I went to the final mayoral debate tonight because I was writing a campaign wrap-up.
They both look tired out ... and wow, poor James Shanley was out of his element. In this case, that is.
I guess it all boils down to how you feel about funding for the schools and where the money will come from, given that the state is not being very helpful in this regard.
Shanley wants paid parking and Holaday wants grants and "efficiencies." I hate that word, along with "transparency."
Anyway, we're down to the final days - and frankly, I don't see much passion for either person. There's not even that many campaign signs.
Apathy is not good.
I proposed to Holaday that the infamous "Khaki Crowd" (so dubbed by, I believe, Bubba) was more for Shanley and the people who think things like the Rail Trail, although quite nice, are a waste of money given the condition of the city's infrastructure and thus prefer her.
She did not agree because, as she correctly pointed out, that money was earmarked for the Rail Trail and could not be spent on anything else. But there was the CPA money.
Oh, well ... So much for another of my wonderful theories ...
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
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2 comments:
Sorry Gillian, I can't take credit for "Khaki crowd". I think that came from an anonymous poster on Tom's blog.
Of course, what Holaday didn't mention about the Rail Trail was that the time and money spent on obtaining the funding could have been spent on something more pressing.
As for the Rail Trail itself: gah. I used to stroll the old B&M right of way and find all sorts of marvelous things: quail, pheasants, several species of local snakes/toads, a patch of wild blueberry bushes (mine! All mine!), at least one homeless camp, etc...it was wonderful, one of the few places in Newburyport where the wild things still lurked Maudsley doesn't count).
Now? It's all gone, and all so a few folks on bikes can feel good about themselves, or so a few (very few, I suspect) tourists arriving by train can take a long, unguided walk.
And it makes it really, really hard to extend the commuter rail into Salisbury points north, and people who think that's not going to be pushed in the next decade or so might be in for a surprise.
Personally, I would have leased the old railbed to some train geeks with the understanding that they operate a trolley car between the MBTA station and downtown (or at least Washington Street). Now THAT would have brought the tourists...
- The Carrot
P.S. I'm intermixing bullion cubes, sugarless indigestible candy and chocolate ExLax in my Halloween dish...at least some of the little crumbsnatchers, yard apes and rug monkeys are in for a real surprise this year.
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