I decided to mostly stay out of the business of this election here at the Roundtable and occasionally jumped into the mix at the Peabody Politics blog.
So who will win and who should win... a mighty bold statement and entirely based on my personal opinion, but here it goes and we will see the results soon enough.
Mayor:
Will Win: Bettencourt
Should Win: Fitzgerald
It is plain to me... Sean has experience at running government on a day-to-day level and a broad background at multiple levels of government... and a true record of accomplishing things in his duties. Ted has been on the council, and even president, for 8 years and accomplished... well not very much indeed. Oh well... maybe he will grow into the shoes he will need to fill.
As for the other races, I think the City Council will be mostly, if not all, returning to their posts. The exception might be Liacos who I think may be given the heave-ho from Gould. Donovan and Croce have the 'old and cranky' attribute that appeals to some folks, but usually doesn't get you elected.
In the wards, I'd love to see Forte win, but I think it will be all incumbents yet again. Sadly Bob Driscoll was able to manuver Jeff Grayson OUT of his ward after last elections 1 vote victory... not the classiest move I have ever witnessed. And while I would love to see Mello ousted, he is very popular.
School committee will be all the same faces... and its too bad because the only one who seems like he should REALLY BE on the committee is Russell - a real educator who might have made a real difference to our schools. I will keep hoping that McGeney or Carpenter will falter a bit and he will be elected, but this is Peabody and the incumbents rarely lose.
As for the Light Commission... I don't really care except that I would like it if Aylward DID NOT get elected as I strongly oppose his position on the Massachusetts Go Green initiative.
Well now I will wait for the results like the rest of you...
5 comments:
Gould replacing Liacos? How about getting your math right. There were five seats. Four incumbents. Jim is back and will do a good job as usual. Croce "cranky?" I saw him perform during the campaign, and thought he was impressive, maybe more impressive than any of the other candidates. Give the guy props. Has good ideas. Got a lot of votes for first time at-large. Why are you such a big fan of Fitz? Ted will do OK! And if you want to call someone cranky, Fitz is definitely yer man. To know him is to know he is a jerk!
Teddy is a good guy and a team builder. Your boy Fitz got his ass handed to him big time.
Per Liacos vs. Gould...
I was saying that I thought Liacos was potentially not going to be reelected and I was pointing to Gould as the strongest of the field of new comers. As it was, Liacos was almost tied for last place (who was elected) so his popularity seems to be on the wane. I was a bit surprised on the poor showing by Manning and perhaps she will be the next to fall?
As for Croce... I was basing my opinion on some rather limited contacts I have had over the years and some interesting opinions by a few trusted folks.
And Ted vs. Sean: Well the voters sure let their voices be heard. But I will tell you this... I have talked to MANY supporters of Bettencourt during this season and I always ask the exact same thing... "Why do you support Ted?"
The same answer each and every time... "'Cuz he's a good guy!" And nothing more. No real reasons other than people know the name and know the family and know he has been a city councilor... with a rather lackluster performance... but NOTHING for me to want to vote for the guy.
Sean is someone who has experience at multiple levels of government and plenty of knowledge about how the city works... inside city hall... between neighboring communities... and in dealing with capitol hill. He has been running a city and doing a great job (despite what Ted's goons were saying about him) and he would have made a good mayor.
Now, will Ted become a good mayor? I certainly hope so. And it seems lots of people in this city already think so. I remain unconvinced... but I am willing to wait and see.
Sadly, his first actions as Mayor elect - his victory speech and actions on election night - were pretty poor from a PR standpoint. He SHOULD HAVE thanked his opponent in the race in his speech. He SHOULD HAVE taken a real phone call from the current mayor. But he didn't. Was he being the arrogant person I saw during the election? Or was he just overwhelmed in his victory? I wonder...
Clearly, you are a Ted naysayer, and a very negative one at that.
Sean's experience is bigtime BS! Being the town manager of Mayberry NH for a couple of years does not exactly mean you are some great leader. Before that all Sean had were political hack jobs.
Liacos could have only lost had Croce gotten a seat, so again your math is wrong. Gould was destined for the OPEN seat.
Ted is someone who understands that a good leader sets the vision, but that he also surrounds himself with smart people who can help him achieve his goals. It's all about teamwork. Sean feels that he has ALL the answers and screw you and your opinon.
I believe that Manning finished 5th because she was too cozy with Sean and that hurt her. She also comes off as very negative in her role as council prez. I believe someone like Croce has a very good chance to beat her in two years. Did you listen to the guy during the campaign? Impressive with the way he handles himself. That is why I do not get the "old and cranky" line. Are you sure you are talking about the right guy? I saw him a couple of times on public access,and I thought I was watching a someone very polished with good positive ideas. I even reached out to him afte that and did some cards for him. Also: what is he like 45 or 46? Old?
I will agree on Russ. Nice guy I guess, but he is "old and cranky." I saw Russ at the city hall thing and when he said there was no way to fix the flooding in Peabody Square I cringed for him.
Should have taken a phone call from the current mayor? Oh, that might be a "tell" as to who you are PI. I was there for the incident you point out, and only people close to Bone-fanti would know about that. Hmmm. Maybe u work at city hall?
Maybe I do work at City Hall... maybe I don't but...
EVERY newspaper reported that Bettencourt did not take the Mayor's call... instead he let the machine get it.
Salem News: "The mayor called Bettencourt last night, presumably to offer congratulations, but Bettencourt said he hadn't yet listened to Bonfanti's message."
That's ok... except he knew the mayor called... and didn't bother to return it.
Re Croce:
You might be right that I have let older feelings (based on older actions and perceived attitudes) get in my way about Croce. Should he run again I will try and keep an open mind. But 'old' isn't always just about age.
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