on Candid Camera!”
Sources say Brune wandered by and took the sign down. You’re not supposed to gloat after you whack somebody.
You send a wreath to the funeral home and shut the bleep up.
That’s Somerville, baby.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1111774
By Howie Carr | Friday, August 8, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com
You can take the boy out of Somerville, but you can’t take the Somerville out of the boy.
That’s the lesson, one of them anyway, learned from the squalid tale of John Buonomo, the Middlesex register of probate, lugged Wednesday night after being caught stealing on some of the most outrageous surveillance video in recent memory.
He was allegedly absconding with $1 bills from the copying machines operated by the Middlesex Register of Deeds, another Somerville hack named Clean Gene Brune.
Which proves the truth of another old Somerville saying: The schools there teach you how to add, but never how to divide.
But even by Winter Hill standards, this is a breach of etiquette, one former Somerville guy robbing another one. Why didn’t Buonomo steal from, say, Sheriff DiPaola? He’s from Malden - an open city. DiPaola ain’t connected.
There’s one thing about this I don’t understand. About six weeks ago, I got two different letters saying that something was amiss in East Cambridge. Being from Somerville myself, I figured it was better to farm out the hit, so to speak, so I passed it on to a reporter here at the Herald.
This other reporter called Buonomo and told him about the rampant rumors of thievery in his office, and Buonomo angrily denied it. That’s to be expected, of course. We didn’t expect him to confess and curl up into the fetal position.
But according to the Middlesex district attorney, these surveillance videos of Buonomo were made as recently as last week. That means Buonomo took the call from the Herald saying we suspected something, and yet he was so brazen he kept sneaking back to the machine.
I can’t tell you how shocked I am. Buonomo is a guy who used to crash wakes at Doherty’s looking for votes.
But Buonomo does have a defense. He has a disease - kleptomania. Which reminds me of yet another old saying about the All-American City: A lot of the people there are so crooked they’d steal a hot stove, without gloves, and then come back for the smoke.
I’m not saying the office is a joke, but candidates over the years have included Ronald McDonald (in 1996) and Ed McMahon (in 2000). Just consider the hacks who’ve actually won the jinxed job.
We’ll start with Paul Cavanaugh, who became a judge and later resigned under murky circumstances. He was replaced by a Middlesex commissioner who was then voted out of office and replaced by a nutty Republican woman who was then voted out of office by Robert Antonelli, the son of an ousted Middlesex treasurer who was then himself ousted by the Supreme Judicial Court because of alleged abuses.
Young Antonelli was replaced by a seat-warmer Republican who was defeated by Buonomo.
Buonomo won a 12-person Democrat primary, thanks to a fortuitous recount that turned a 22-vote deficit into something like a 16-vote victory. Another candidate was the daughter of a disbarred governor’s councilor.
The last time I saw “Landslide” Buonomo was when I needed something from his office, and he hand-delivered it to me, in Brighton. This seemed like service above and beyond the call of duty, even for someone from the old neighborhood. But who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?
And now Clean Gene Brune has burnished his “clean” credentials. A woman has been sworn in as acting registrar - for the third or fourth time. In the registry of deeds yesterday, Brune’s minions briefly put a hand-lettered sign under the surveillance-camera peephole that said, “Smile, John, you’re on Candid Camera!”
Sources say Brune wandered by and took the sign down. You’re not supposed to gloat after you whack somebody.
You send a wreath to the funeral home and shut the bleep up.
That’s Somerville, baby.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1111774
howie c on buonomo et al
A serious breach of etiquette, even for sordid Somervilleans
By Howie Carr | Friday, August 8, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com
You can take the boy out of Somerville, but you can’t take the Somerville out of the boy.
That’s the lesson, one of them anyway, learned from the squalid tale of John Buonomo, the Middlesex register of probate, lugged Wednesday night after being caught stealing on some of the most outrageous surveillance video in recent memory.
He was allegedly absconding with $1 bills from the copying machines operated by the Middlesex Register of Deeds, another Somerville hack named Clean Gene Brune.
Which proves the truth of another old Somerville saying: The schools there teach you how to add, but never how to divide.
But even by Winter Hill standards, this is a breach of etiquette, one former Somerville guy robbing another one. Why didn’t Buonomo steal from, say, Sheriff DiPaola? He’s from Malden - an open city. DiPaola ain’t connected.
There’s one thing about this I don’t understand. About six weeks ago, I got two different letters saying that something was amiss in East Cambridge. Being from Somerville myself, I figured it was better to farm out the hit, so to speak, so I passed it on to a reporter here at the Herald.
This other reporter called Buonomo and told him about the rampant rumors of thievery in his office, and Buonomo angrily denied it. That’s to be expected, of course. We didn’t expect him to confess and curl up into the fetal position.
But according to the Middlesex district attorney, these surveillance videos of Buonomo were made as recently as last week. That means Buonomo took the call from the Herald saying we suspected something, and yet he was so brazen he kept sneaking back to the machine.
I can’t tell you how shocked I am. Buonomo is a guy who used to crash wakes at Doherty’s looking for votes.
But Buonomo does have a defense. He has a disease - kleptomania. Which reminds me of yet another old saying about the All-American City: A lot of the people there are so crooked they’d steal a hot stove, without gloves, and then come back for the smoke.
I’m not saying the office is a joke, but candidates over the years have included Ronald McDonald (in 1996) and Ed McMahon (in 2000). Just consider the hacks who’ve actually won the jinxed job.
We’ll start with Paul Cavanaugh, who became a judge and later resigned under murky circumstances. He was replaced by a Middlesex commissioner who was then voted out of office and replaced by a nutty Republican woman who was then voted out of office by Robert Antonelli, the son of an ousted Middlesex treasurer who was then himself ousted by the Supreme Judicial Court because of alleged abuses.
Young Antonelli was replaced by a seat-warmer Republican who was defeated by Buonomo.
Buonomo won a 12-person Democrat primary, thanks to a fortuitous recount that turned a 22-vote deficit into something like a 16-vote victory. Another candidate was the daughter of a disbarred governor’s councilor.
The last time I saw “Landslide” Buonomo was when I needed something from his office, and he hand-delivered it to me, in Brighton. This seemed like service above and beyond the call of duty, even for someone from the old neighborhood. But who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?
And now Clean Gene Brune has burnished his “clean” credentials. A woman has been sworn in as acting registrar - for the third or fourth time. In the registry of deeds yesterday, Brune’s minions briefly put a hand-lettered sign under the surveillance-camera peephole that said, “Smile, John, you’re on Candid Camera!”
Sources say Brune wandered by and took the sign down. You’re not supposed to gloat after you whack somebody.
You send a wreath to the funeral home and shut the bleep up.
That’s Somerville, baby.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1111774
By Howie Carr | Friday, August 8, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com
You can take the boy out of Somerville, but you can’t take the Somerville out of the boy.
That’s the lesson, one of them anyway, learned from the squalid tale of John Buonomo, the Middlesex register of probate, lugged Wednesday night after being caught stealing on some of the most outrageous surveillance video in recent memory.
He was allegedly absconding with $1 bills from the copying machines operated by the Middlesex Register of Deeds, another Somerville hack named Clean Gene Brune.
Which proves the truth of another old Somerville saying: The schools there teach you how to add, but never how to divide.
But even by Winter Hill standards, this is a breach of etiquette, one former Somerville guy robbing another one. Why didn’t Buonomo steal from, say, Sheriff DiPaola? He’s from Malden - an open city. DiPaola ain’t connected.
There’s one thing about this I don’t understand. About six weeks ago, I got two different letters saying that something was amiss in East Cambridge. Being from Somerville myself, I figured it was better to farm out the hit, so to speak, so I passed it on to a reporter here at the Herald.
This other reporter called Buonomo and told him about the rampant rumors of thievery in his office, and Buonomo angrily denied it. That’s to be expected, of course. We didn’t expect him to confess and curl up into the fetal position.
But according to the Middlesex district attorney, these surveillance videos of Buonomo were made as recently as last week. That means Buonomo took the call from the Herald saying we suspected something, and yet he was so brazen he kept sneaking back to the machine.
I can’t tell you how shocked I am. Buonomo is a guy who used to crash wakes at Doherty’s looking for votes.
But Buonomo does have a defense. He has a disease - kleptomania. Which reminds me of yet another old saying about the All-American City: A lot of the people there are so crooked they’d steal a hot stove, without gloves, and then come back for the smoke.
I’m not saying the office is a joke, but candidates over the years have included Ronald McDonald (in 1996) and Ed McMahon (in 2000). Just consider the hacks who’ve actually won the jinxed job.
We’ll start with Paul Cavanaugh, who became a judge and later resigned under murky circumstances. He was replaced by a Middlesex commissioner who was then voted out of office and replaced by a nutty Republican woman who was then voted out of office by Robert Antonelli, the son of an ousted Middlesex treasurer who was then himself ousted by the Supreme Judicial Court because of alleged abuses.
Young Antonelli was replaced by a seat-warmer Republican who was defeated by Buonomo.
Buonomo won a 12-person Democrat primary, thanks to a fortuitous recount that turned a 22-vote deficit into something like a 16-vote victory. Another candidate was the daughter of a disbarred governor’s councilor.
The last time I saw “Landslide” Buonomo was when I needed something from his office, and he hand-delivered it to me, in Brighton. This seemed like service above and beyond the call of duty, even for someone from the old neighborhood. But who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?
And now Clean Gene Brune has burnished his “clean” credentials. A woman has been sworn in as acting registrar - for the third or fourth time. In the registry of deeds yesterday, Brune’s minions briefly put a hand-lettered sign under the surveillance-camera peephole that said, “Smile, John, you’re on Candid Camera!”
Sources say Brune wandered by and took the sign down. You’re not supposed to gloat after you whack somebody.
You send a wreath to the funeral home and shut the bleep up.
That’s Somerville, baby.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1111774
howe-d part 2
Patronage, Nepotism and Conflict of Interest
The Impropriety of a Political Family
By Mark A. Feldstein,
Published: Saturday, November 04, 1978
0Comment Email Print A six-week investigation by The Crimson has revealed a consistent picture of conflict-of-interest, nepotism and misuse of public office by one of Somerville's most powerful political families. Second of a two-part series.
Somerville city records clearly show that city tax assessor John J. Howe has systematically used his assessment powers to reward the political friends and punish the political opponents of his sister, Democratic State Rep. Marie E. Howe of Somerville.
In all of these cases, the Howes maintain that individual and assessment changes were warranted, and were not imposed for political or personal purposes. Legally, there is no way to determine whether John Howe abused the assessing process unless the state's Corporation and Taxation Department decides to intervene--something it has carefully avoided so far. While it is true that in small towns like Somerville assessors will always wind up judging the value of the property of friends and neighbors, in the Howes' case there has been a clear and consistent pattern of lowering the taxes on personal friends and raising the taxes on political foes.
However, that John Howe has been able to wield his assessment powers as a powerful political tool is also the fault of a system that has few built-in checks to curb abuse of discretionary powers. Property assessment in Somerville is conducted by assigning the city's five assessors to their own districts in the city. Although property assessments are subject to revision by the full board, individual assessors usually have virtual carte blanche in changing property values.
Like most Massachusetts cities, Somerville has established no qualification standards for tax assessors, and assessors are elected--often on the basis of political connections--rather than appointed because of professional competence. Even John Howe says he would like to have assessors receive more training than their one-week crash course in real estate at the University of Massachusetts.
Still, John Howe's personal unfamiliarity with the assessment process is unusual. Alderman Puglia calls Howe "the most unqualified assessor in the history of Massachusetts." In a deposition under oath during assessment victim Cosmo Capobianco's libel suit against Howe, Howe admitted that he has had "very little" training in the real estate business, and that he did not know the most important and elementary concept an assessor must learn--the three basic methods of appraising the value of real estate.
John Howe is apparently even incapable of writing the occasional press releases he has issued in the course of his term as tax assessor. Reports persist that his statements have in fact been authored by his sister Marie and her close friend Leonard Scott. However, John Howe denies the reports. But under cross-examination by Howe enemy Cosmo Capobianco's lawyers during his March 1977 lawsuit proceedings in Middlesex Country Superior Court, Howe revealed that he did not know the meanings of many of the words used in his own press releases:
Q. Could you tell me what a "protege" is?
A. A protege of the mayor--someone who looks up to him. That's what I feel it means.
Q. Could you tell me what you mean by "inept"?
A. Where is that?
Q. Do you know what the word "inept" means?
A. No, I don't really.
Q. How about the word "syndicate"?
A. Someone who controls everything.
Q. And could you tell us what the word "interactions" means?
A. Interactions through one person to another.
Q. What is an interaction?
A. I would believe it's describing a person for what he does. I could be wrong on that now.
Nor does John Howe's questionable conduct appear to be limited to his real estate duties. In April 1977, Metropolitan District Commissioner John Snedeker discovered that John Howe was without approval in leaving his full-time patronage job as a "water sampler" early in order to collect an additional $5500 annually as a tax assessor. Howe knocked off early from his 8 a.m.-to-4 p.m., $270-a-week job twice a month for a year, Snedeker reported. Snedeker also found that Howe was using an MDC truck for his separate assessing duties.
Although Snedeker and MDC press spokesman Michael Goldman refuse to discuss the case, which is still pending in court, the Crimson has learned that Snedeker originally planned to fire Howe outright. But in an emotional meeting with the commissioner, Howe tearfully begged that his pregnant wife be spared the emotional trauma of a public hearing on his misbehavior. Despite advice from his aides that he ought to fire Howe, Snedeker relented and agreed to reprimand Howe with a 20-day suspension and a fine--provided Howe signed a statement admitting his guilt. Howe hastily complied.
Just five eays later, however, Howe announced that he had obtained well-known Boston lawyer William Homans, and was filing suit against Snedeker for $25,000 in personal damages. Despite his written statement to the contrary, Howe now says that he still worked a full day, because he worked during his lunch hour to make up for the time he missed by leaving work early. But that is not what he told Snedeker in their private meeting. One reliable MDC source says Howe's after-the-fact assertion that he made up the lost time during his lunch breaks is "full of shit."
Like the MDC's Snedeker and Goldman, Howe says that because the case is pending in court, he cannot comment on the incident. "Anything I say might hurt me," Howe explained.
Although John Howe asserts that his actions are his own doing, Somerville insiders say that it is really his elder sister Marie who runs the family's political business. "John's a good kid, a simple kid," says one Somerville assessor. "It's Marie who's the heavy." Yet if Marie has used John for her own political ends, she has also been unafraid to engage in petty but questionable conduct of her own.
Every St. Patrick's Day, Marie Howe holds an Irish celebration, complete with Gay '90s music. Tickets sell for $10, which is less than the $15 campaign-donation disclosure fee and thus allows participants to avoid having their names filed with the state elections commission.
At the celebration itself, Marie raffles off a trip to Ireland. Massachusetts law allows such raffles only for church, charity, educational, civic, fraternal or veterans purposes. There is no provision for political raffles. Even if political raffles were legal, however, the law requires that the sponsoring organization purchase a raffle license. Marie Howe has no such license.
Howe at first acknowledged that she holds a yearly raffle. But when pointed out that she has no raffle license, Howe changed her story and said, "It's not a raffle. It's a door prize."
* * * * *
In the last four years, Marie Howe has been sued three times for defaulting on payments for improvements on her properties. The infractions were minor, but still typify the approach the Howes take in their business and political practices.
In 1974, Somerville Lumber Company sued Marie Howe and her friend Walter Silva for almost $3500, for not paying for a shipment of lumber and other building materials. Howe now admits that she in fact received the goods from Somerville Lumber after ordering them. But in sworn testimony "signed under the pains and penalties of perjury," Howe denied ever receiving the building materials. The case was eventually settled out of court. Somerville Lumber owner Harold Cohen refused to talk about the suit, apparently fearing retribution by the Howe family. "I admit it," he said. "I'm a coward."
In 1974, Marie Howe was also sued by the Ralph Champa Construction Company for not paying a $986 bill after Champa constructed a stairway in her real estate office. Howe alleged that the late Champa promised the construction for free as an in-kind campaign contribution, a charge that Champa denied. "He was never involved in politics," says his son, Ralph Champa Jr. "He might give a contribution for $10, but he wouldn't give $1000 worth of construction for free." And Marie Howe now admits that Champa had never contributed to her political campaigns in the past.
Somerville District Court found Howe guilty, and Howe paid Champa $750 in damages. "When you're in business, these things happen," Howe explains.
In 1976, Hugh Gillen, a carpenter, sued Marie Howe for not paying him for $1700 worth of painting and wall-papering. Gillen says Howe at first told him to do an extensive remodeling job, but that halfway through--when he told her he had already done $1000 worth of construction--she told him it was too expensive. "After she told me [to cut back] I did the bare minimum, because if she didn't want me to do a lot, I didn't want to do it, either," Gillen says. But Howe said Gillen's work was shoddy, and she refused to pay the $1700.
Gillen's suit against Howe was successful, and she was ordered to pay Gillen for his work.
Political patronage is a way of life in Somerville, and the Howe family is no exception. All three of Marie's brothers appear to have profited by their sister's public office. Two of her brothers, William and Desmond, have jobs with the State Police. William was hired in 1966, the year after his sister first began to serve in the legislature; Desmond was hired three years later. Marie denies using her influence to get either of her two brothers jobs with the state police, a denial Somerville insiders find highly questionable considering the frequency of such patronage appointments.
Marie Howe also denies any impropriety in the hiring of Ralph Scott, son of her close personal friend Leonard Scott, as a page in the state legislature last summer. Howe says Scott was hired by House Speaker Thomas McGee, although she admits that "I may have put in a call to McGee" on Scott's behalf. Howe calls her companion's son "very capable. We were lucky to get him." Scott worked directly in Marie Howe's office.
It was while Marie Howe served on the House Rules Committee, the panel that dispenses patronage positions, that her brother John was hired by the MDC's Division of Environmental Quality, for his celebrated job as a "water-sampler," from which he was later suspended. Marie admits getting her brother his MDC job by making a "recommendation" to then-Governor Francis W. Sargent that her brother be hired.
Marie Howe says she "doesn't recall" what she said to Sargent in her recommendation of her brother, but she denies any unethical conduct on her part. "I have helped loads of people get jobs in this city," she says.
* * * * *
Despite all of the indications of possible impropriety, the Howes retain just as strong a political stranglehold on Somerville as when they first came to power ten years ago. In September, Marie Howe survived a tough battle for re-nomination to the state legislature after her district lines were re-drawn, and she seems certain to be re-elected this Tuesday. John Howe, meanwhile, is safely anchored to his assessor's job for at least another year, until the next election.
That the Howe family is still powerful in Somerville is due at least inpart to their ability to avoid the subject of political corruption altogether. Marie Howe has for years been able to evade the question of personal ethics by making the issue one of ethnicity, accusing opposing Italian political families of "plots" and "vendettas" against her. In fact, she says, "It's an issue of the good people versus the bad people, with us being the good people.... They hate me because I'm totally uncorruptable."
John Howe's defense, characteristically, is more humble. "I haven't been summonsed yet," he says. "I'm still doing my job.... I'm still walking the streets."
Yet if Marie Howe has used her brother John for her own political ends, she has also been unafraid to engage in petty but questionable conduct of her own
The Impropriety of a Political Family
By Mark A. Feldstein,
Published: Saturday, November 04, 1978
0Comment Email Print A six-week investigation by The Crimson has revealed a consistent picture of conflict-of-interest, nepotism and misuse of public office by one of Somerville's most powerful political families. Second of a two-part series.
Somerville city records clearly show that city tax assessor John J. Howe has systematically used his assessment powers to reward the political friends and punish the political opponents of his sister, Democratic State Rep. Marie E. Howe of Somerville.
In all of these cases, the Howes maintain that individual and assessment changes were warranted, and were not imposed for political or personal purposes. Legally, there is no way to determine whether John Howe abused the assessing process unless the state's Corporation and Taxation Department decides to intervene--something it has carefully avoided so far. While it is true that in small towns like Somerville assessors will always wind up judging the value of the property of friends and neighbors, in the Howes' case there has been a clear and consistent pattern of lowering the taxes on personal friends and raising the taxes on political foes.
However, that John Howe has been able to wield his assessment powers as a powerful political tool is also the fault of a system that has few built-in checks to curb abuse of discretionary powers. Property assessment in Somerville is conducted by assigning the city's five assessors to their own districts in the city. Although property assessments are subject to revision by the full board, individual assessors usually have virtual carte blanche in changing property values.
Like most Massachusetts cities, Somerville has established no qualification standards for tax assessors, and assessors are elected--often on the basis of political connections--rather than appointed because of professional competence. Even John Howe says he would like to have assessors receive more training than their one-week crash course in real estate at the University of Massachusetts.
Still, John Howe's personal unfamiliarity with the assessment process is unusual. Alderman Puglia calls Howe "the most unqualified assessor in the history of Massachusetts." In a deposition under oath during assessment victim Cosmo Capobianco's libel suit against Howe, Howe admitted that he has had "very little" training in the real estate business, and that he did not know the most important and elementary concept an assessor must learn--the three basic methods of appraising the value of real estate.
John Howe is apparently even incapable of writing the occasional press releases he has issued in the course of his term as tax assessor. Reports persist that his statements have in fact been authored by his sister Marie and her close friend Leonard Scott. However, John Howe denies the reports. But under cross-examination by Howe enemy Cosmo Capobianco's lawyers during his March 1977 lawsuit proceedings in Middlesex Country Superior Court, Howe revealed that he did not know the meanings of many of the words used in his own press releases:
Q. Could you tell me what a "protege" is?
A. A protege of the mayor--someone who looks up to him. That's what I feel it means.
Q. Could you tell me what you mean by "inept"?
A. Where is that?
Q. Do you know what the word "inept" means?
A. No, I don't really.
Q. How about the word "syndicate"?
A. Someone who controls everything.
Q. And could you tell us what the word "interactions" means?
A. Interactions through one person to another.
Q. What is an interaction?
A. I would believe it's describing a person for what he does. I could be wrong on that now.
Nor does John Howe's questionable conduct appear to be limited to his real estate duties. In April 1977, Metropolitan District Commissioner John Snedeker discovered that John Howe was without approval in leaving his full-time patronage job as a "water sampler" early in order to collect an additional $5500 annually as a tax assessor. Howe knocked off early from his 8 a.m.-to-4 p.m., $270-a-week job twice a month for a year, Snedeker reported. Snedeker also found that Howe was using an MDC truck for his separate assessing duties.
Although Snedeker and MDC press spokesman Michael Goldman refuse to discuss the case, which is still pending in court, the Crimson has learned that Snedeker originally planned to fire Howe outright. But in an emotional meeting with the commissioner, Howe tearfully begged that his pregnant wife be spared the emotional trauma of a public hearing on his misbehavior. Despite advice from his aides that he ought to fire Howe, Snedeker relented and agreed to reprimand Howe with a 20-day suspension and a fine--provided Howe signed a statement admitting his guilt. Howe hastily complied.
Just five eays later, however, Howe announced that he had obtained well-known Boston lawyer William Homans, and was filing suit against Snedeker for $25,000 in personal damages. Despite his written statement to the contrary, Howe now says that he still worked a full day, because he worked during his lunch hour to make up for the time he missed by leaving work early. But that is not what he told Snedeker in their private meeting. One reliable MDC source says Howe's after-the-fact assertion that he made up the lost time during his lunch breaks is "full of shit."
Like the MDC's Snedeker and Goldman, Howe says that because the case is pending in court, he cannot comment on the incident. "Anything I say might hurt me," Howe explained.
Although John Howe asserts that his actions are his own doing, Somerville insiders say that it is really his elder sister Marie who runs the family's political business. "John's a good kid, a simple kid," says one Somerville assessor. "It's Marie who's the heavy." Yet if Marie has used John for her own political ends, she has also been unafraid to engage in petty but questionable conduct of her own.
Every St. Patrick's Day, Marie Howe holds an Irish celebration, complete with Gay '90s music. Tickets sell for $10, which is less than the $15 campaign-donation disclosure fee and thus allows participants to avoid having their names filed with the state elections commission.
At the celebration itself, Marie raffles off a trip to Ireland. Massachusetts law allows such raffles only for church, charity, educational, civic, fraternal or veterans purposes. There is no provision for political raffles. Even if political raffles were legal, however, the law requires that the sponsoring organization purchase a raffle license. Marie Howe has no such license.
Howe at first acknowledged that she holds a yearly raffle. But when pointed out that she has no raffle license, Howe changed her story and said, "It's not a raffle. It's a door prize."
* * * * *
In the last four years, Marie Howe has been sued three times for defaulting on payments for improvements on her properties. The infractions were minor, but still typify the approach the Howes take in their business and political practices.
In 1974, Somerville Lumber Company sued Marie Howe and her friend Walter Silva for almost $3500, for not paying for a shipment of lumber and other building materials. Howe now admits that she in fact received the goods from Somerville Lumber after ordering them. But in sworn testimony "signed under the pains and penalties of perjury," Howe denied ever receiving the building materials. The case was eventually settled out of court. Somerville Lumber owner Harold Cohen refused to talk about the suit, apparently fearing retribution by the Howe family. "I admit it," he said. "I'm a coward."
In 1974, Marie Howe was also sued by the Ralph Champa Construction Company for not paying a $986 bill after Champa constructed a stairway in her real estate office. Howe alleged that the late Champa promised the construction for free as an in-kind campaign contribution, a charge that Champa denied. "He was never involved in politics," says his son, Ralph Champa Jr. "He might give a contribution for $10, but he wouldn't give $1000 worth of construction for free." And Marie Howe now admits that Champa had never contributed to her political campaigns in the past.
Somerville District Court found Howe guilty, and Howe paid Champa $750 in damages. "When you're in business, these things happen," Howe explains.
In 1976, Hugh Gillen, a carpenter, sued Marie Howe for not paying him for $1700 worth of painting and wall-papering. Gillen says Howe at first told him to do an extensive remodeling job, but that halfway through--when he told her he had already done $1000 worth of construction--she told him it was too expensive. "After she told me [to cut back] I did the bare minimum, because if she didn't want me to do a lot, I didn't want to do it, either," Gillen says. But Howe said Gillen's work was shoddy, and she refused to pay the $1700.
Gillen's suit against Howe was successful, and she was ordered to pay Gillen for his work.
Political patronage is a way of life in Somerville, and the Howe family is no exception. All three of Marie's brothers appear to have profited by their sister's public office. Two of her brothers, William and Desmond, have jobs with the State Police. William was hired in 1966, the year after his sister first began to serve in the legislature; Desmond was hired three years later. Marie denies using her influence to get either of her two brothers jobs with the state police, a denial Somerville insiders find highly questionable considering the frequency of such patronage appointments.
Marie Howe also denies any impropriety in the hiring of Ralph Scott, son of her close personal friend Leonard Scott, as a page in the state legislature last summer. Howe says Scott was hired by House Speaker Thomas McGee, although she admits that "I may have put in a call to McGee" on Scott's behalf. Howe calls her companion's son "very capable. We were lucky to get him." Scott worked directly in Marie Howe's office.
It was while Marie Howe served on the House Rules Committee, the panel that dispenses patronage positions, that her brother John was hired by the MDC's Division of Environmental Quality, for his celebrated job as a "water-sampler," from which he was later suspended. Marie admits getting her brother his MDC job by making a "recommendation" to then-Governor Francis W. Sargent that her brother be hired.
Marie Howe says she "doesn't recall" what she said to Sargent in her recommendation of her brother, but she denies any unethical conduct on her part. "I have helped loads of people get jobs in this city," she says.
* * * * *
Despite all of the indications of possible impropriety, the Howes retain just as strong a political stranglehold on Somerville as when they first came to power ten years ago. In September, Marie Howe survived a tough battle for re-nomination to the state legislature after her district lines were re-drawn, and she seems certain to be re-elected this Tuesday. John Howe, meanwhile, is safely anchored to his assessor's job for at least another year, until the next election.
That the Howe family is still powerful in Somerville is due at least inpart to their ability to avoid the subject of political corruption altogether. Marie Howe has for years been able to evade the question of personal ethics by making the issue one of ethnicity, accusing opposing Italian political families of "plots" and "vendettas" against her. In fact, she says, "It's an issue of the good people versus the bad people, with us being the good people.... They hate me because I'm totally uncorruptable."
John Howe's defense, characteristically, is more humble. "I haven't been summonsed yet," he says. "I'm still doing my job.... I'm still walking the streets."
Yet if Marie Howe has used her brother John for her own political ends, she has also been unafraid to engage in petty but questionable conduct of her own
howe-D
Howe Family May Have Used Taxes For Political Advantage in Somerville
By Mark A. Feldstein, COPYRIGHT 1978, THE HARVARD CRIMSON, INC.
Published: Friday, November 03, 1978
0Comment Email Print A six-week investigation by The Crimson has revealed a consistent pattern of conflict-of-interest, nepotism and misuse of public office by one of Somerville's most powerful political families. First of a two-part series.
Democratic State Rep. Marie E. Howe of Somerville and her younger brother John J. Howe, a Somerville property tax assessor, may have systematically used tax assessments to reward personal friends and punish political opponents, an examination of the city's tax records shows.
Although the Howes deny using assessment powers as a political weapon, Somerville tax records reveal a persistent pattern of questionable tax reductions awarded to political friends, and tax increases levied on political opponents.
In one specific instance of conflict-of-interest, the Howes used their assessment powers to give themselves a tax break on their own property.
On June 2, 1976, 35-year-old John Howe lowered the yearly assessment on a piece of property on Charnwood Road in Somerville, a block from his home, by nearly 25 per cent--from $8400 to $6400. This was one of the largest proportionate reductions in residential property taxes awarded that year in Somerville.
Nearly a year later, Somerville Alderman Andrew Puglia discovered that the property on Charnwood Road was owned by John's older sister Marie, and that the property's beneficiaries were listed on the property deed as "John J. Howe and Kristen Howe." Thus assessor Howe lowered the taxes on a piece of property owned by his own family.
John Howe admits that he lowered the assessment so the previous owners could more easily sell the property to his sister, even though the law requires assessment at full property value. But Howe maintains that his actions were not a direct conflict-of-interest, because his family members did not own the property prior to his action. Nevertheless, those who benefited from Howe's decision to lower the assessment were clearly the Howes themselves, who bought the Charnwood Road property at the lower price.
"When have you ever heard of an assessor lowering the assessment so the owners could sell the house?" Puglia, a political opponent of the Howes, asks. "That's unheard of. You're supposed to lower the assessment only if the property has gone down in value. And then, all of a sudden, a few months later, lo and behold, Howe's sister buys the property."
Howe justifies his decision to lower his family's taxes by saying that the property had been over-assessed previously--something Somerville insiders doubt, in light of the city's usually-lenient assessment practices, and the unusual timing of Howe's sudden tax decrease. Only the state's Department of Corporation and Taxation can rule definitively whether Howe's self-help tax break was legitimate, but the department has so far taken no steps to handle the politically sensitive issue.
Howe maintains that at the time he lowered the assessment on the Charnwood Road property, he did not know his sister was planning to buy it. "We were shocked when we heard about it," he stated last year. "What she [Marie] does in her office is one thing, and what I do in mine is another. We don't butt into each other's business." But as one Somerville politician noted skeptically, "Who the hell are they kidding? Marie Howe controls John like a puppet. If my brother owned a house and the assessment was lowered, I'd sure as hell know about it."
Even if Howe knew his sister was planning to purchase the property, he says that it was still legal because it did not involve a direct conflict-of-interest. Howe claims that the "John J. Howe" who is listed as the property's beneficiary is not himself, but his eight-year-old son, John Joseph Howe. (The "Kristen Howe" also listed on the deed is Howe's daughter..) Legally, there is no way to tell which John J. Howe is the true beneficiary.
However, even if it is his son who is the actual beneficiary, Howe would still seem to be involved in conflict-of-interest, because he is the beneficiary's legal custodian. Howe denies this, saying his wife could be the custodian instead. But according to several legal sources, including one in the state Attorney General's office, if the state Taxation Department finds that Howe's family tax break was unjustified, the assessor could be fired by the Department for violating the state's conflict-of-interest statute.
Marie Howe says she bought the Charnwood Road property after her brother lowered the assessment by $2000 as an act of charity toward the previous owners, whom she says were "in deep financial trouble." She denies asking her brother to change the property's assessment, and says that those who charge the family with conflict-of-interest are "sick."
Several months after Marie Howe bought the Charnwood Road property, her brother raised the assessment by $900. He says he did this because the property had increased in value after his earlier assessment because it was no longer vacant. But Alderman Puglia charges that Howe raised the assessment only when he found out he was being investigated for conflict-of-interest. "After they became aware that I was snooping around, they took a pencil and tried to cover their tracks by changing the assessment," Puglia charges.
The Enemies List
The Charnwood Road property is not the only time the Howes have used tax assessments in Somerville for personal and political purposes. The record shows that the Howes may have consistently used the assessing process to reward their personal friends and punish their political enemies.
On June 5, 1976, Howe raised the assessment on the business property of Cosmo Capobianco by $1000. Howe says he increased Capobianco's taxes because of building improvements on the property. But Capobianco says it's been more than four years since he made any building improvements on his property, and that his taxes were raised at that time. Capobianco is a friend and campaign contributor to former Somerville Mayor Lester Ralph, a long-time foe of the Howes who defeated Marie in the 1971 mayoral race. Marie Howe, in an interview with The Crimson, called Capobianco a Ralph "crony ... who has done nothing but steal from the city of Somerville on payroll jobs in the county." The man who personally raised Capobianco's taxes, John Howe, has publicly labeled Capobianco a "political parasite"--prompting Capobianco to sue for libel. The suit is still pending. "There's no question Howe has used assessments as a political tool," Capobianco says.
Three days earlier, Howe had raised by $800 the assessment on property owned by Paul and Doris Griffin. Howe says he raised the assessment because he thought the Griffins' house was a three-family dwelling. Doris Griffin was also a friend of Ralph, Marie Howe's persistent opponent: she had worked as a door-to-door canvasser in his mayoral campaigns, and later was appointed by Ralph to the Somerville Board of Appeals. "Howe said that the reason he raised our assessment [from a two-family dwelling to a three-family dwelling] was because he ... saw some curtains in the attic where my daughter slept, and just assumed there was a third family there," Doris Griffin says. But there were only two families in the Griffin house. As proof that the Griffins were a three-family household, Howe presented to the assessors photographs he had taken showing curtains in the attic of the Griffin house. Doris Griffin says Howe told her he "always" takes photos of the many hundreds of properties he assesses.
The Griffins appealed Howe's decision, and the rest of the assessors decided to grant the family an abatement. "I'm sure he [Howe] doesn't go around this city taking pictures of all several thousand of the houses in Somerville
Both Howes deny that Marie asked John to raise the Griffins' assessment; both deny that the increased assessment was politically motivated.
Former Somerville mayor and current City Clerk William J. Donovan, a political antagonist of Marie Howe and who admits having "no great love" for the Howes, had his property assessment raised by Howe from $10,600 to $14,000 in 1976. Howe says the property was previously under-valued, and that the 40-per-cent assessment increase was long overdue. But the property itself had no buildings that could have increased in value. "The land was vacant," Donovan remembers. "He couldn't justify the assessment." Donovan, too, received an abatement from the rest of the city's assessors.
Marie Howe denies playing any role in Donovan's increased property taxes. Her brother says the assessment was warranted, adding that Donovan's property was full of debris, and is a "disgrace."
The Somerville Journal Affair
One of Howe's largest assessment increases was for the Somerville Press, Inc., which publishes the weekly Somerville Journal. For years, the Howe family has been at political odds with the Journal. In 1974, the newspaper angered the Howes by its coverage of Marie Howe's conviction for trespassing. The conviction stemmed from an incident in which Marie Howe's friend, Walter Silva, forcibly removed the door of one of Howe's tenants from its hinges, while Marie participated in the break-in. Two years later, the Journal gave front-page coverage to Marie's arrest for disorderly conduct during Queen Elizabeth's bicentennial visit to Boston; the paper reported that Marie bit the hand of her arresting officer, requiring him to go to the hospital to get a tetanus shot, and that she then gave the police an alias so they wouldn't know she was a state representative. "She was infuriated after we did the 'Howe Bites Cop' story," says Journal co-editor Barbara Powers. "She said we've always been against her, and she came down [to the newspaper office] and started screaming and yelling and threatening to take us to court." No such suit ever came to trial.
On June 2, 1976, John Howe raised the Journal's tax assessment from $13,000 to $24,4000--an increase of nearly 100 per cent. The Journal had remodeled its building in the past year, but the changes were minor compared with the nearly two-fold property tax increase. "He singled us out, there's no question about it," says one Journal staffer. "He didn't do the same to other businesses." The newspaper appealed Howe's decision, and received a full tax abatement.
Howe maintains his attempted tax increase was long overdue, and "should be higher."
A Little Help for Their Friends
At the same time John Howe was allegedly using his assessment powers to punish his family's political enemies, he was also lowering the taxes of the family's political and personal friends.
In 1976, John Howe lowered the assessments of Robert and Selma Kopelman by nearly $15,000--from $44,900 to $30,000. The Kopelmans were long-time neighbors of the Howes. Though assessments are generally consistent in a given neighborhood, other property assessments in the area were raised by Howe.
On May 4, of that year, Howe also lowered--from $7000 to $6600--the assessment on the home of Leonard Scott, his wife and children. Scott served with Marie Howe on the Somerville School Board, and is reported to be a very close personal friend and companion of Marie Howe. She denies, however, using her influence to lower Scott's assessment, and says "I don't really know Leonard Scott that well."
Because of John Howe's caprius use of his assessment powers and the great influence of the Howe family in Somerville, many of those whose assessment were raised by Howe were afraid to talk to The Crimson.
Paul M. Haley, one-time Somerville alderman who admits that he "never had anything in common" with the Howes, says publicly that the increased assessment of his property was justified: "[In my neighborhood] I think it was just my house and a couple of others at the time (that had an increased assessment), but I can't quarrel with anyone, you know?"
Robert Nunziato, a supporter of Howe opponent Mayor Ralph and a one-time candidate for alderman, did not want to talk about Howe's increase of the assessment of property owned by his father and uncle. "We've been here too long in the city," he said. "What they do, they do. I'd rather forget about it."
Crackdown on Leftists
John Howe may have used his office especially to crack down on political activists. He raised from $7000 to $7900 the assessment of Chris Burns and the "cooperative family" Burns was living with. Burns had contributed money to Howe opponent Lester Ralph, and has been active in Citizens for Participation in Political Action and other liberal groups in Somerville. Marie Howe personally lobbied against Burns in 1972, when the Democratic City Committee in Somerville met to debate his resolution condemning the Vietnam War. Four years later, John Howe's rationale for raising Burns's assessment was that he saw many names on the cooperative family houses. Burns appealed the decision, and the rest of the city's assessors granted an abatement.
Both Howes deny that the assessment was raised for political reasons.
Around the corner from Burns lives another "cooperative family" of unrelated adults, including leftist political activist Frank Ackerman. In October 1976 at a packed meeting of the city's Board of Assessors, Ackerman denounced the board for using tax assessments as a political weapon. During Ackerman's speech, Howe interrupted opened, opened the tax books for Ackerman's neighborhood, and asked threateningly: "Mr. Ackerman, where did you say you lived?"
The next day, at Howe's direction, two city inspectors showed up at the Ackerman house. Two days later, Ackerman received a letter from the Board of Health at Howe's debut citing him for a rarely-enforced city ordinance against five or more unrelated adults living together without a "boarding house" license. Only when Ackerman hired a lawyer to challenge Howe's actions did the city rule in his favor.
Howe still maintains that Ackerman was operating a boarding house, despite a ruling to the contrary by the city solicitor's office.
Marie Howe denies playing any role in the Ackerman incident, but told The Crimson that "Mr. Ackerman's house was loaded with German swastikas.... They were in adoration of Adolf Hitler," Ackerman's wife, Kathy Moore says that there are no swastikas in her house and never have been: "That's just the craziest thing I ever heard. ... The poor woman apparently doesn't know the difference between the (political) right and the left." Indeed, most of the members of their household are Jewish. (Marie Howe adds that even if the Ackermans are Nazis, "that's not why it [the assessment] went up ... I'm not saying anything against Ackerman.")CrimsonAnthea LetsouFor years, the Howe family has feuded with the weekly Somerville Journal. The newspaper's front page coverage of Marie Howe's arrest for disorderly conduct when she bit a police officer especially angered the Howes. After her brother was elected a city tax assessor, he increased the Journal's assessment by more than $10,000. "He singled us out, there's no question about it," says one newspaper staffer. "He didn't do the same to other businesses."
By Mark A. Feldstein, COPYRIGHT 1978, THE HARVARD CRIMSON, INC.
Published: Friday, November 03, 1978
0Comment Email Print A six-week investigation by The Crimson has revealed a consistent pattern of conflict-of-interest, nepotism and misuse of public office by one of Somerville's most powerful political families. First of a two-part series.
Democratic State Rep. Marie E. Howe of Somerville and her younger brother John J. Howe, a Somerville property tax assessor, may have systematically used tax assessments to reward personal friends and punish political opponents, an examination of the city's tax records shows.
Although the Howes deny using assessment powers as a political weapon, Somerville tax records reveal a persistent pattern of questionable tax reductions awarded to political friends, and tax increases levied on political opponents.
In one specific instance of conflict-of-interest, the Howes used their assessment powers to give themselves a tax break on their own property.
On June 2, 1976, 35-year-old John Howe lowered the yearly assessment on a piece of property on Charnwood Road in Somerville, a block from his home, by nearly 25 per cent--from $8400 to $6400. This was one of the largest proportionate reductions in residential property taxes awarded that year in Somerville.
Nearly a year later, Somerville Alderman Andrew Puglia discovered that the property on Charnwood Road was owned by John's older sister Marie, and that the property's beneficiaries were listed on the property deed as "John J. Howe and Kristen Howe." Thus assessor Howe lowered the taxes on a piece of property owned by his own family.
John Howe admits that he lowered the assessment so the previous owners could more easily sell the property to his sister, even though the law requires assessment at full property value. But Howe maintains that his actions were not a direct conflict-of-interest, because his family members did not own the property prior to his action. Nevertheless, those who benefited from Howe's decision to lower the assessment were clearly the Howes themselves, who bought the Charnwood Road property at the lower price.
"When have you ever heard of an assessor lowering the assessment so the owners could sell the house?" Puglia, a political opponent of the Howes, asks. "That's unheard of. You're supposed to lower the assessment only if the property has gone down in value. And then, all of a sudden, a few months later, lo and behold, Howe's sister buys the property."
Howe justifies his decision to lower his family's taxes by saying that the property had been over-assessed previously--something Somerville insiders doubt, in light of the city's usually-lenient assessment practices, and the unusual timing of Howe's sudden tax decrease. Only the state's Department of Corporation and Taxation can rule definitively whether Howe's self-help tax break was legitimate, but the department has so far taken no steps to handle the politically sensitive issue.
Howe maintains that at the time he lowered the assessment on the Charnwood Road property, he did not know his sister was planning to buy it. "We were shocked when we heard about it," he stated last year. "What she [Marie] does in her office is one thing, and what I do in mine is another. We don't butt into each other's business." But as one Somerville politician noted skeptically, "Who the hell are they kidding? Marie Howe controls John like a puppet. If my brother owned a house and the assessment was lowered, I'd sure as hell know about it."
Even if Howe knew his sister was planning to purchase the property, he says that it was still legal because it did not involve a direct conflict-of-interest. Howe claims that the "John J. Howe" who is listed as the property's beneficiary is not himself, but his eight-year-old son, John Joseph Howe. (The "Kristen Howe" also listed on the deed is Howe's daughter..) Legally, there is no way to tell which John J. Howe is the true beneficiary.
However, even if it is his son who is the actual beneficiary, Howe would still seem to be involved in conflict-of-interest, because he is the beneficiary's legal custodian. Howe denies this, saying his wife could be the custodian instead. But according to several legal sources, including one in the state Attorney General's office, if the state Taxation Department finds that Howe's family tax break was unjustified, the assessor could be fired by the Department for violating the state's conflict-of-interest statute.
Marie Howe says she bought the Charnwood Road property after her brother lowered the assessment by $2000 as an act of charity toward the previous owners, whom she says were "in deep financial trouble." She denies asking her brother to change the property's assessment, and says that those who charge the family with conflict-of-interest are "sick."
Several months after Marie Howe bought the Charnwood Road property, her brother raised the assessment by $900. He says he did this because the property had increased in value after his earlier assessment because it was no longer vacant. But Alderman Puglia charges that Howe raised the assessment only when he found out he was being investigated for conflict-of-interest. "After they became aware that I was snooping around, they took a pencil and tried to cover their tracks by changing the assessment," Puglia charges.
The Enemies List
The Charnwood Road property is not the only time the Howes have used tax assessments in Somerville for personal and political purposes. The record shows that the Howes may have consistently used the assessing process to reward their personal friends and punish their political enemies.
On June 5, 1976, Howe raised the assessment on the business property of Cosmo Capobianco by $1000. Howe says he increased Capobianco's taxes because of building improvements on the property. But Capobianco says it's been more than four years since he made any building improvements on his property, and that his taxes were raised at that time. Capobianco is a friend and campaign contributor to former Somerville Mayor Lester Ralph, a long-time foe of the Howes who defeated Marie in the 1971 mayoral race. Marie Howe, in an interview with The Crimson, called Capobianco a Ralph "crony ... who has done nothing but steal from the city of Somerville on payroll jobs in the county." The man who personally raised Capobianco's taxes, John Howe, has publicly labeled Capobianco a "political parasite"--prompting Capobianco to sue for libel. The suit is still pending. "There's no question Howe has used assessments as a political tool," Capobianco says.
Three days earlier, Howe had raised by $800 the assessment on property owned by Paul and Doris Griffin. Howe says he raised the assessment because he thought the Griffins' house was a three-family dwelling. Doris Griffin was also a friend of Ralph, Marie Howe's persistent opponent: she had worked as a door-to-door canvasser in his mayoral campaigns, and later was appointed by Ralph to the Somerville Board of Appeals. "Howe said that the reason he raised our assessment [from a two-family dwelling to a three-family dwelling] was because he ... saw some curtains in the attic where my daughter slept, and just assumed there was a third family there," Doris Griffin says. But there were only two families in the Griffin house. As proof that the Griffins were a three-family household, Howe presented to the assessors photographs he had taken showing curtains in the attic of the Griffin house. Doris Griffin says Howe told her he "always" takes photos of the many hundreds of properties he assesses.
The Griffins appealed Howe's decision, and the rest of the assessors decided to grant the family an abatement. "I'm sure he [Howe] doesn't go around this city taking pictures of all several thousand of the houses in Somerville
Both Howes deny that Marie asked John to raise the Griffins' assessment; both deny that the increased assessment was politically motivated.
Former Somerville mayor and current City Clerk William J. Donovan, a political antagonist of Marie Howe and who admits having "no great love" for the Howes, had his property assessment raised by Howe from $10,600 to $14,000 in 1976. Howe says the property was previously under-valued, and that the 40-per-cent assessment increase was long overdue. But the property itself had no buildings that could have increased in value. "The land was vacant," Donovan remembers. "He couldn't justify the assessment." Donovan, too, received an abatement from the rest of the city's assessors.
Marie Howe denies playing any role in Donovan's increased property taxes. Her brother says the assessment was warranted, adding that Donovan's property was full of debris, and is a "disgrace."
The Somerville Journal Affair
One of Howe's largest assessment increases was for the Somerville Press, Inc., which publishes the weekly Somerville Journal. For years, the Howe family has been at political odds with the Journal. In 1974, the newspaper angered the Howes by its coverage of Marie Howe's conviction for trespassing. The conviction stemmed from an incident in which Marie Howe's friend, Walter Silva, forcibly removed the door of one of Howe's tenants from its hinges, while Marie participated in the break-in. Two years later, the Journal gave front-page coverage to Marie's arrest for disorderly conduct during Queen Elizabeth's bicentennial visit to Boston; the paper reported that Marie bit the hand of her arresting officer, requiring him to go to the hospital to get a tetanus shot, and that she then gave the police an alias so they wouldn't know she was a state representative. "She was infuriated after we did the 'Howe Bites Cop' story," says Journal co-editor Barbara Powers. "She said we've always been against her, and she came down [to the newspaper office] and started screaming and yelling and threatening to take us to court." No such suit ever came to trial.
On June 2, 1976, John Howe raised the Journal's tax assessment from $13,000 to $24,4000--an increase of nearly 100 per cent. The Journal had remodeled its building in the past year, but the changes were minor compared with the nearly two-fold property tax increase. "He singled us out, there's no question about it," says one Journal staffer. "He didn't do the same to other businesses." The newspaper appealed Howe's decision, and received a full tax abatement.
Howe maintains his attempted tax increase was long overdue, and "should be higher."
A Little Help for Their Friends
At the same time John Howe was allegedly using his assessment powers to punish his family's political enemies, he was also lowering the taxes of the family's political and personal friends.
In 1976, John Howe lowered the assessments of Robert and Selma Kopelman by nearly $15,000--from $44,900 to $30,000. The Kopelmans were long-time neighbors of the Howes. Though assessments are generally consistent in a given neighborhood, other property assessments in the area were raised by Howe.
On May 4, of that year, Howe also lowered--from $7000 to $6600--the assessment on the home of Leonard Scott, his wife and children. Scott served with Marie Howe on the Somerville School Board, and is reported to be a very close personal friend and companion of Marie Howe. She denies, however, using her influence to lower Scott's assessment, and says "I don't really know Leonard Scott that well."
Because of John Howe's caprius use of his assessment powers and the great influence of the Howe family in Somerville, many of those whose assessment were raised by Howe were afraid to talk to The Crimson.
Paul M. Haley, one-time Somerville alderman who admits that he "never had anything in common" with the Howes, says publicly that the increased assessment of his property was justified: "[In my neighborhood] I think it was just my house and a couple of others at the time (that had an increased assessment), but I can't quarrel with anyone, you know?"
Robert Nunziato, a supporter of Howe opponent Mayor Ralph and a one-time candidate for alderman, did not want to talk about Howe's increase of the assessment of property owned by his father and uncle. "We've been here too long in the city," he said. "What they do, they do. I'd rather forget about it."
Crackdown on Leftists
John Howe may have used his office especially to crack down on political activists. He raised from $7000 to $7900 the assessment of Chris Burns and the "cooperative family" Burns was living with. Burns had contributed money to Howe opponent Lester Ralph, and has been active in Citizens for Participation in Political Action and other liberal groups in Somerville. Marie Howe personally lobbied against Burns in 1972, when the Democratic City Committee in Somerville met to debate his resolution condemning the Vietnam War. Four years later, John Howe's rationale for raising Burns's assessment was that he saw many names on the cooperative family houses. Burns appealed the decision, and the rest of the city's assessors granted an abatement.
Both Howes deny that the assessment was raised for political reasons.
Around the corner from Burns lives another "cooperative family" of unrelated adults, including leftist political activist Frank Ackerman. In October 1976 at a packed meeting of the city's Board of Assessors, Ackerman denounced the board for using tax assessments as a political weapon. During Ackerman's speech, Howe interrupted opened, opened the tax books for Ackerman's neighborhood, and asked threateningly: "Mr. Ackerman, where did you say you lived?"
The next day, at Howe's direction, two city inspectors showed up at the Ackerman house. Two days later, Ackerman received a letter from the Board of Health at Howe's debut citing him for a rarely-enforced city ordinance against five or more unrelated adults living together without a "boarding house" license. Only when Ackerman hired a lawyer to challenge Howe's actions did the city rule in his favor.
Howe still maintains that Ackerman was operating a boarding house, despite a ruling to the contrary by the city solicitor's office.
Marie Howe denies playing any role in the Ackerman incident, but told The Crimson that "Mr. Ackerman's house was loaded with German swastikas.... They were in adoration of Adolf Hitler," Ackerman's wife, Kathy Moore says that there are no swastikas in her house and never have been: "That's just the craziest thing I ever heard. ... The poor woman apparently doesn't know the difference between the (political) right and the left." Indeed, most of the members of their household are Jewish. (Marie Howe adds that even if the Ackermans are Nazis, "that's not why it [the assessment] went up ... I'm not saying anything against Ackerman.")CrimsonAnthea LetsouFor years, the Howe family has feuded with the weekly Somerville Journal. The newspaper's front page coverage of Marie Howe's arrest for disorderly conduct when she bit a police officer especially angered the Howes. After her brother was elected a city tax assessor, he increased the Journal's assessment by more than $10,000. "He singled us out, there's no question about it," says one newspaper staffer. "He didn't do the same to other businesses."
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
posted 4-15
In the spring of 2011 the giant industrial power General Electric reported its results for the last year. It was a another solid and predictable outcome with sales of $120 billion and profits of $15 billion. As reported, G.E. did not pay any U.S. taxes- in fact they where seeking a credit of over $3 billion from the U.S. Treasury due to tax havens and credits their paid lobbyist had purchased from our lawmakers in Washington. As it stands this type of money grab and stash is neither a one time event- nor is it unusual in the United States today. Large corporations and the wealthy have purchased our lawmakers and generally get what they want- and then some. G.E. may be on the high side of the gluttonize behavior- but they are not alone- and they make no apologies for their actions and outright money take.
In fact GE serves as a role model to other corporations and wealthy institutions / individuals who know that the U.S. lawmakers are for sale. It’s safe to say that the American way has become one that if your rich you can design and redesign the rules and the tax laws so you get to keep all of what you have and in many cases more. And that you will convince that general public that lowering taxes on everyone is good because you know that most of us aren’t smart enough to figure out that a 10% tax break for everyone actually makes me much less well off because it continues to support the post Reagan era approach or reversing the distribution of wealth- and having it concentrated in fewer hands such as the giants like General Electric who can buy more laws, lawmakers, opinion maker, radio stations, and you name it right down the line. It is now fundamentally true that our lawmakers at every level has sold out
Its become a myth to think that life is fair in the United States. In our zero sum society life has become increasingly unfair and lopsided in favor of the haves. And, the haves will not stop the feeding frenzy- we are on a path of continued wealth concentration fueled by the legalization of corruption and payoffs to lawmakers - that we should expect things will get much worse for most Americans during our lifetime- and at an increasing rate of disparity. In my view the American public has become powerless because of our false pride, our lack of understanding that we need a community and to care for each other, and a lack of education and understanding of the legalized corruption and money grab. That is the American people are being robbed and being actively participating in letting the robbers in thinking these are our friends in large part because we have become isolated and afraid to think for ourselves.
Larry
When the light went on outside of Dapper Dans at Assembly Square on December 12, 1989 it was finally over for Larry Bretta. Despite all of the questions that surrounded his reputation he was revered and respected by those who worked in and knew the inner makings of politics in Somerville, Massachusetts. Larry had been a king and a king maker in the rough and tumble world of Somerville politics. He had been the smartest and most charming politician in Somerville’s history and he felt entitled to cash in for her service to others.
The Battle of 1979
Tom August had been elected by a landslide less than 2 years earlier. But his own disinterest in being Mayor combined with a large scale blunder of having his campaign staff buy newspapers put him in a very weak re-election position.
The political campaigns
Start on your own street if you can or don’t start at all…
What are your colors?
Drops
Dear Friends
Bumper Stickers and Roof Racks
Lit Drops
ID the vote
Who is with me
Bumper stickers don’t vote
Carry them to the pols
Precint Captains
Coffee Parties
Door to Door
Stand outs
Literature Drops
GOTV
Checkers
Checking after the primary
Start with your base
One Way Streets
Responding to negativety
Fakers
Lit Dumps vs. Drops
The Bitter reality
Rising above the anger
No Spikes- No Traction
The ITLO Dynasty
The Game Changers
- Bretta
- Ralph
- RedLine
- Rent Control
- Condos
The first females
- Fantasia
- Tomeo
- Howe
- ODea
- Kelly Gay
Alderman and the JV’s
Fundraisers without a venue or Tickets to nowhere
The shake down
No Opponent – more money
I’m whichya
Call em a sheep fucker …
Stealing from them vs. us
Assessments in Pencil
Trust in lifetime residents only
To the Victah
Howie Carr
The angry lot
- Donald Norton, Frank Bakey et al
Trust in no one if not from Somerville
Compare and Lose
- Not as smart as Cambridge
- Not as tough and Charlestown
- Not as good as Arlington
The first Gay Mayor
The 2nd Gay Mayor
Public and Elderly Housing
Tufts
Don’t wink
You Breathing
Don’t speak when you can nod, don’t nod when you can wink
Bretta and Ralph
Brune and Capuano
Brennan, August, and Gay
The person vs. the paper
The person vs. the uniform
The Black Sheep of Boston
- Outsiders not welcome
- Lifelong residents only
The Main Characters
- The magnificient rogues
- The angry savior
- The prince of darkness
- The lottery winner
- The hometown champion
-
The Role Players
The Journal and themedia
In fact GE serves as a role model to other corporations and wealthy institutions / individuals who know that the U.S. lawmakers are for sale. It’s safe to say that the American way has become one that if your rich you can design and redesign the rules and the tax laws so you get to keep all of what you have and in many cases more. And that you will convince that general public that lowering taxes on everyone is good because you know that most of us aren’t smart enough to figure out that a 10% tax break for everyone actually makes me much less well off because it continues to support the post Reagan era approach or reversing the distribution of wealth- and having it concentrated in fewer hands such as the giants like General Electric who can buy more laws, lawmakers, opinion maker, radio stations, and you name it right down the line. It is now fundamentally true that our lawmakers at every level has sold out
Its become a myth to think that life is fair in the United States. In our zero sum society life has become increasingly unfair and lopsided in favor of the haves. And, the haves will not stop the feeding frenzy- we are on a path of continued wealth concentration fueled by the legalization of corruption and payoffs to lawmakers - that we should expect things will get much worse for most Americans during our lifetime- and at an increasing rate of disparity. In my view the American public has become powerless because of our false pride, our lack of understanding that we need a community and to care for each other, and a lack of education and understanding of the legalized corruption and money grab. That is the American people are being robbed and being actively participating in letting the robbers in thinking these are our friends in large part because we have become isolated and afraid to think for ourselves.
Larry
When the light went on outside of Dapper Dans at Assembly Square on December 12, 1989 it was finally over for Larry Bretta. Despite all of the questions that surrounded his reputation he was revered and respected by those who worked in and knew the inner makings of politics in Somerville, Massachusetts. Larry had been a king and a king maker in the rough and tumble world of Somerville politics. He had been the smartest and most charming politician in Somerville’s history and he felt entitled to cash in for her service to others.
The Battle of 1979
Tom August had been elected by a landslide less than 2 years earlier. But his own disinterest in being Mayor combined with a large scale blunder of having his campaign staff buy newspapers put him in a very weak re-election position.
The political campaigns
Start on your own street if you can or don’t start at all…
What are your colors?
Drops
Dear Friends
Bumper Stickers and Roof Racks
Lit Drops
ID the vote
Who is with me
Bumper stickers don’t vote
Carry them to the pols
Precint Captains
Coffee Parties
Door to Door
Stand outs
Literature Drops
GOTV
Checkers
Checking after the primary
Start with your base
One Way Streets
Responding to negativety
Fakers
Lit Dumps vs. Drops
The Bitter reality
Rising above the anger
No Spikes- No Traction
The ITLO Dynasty
The Game Changers
- Bretta
- Ralph
- RedLine
- Rent Control
- Condos
The first females
- Fantasia
- Tomeo
- Howe
- ODea
- Kelly Gay
Alderman and the JV’s
Fundraisers without a venue or Tickets to nowhere
The shake down
No Opponent – more money
I’m whichya
Call em a sheep fucker …
Stealing from them vs. us
Assessments in Pencil
Trust in lifetime residents only
To the Victah
Howie Carr
The angry lot
- Donald Norton, Frank Bakey et al
Trust in no one if not from Somerville
Compare and Lose
- Not as smart as Cambridge
- Not as tough and Charlestown
- Not as good as Arlington
The first Gay Mayor
The 2nd Gay Mayor
Public and Elderly Housing
Tufts
Don’t wink
You Breathing
Don’t speak when you can nod, don’t nod when you can wink
Bretta and Ralph
Brune and Capuano
Brennan, August, and Gay
The person vs. the paper
The person vs. the uniform
The Black Sheep of Boston
- Outsiders not welcome
- Lifelong residents only
The Main Characters
- The magnificient rogues
- The angry savior
- The prince of darkness
- The lottery winner
- The hometown champion
-
The Role Players
The Journal and themedia
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Spring of 2011
In the spring of 2011 the giant industrial power General Electric reported its results for the last year. It was a another solid and predictable outcome with sales of $120 billion and profits of $15 billion. As reported, G.E. did not pay any U.S. taxes- in fact they where seeking a credit of over $3 billion from the U.S. Treasury due to tax havens and credits their paid lobbyist had purchased from our lawmakers in Washington. As it stands this type of money grab and stash is neither a one time event- nor is it unusual in the United States today. Large corporations and the wealthy have purchased our lawmakers and generally get what they want- and then some. G.E. may be on the high side of the gluttonize behavior- but they are not alone- and they make no apologies for their actions and outright money take.
In fact GE serves as a role model to other corporations and wealthy institutions / individuals who know that the U.S. lawmakers are for sale. It’s safe to say that the American way has become one that if your rich you can design and redesign the rules and the tax laws so you get to keep all of what you have and in many cases more. And that you will convince that general public that lowering taxes on everyone is good because you know that most of us aren’t smart enough to figure out that a 10% tax break for everyone actually makes me much less well off because it continues to support the post Reagan era approach or reversing the distribution of wealth- and having it concentrated in fewer hands such as the giants like General Electric who can buy more laws, lawmakers, opinion maker, radio stations, and you name it right down the line. It is now fundamentally true that our lawmakers at every level has sold out
Its become a myth to think that life is fair in the United States. In our zero sum society life has become increasingly unfair and lopsided in favor of the haves. And, the haves will not stop the feeding frenzy- we are on a path of continued wealth concentration fueled by the legalization of corruption and payoffs to lawmakers - that we should expect things will get much worse for most Americans during our lifetime- and at an increasing rate of disparity. In my view the American public has become powerless because of our false pride, our lack of understanding that we need a community and to care for each other, and a lack of education and understanding of the legalized corruption and money grab. That is the American people are being robbed and being actively participating in letting the robbers in thinking these are our friends in large part because we have become isolated and afraid to think for ourselves.
Larry
When the light went on outside of Dapper Dans at Assembly Square on December 12, 1989 it was finally over for Larry Bretta. Despite all of the questions that surrounded his reputation he was revered and respected by those who worked in and knew the inner makings of politics in Somerville, Massachusetts. Larry had been a king and a king maker in the rough and tumble world of Somerville politics. He had been the smartest and most charming politician in Somerville’s history and he felt entitled to cash in for her service to others.
The Battle of 1979
Tom August had been elected by a landslide less than 2 years earlier. But his own disinterest in being Mayor combined with a large scale blunder of having his campaign staff buy newspapers put him in a very weak re-election position.
The political campaigns
Start on your own street if you can or don’t start at all…
What are your colors?
Drops
Dear Friends
Bumper Stickers and Roof Racks
Lit Drops
ID the vote
Who is with me
Bumper stickers don’t vote
Carry them to the pols
Precint Captains
Coffee Parties
Door to Door
Stand outs
Literature Drops
Responding to negativety
The Bitter reality
Rising above the anger
The Red Line
In fact GE serves as a role model to other corporations and wealthy institutions / individuals who know that the U.S. lawmakers are for sale. It’s safe to say that the American way has become one that if your rich you can design and redesign the rules and the tax laws so you get to keep all of what you have and in many cases more. And that you will convince that general public that lowering taxes on everyone is good because you know that most of us aren’t smart enough to figure out that a 10% tax break for everyone actually makes me much less well off because it continues to support the post Reagan era approach or reversing the distribution of wealth- and having it concentrated in fewer hands such as the giants like General Electric who can buy more laws, lawmakers, opinion maker, radio stations, and you name it right down the line. It is now fundamentally true that our lawmakers at every level has sold out
Its become a myth to think that life is fair in the United States. In our zero sum society life has become increasingly unfair and lopsided in favor of the haves. And, the haves will not stop the feeding frenzy- we are on a path of continued wealth concentration fueled by the legalization of corruption and payoffs to lawmakers - that we should expect things will get much worse for most Americans during our lifetime- and at an increasing rate of disparity. In my view the American public has become powerless because of our false pride, our lack of understanding that we need a community and to care for each other, and a lack of education and understanding of the legalized corruption and money grab. That is the American people are being robbed and being actively participating in letting the robbers in thinking these are our friends in large part because we have become isolated and afraid to think for ourselves.
Larry
When the light went on outside of Dapper Dans at Assembly Square on December 12, 1989 it was finally over for Larry Bretta. Despite all of the questions that surrounded his reputation he was revered and respected by those who worked in and knew the inner makings of politics in Somerville, Massachusetts. Larry had been a king and a king maker in the rough and tumble world of Somerville politics. He had been the smartest and most charming politician in Somerville’s history and he felt entitled to cash in for her service to others.
The Battle of 1979
Tom August had been elected by a landslide less than 2 years earlier. But his own disinterest in being Mayor combined with a large scale blunder of having his campaign staff buy newspapers put him in a very weak re-election position.
The political campaigns
Start on your own street if you can or don’t start at all…
What are your colors?
Drops
Dear Friends
Bumper Stickers and Roof Racks
Lit Drops
ID the vote
Who is with me
Bumper stickers don’t vote
Carry them to the pols
Precint Captains
Coffee Parties
Door to Door
Stand outs
Literature Drops
Responding to negativety
The Bitter reality
Rising above the anger
The Red Line
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)