Mayor Will Flanagan finally filed his campaign finance report and it looks like he may have to return thousands of dollars. Massachusetts law limits the amount of money an individual can donate to a campaign. That limit is $500 per calendar year.
Despite the $500 maximum, the following campaign contributions were reported by Flanagan in the 2010 calendar year:
James P. Antonio $600
Todd Benevides $725
Brian Bishop $650
Anthony Cordeiro $550
Laurenio Couto $1000
Emilio Estacio $850
Carl Garcia $650
Fernando Garcia $650
Loretta George $1425
Alan S. Johnson $1000
James Karam $650
Robert Karam $700
Deborah Kenney $950
Mark Levin $850
Gilbert Lopes, Jr. $800
Mario Lucciola $600
Wayne Rego $1000
Kenneth R. Rezendes $1100
Daniel Silvia $600
Dennis D. Silvia $600
Robert Smith $550
Is this a case of careless accounting by the Flanagan campaign, ignorance of the law, or perhaps just intentional disregard?
Full Report can be Seen HERE
Showing posts with label mayor flanagan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mayor flanagan. Show all posts
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The Stupidest Bet Ever
So City Councilors Pat Casey and Ray Mitchell triumphantly turn in over 1,000 signatures to the Mayor because a local activist Stefani Koorey dared her to.
Obviously the thought of Casey, who bears a striking resemblance to Sophia Petrillo from the Golden Girls, shuffling around town trying to collect 1,000 signatures in one day, was too humorous for Koorey to pass up. This stupid bet had the virtue of being amusing until a couple of councilors took it a bit too seriously and made the goal 1,000 signatures at all cost! It wasn’t Pat alone anymore; nope Ray manned his post at Stop and Shop collecting signatures from patrons who were probably relieved all he wanted was a signature and not some money or a ride somewhere. The two of them collected 900 signatures, so Team Pat also had a handful of other volunteers collecting signatures so they could reach the goal! So it was no longer just Pat and it doesn’t even seem like was just one day. She told the Herald she did it all on Monday but apparently was going around getting signatures the day before!
What did this prove?
Um.. that at least 1,000 people in a city of 90,000 want a casino. Big shock! Did anybody doubt that you could get 1,000 signatures? THE CHALLENGE was to do it herself in ONE day.
Um... that Pat didn’t understand the terms of her own bet because she is the one who boasted that SHE (alone) could get 1,000 signatures in one day. What other things does Pat say that really doesn’t understand?
That Ray Mitchell is the smarter of the two. While Pat went around for hours going door to door Ray went to where a bunch of people were. Maybe if Pat had simply gone to Wal Mart on Black Friday she could have gotten these signatures all by her lonesome?
That if you’re a City Councilor and you’re going to stand in front of a store for a few hours maybe you should get a red kettle and collect some money and really do something that will benefit all these people you say need help. I now DARE both these councilors to do just that. I’m sure the Salvation Army would be grateful for their time and assistance.
That you can totally waste the time of TWO elected officials simply by DARING THEM to do something! THIS is fantastic and I am going to make it a point to DARE Will Flanagan to lick a flagpole on a freezing cold day. I might even see if I can get Joe Camara to lick his own elbow or Brian Bigelow to run around downtown in his undershorts. Oh, skip that last one.
Obviously the thought of Casey, who bears a striking resemblance to Sophia Petrillo from the Golden Girls, shuffling around town trying to collect 1,000 signatures in one day, was too humorous for Koorey to pass up. This stupid bet had the virtue of being amusing until a couple of councilors took it a bit too seriously and made the goal 1,000 signatures at all cost! It wasn’t Pat alone anymore; nope Ray manned his post at Stop and Shop collecting signatures from patrons who were probably relieved all he wanted was a signature and not some money or a ride somewhere. The two of them collected 900 signatures, so Team Pat also had a handful of other volunteers collecting signatures so they could reach the goal! So it was no longer just Pat and it doesn’t even seem like was just one day. She told the Herald she did it all on Monday but apparently was going around getting signatures the day before!
What did this prove?
Um.. that at least 1,000 people in a city of 90,000 want a casino. Big shock! Did anybody doubt that you could get 1,000 signatures? THE CHALLENGE was to do it herself in ONE day.
Um... that Pat didn’t understand the terms of her own bet because she is the one who boasted that SHE (alone) could get 1,000 signatures in one day. What other things does Pat say that really doesn’t understand?
That Ray Mitchell is the smarter of the two. While Pat went around for hours going door to door Ray went to where a bunch of people were. Maybe if Pat had simply gone to Wal Mart on Black Friday she could have gotten these signatures all by her lonesome?
That if you’re a City Councilor and you’re going to stand in front of a store for a few hours maybe you should get a red kettle and collect some money and really do something that will benefit all these people you say need help. I now DARE both these councilors to do just that. I’m sure the Salvation Army would be grateful for their time and assistance.
That you can totally waste the time of TWO elected officials simply by DARING THEM to do something! THIS is fantastic and I am going to make it a point to DARE Will Flanagan to lick a flagpole on a freezing cold day. I might even see if I can get Joe Camara to lick his own elbow or Brian Bigelow to run around downtown in his undershorts. Oh, skip that last one.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
FROED's Fate
The Fall River Redevelopment Authority contract with their staffing agency, the Fall River Office of Economic Development, aka "FROED," aka "Jobs for Fall River," aka Ken Fiola, expired in May. At that time the RA opted to extend FROED's service by 90 days. That 90 days expired last week. This prompted me to search for whether the city/RA made a public request for proposals to fill the staffing position upon the termination of FROED's contract.
Consider this quote from RDA attorney, Peter Bogle, regarding FROED's past bids for the RA staffing contract "FROED was the only qualified respondent on proposals to staff the RA for past contracts. Its staff management includes accounting, clerical support, marketing and negotiating on behalf of the Redevelopment Authority." So where does the RA/city advertise this opening? I did not see an advertisement on the city website, the Central register, the Herald News....google...... A friend of mine was able to find an ad in a publication I had never heard of and that now escapes me.
If the RA truly wanted to replace FROED, they would have advertised the opening with more than a trivial amount of effort. Somehow, despite the clear lack of publicity for the opening, a competing bid was submitted against FROED. I have little detail on the submission but I do know the RA is voting on it Wednesday at 9:15am.
FROED is just plain terrible and I don't think any competing organization could do a worse job. However, realistically, is the RA ever going to replace FROED? The Mayor sits on FROED along with some highfalutin Fall River residents and business people who, while some may not live in Fall River, probably enjoy the perks of a FROED board of directors position (*read: loans): This is not easily let go.
Anyhooo, I urge anyone who can make it to the RA meeting on Wednesday at 9:15am (presumably at government center) to attend. Express your concern the FROED has 32 (founded in 1978) years to improve Fall River and has not. We can't afford to continue paying Ken Fiola $170,000 a year to loan our tax money to his board members, let buildings sit and rot, and give TIF agreements to chain doughnut stores and gas stations.
Consider this quote from RDA attorney, Peter Bogle, regarding FROED's past bids for the RA staffing contract "FROED was the only qualified respondent on proposals to staff the RA for past contracts. Its staff management includes accounting, clerical support, marketing and negotiating on behalf of the Redevelopment Authority." So where does the RA/city advertise this opening? I did not see an advertisement on the city website, the Central register, the Herald News....google...... A friend of mine was able to find an ad in a publication I had never heard of and that now escapes me.
If the RA truly wanted to replace FROED, they would have advertised the opening with more than a trivial amount of effort. Somehow, despite the clear lack of publicity for the opening, a competing bid was submitted against FROED. I have little detail on the submission but I do know the RA is voting on it Wednesday at 9:15am.
FROED is just plain terrible and I don't think any competing organization could do a worse job. However, realistically, is the RA ever going to replace FROED? The Mayor sits on FROED along with some highfalutin Fall River residents and business people who, while some may not live in Fall River, probably enjoy the perks of a FROED board of directors position (*read: loans): This is not easily let go.
Anyhooo, I urge anyone who can make it to the RA meeting on Wednesday at 9:15am (presumably at government center) to attend. Express your concern the FROED has 32 (founded in 1978) years to improve Fall River and has not. We can't afford to continue paying Ken Fiola $170,000 a year to loan our tax money to his board members, let buildings sit and rot, and give TIF agreements to chain doughnut stores and gas stations.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Funny but true
Gladys Kravitz, Middleboro's Nosey Neighbor, has a series of really funny casino related blog posts. Definitely worth a visit for a good laugh. This is one of my favorites:
Friday, June 18, 2010
Oh Snap!
This afternoon, the Senate introduced a casino bill and it gives no preference to indian casino plans. This means Fall River will not have any advantage in the race to get a permit. This means we are now in direct competition with numerous other cities and towns vying for the 1 coveted permit for the region (the region is norfolk, bristol, plymouth, nantucket, dukes and barnstable counties). New Bedford is one of these cities. And lets be honest, they have their $hit together over there much more than Fall River does; governmentally, economically, planning wise, and in the area of economic development.
The recent decisions by Mayor Flanagan and Atty Torres to forego the BioPark and gamble on the slight chance of getting a casino are capricious and will likely have a detrimental impact on our city long after they are voted out of office.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
From Bio Park to Green Park to Water Park in less than a year
This week last year a bio park was under construction on a 300-acre site in the city's north end. The acres were properly zoned to accommodate biotech manufacturing, medical device manufacturing, life sciences, and similarly related businesses. Several companies/organization were preparing to move into the Bio Park, plans were made, off ramps were built, and loans were awarded in anticipation of the developing Bio Park.
Fall River was told that the Bio Park was going to save them (prior to the Green Park and Casino saving them).
This week last year, an inexperienced Mayoral candidate named Will Flanagan began campaigning on a promise to bring a Green Park to Fall River instead of a Bio Park. You can read all about Flanagan's promises for a Green Park on his website here.....well you could if his promises hadn't mysteriously turned into 3 pages of blank document...which is pretty much as substantive as anything else he said during his campaign.
Luckily, the Herald News isn't into erasing campaign promises and still has this article on Flanagan's Green Park. Here is my favorite part:
I am not necessarily opposed to the idea of any of the aforementioned projects, however, I am opposed to rushed, poorly thought out projects (casino) and false promises made to get into office. The fact that, a mere several months ago, Flanagan was absolutely confident that the Green Park was going to be the answer to Fall River's economic problems, indicates to me that the Casino plan is rushed and not well thought out, like many of his campaign promises.
Fall River was told that the Bio Park was going to save them (prior to the Green Park and Casino saving them).
This week last year, an inexperienced Mayoral candidate named Will Flanagan began campaigning on a promise to bring a Green Park to Fall River instead of a Bio Park. You can read all about Flanagan's promises for a Green Park on his website here.....well you could if his promises hadn't mysteriously turned into 3 pages of blank document...which is pretty much as substantive as anything else he said during his campaign.
Luckily, the Herald News isn't into erasing campaign promises and still has this article on Flanagan's Green Park. Here is my favorite part:
(Gambling on the mind much??) Flanagan sounded so committed to a Green Park but, not surprisingly, I haven't heard a thing about it since he used it to get into office. This is probably because he broke his promise for a Green Park and is expeditiously pursuing bringing a casino (with a water park) to Fall River.“I am very concerned that the Correia administration is taking a risky gamble on biotechnology, as mayor of this city I would not gamble with our city’s economy. Green jobs are secure for today’s economy and as well as tomorrow’s economy. I will work with our various governmental agencies, our business community, and our unions to ensure that this Green Industrial Park will become reality,” Flanagan said.
I am not necessarily opposed to the idea of any of the aforementioned projects, however, I am opposed to rushed, poorly thought out projects (casino) and false promises made to get into office. The fact that, a mere several months ago, Flanagan was absolutely confident that the Green Park was going to be the answer to Fall River's economic problems, indicates to me that the Casino plan is rushed and not well thought out, like many of his campaign promises.
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