Hi, I just wrote to you Jon and now I’ll say to you Sabrina, and Steve, I am disappointed with this site and will ignore it from now on. All one has to do apparently is bring up the name William Lantigua and people lose their senses. Domingo Melendez accuses me of being involved in corrupt activities with the Mayor. Domingo, I worked with you on Dave Abdoos campaign. I was dismayed that Mr. Lantigua would not debate openly and express his plans and decided that no matter how much I wished a Latino to be Mayor it would not be him. Thereafter, when there was reason to be critical of him, I was. Mr. Duggan has provided thoughtful analysis in the past, occasionally breaking through the biases of his political views, as when he analyzed the Mayors race 5 years ago in the pages of his paper. He can be fair and hes obviously intelligent. But to use the faulty logic he did in associating Mr. Lantigua to a rapist or murderer is beneath him. Comment after comment brings up the same charges and innuendoes. Mr. Lantigua has been proven guilty of one crime that I know of and it is minor campaign fund malfeasance, the same crime the one prosecuting him, Martha Coakley was accused of. I think its mostly Mr. Lantiguas style that people dont like. He practiced an old country style of politics. Hes not one for getting people around a table and asking them their opinions. But for decades Latinos were the majority of Lawrence’s population and time after time could not put someone in the Mayor’s office. Mr. Lantigua finally broke through. Perhaps the skills it takes to be a tough campaigner are not the ones needed to be a successful Mayor. In the December 8 issue of Rumbo rumbonews/site/?p=636, Editor Dalia Diaz published my articles on the state of the mayoral elections, before the vote and just afterwards. You can judge whether the analysis was balanced or not. The simple fact is that any mayor, any one person, is not going to change Lawrence. That will require a concerted effort and great collective imagination. I was hoping that Mr. Lantigua could serve another four years when he wasn’t constantly under attack and create a broader based leadership. It was not meant to be. He made an acharacteristic political mistake and let himself lose by 84 votes. Mr. Rivera deservedly won by 50.0056% and he has worked hard since to be successful for all the people of Lawrence. Of course I wish the present administration every success and hope to tangibly support their efforts. But Lawrence is a gateway city of tremendous poverty and it is challenged by great issues of class and race. More police will not end the violence. Locking people up will not end the violence. It will send more people to jail and then more will step up to take their place. We have to work on the roots of our problems. Community wellness needs to be restored. Initiatives that involve street workers engaging with gang members, and practices of restorative justice that protect victims’ rights and make offenders take accountability and make restitution wherever possible, these have a chance of dramatically changing Lawrence. And drastically lifting the economic fortunes of the city. William Lantigua was the people’s mayor in that he was unmistakably of the people, another immigrant who struggled and made good. When he was elected I saw something I haven’t seen since: all around the neighborhood signs saying Thank You William! Gracias William! Challenging me to come up with one good thing he did is frankly stupid. Stop being lazy and do your own homework. Do you really think he didn’t do anything to benefit the city? Not even managing the surprise debt he inherited and balancing the budget for four years? But you will have some criticism of that and he will never win in your eyes. Your minds closed and that is a dangerous thing. A public forum entitled the “free” City of Lawrence doesn’t mean free to make scurrilous attacks and slander people. I now defriend this site, due to no fault of Jon, Sabrina and Steve. Keep hopeful and keep up your good work. All the best, Ralph Galen
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 08:30:24 +0000
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