By Katie Farrell Lovett
NEWBURYPORT — Butch Frangipane, the marine manager for developer Steve Karp, said he — and not Newburyport Marinas — donated $100 to Allison Heartquist's race for the Ward 1 City Council seat.
The donation raised questions because in Heartquist's campaign finance report, filed Oct. 26, she has listed a donation for $100 from Newburyport Marinas. Corporate donations are illegal under state law.
The business is owned by Karp, the billionaire developer who is looking to develop Waterfront West, an 8-acre plot of land between the Black Cow Restaurant and the Route 1 bridge. But Frangipane, marina manager for Karp, said that donation came from him and his wife, and he has no idea why it was listed as coming from the business, which he called "totally incorrect."
"It was me and Jill," he said, adding that he doesn't even have company checks.
"They did not receive a check from Newburyport Marinas at all; they received a personal check from me," he said. "I want to make that perfectly clear."
The Daily News contacted John Brooks, Heartquist's campaign treasurer, last week seeking information about the donation. He said he didn't have the donation information in front of him and wasn't going to look for it.
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Donna Holaday may become the city's next mayor in January, but until mid-December at least, she'll still be a professor to the online class she's currently teaching at Middlesex Community College.
She is an adjunct faculty member there, as well as the director of the grants development and research program.
"I still have papers to correct," she said last night. "I have to get back to my students. I've been neglecting them somewhat the last few weeks."
Holaday said she also has to finish one final grant, due Nov. 16, but plans to also start compiling her transition team and getting set to take office.
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An illegal voter got loose at the Ward 1 polling place at the United Methodist Church on Purchase Street. According to a police officer stationed at the polls, a dog got loose and did a couple of laps around the booths. Dogs are not allowed into polling places unless they are aiding the disabled, but people often try, the officer said.
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With more uncontested races than contested ones, hundreds of voters left many of the races blank. The Charter Commission ballot question was left blank by 500 voters, and thousands of spots were left blank for the candidates. Though voters could pick up to nine, many voted for fewer, resulting in 15,515 spots where votes could have been cast, but weren't.
