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November 16, 2007 · 11:53 pm

Opening Pitch for Override?

I read, “Hopping: $$ woes hurting Nock,” in the November 9, 2007 issue of the Newburyport Current and immediately thought of major league baseball. I couldn’t help but think that the Rupert Nock principal had been designated to throw out the first pitch on opening day of the push for an override.

Cry “wolf,” early, loudly, and continuously and surely the Newburyport community will commit your way the next time an override is tried. I’m not sure that this tactic will gain enough traction to move very far any more.

The news that the school system is having to adjust because of fewer dollars puts them in a position to better understand the realities that those of us on fixed and/or stagnant incomes deal with regularly. We may be part of Red Sox Nation but we don’t have the seemingly bottomless pockets of Red Sox management.

It certainly would be nice if the tax base could be expanded to lessen the financial burden but I see this community as anti-business. All you have to do is suggest that businesses need parking areas for employees and potential customers and you’ll learn what a chilly reception is all about. Further, add that the parking areas are already in place and could be tastefully landscaped and you’ll quickly be talking to yourself. Some of these folks are so anti-parking and anti-business that I wonder if they would start a drive to ban books from schools if they found out they came from trees.

Speaking of banning, it would help if we could read some good news about our schools. Last month there was an article in the daily paper in town that included essays composed by four juniors at NHS. They had written about censorship after their required reading of Catcher in the Rye in their English class. Unfortunately, none of the students presented a legitimate understanding of why anyone would be offended by the book and therefore might take issue with such a profane book being required reading in 2007. Instead, all of the students presented well-written support for the “anything goes” side of the argument. Wouldn’t many of us have wanted the students to be persuasively presented with the idea that there are places for restraint, limits, and moderation? Maybe the essays were not a true representation of overall student opinion but I’m not so sure. Critical thinking has no chance in one-sided forums.

I am very supportive of athletics but, let’s face it, they’re a school luxury. If you’re looking for trouble just hint at cutting back there. Would it then be asking too much if two of the high school fall sports teams (football & girls soccer) stopped generating headlines for poor behavior in this day when there is talk of stadium refurbishing and updated equipment?

I have high regard for the leadership in our schools and I applaud the efforts of the School Committee’s Revenue Task Force. Creativity and accentuating the positives are going to be essential in order to get the educational job done. Crying, “wolf,” is old school. Many of us are managing to get by on limited means. Show us that you can do the same thing.

Mike Costello is not the Legislator of the Year

When I saw the headline, “Costello wins bar’s top honor,” in the November 2nd issue of The Newburyport Daily News I thought that something special had happened at one of Newburyport’s drinking establishment.

Not so. The article under the title, by Stephen Tait, was about our state representative Mike Costello being honored as the Legislator of the Year by the Massachusetts Bar Association.

I’m glad that someone thought that Mr. Costello was an honorable legislator because I certainly don’t. He fell out of my favor with his pathetic performance in the marriage amendment fiasco.

Those with memory problems may have already forgotten that 170,000 petitioners in this state requested permission from the state legislature to find out if the voters of Massachusetts believe that marriage is only between a man and a woman. These petitioners were not asking the state legislature to decide anything about marriage. All they wanted was for the voters of this state to have the opportunity to give their take on this issue.

Remember that this wasn’t the effort of a few sorry malcontents but of 170,000 people. The sheer numbers didn’t faze Mr. Costello and his legislature friends. When it came time for the legislature to decide if the general populace would have a say in defining marriage they defiantly slammed the door. Shameful.

An appropriate lawyer joke comes to mind: How many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb? None, they’d rather keep their clients in the dark.

Simply put, the Massachusetts Legislature got its chance to vote on the marriage issue but the rest of us were left in the dark thanks to award-winning Mr. Costello. You should be able to see what distain these folks have for the rest of us even if you are opposed to man/woman marriage.

In the Newburyport Daily News story, Mr. Costello suggests that he is willing to take unpopular stands. He has that right. He would also be right if he suggested that his stands are predictable.

I guess, on the other hand, that my stands are predictable as well. I think that the majority in this state believe that gay marriage is an unfortunate arrangement and that this would be confirmed in a statewide vote. I believe that more time should be spent in protecting the unborn than in protecting the abortionists. I believe that more time should be spent protecting the rights of victims rather than the rights of criminals.

Mr. Costello doesn’t agree with me and that’s not likely to change. Then why was he quoted in the article as saying that in his five years in office he has always fought “to make sure people get a fair shake?”

Some of us out here are still waiting for our “fair shake,” Mr. Legislator of the Year.

( Appeared in the Newburyport Daily News – November 9, 2007 )