November 14, 2007
Anonymous
The Daily News of Newburyport
Wed Nov 14, 2007, 01:02 PM EST
  Students question mayoral candidates
Six eighth-graders, reading questions they and their classmates submitted this week, questioned James Destino and Carolyn Kirk, the two finalists for mayor, yesterday at O’Maley Middle School. Most of the questions revolved around school issues with a couple about energy conservation and infrastructure tossed in. |
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Kirk, Destino appeal for votes one more time
In their last joint appeal for votes, the mayoral contestants last night reprised the approaches they've offered to lift the city, with James Destino pledging himself ready to act and Carolyn Kirk pledging planning.
"I know what needs to be done," said Destino, the council president, with what he called "unmatched knowledge of the city budget." He added for emphasis, "My opponent has a plan to have a plan."
Destino told a sparse audience in the high school auditorium that the centerpiece of the city's revival was the waterfront. |
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Fire stations, market, duplexes are top issues
Experience and persistence are skills the incumbent Ward 5 councilor says he brings to the table, while the challenger for his seat said West Gloucester residents need a councilor who will restore their faith in city government.
Councilor Walter Peckham points to his two years on the council, saying he pushed to have the outlying fire stations open full time following the death of a Lanesville woman in her home last year and is working with the Magnolia Neighborhood Association to monitor a development on a 50-acre plot off Magnolia Avenue. |
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Ward 3 candidates focus on education, waterfront
Both candidates for the open Ward 3 City Council seat say the top issues are overseeing a consolidation of the city's education program and development of the waterfront.
While neither of those issues affect Ward 3 more than other parts of the city, a third issue | oversight of the combined sewer overflow project | is more parochial. But both candidates Steven Curcuru and James "Mike" Mulcahey say the project, which has focused mainly on lower Washington Street and lower Middle Street, both in Ward 3, is nearly complete and will be moving to other parts of the city. |
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Destino almost doubles Kirk in fund-raising
James Destino's mayoral campaign has surpassed $40,000 in financing, out-raising his opponent, Carolyn Kirk, by nearly 2-1.
Combining his previously raised $28,340 with the $13,350 his campaign collected between Sept. 15 and Oct. 19 gave the council president capital of $41,872 to spend to win what both sides believe to be a close race. He spent most of it | all but $3,352 -- by Oct. 19
Kirk has raised $24,370 since the start of the campaign. She raised $13,415 through Sept. 14 and another $10,955 between Sept. 15 and Oct. 19, when reports were due. Unlike Destino, Kirk squirreled away a significant sum, $9,608, for the final push to Tuesday's election. |
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30-year council veteran challenged in Ward 2
If there is one thing that Ward 2 City Council candidates John "Gus" Foote and Ann Frontiero Mulcahey disagree on more than any other, it may be whether Foote is still an effective councilor after three decades of service.
For 64-year-old Frontiero Mulcahey, a 20-year Ward 2 resident and Gloucester native, Foote's time as councilor is up. She's challenging him for his seat in the ward that covers most of downtown inside the Route 128 extension between Portuguese Hill and Washington Street. It is home to residences and businesses and includes the waterfront, senior housing, Main Street retail stores and industry such as Cape Pond Ice. |
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Candidates suggest ways to get money for schools
The 11 candidates running for six School Committee seats said they believe the $5.35 million bond needed to reorganize the school district is worth the investment.
One, Kathleen Purdy, qualified her support, saying she would implement the plan but wants to make sure the current reorganization is the best way to achieve it. Voters go to the polls a week from today to elect a new mayor, the City Council and the School Committee.
"One of the first things I would do, in the first six months, would be to look at it and see if a more cost-effective arrangement can be made," she said, suggesting the cost of 13 modular classrooms that will be added to four of the five remaining elementary schools could be reduced. |
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Rosa endorses Destino, snipes at Kirk
Former mayoral hopeful Maggie Rosa yesterday rebuked mayoral finalist Carolyn Kirk for "arrogance" and a failure to "appreciate" the Community Preservation Act, and endorsed Kirk's opponent, James Destino.
"I simply cannot support a candidate who cannot appreciate the advantages of CPA," wrote Rosa, chairwoman of the Historical Commission and City Hall Restoration Commission, in a letter to the Times. |
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Mayor says Destino, Kirk 'both right' on issue
Mayor John Bell says he will put the School Committee's $5.35 million request to complete consolidation and expansion of elementary schools through a review that could leave the decision for the next mayor and City Council, and perhaps voters, to implement.
The cost of the buildout might require a tax override, he said. "Isn't an override what we really need?" said Bell in an interview.
He described the conflict between the desire for improved education and the city's ability to pay for it as possibly requiring "the public to be called to decide what level of services it wants." |
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Destino, Kirk down to the wire/Mayoral candidates trade jabs, suspicions
The Destino-Kirk mayoral contest rolled past its last major checkpoint yesterday with the candidates helping each other reinforce their self-images.
The debate between Council President James Destino and School Committeewoman Carolyn Kirk brought out and amplified distinctions over issues | notably the Community Prevention Act, which is on the Nov. 6 ballot with them.
Destino supports its adoption; Kirk does not.
She described it as a "wedge issue" but urged the audience of business and political leaders at the Chamber of Commerce event at the Gloucester House not to be "one-issue voters."
Destino said adopting the act and adding 1 percent to tax bills would leverage state-matching funds and add to the city's cash flow, while Kirk questioned the expansive claims of advocates of multiple uses for limited new taxes. |
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Building Center owner: No plans to move
Mayoral candidate James Destino's suggestion that the Building Center is willing to move after more than a century on the waterfront to make way for a luxury hotel was denied yesterday by one of its owners.
"The Building Center or its property is not for sale, no discussion," said Harriet Van Wart, a granddaughter of founder Charles T. "Cap" Heberle. |
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 Gloucester mayoral debate video
Gloucester mayoral candidates James Destino and Carolyn Kirk answered questions from a panel of Gloucester Daily Times editors and reporters during a 75-minute debate at the Times on Friday, Oct. 23. |
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Clarifying my position on school reorganization
To the editor:
On Tuesday, Oct. 23, the Gloucester Daily Times printed a story concerning my position on the proposed school reorganization. I do not feel that the story clearly reported the views I expressed and therefore caused needless anxiety in the community.
Here is my point: As we move forward with reorganization (or any other city proposal, for that matter), we must do so with our eyes wide open to all the financial fallout. We cannot simply say "full speed ahead" without knowing the exact amount and terms of the loans that we will need to facilitate this plan. |
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Kirk dumps Worthley as fundraiser
Mayoral candidate Carolyn Kirk said yesterday she has directed former rival Jeff Worthley to stop fundraising on her behalf after learning that Worthley was soliciting donations under false pretenses.
Worthley, who endorsed Kirk after he was eliminated in the Oct. 2 preliminary election for mayor, has been telling donors to Michael McLeod's now-ended mayoral campaign that McLeod had authorized the solicitation, according to a notice posted on McLeod's Web site. |
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Rosa withdraws 'inappropriate' candidate questionnaire
The mayor's office has squelched the Historical Commission's short-lived involvement in the municipal election.
A commission questionnaire seeking candidates' positions on some of its chairwoman's pet issues, including the Community Preservation Act and a demolition delay ordinance, was "inappropriate" and violated City Charter pohibitions on any volunteer official participating in political campaigns "while actively engaged in his municipal duties," mayoral aide Steve Magoon said in an e-mail to Chairwoman Margaret "Maggie" Rosa. |
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Destino: Can city afford to finish school reorganization plan?
Mayoral candidate and City Council President James Destino said yesterday he is not certain the city can afford to complete the school reorganization plan that would close O'Maley Middle School next year and enlarge the city's elementary schools to redistribute fifth-graders.
Destino said he will withhold his support until the cost of borrowing for the buildout | expected to range from $5 million to $6 million | is known. |
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Most School Committee candidates would split pothole fund with city
A large majority of School Committee candidates support the city keeping more than half of a state education allocation, rather than fighting City Council to allocate the entire $325,000 to the School Department.
Two of the 10 candidates at a debate at Magnolia Library on Wednesday evening said the state supplement, known as the pothole fund, should go directly to the schools, rather than the city keeping $225,000 to either put in the stabilization fund or to give to the Fire Department to keep the outlying stations open. |
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Preservation Act ruling could limit stadium funding
A judge's ruling limiting the use of Community Preservation Act money for municipal parks could have implications here, where advocates of the act have cited Newell Stadium as a potential beneficiary of such funding.
The decision last month by Superior Court Judge Bruce Henry barred the city of Newton from using Community Preservation money to renovate two parks because they were not acquired with funding raised through the act.
Newton's plans included resurfacing a play area, a new basketball court, fencing, security lighting and picnic tables. |
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Candidates split over Park tax break
As the two-year terms of Mayor John Bell and city councilors draw to an end, it is becoming increasingly likely that a key decision on Sam Park's Gloucester Crossing will fall to the next mayor and council. And the candidates for those offices don't agree on the issue.
The council last month approved the mixed-use shopping center proposed for vacant acreage off the Route 128 extension and behind Fuller School. Left to be decided is whether the city and Park can agree on a tax break of roughly $3 million that Park has repeatedly said he needs to make the project viable. |
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Kirk courts support of runners-up
Mayoral finalist Carolyn Kirk is moving to pick up endorsements from three candidates eliminated in preliminary balloting who together gathered nearly 40 percent of the record turnout of 7,063 voters.
Former city councilor Jeffrey Worthley and Councilor Michael McLeod told the Times they intend to meet with Kirk in the coming days before announcing their preferences. |
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Destino, Kirk spar over experience
Call it the clash of experiences.
Professional and life experience is what both candidates, James Destino and Carolyn Kirk, pointed to as the trump card on their resumes this week as the mayoral election gathered steam after voters eliminated five other candidates.
The finalists are about the same age, Destino is 48, Kirk is 45, and both have spent years in part-time elective municipal positions | Destino as a three-term city councilor and two-term council president, Kirk as a two-term member of the School Committee.
And both have had much more experience in the private sector.
Still, the kinds of experiences they have had are very different. |
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Destino and Kirk, neck and neck
A record outpouring of voters yesterday chose City Council President James Destino and School Committee member Carolyn Kirk as finalists in the race to succeed John Bell as mayor.
They finished in a virtual dead heat and now have just over a month | until Nov. 6 | to close the deal.
Destino got 2,065 votes to edge Kirk by 28. |
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7 candidates draw 7,000 voters
The big surprise was the size of the turnout, not the identities of the two candidates left standing. No one had a handle on that because there were five candidates with the credentials and name recognition to win.
At least four of the five entered City Hall, hoping, if not expecting, to win one of the spots on the final ballot that were claimed by James Destino and Carolyn Kirk. |
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James Destino |
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Carolyn A. Kirk |
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3,629 |
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5,486 |
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Councilor-at-large -- Choose 4 |
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Bruce H. Tobey |
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Leo J. "Lee" Kennedy |
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David L. Anderson |
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Peter A. Todd |
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Sharon A. George |
5,531 |
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3,085 |
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1,710 |
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1,702 |
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3,324 |
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Joseph A. Ciolino |
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Sefatia A. Romeo |
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Richard A. Gonsalves |
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3,666 |
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6,232 |
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1,571 |
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Ann Frontiero Mulcahey |
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John A. "Gus" Foote |
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578 |
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594 |
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James M.Mulcahey |
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Steven A. Curcuru |
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591 |
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707 |
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Walter G. Peckham |
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Philip J. Devlin |
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743 |
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1,117 |
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School Committee -- Choose 6 |
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Valerie H. Gilman |
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Thomas V. Fernandes Jr. |
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Douglass H. Parsons |
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Amy-Beth Healey |
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Michelle M. Sweet |
3,864 |
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1,554 |
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2,447 |
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4,210 |
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3,316 |
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John R. Sarrouf |
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Kathleen S. Purdy |
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Roger B. Garberg |
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Gregory P. Verga |
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Nancy B. Harrison |
2,373 |
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2,867 |
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2,623 |
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5,585 |
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3,085 |
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Melissa J. Teixeira |
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3,204 |
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Ballot question: Adopt Community Preservation Act, with 1 percent property tax surcharge |
Preservation Act primer
Supporters say that without it, Gloucester is losing out on a chance to get money from the state for desperately needed community improvements; opponents say it's just "another tax."
On Tuesday, voters will decide whether a 1 percent real estate tax surcharge is worth the matching state money promised under the Community Preservation Act. |
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