Paul Levy has followed up his comment on Village 14 about the statement released by Newton Aldermen Vicki Danberg, Greg Schwartz and Dick Blazar regarding Cypress/Centre Streets with a blog post on his site titled “This is not courage.”
Read the full post, but here’s two spot-on excerpts…
… the Aldermanic vote is just the opposite from courage. It was a way to avoid difficulty, i.e., the complaints from constituents. But even if it is a tough vote, use of the terminology in this case weakens its meaning when there are real cases of courage
and this…
The Aldermen’s note is typical of the kind of “grade inflation” used by so many legislators today. You know, the ones who constantly remind us how “hard they are working” to create jobs for Americans, to protect us from hazards, and so on. Hey guys and gals, sitting in a legislative chamber and using your brains and abilities to decide which way to vote it not “hard work.” Yes, it is work, and when done right, it takes thoughtfulness, experience, and dedication. But “hard work” is what many of your constituents do every day. If you want to see hard work, for example, shadow a transporter in a hospital, a nurse in an ICU, or a physician carrying out a delicate procedure.
Actually shouldnt he be blaming the Mayor? Isnt the Mayor that one that ultimately pulled this project? And we can add the Waban fiasco with Lack of Courage/Complaints from Constituents on the Mayors part also.
@Joanne: Aldermen Danberg, Schwartz and Blazar issued the statement crediting themselves with being courageous.
@Greg — I don’t disagree with Paul’s blog excerpts you’ve posted here, he has a point. But I’m trying to understand what’s the criteria for repeatedly promoting Paul Levy’s blog here? I was at that meeting. Paul, again, far as I know did not show up. He’s not a politician and he’s not a traffic expert. So I see Paul about as knowledgeable, and qualified, to comment on this topic as any other guy (or gal) with a keyboard and an opinion.
I dunno, maybe it’s old-fashioned for me to think that if you’re going to take pot shots at our city government, participating in the democratic process, even if it just means showing up, is the right thing to do. About two dozen or so people did show up to observe the proceedings.
@Dulles: I think of Village 14 as a place for Newton news and conversation and that includes being a portal to other news sites and blogs when it relates to Newton.
That’s why we regularly link to Wicked Local, Patch, boston.com etc. Paul’s blog is one of the many sites I monitor regularly for relevant threads. It so happens he’s taken an interest in this particular issue and, in my view, has raised some very thoughtful commentary.
We’re always interested in discovering other sites and Newton-related commentary. I hope folks won’t hesitate sharing those links with any of our team of Village 14 bloggers.
What dulles said.
What Paul Levy says should be newsworthy to those that care about Newton politics. He will almost certainly run for something, and he is a trouble-maker. Like here where he says that a doc stringing a spinal cord together is “hard work” but using basic dedication and brain work isn’t. The type of workload that Ted Hess Mahan described — being a lawyer, involvement in various committees, along w BoA duties — is the typical of “hard work” that many alderman and other public servants take on. Makes you wonder what type of dedication there was at MWRA that has him questioning public service.
@Greg, thanks for the explanation. Perhaps Dulles should get a real name and start a blog … =:o)
@Hoss — re: Paul Levy running for office. Possible, but I’ll believe it when I see it. Seeing Paul Levy weighing in on city politics just makes me nostalgic for a political gadfly like the great Anatol Zukerman. Which isn’t to say Paul’s wrong: “Profiles in Courage”, this wasn’t. About the only person who came out of the meeting looking good was Dave Turocy, who was forced to eat crow by some BoA members and did so with grace and humility.
@dulles: go for it.
dulles — The only thing holding him back (Levy/candidacy) is his recent marriage. No?
None of this was Turocy’s fault. He is the professional who simply wants things to work smoothly.
After some list research (server settings, who’s on who’s list and who received/didn’t receive it, etc), it looks like two out of three W6 Aldermen may have been just being ‘team players’ by allowing their names to be put on that CYA (“grade inflation”) email.
Charlie..
If so, let’s hope those two will think twice before doing so again.
PS: I hope Paul runs for office. The more people that are willing to speak out with directness and clarity…the better. Hell, I’d like to see Greg run for office!
@Charlie, you just want me to run for office so you can ask me what I do for a living!
@ Hoss – I would think it would be that little Scandal that cost him his job.
On the narrow point that Paul makes, that this is not an example of “courage,” I’d have to agree.
Admitting one’s mistakes does show some integrity, something often in short supply.
Self congratulations doesn’t fly so well.
Agreed, Dan. I understand the need to do some publicity so the constituents see how great you are, but this is a mistake they are trying to fix (and we don’t even know how that’s going to shake out yet), not courage, and the chest-beating rings false. Personally glad they are doing it (the vote that is), but just keep your heads down and do good work.
These comments about my motives, my plans, my experience running a state agency and my personal life are extremely insulting. I write things in my blog because I think they are of interest to my readers. I sign my name to every post, and I take comments on the blog from any interested parties.
For the record, by the way, I have been involved in infrastructure projects for many years and am trained as a city planner. But even if I were not, I have every right as a citizen to comment on civic matters.
I don’t know why people would think that I want to be mayor. The only “office” to which I aspire in this town is to coach youth soccer!
My record at the MWRA stands for itself, including successfully carrying out a major portion of the Boston Harbor Cleanup below budget and ahead of schedule, while engaging in an extensive process of public review and consultations. And, yes, that project and many others included traffic planning throughout the Boston metropolitan area.
This practice that some have of attacking those who have commented on civic discourse–as opposed to addressing the merits of the points raised–is really disappointing. If you disagree with my major point about the definition of courage and whether these alderman displayed courage, say that. But please leave out the other trash comments.
@Paul: Well said.
Did they say “courage”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23ZqedYqBpQ
FYI, about the courageous Aldermen from Ward 6…
If anyone missed it, Newton had about 10 DPW workers installing over 200 hostas (along with black bark mulch trimming) along Langeley Road in Newton Centre on Sunday 8/18. (Do hourly workers earn double time on Sundays?) According to Ruth Dain, Danberg’s campaign person, Dain had found a ‘deal’ on the hostas (a greenhouse going out of business), called Vicki with the info, and by Sunday the DPW was out in full force installing this GREAT DEAL Newton got on perennial plants!
Why did these plantings go into Newton Centre and not in Farlow Park (Newton Corner) or Houghton Gardens (Chestnut Hill), West Newton Square, Nonantum, or Waban Square? Who paid for the plants? Alderman Danberg? Newton Pride? Newton P+R? And we all paid for the overtime labor to have them planted.
For next spring’s Newton Serves, I am putting in my chit early for 10 DPW guys working in my neighborhood doing plantings!
Let’s assume this was done with volunteers? To use paid city workers on OT would be adding fuel to the fire of the Cypress/Centre money-wasting failure.
@Charlie
These ‘volunteers’ were wearing orange DPW shirts and driving Newton DPW trucks.
I still find it odd that a blog (V14) would point to another blog (RaH) that’s itself a commentary. Nothing beats actually being there — BoA meetings are advertised and very accessible, and citizen journalism as a concept is an awesome American civic right.
Anyway, in the responses to this story, some of us ended up mixing the medium with the message. Paul Levy has strongly voiced his preference not to be placed in that role, so I’ll sign off from this story and will abstain from commenting on future RaH blog cross-posts on V14.
Dulles:
We didn’t invent the concept. Many blogs aggregate content from other sites. I frequently look at the blogs listed on our blog roll (among others) for Newton-related news and commentary that I believe will be of interest here.
I think Paul only took issue with the ad hominem attacks. I agree that it’s inappropriate and wish we could agree to add this to our rules of conduct. Any consensus on this?
Paul-Who said you wanted to run for mayor?
I think it’s a fabulous code of conduct, but I don’t think we should censor comments. When a Blogger A chooses to attack Blogger B rather than argue with Blogger B’s point, it weakens Blogger A’s credibility not only in his/her current post but in future posts. I see no reason to allow name calling, however.
Adam — Mr Levy has been a public figure since Louis Tiant last took the mound for the Red Sox. He did an EXCELLENT job above defending his position with respect to the blog piece around “mistakes”. If Mike Striar didn’t have his testosterone severed, Mike himself might give Mr Levy hi-5s. Mistakes, defense, opinions… policing. You decide
The real issue is that Alderman yielded to pressure from bicyclists/pedestrian advocates and as a result completely
screwed up Newton Centre traffic flows for a few months.
Unfortunately, The pedestrian bumpouts which create artificial bottlenecks and delay traffic by making left turns more complicated will
stay. I look forwards to seeing the traffic jams when snow
accumulations narrow the streets even further.
Better that they should have just repaved the intersection and left everything alone.
It takes wisdom to stand up to advocates of nice sounding (let’s make newton more bike/pedestrian friendly) but bad ideas. These folks tend to have a lot of free time on their hands, so they show up at aldermen meetings, and have influence far out of proportion to the soundness or desirability of their ideas.
I can really understand the frustration of dedicated motorists. They have to bear all kinds of costs and indignities to keep driving. Licensing, insurance, gasoline, maintenance, gridlock, no free car storage, degraded air quality. I see the frustration every day I pass motorists stuck in gridlock. It’s amazing what people will willingly subject themselves to.
As of yesterday, the ‘courageous Greg Schwartz’ appeared unaware of this letter. Did someone sign Schwartz’ name unbeknownst to him?
[In addition, I find the unofficial removal tactics used by in-office BOA members who are running in uncontested re-election races to be a loathsome use of their public office to dethrone current colleagues.]