Salem News: Ex-chief of staff is mayoral hopeful
This can only be good news for all the citizens of Peabody. I think that the public can only be better served with a healthy debate of the issues and the platforms of these two men.
I only hope that the campaigns can be kept positive and informative... instead of diving into the muck and mire that has plagued our political system as of late.
I have actually not seen Mr. Fitzgerald for some time. But I have found him to be an honest and forthright person. Don't get me wrong, he's still a politician... but he seems to have high expectations for himself and I have rarely seen him lose his cool.
While I would say that Mr. Bettencourt has gotten off on the right footing... and is leading the charge at the moment, I look forward to seeing what Mr. Fitzgerald will bring to the table.
But no matter who you favor now in March... it is going to be a much more interesting election season after today!
21 comments:
Fitzgerald has never worked a hard day in his life. His resume consists of only cushy pubic sector "jobs"...exactly what we DON'T need.
Have you considered that he was getting his education and then did what he was trained for, working for a living in politics after leaving school. Think about it .
Fitzgerald is an overblown, pompous hack.
I would dare to venture a guess that your not a fan of his!! The message before yours that I sent is upsetting you because of its truth. The only reasons he hadn't worked in the labor force as you apparently have/did is that he had brains enough to get his education and then apply it in his life. Why are you so envious of him? You must of had some choice of opportunity to seek any job you wanted to pursue in your future life.
Well, you have me pegged. I didn't go to college. Instead I joined the Army, fought for my country, worked hard learning a trade, stared my own very successful small business that employed dozens of people over the years, and paid taxes that then went to the salaries of people like the very educated Mr.Fitzgerald.
I would much rather have a mayor that has some life experience outside of city politics, than mayor who lived an insulated cushy existence like Mr. Fitzgerald.
Your notany different than a lot of others who did what you did in your life time. The fact that you did is just another that reminds me of this -- we have all done or did these things for the betterment of our families ,citizens and our country. The premise of having done so provides these opportunities we both have written about for every person in the country, What I don't understand is why you can't seem to grasp the intent of what we all fought for ,one way or another,to be free to do what we need to in order to go forward in life and as a country. Could it be that you forgot to take advantage of what you could have done with education or other veteran entitled things ? After all of what you claim to have done you appear to me as a bitter hard ass that is taking it out on others . Try going to another country to live if your not inclined to be proud of what we all worked and fought for for all here to go forward in our choices of living and jobs. I can't be that far wrong in what I've written here considering all those who never returned after giving their lives for our existing freedoms and opportunities here in the greatest nation on earth. Its time for you to have a reconsideration of your mid thought. JMHO
The second last word is missing the letter n . I wasn't referring to a mid life crisis as one may have/ had thought in my writing my comments to your blog. Sorry!
Thanks,that was entertaining. The first blogger has a personal issue with Sean, and the second is obviously Sean's mother or wife. LOL.
First, let me thank you (and anyone) who has chosen to serve our country in military service. We all need to remember that our military serves as the first line in defending all of our freedoms.
However, people can and do chose to serve in other ways. A position, or even a career, in public service is also a way to serve the citizens of this country.
I applaud all who do so.
I do believe that it is naive to suggest that any competent business person is automatically qualified to lead in government.
In fact, government is not a business and, in fact, it should never be run like a business. Business and government have very different reasons for existing... and frankly the goals of each are almost incompatible with each other.
A mayor is quite honestly not the equivalent of a boss, or even a business owner. They are simply a part of a system of governance where this one person is merely the 'top peg' on the pile. A mayor can not simply say we are doing X and it happens... look at the rezoning plan for validation of this idea.
I think we need someone from Peabody as mayor. Someone who can remember the ways Peabody was in the past - understand her roots -and yet also have the vision to see the greater potential we have for the future.
AND have the governance skills and savvy to make those visions become a reality.
Peabody Insider , I can say that every word you have written is the truth . The truth being said I want to point out that a/any mayor elected is a figure head THAT DOES WHAT HE HAS BEEN TOLD TO DO by the COUNCIL and he alone does not make the decisions . He is the figure head elected by the voting peopleof his/her community as they feel is going to do the job as he is directed by the representatives of each ward in the community. You ,PI, are the only one who has said and expressed any comments that are or can be said to be truthful on this site as I do see it. You maybe are controversial from time to time, however, I give you credit for your thoughts and remarks. At least you give your truest of opinions where others can not due to not knowing what governing structures are all about. Where do these twits come from is beyond me and their comprehension of government. May be they should go back to school and study civil government like I did at the old Peabody High when the late Mr. Greehy taught the class. [ And they call themselves in tune voters. [Is is know wonder the country is in deep dodo?]
PI, I normally tend to agree with you, but I think your way off base here. I think the problem with govt. is it needs to be run more like a business than it is today.
In fact, I think local govt. has much more in common with business than say state or federal govt which typically have much broader responsibilities (like defense).
Essentially, both local and business provide services for a fee. In the case of local govt, the services are schools, police, fire, etc... and you can measure how well run a city/business is by a clear set of metrics.
Both entities even have similar organizational stuctures. For instance, both have a CEO (Mayor), a Board of Directors (City Council), and department heads (Superintendant, Police Chief, etc).
With all that being said, you say the Mayor can't do whatever he wants is a little misleading. The Mayor is responsible for day to day operations for ALL city departments and sets the long-term agenda. The City Council is responsible for allocating financial resources via the budgeting process and to review/manage city bylaws.
But let's get one thing straight here, the Mayor is the boss in the city. Nothing happens without the Mayors approval.
OG says...government cannot be run like a business due to union contracts and out of control healthcare costs...there is no easy way for cities to flex down during times of financial need...a mayor's hands are tied by negotiated contracts ...
Private industry doesn't have unions or healthcare costs?
OG says...let me clarify a bit on what I am suggesting..private industries that do not have union contracts to contend with can more readily flex to economic/profit conditions...they can also have employees assume a greater share of their healthcare costs if needed....cities and towns cannot flex things as readily due to union contracts and healthcare deals...this is the PROBLEM right now.
could someone explain why everyone thinks you cant negotiate with unions?
Oh i forgot they can ask their members not to vote for you. But how many of them live in Peabody? Well there are 2 sides to every issue & if we had any elected official that had guts to stand up to unions then we would not be in this pickle. We have the worse economy in my lifetime & jobs are hard to get. If members are more interested in their perks than the towns budget then they need to look for another job, say a job in a city that doesn't have budget issues. let me know were that town is & i will look for a job there to
Duplicate comment removed.
My grandmother always said if you don't have something nice to say then don't say anything at all. I can't think of a single good thing to say about Sean Fitzgerald, so out of respect for Nana, I'm just going to leave it at that.
How can you "just leave it at that" w/o saying some thing ,pro or con, about Bettencourt. It appears that you maybe a Bettencourt family member writing here or Bettencourt himself. What is fair is fair and you have left yourself open to my remarks.
I don't know if I agree with that last comment...
If the previous comment is sincere that he is not a fan of Fitzgerald, it doesn't automatically make him/her a Bettencourt supporter... or a Zellen one either should he join the race.
Of course, there certainly was some malice intended in stating that he/she had nothing good to say in the first place.
Lets face it - nobody is 100% perfect and both candidates are in that same boat. The best we can do as informed citizens is to listen and judge the candidates based on what they have done, what they say they will do and how they conduct themselves.
This site hasn't had any blogging or insightful opinions or news so why not remove it permanently? Its been three months of nothing at all.
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