BishopAccountability.org
	Stars at Night, Big and Bright, Deep in the Heart of Worcester By Scott Zoback Worcester Magazine April 13, 2006 http://www.worcestermag.com/archives/2006/04-13-06/worcesteria.html • STARS AT NIGHT, BIG AND BRIGHT, DEEP IN THE HEART OF WORCESTER: We all heard this week that a new wild-card candidate had pulled papers to run for District Attorney. Lawyer Dan Shea is best known around here for his work on the clergy abuse scandal and his defense of conte2006.com proprietor Mary Jean, but is still only reachable on his Texas-area cell phone. That's changing, Shea says. He tells us he signed a contract and a mortgage for a new place in town on Tuesday — not even a full day after pulling papers to run. "I was coming back [to Worcester] anyway," says Shea. "I won't only be a politician, I'll be a taxpayer, and I'll be a real, live, Worcester person." Shea says that he has gotten — if not the blessing, at least some positive feedback — from some state-level Democrats for his run. Word on the street is that the "feedback" was essentially an acknowledgement of his right to run, and no more. Regardless, Shea is already giving with the all-out rhetoric. While some of his remarks echo establishment candidate Joe Early Jr.'s remarks on running to replace Conte, he can still bust out a gem like, "There's a sense out there in the community ... [that they want a candidate] ... other than someone who has spent their whole life in Worcester." Interesting strategy. • THEY USE IT, BUT AL GORE INVENTED IT: There's something clunky that happens when a politician tries explaining some new-ish technology for which they may lack expertise, without a total grasp on the subject. So it was when Councilor Kate Toomey requested that the city manager investigate the use of blogs on the city's Web site for community discussion of issues. Her description of a blog as "a vehicle on the Internet on which issues are displayed ... with the most recent comments on the top," isn't necessarily inaccurate, just not the way we'd put it. And of course, what would a Council discussion on blogs be without side comments about Councilor Joff Smith, well-known for his MySpace page? Sure enough, as Toomey finished discussing her order, she half-turned to her favorite MySpace colleague and said "I know it's very popular around here." Everyone got it, but Toomey carried it to the next level when she added Smith to the order with a "Councilor Smith might be jealous" comment. In any case, Smith's Web-celebrity status is now, sadly, not viewable to the general public. After we wrote about it, he changed the lead picture; but after Telegram & Gazette columnist Dianne Williamson took it a step further, he's changed it to make it private — which means you can't view his MySpace page unless he specifically approves you as a friend. • SMITH TAKES A STAND: Speaking of Joff Smith, he's the only current city councilor we could find who has officially donated to any of the gubernatorial candidates in the upcoming election. Smith recently gave $100 to the Deval Patrick campaign and is listed on Patrick's Web site as an official endorser. While no other councilor has contributed directly to the governor's race (a couple of spouses have), as far as the lieutenant governor's race is concern, the City Council seems to be standing behind their man. Nine of the 10 non-mayoral councilors have donated to Mayor Tim Murray's coffers since the beginning of the year, with contributions ranging from Councilor Gary Rosen's $25 to Councilors Rick Rushton's and Barbara Haller's $500. The only councilor not to give to Murray is, expectedly, Konnie Lukes, who has not contributed to any campaign thus far. Indeed, Lukes hasn't given to any campaign dating back to at least 2002. • DON FOR A DAY: By the way, if you think DA candidate Dan Shea is quotable, boxing promoter extraordinaire Don King is downright frightening with his ability to be memorable. It was our intent to offer some of his best quotes from Monday's DCU press conference, but let's just say that King is a little hard to follow these days. His speeches ranged from Colonial history ("We gave the fishes tea"), to Italian politics, to Biblical references, to racial references ("I'm a former number runner ... The Italians know what I mean .... He's a Hebrew, but he's great.") But the highlight of the day was King's interaction with state Sen. Harriette Chandler. Almost universally, those at the event agreed that King was flirting with Chandler, although some seemed to remember that during last year's press conference, he had similar comments and gazes for City Councilor Barbara Haller. • CALLED OUT: In our lead news story this week, there is a mention that Director of Code Enforcement David Holden's cease and desist letters to businesses last week did not go over so well with the city manager's office. Well, it looks like Manager Mike O'Brien wasn't the only one upset. At Tuesday's City Council meeting, several councilors spoke out against the way the letters went out, with Holden fielding questions and comments directly. His appearance before the Council, while not unheard of, was somewhat unusual in that it is usually department heads, such as his boss Jill Dagilis, who field questions in their roles as O'Brien cabinet members. In any case, the councilors held nothing back, with Phil Palmieri insisting on personal calls of apology, and Mayor Tim Murray saying the city had suffered a "self-inflicted gun wound" because of the letters. "For several days, we took a pounding collectively .... We took some punches we didn't need to take," said Murray. o Scott Zoback may be reached at szoback@worcestermag.com.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.