Thursday, September 4, 2008

Mayor Correia's Naughty and Nice List

From the Sept 2, 2008 City Council Meeting:

In case you missed the cocktail party reference read the Herald News article "Not All Councilors Invited to Correia Fundraiser"

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post!

Anonymous said...

This is a great post and City Councilors should be able to talk to department heads, but department heads are too fearful of displeasing the Mayor.

During this discussion, Leo made a good point that the more constituent problems the City Councilors resolve on their own, the fewer things the Mayor has to worry about. The problem of course is that without the Mayor's involvement, the Mayor can't take any credit for assisting the constituent.

The problem however though is nothing is getting done.

Anonymous said...

Petty is the operative word here. Another great post by shamrock.

Anonymous said...

There is a story in today's Herald News called, "Councilors press for a faster pothole fix," and it says, "To see the two-person crews aboard the 13-ton, navy and gold Peterbilt in action this morning, citizens can join a bevy of city officials and media at 10 a.m. at 390 Stafford Road. Mayor Robert Correia has called the press conference demonstration in front of a three-decker with easy access to a large pothole."

Here's what a blogger on the Herald News site wrote about that, "Of all the pictures sent to the Herald News of streets filled with potholes why pick 390 Stafford Road for the 1st demonstration of the new pothole repair machine? Is it a top priority because this street is the worst or could it be because between 1/31/07 and 7/14/07 the residents of 389 Stafford Road donated a total of $1,475 dollars to the Correia campaign? Within a block or so between 420 and 453 Stafford Road our great Mayor picked up another $250 or so in campaign contributions during that same time period. Wake up Fall River! This is the way that business is done in our city these days. Did these potholes get the benefit of being the first to be fixed with our new machinery based on merit? The Herald got tons of pics of potholes throughout our city, were these the worst? Guess it all goes back to who you know and this is how Mayuh Correia continues to operate, I guess this is the untold story of his administration but it needs to be told. $1,475 bucks from 389 Stafford Road during last year's campaign and a pothole near 390 Stafford Road just happens to be the first picked to be repaired with the new permanent patch machine. Hmm...."

Very interesting!

Anonymous said...

keep up the investigative "journalism" !!!

Anonymous said...

This is good material for a xmas edition!!!

Anonymous said...

Ordinarily, I would probably agree with you as to your observation about money going to Correia's campaign. However, I happen to have had a conversation with a few people that were at the Mayor's neighborhood association round table. The potholes in the city, was the biggest issue of the meeting. The pothole on Stafford road was the most discussed, as it was one of the worst.

So in this case, I don't believe it had anything to do with campaign funds. It has to do with the fact that Stafford Road is a busy section of town, and people from all over the city wanted it fixed. It made sense to make it the first repair.

Anonymous said...

Uh-oh the Correia apologists are already out in force. Ordinarily I would agree with you? Hmm, bet you wouldn't but it sure sounded nice. Had a conversation with a few people did you? Did the conversations take place in a smoke filled back room or something of that nature? Please forgive me for doubting your lovely story and your explanation that it "just made sense" to make this the first repair. I'm sure the $1,500 that was given to Mayor Correia had nothing to do with his decision-making at all. Yeah right! Are you really that gullible?

Anonymous said...

City Streets fixed first
Stafford Road

Naughty or Nice?

Any relation?????
Kenneth Pacheco
General Carpentry
463 STAFFORD ROAD
Fall RIver ma
http://www.kpacheco.com/




City Contracts Naughty or Nice?

http://www.fallriverma.org/pressarticles.asp?ID=190

Contract #08-227
2008 Street Improvement Design
Tibbetts Engineering 716 County St. Taunton, MA 02780
$104,029.84

Contract #08-230
Street Improvements
Century Paving 167 Hyacinth St. Fall River, MA 02720
$27,4872.

Anonymous said...

Dear sir, I think this is the best of the F.R political websites. I love the article with th media assist. I wish you could come out with more frequent articles. Keep at it and Good Job!!

shamrock said...

Thank you for the compliment. Stay tuned for the "Nice List" upcoming.

Anonymous said...

From the HM

Who don't I know that is isn't 'connected' with WSAR/KARAM is the question.

Correia said Cory called him over to thank him, and said he’s known the Cory family since the pharmacist was a small boy


Tom Cory
Standard Pharmacy

Thomas Cory, R.Ph. is a lifelong Fall River resident, a graduate of Durfee High School and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, and the 'chatty half' of the Pharmacist duo we know as Tom and Tom.

Tom has been associated with Standard Pharmacy on East Main Street in the Spindle City for over twenty years and is currently the President of the Massachusetts Independent Pharmacists Association. Despite his success in the field already, Tom is still seeking to further his education, taking courses at Northeastern University, Bristol Community College, the American College of Apothecaries, the University of Ohio, the National Asthma Therapy Collaborative and various seminars on Pharmacy Therapy.

Aside from his Pharmaceutical work, Tom is also a renowned member of both his religious and city-wide communities. He is an active member of the Blessed Trinity Polish National Catholic Church on Plymouth Ave, serving his 31st year as a member of the Parish Committee. Recently, he's served as a member of the Church's building committee that saw several new additions added on and the process of making the entire church 100% handicapped accessible.

Tom is the 2005 recipient of the Bank Five/WSAR Hometown Hero Award, recognizing those individuals in the community for heroic deeds with acts of kindness, and selfless efforts to make the South Coast a better place to live. In September of 2006, he was honored by the Massachusetts Pharmacists Association with the 'Bowl of Hygenia Award,' the most prestigious award in Community Pharmacy.

Since September of 2005, Tom has co-hosted 'Ask the Pharmacist' with Tom Pasternak of Walsh Pharmacy on 1480 WSAR, giving listeners a venue to hear and talk about a range of pharmcy topics and questions.

Anonymous said...

The actual expert from the HN :

Tom Cory of 389 Stafford Road, a city pharmacist who’s lived there his whole life with his family, noted the debris near the pothole and said, “I’ve swept my sidewalk maybe 10 times to get all the little pebbles off. I’m very pleased to see ours is one of the first test pothole repairs today.
“This is the first pothole fixed with the new machine in the whole city. This is our maiden voyage,” DPW supervisor Charlie Demead proclaimed proudly.
Manny Viveiros, who 40 years ago had been city engineer for over a decade, was among those watching. “It’s a good machine. It does good work. But it’s too slow,” he said.
Experienced crews can do up to 10 seamless repairs a day.
City Councilor Leo O. Pelletier, who’s spurred a concerted effort this year to repair the hundreds of potholes, gave muted praise.
“It seems to be nice. We’ve got 899 more to go,” Pelletier said. “It’s a start.”
Pelletier pushed through a resolution this week recommending the city hire independent contractors to catch up on the pothole problem. He said he’d still like the DPW to dispatch “four or five trucks” and do hot-patch repairs the old-fashioned way before winter.
Pacheco said no firm plans are in place after the crew continued work on Stafford Road Friday. He plans to meet with supervisors Monday, fix repeat problems and “skip around” from one section of the city to another.
He plans for the two-person crew to work eight-hour days unless extra funds are freed up.
Correia, asked if he sees spending overtime funds to put in longer days of infrared patching, said, “Yes, I do, because that’s a permanent fix” until streets are repaved.
Correia said he preferred to fix potholes on main roads at night when there is reduced traffic.
Pacheco said he expects to meet next week with Correia to come up with a “comprehensive (street repair) plan that should have been done long ago.”
Both Correia and Pacheco were asked how the first location on Stafford Road was selected after The Herald News was informed that Cory and his family at 389 Stafford Road donated nearly $1,500 to the mayor’s campaign last year.
Cory, who also has a weekly radio show, acknowledged those public record contributions, and said he’d had no idea his problem area was chosen. “I think it was just by chance,” he said.


“It was actually one of the first ones called on the list,” Pacheco said. He said they wanted a “high visibility, high traffic area” for the first run, and “the mayor didn’t even know.”
Correia, who spoke with Cory during the repairs and told a reporter “those people across the street just thanked us for picking this one,” reacted with exasperation to the alleged favoritism.
“That’s absurd and ridiculous,” he said. “I didn’t pick the location, the DPW did.”
Correia said Cory called him over to thank him, and said he’s known the Cory family since the pharmacist was a small boy. “I’ve been a representative in that district for 30 years. Who don’t I know?” he said.
“Some people are trying to find any reason they can to pick on me.”

Anonymous said...

DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM ?
WHO DON'T I KNOW?


More material for you shamrock!!

Anonymous said...

To Steve Camara, Leo Pelletier and Ray Hague:

Even though you will never constitute a majority, your refusal to be silenced by our slimy Mayor Gollum continues to shine the light of truth into the dark tower of city hall where the creepy crawly things that rule Fall River conjure their deals and lust for their “precious.”

It is said that everyone has a price. You must be driving the mayor mad trying to determine yours – to figure out what he has that you might covet. How easy it was for him to own the Sycophant Six: Cathy and Joe want to be mayor, Kozak wants whatever petty thing he feels like grabbing, Linda wants any public office that isn’t her council seat, Mike wants the waterfront, and Pat, poor Pat, not a bad soul—she just wants to make nice with whoever is mayor.

But the joke is on Gollum. So far, the three of you have shown that your price lies in doing what’s best for the people of Fall River. What a quandary for him if he ever figures that out—because that’s certainly not a price he’s willing to pay!

Anonymous said...

Puck,

Please explain the reference to
(Mayor) Gollum ??

Thanks

Anonymous said...

Dear Anonymous (Sept. 7, 9:43),

I’m happy to oblige:

Gollum is the character in the Lord of the Rings who oozes through swamps and longs to posses the One Ring that brings its wearer ultimate power over all other beings. The Ring was created by the Dark Lord Sauron—a much more powerful figure than Bob Correia will ever dream of being. Bob, like Gollum, is more of a Sauron wanna-be.

Gollum calls the ring “my Precious” and lives every moment in its pursuit. He is Bob-like in that he is oily with delusions of grandeur and his schemes are easily seen-through. The name "Gollum" is an imitation of the grotesque sounds that come from his throat. He is portrayed in the movie trilogy as an almost fetus-like creature with wild wispy hair crowing an oversized head, desperate eyes and a devious smile.

While the Gollum image isn’t a perfect fit for Bob, and could easily be applied to some of his lackeys as well, it just struck me that the second-rate nature of Bob’s pettiness and power mongering along with several of the unsavory physical characteristics of Gollum were a nice match.

Bob is Gollum in that he is so small-time. Bob is not leader of the free world, he’s not even leader of a small state. He is leader of Fall River, an impoverished, simple, dying mill town whose families deserve better than he can ever imagine giving because all he can do is take. Power and control are his only desires.

By the way, the inscription in the One Ring – Gollum’s “my Precious” – reads:

One ring to rule them all,
One ring to find them,
One ring to bring them all,
And in the darkness bind them.
.

Anonymous said...

So it's no coincidence the mayor expects us to kiss his ring?!

Anonymous said...

Good one!

Anonymous said...

Correia and Gollum certainly share the same hairstyle.