Peabody Fire Fighter James Rice Dies in House Fire. Fund for Rice family and displaced residents established.

Veteran Peabody fire fighter James Rice died tragically when he was overcome by toxic fumes fighting a house fire on Hancock Street Friday.  I join my fellow Peabody residents in mourning for the loss of a great public servant.

Salem News Coverage:

• http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1818099849/Rice-mourned-as-help-pours-in-for-family-victims
• http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1666051697/Firefighter-dies-in-blaze 
• http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1666052086/Fatal-Peabody-fire-Photos
• http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1666052036/Arson-ruled-out-in-Peabody-fire

Lynn Item Coverage:

• http://www.itemlive.com/articles/2011/12/24/news/news01.txt

Three funds have been established to assist both the Rice family and the residents displaced by the blaze.

• Firefighter James Rice Memorial Fund, North Shore Bank.
• Local 925 James Rice Fund:   [James Rice Fund, PO Box 4313, Peabody MA 01960]


• City of Peabody Fire Victims Relief Fund, North Shore Bank.
  
  North Shore Bank Donations are being accepted at any North Shore Bank branch office, or can be mailed to the North Shore Bank, 32 Main Street Peabody, MA 01960.

A new Peabody Blog?

A new Peabody Blog has apparently sprung up right after the recent election.

The Twisted Tanner

http://twistedtanner.blogspot.com/
or
http://www.twistedtanner.com/

I see that the owner has chosen not to list an email address or other contact information so far, so I could not contact this person to get permission to post a link to this new site.

However, as he/she has already posted at the Peabody Patriot, and has a link to the site from their name... and the Patriot has already linked to it... I feel that it is not inappropriate to point you all towards this new blog in a post.

To the Twisted Tanner, Welcome! I have not yet delved into your blog (I've just read some of the headlines) but I welcome additional voices to the discussion.

Please email me and let me know if I may add a link to your blog. And while I see you already have linked to this one - please understand that I am fine with it.

Again, welcome!

Local Options: To Tax or Not To Tax?

= = = = = U P D A T E D = = = = =

Mayor Bonfanti says while he sees "both sides of the issue" the City could really use the added tax money.

The Lynn Item: Peabody in pickle on local tax hike

What I don't find very convincing is Mayor Bonfanti's justification for raising the taxes: that the Legislature will be mad at the cities and towns for NOT enacting the taxes while still looking for State relief. To me this sounds like grasping at straws for a reason BESIDES the fact that the City needs more funds... and it seems rather week to me.

The other assertion, that it would be easier if everyone were to enact the increase (Danvers has voted no while Saugus has voted yes) and has the Mayor wishing Salem would pass it to make it easier for Peabody to do the same... is NOT LEADERSHIP! It is being a follower. Stop it and just do the right thing because it is THE RIGHT THING... even if it hurts you in the polls.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Massachusetts State Legislature has give Cities and Towns the local option to add a local tax onto hotel rooms and/or meals. This would add up to 2% to the cost of a hotel or motel room and up to 0.75% to the cost of a meal in a restaurant.

The Peabody Weekly News: Decision on local luxury tax hikes stalled until fall

Note: The PWN only has stories up for one week

The Salem News Editorial: Nelson Benton: Nothing tasty about meals tax
The Salem News: Megavoke OK'd, Meals tax denied in Danvers
The Salem News: Local Taxes may rise in tough times
The Salem News: Senate OKs hike in sales, alcohol tax
The Boston Globe: Tax options raise interest, with caution
The Boston Globe: Towns consider tax hike

The problem: State aid to Cities and Towns has plummeted in recent years.
The (one small?) solution: Give local communities the ability to gather their own local taxes with an increase in hotel and meals taxes.

This is not a perfect solution, but it is one way to allow Cities and Towns to gather additional income in very difficult financial times.

The reality of the hotel/motel situation is that adding 2% to the hotel room charges would equal around an additional $2.00 a day to the average hotel/motel room in Peabody. And since the vast majority of the people staying these hotels are from out of town... this seems a perfect way to recoup some of the losses in State funding.

The meals tax is a little more personal as it will mostly affect the locals who frequent Peabody restaurants. However, this additional tax is EXTREMELY SMALL... 0.75% in fact, so small that it simply can not be held up as a DETERRENT to folks seeking to have a meal in a local eatery.

The cost of eating out will change very little... in fact, here are some prime examples...

Breakfast at Dunkin Donuts:
Large coffee and a bagel with cream cheese:
$4.38 --------- + 3 cents tax! = $4.41

Lunch at Sonic (just opened on Rt. 1):
A Number 2 (SuperSONIC Cheeseburger Combo w/ medium fries + drink)
$5.99 --------- + 5 cents tax! = $6.04

Dinner at Sugarcane (for two):
Hot & Sour soup (2), Crab Rangoon, Orange Duck, General Gau's Chicken, and 2 (!) Scorpion Bowls
$64.00 --------- + 48 cents tax! = $64.48

Special Romantic Evening Out for 2 at Legal Seafoods
2 signature cocktails, oysters and coconut shrimp appetizers, shared large Caesar salad, surf & turf (shrimp & scallops), grilled wild salmon, bottle of wine ($45), 2 signature desserts and cappuccinos
$190.00 --------- + $1.43 tax! = $191.43

This should pretty much prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this additional amount of tax would do NO ONE any harm and indeed would NOT change anyone's plans to stop in for a quick bite... or an evening of fine dining.

Now on to the man who cost Peabody $300,000...
Thanks to Councilor Rico Mello - who seems perpetually stuck in some other reality - the City Council will not take up the discussion on these local taxes - NOT EVEN DISCUSS IT!?! - until the Fall... thus losing out on approximately $300,000 in additional City revenues that Mayor Bonfanti proposed applying towards desperately needed road and sidewalk repairs.

Now I am NOT saying I think we should allocate these moneys to ANY ONE project... and if we DO pick only one... roads and sidewalks are NOT the number one need in this City.

But for Councilor Mello to yet again show himself as the OPPONENT OF ANY CHANGE in this City is yet another reason to elect a better representative in the coming elections.

Peabody West Little Leaguers head to World Series

= = = = = U P D A T E = = = = =

Well the young folks had quite a time in Pennsylvania! They represented the City of Peabody proudly, and while they did not always finish the game with a W in the scorebox, they certainly played with spirit and energy and gave it their very best! That is absolutely all that anyone can ask of another person or team!

Thank you all for your efforts this season and for allowing us to share in your success!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As many of you might have guessed, I am not the biggest sports fan out there. And I don't like to see school athletics favored over academics. But this is a different story.

Peabody West Little League has advanced to the Little League Baseball World Series in South Williamsport, PA after a stunning series of wins... some of them in the heart-stopping category.


The next 3 games are as follows: Schedule is here
and for more info: www.littleleague.org

GAME 4
8:00 pm, Friday, 8/21/09
New England vs. Southwest

GAME 13
6:00 pm, Sunday, 8/23/09
West vs. New England

GAME 22
4:00pm, Tuesday, 8/25/09
Great Lakes vs. New England

Now it looks like these will be broadcast only on ESPN360 (Click Here) I believe this is a free internet service IF you are using a member ISP. Note: Comcast and Verizon are BOTH MEMBER ISP's!

I think this is one event that can bring the entire City together to cheer on and support our young people!
GOOD LUCK PEABODY!

Here are some local stories about these fine ball players and their families, friends and fans:

NECN Video: Peabody West team a source of pride for City
Boston Globe: Peabody takes long route into Little League World Series
Salem News: Peabody West: World Series here they come
Lynn Item: Peabody West parents absorb a heart-stopping game and conclusion
Peabody Weekly News: West makes it to New England Finals

Peabody: A MOST LIVABLE CITY!

Peabody is named one of the top 15 most livable cities in America!
Well, at least Forbes Magazine thinks so!

Forbes Magazine: America's Most Livable Cities 2009
Salem News: Forbes: Peabody one of the country's 'most livable' cities

Now I have been reading some of the comments at the Salem News... and they are really quite ill informed.

To start with, Forbes defines the Greater Peabody area as having 700,000+ people. This is explained in the article quite well. They were using US Census Metropolitan Statistical Areas which include a larger area than simply the named location. So, as the article states, this is more of an honor for the North Shore in total rather than just Peabody alone.

Here is the explanatory paragraph from the article which explains exactly what is included in the rankings...

Behind the Numbers
To form our list, we looked at quality of life measures in the nation's largest continental U.S. metropolitan statistical areas--geographic entities defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for use by federal agencies in collecting, tabulating and publishing federal statistics. We eliminated areas with populations smaller than 500,000 and assigned points to the remaining metro regions across five data sets:

1. Five-year income growth per household (Moody's)
2. Cost of living (Moody's)
3. Crime data (Sperling's Best Places)
4. Leisure index (Sperling's Best Places)
5. Annual unemployment statistics (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Any way you wish to cut this, it is a big plus for our City. Of course the easy jokes have already been made (I guess the Forbes people didn't visit!) but a little fun never hurts.

I think most people are rather proud of Peabody and like the community feel of the City. I have been getting emails from several friends around the US saying "Congrats!" for living in such a good place! Of course, some of these same folks emailed me a few months back to laugh at our 9/11 police contract... but that is a different topic!

New Blog on Peabody Politics

A group of citizens led by Keith Doucette has opened up a new blog to focus specifically on the next elections here in Peabody.

2009 Peabody Elections

As is usually the case, Keith has interesting things to add to the blog-o-sphere. Check it out.

Unhappy with your government? - - - - - Here's your chance!

Salem News: Clerk outlines city election calendar

Each and every day we hear someone else grumbling about how unhappy they are with the City government here in Peabody. Well City Clerk Tim Spanos is waiting for you to come a'knockin.

All it takes is to take out papers from the City Clerks office, get 50 certified Peabody residents to sign, and return them to the Clerk.

I urge folks who really do have a passion for making Peabody a better place to live, work and play to take out these papers and give it a shot! I have great respect for anyone who is willing to put themselves out there and try and make a difference... if they are serious about it. In fact, I will sign ANYONE'S NOMINATION PAPERS, even if I disagree with them, because I am a believer in the democratic system... flaws and all.

Election Calendar

Monday, March 2: Nomination papers available at city clerk's office

Friday, July 31: Last day for taking out nomination papers

Tuesday, Aug. 4: Last day for filing nomination papers and petitions with Board of Registrars

Tuesday, Sept. 15: Primary election

Tuesday, Nov. 3: General election

The Peabody Patriot - Gone Again?

I saw today that The Peabody Patriot has taken a little break from blogging. I certainly hope that this is indeed a temporary situation and that Jorge (or whoever) will be back to provide another place for discussion of the relevant topics to the City of Peabody and her citizens.

Let me say that I certainly did not always agree with Jorge, or the long line of Pat's (etc.) before him, but I had respect for the efforts put forth to try and create an engaging place for Peabody Citizens to discuss the issues of the day. And often... The Patriot was an early source for news that only hit the papers days later. Come back soon Jorge.

One Peabody poster (WhoGAF) recently said that the Peabody Roundtable is the Big Dog now. Well, speaking to that, let me make this brief statement (and for folks who have read my posts before... you know how hard a BRIEF statement is for me):

I plan on continuing posting commentary on issues of the day and interesting Peabody news items. I was not and will not be in the habit of publishing rumors without some hard evidence or to engage in unfounded speculation. I believe those who have asked us, the citizens, for the opportunity to serve us (as elected & appointed officials or as public servants) are subject to a certain level of scrutiny regarding their handling of public issues and City business. I also believe that they have a right to a certain amount of privacy that should not be breached unless it comes into conflict with their responsibilities to the citizenry. I think you know I prefer facts to attacks and open and frank discussion instead of mockery and name calling.

With your help the Peabody Roundtable can become a place for positive engagement for the citizens of Peabody.

PI
peabody_insider@yahoo.com

Budget Woes... but not 'til next year ???

I will admit it. I am as perplexed as everyone else about what to do with our City budget problems.

At first, I thought IF the cut in State aid was going to be a one time thing, then we could enact a small one-time payment from each household (<$50) and keep all the City services going as they are now. But now we find out that this is NOT very likely... and that an even larger cut in State aid is expected next year.

And I am upset because Mayor Bonfanti has decided to hunker down (my words) and not be proactive about the problems that are looming on the horizon. IF cuts are coming and there will need to be changes in the near future I say the time to prepare, plan and then even enact these changes is sooner rather than later.

The Salem News: City could see layoffs in next fiscal year

The solution is not to just leave unfilled positions vacant and to expect departments to continue doing their jobs without adequate supplies and other items or services needed to operate the City.

The solution is to take stock right now and see where cuts need to be made... see where positions need to be filled... and where they need to be lost. To give the departments back the money they need to actually serve the public well and not nickel and dime the City into inaction. The time for these action plans was YESTERDAY... but we still have time to make them right now.

Then the politically difficult (and personally distressing) task of actually making these changes needs to happen... and the sooner the better. If we are going to be losing people next year (for the sake of discussion let's say we will need to cut 40 jobs) then I say DO IT NOW and SAVE THE MONEY in salary and benefits TODAY because the news from the State next year might be even worse than we are all hoping or expecting.

I would rather not see anyone lose their jobs, but unfortunately that will not be the reality here in Peabody or many other places in this country. I have learned the hard way that delaying the inevitable only makes things worse for everyone involved... including the people who will end up being laid off.

Slow News Month?

I have been looking for more topics of interest... in the newspaper(s), on-line and even in Dunkin Donuts.

The basic opinion is that National events are holding dominance over local issues... and even though the economy is in terrible straits and the effects are playing out all around us, there is nothing concrete for me to bring up here.

So perhaps you have some ideas or concerns that you would like to air? Here's your chance. This blog is still getting a few visitors each day so maybe we can discuss how YOU are handling the current downturn in this thing we call an economy.

And, yes, I am still upset about the contract with the police union. But frankly, while others are predicting that elected officials 'heads will roll' in the next elections... I feel it will all be forgotten and we will forever have a 9/11 holiday for the cops here in Peabody.

Shame on us

The Salem News: Peabody councils OKs cops' 9/11 pay
The Boston Globe: Anger over paid 9/11 holiday
The Boston Herald: Peabody approves Sept 11 holiday pay
The Lynn Item: Peabody council approves 9/11 holiday pay
News Center 5: City OKs police OT pay for 9/11 holiday
News 7: Peabody approves holiday pay
Fox News: Peabody Police to get holiday pay
The AP: Mass City's police officers get Sept 11 holiday

The stories speak for themselves. We have allowed the Police Union, the Police Officers, the Mayor and the City Council to make all citizens of Peabody look like fools and every public safety worker in the country look like greedy bastards -- simply because these people could not FIX THE MISTAKE THEY MADE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Here is a police blogger who has written on this story: 9/11 Holiday Pay??? Are you for real???

And I will publish here my response to him and the world...

Peabody_Insider said:

I live in Peabody. I know some of the Peabody cops. The ones I know are pretty good guys, but as in every group, there are always a few bad apples.

Now, I wouldn’t call Peabody a podunk town (we are in fact a podunk CITY) but this is a terrible situation.

I have not met one person in the City who is NOT against this situation.

And I totally agree… it is making EVERYONE look bad.

This was a Union Tactic to get something extra because they were giving in to higher co-pays and premiums for health benefits. I think it was more than likely simply a “we need something in return” kind of thing… and some brilliant soul thought up “HEY! Let’s get 9/11 as a holiday pay day!”

And the geniuses at the table (the Union AND the City) all said “sure” because they never thought it through.

The Union was simply doing what Unions do… looking out for themselves by proving they are getting something for the workers. The City was just glad to be done with the negotiations and for getting the health insurance increase. When the cops voted on the contract, they were just happy to be getting a raise after 2 years (despite the increased health costs and the guarantee of layoffs in the coming year - why don’t these guys ever protect the younger ranks?)

Then the controversy hit the news… and media from all over the US was here to blast the situation.

Do these folks ever GET IT? Do they ever say… WHOOPS! And take it back? In a very quick move they could have ‘renegotiated’ the 9/11 holiday into another personal day, shook hands, a quick rank and file re-vote and PRESTO! EVERYBODY LOOKS GOOD AGAIN AND THE CONTROVERSY GOES AWAY!

But no… not it Peabody where everyone thinks they are right come hell or high water (and it frequently still does flood downtown mind you.)

The idiotic Union reps decided to spin this as “We are honoring the 9/11 heroes!” Yeah right… by getting overtime pay - some honor there.

The “Never Wrong” Mayor dug his heels in too first by lobing the blame at the Union, but then (surprisingly) taking it all onto himself. I think even he was seeing the tarnish it had put on the City and the badge carrying folks.

So then the vote this week before the City Council. They needed to fund the pay raises. These “heroes” mostly go up and railed against the stupidity of ‘honoring others’ by filling one’s own pockets… and then voted to fund it.

So let’s see….

The Peabody Police look like bastards for stealing money in the name of a national tragedy.

The Mayor looks like a rube who can’t understand why people might find this unseemly.

The City Council looks like a bunch of moron’s with the power to stop this… but the will to do nothing.

The Union looks like giant asses for the “we are honoring the memory…” crapola.

All Police are given a huge black eye from the public for 1) taking advantage of a tragedy and 2) being greedy public trough piglets.

The Citizens of Peabody are the laughing stock of the nation for at least one more news cycle because of the stupid, cowardly and entrenched actions of our local government.

Yeah… a complete mess that could have been solved long ago with a simple…”let’s fix this” action by the meeting of intelligent minds from both labor and management.

A sad sad day for everyone.

I sincerely apologize for the harm done to Police (and first responders/public safety workers) everywhere for the foolish actions by my political leaders and local police.

Taxes are up, but Peabody still the lowest

The Salem News: As property values drop, some see leaps in tax bills

In the above article the Salem News looks at how the current financial crisis is playing out in municipal funding = Property Taxes. The majority of people they have talked to seem to be unaware of how local property taxes are assessed and how the final figures are decided upon.

The answer is quite simple, despite the spin that anti-tax messiah Barbara Anderson puts on it. But before I explain it... here is a peek at what we here in Peabody face... especially compared to our fellow North Shore communities. Note: We have both the lowest taxes and the lowest increase of anyone!

Taxes on the North Shore
[taken from the article]

Community...Average....Increase

Beverly....$4,852.43....$101.21

Boxford....$7,611.60....$188.32

Danvers....$4,390.96....$160.24

Hamilton...$7,856.24....$640.37

Ipswich....$5,178.17....$523.48

Manchester.$8,754.02....$849.14

Marblehead.$6,275.02....$170.14

Middleton..$5,633.18....$275.84

Peabody....$3,123.87....$ 73.76

Salem......$4,193.68....$139.22

Swampscott.$7,534.49....$241.94

Topsfield..$7,206.40....$198.40

Wenham.....$8,892.44....$632.25

Basically... the City looks at how much money it needs to operate and decides on a number = the total budget. Some of this money comes from fixed sources (the State, excise taxes, etc.) The remainder is what needs to be paid for out of local property taxes. Let's call this amount the Property Tax Budget (or PTB.)

Then the City looks at the total value of ALL property in the City (based on the most current valuations.)

(I will look at the situation where there is a single tax rate for both business and residential because it is easier to explain, but the method is similar - you just have two variables to deal with instead of one.)

Then you take the PTB and divide it by the total valuations and come up with a percentage...

Say the City needs $8 million in property tax revenue, and all the property in the City is appraised at $500 million...

Property Tax Total............................ $8,000,000 = 0.016 %
Total Valuations (all property).........$500,000,000

This is the TAX RATE. This is the rate you will multiply your property's appraised value by to get your total tax bill.

So if your house (in this example) is worth $375,000 your bill would be...

$375,000 x 0.016 = $6,000

Now it is a bit more complicated when you have two different sets of properties (residential and business) and you will need to do a few IF-THEN calculations until you find a formula that meets your needs.

=============== A D D E N D A ===============

This was also in the Salem News today: Property values drop $1.3 billion on North Shore

Here is the listing of total property valuations (and the drop in value) for the last year.

Housing values

............Value..........Changes

Beverly.....$5.02B.....-$107M (-2.1%)

Boxford.....$1.764B....-$ 76M (-4.1%)

Danvers.....$3.205B....-$ 96M (-2.9%)

Hamilton....$1.364B....-$ 45M (-3.2%)

Ipswich.....$2.358B....-$ 62M (-2.5%)

Manchester..$2.06B.....+$ 29M (+1.4%)

Marblehead..$5.088B....-$262M (-4.9%)

Middleton...$1.372B....-$ 94M (-6.4%)

Peabody.....$5.352B....-$231M (-4.1%)

Salem.......$3.754B....-$255M (-6.4%)

Swampscott..$2.362B....-$ 45M (-1.9%)

Topsfield...$1.151B....-$ 46M (-3.8%)

Wenham......$0.819B....+$ 18M (+2.3%)

Area......$35.669B...-$1.271B (-3.4%)

Full text of Mayor Bonfanti's 2009 mid-term Address

The Peabody & Lynnfield Weekly News: Transcript of Mayor Michael Bonfanti's 2009 mid-term address

(note: These links to the PLWN are only available for around 1 week!)

I will post the entire address in the first comment to save space on the main page of the Peabody Roundtable. Please feel free to comment.

What would you cut right now?

Several people seem to think the City budget is rampant with waste and fat just begging to be CUT! Here is your place to tell us all what YOU Are ready to CUT TODAY!

The State of the City - January 2009

Lynn Item: Bonfanti gives mid-term address
Salem News: Difficult cash decisions will be in cards for Peabody

I was unable to attend Mayor Bonfanti's mid-term address and the seating of the new City Council last evening. And the text of the speech is NOT (yet?) available on the Mayor's page at the City website. So these comments are based on the newspaper reports and other comments made at those sites and on the Peabody Patriot blog.

First, I think that the overall tone of the message - one of difficult times ahead - is nothing but accurate and a clear thinking assessment of what is to come. I disagree with those people who say he should be emphasizing the positive and downplaying the difficult realities we will all be facing. While "perception equals reality" can be true at times, in these circumstances I would prefer straight talk and not hearts & flowers.

I do not look forward to this coming year (and to be more honest... let's say YEARS because this recession is looking like nothing we have seen in most of our lifetimes). The best estimates for the length of the world-wide financial crisis I have read point to a 18 month (minimum) to 42 month (maximum) time frame... so I am betting on 2-1/2 years of difficult choices and unhappy citizens.

While I would not like to see the schools take the brunt of these cuts (especially not FIRST) I see the reality of the lower enrollments finally coming to a head. We simply have fewer children to educate at this moment, and while I STRONGLY SUPPORT a comprehensive analysis of future demographic trends for Peabody, I believe we are going to see fewer students for the foreseeable future.

Thus the closing of one (or more) schools is both a political reality and a good move for the vast majority of Peabody folks. Of course this will be very hard on some families who might have chosen their home based on proximity to a certain school... and I actually am a huge supporter of neighborhood schools, the times dictate a more cost effective distribution of our limited educational funds. Fewer schools will yield more educational value per pupil and per education dollar.

I strongly agree with the Mayor on the issue of Downtown improvements and the need to repopulate Downtown with businesses... but I believe the most intelligent method for achieving this goal is through the REZONING of Downtown (and the rest of the City) to promote a mixed-use of public, residential and commercial/business in the greater Downtown area.

What are your thoughts?

Peabody's Top Stories of 2008

A quick recap of what the Salem News (and a few others) considers to be the Top Peabody Stories of 2008

The Salem News: The top 10 local stories of 2008.

Dearborn Fire: May 29, 2008
While it has been stated by several officials that a single cigarette caused this blaze, there are others who see something sinister in the construction of the complex itself. I myself am satisfied with a State Fire Marshall’s report, but there are some who find official reports simply smokescreen when they get in the way of a good old fashioned conspiracy theory. Ahh where are the X-Files when you need them?

The Long saga of John “Jack” Brophy might have finally come to an end in 2008. The story, and the story of the story were interesting to follow. I will not bore people with all the details, but simplify it to this: For missing a 9-1-1 call and other issues Brophy was fired from the Peabody Fire Department, ultimately winning back his job, but then losing it again in a prolonged series of I got YOU… NO, I got YOU between the Mayor, the Chief and Brophy (and the lawyers, of course). The more interesting story to me was the horrendously slanted version of the Dozing Dispatcher played out almost daily in the Salem News. They were the ones to make up this silly name and then they REPORTED that people were calling him that! If I had any doubt about the journalistic integrity of the Salem News, I lost it then. By the way… I have known they have no integrity for a very long time.

Then came Lt. Edward Bettencourt, and another unhappy story. This time of a Peabody Police officer who used his authoritative position to spy on his fellow officers in a seemingly nonsensical action that netted him nothing but I know something you don’t know! Oh, and lost him his job and pension to boot. I was a bit dismayed by the reaction to the courts findings from blog readers. Many people were simply unwilling to consider that the courts were correct in their findings. Lt. Bettencourt could simply NOT be guilty because he coached kids baseball (or somesuch) was the general response. I find that so sad when many of these same people are all too ready to convict other public servants who they disagree with on little or no evidence... simply because they don’t like them.

Peabody Police Officer Justified in Fatal Shooting. This is certainly a sad tale for all involved. While the family might have lost a man dear to them, the officer who was responsible for his safety (and the safety of all of us) will carry this tragic action with him the rest of his life.

Peabody public services director resigns amid rumors. Dick Carnevale resigned as Director of Public Services. He has been a much unloved figure on most of the Peabody blogs for his actions/inactions concerning many issues, but chiefly over his handling of the water treatment waste overflows into Spring Pond. This story has fallen off the pages of the local media… but it is still on the minds of most of the folks who participate in these public forums. I must admit I too am of the opinion that we will never know the true extent of any of these issues.

So those were the big five (or so) as reported. What do you think? Are there any stories that should be included on this list? Please feel free to comment and tell us all how you feel.

The First Post

This is the first post for the Peabody Roundtable blog.

Since the demise of Old Fred's Peabody Patriot, many folks have been looking for a place to again meet and discuss the on-going going-ons here in Peabody.

This time a team of people will be trying to work together to make this a lasting addition to the blog-world... and not just another short-term enterprise.

To do this though, we need you as both readers and participants. Please have a look around, read about what other folks are saying and then let us know what you think.

As always, this is a work in progress and helpful commentary is certainly appreciated.

This would be a good place to start off with any ideas you might have concerning what would make this a better place for everyone to discuss the issues facing our City of Peabody, Massachusetts.