Snark-Infested Waters by Mike Bailey

Snark-Infested Waters by Mike Bailey

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Candidate Profile: Sheila Lyons

Friday, October 26th, 2012

By MICHAEL C. BAILEY

A number of initiatives begun during Sheila R. Lyons’ first term on the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners are coming to fruition, and Ms. Lyons is looking for a second term so she can see them through to conclusion.

“We’ve been doing some great things, and we’re in the process of some of these initiatives being realized,” she said. “We’ve put wheels into motion and I would like to see these initiatives through. I do think that there is still a lot to be done.”

Ms. Lyons said that over the past four years, the commissioners have improved transparency by streaming their meetings online and creating a video archive of their meetings; have improved coordination between the Barnstable County Human Services Department, county officials, and individual human service providers across the region; and established the Regional Umbrella Services System (RUSS), which will explore regional applications for the OpenCape broadband network, which is scheduled to be fully active in January.

She added that the county has taken positive steps toward addressing what is shaping up to be the biggest issue in the coming decade: wastewater management.

“We’ve wasted 15 years just kicking this around,” she said, and the threat of a lawsuit by the Conservation Law Foundation and the Buzzards Bay Coalition is emphasizing the county’s need to have a comprehensive wastewater management plan. “Wastewater is indeed the biggest economic and environmental issue on the Cape, and if we don’t deal with it, we’re going to use everything.”

In February, the commissioners charged Andrew Gottlieb and Paul J. Niedzwiecki, respectively the executive directors of the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative and the Cape Cod Commission, with exploring a regional management plan, which is scheduled to be submitted by the end of the year.

She said she hopes to see a plan that “doesn’t penalize anyone who has done the work” at the local level and proposes solutions entailing “the least amount of infrastructure, with a savings to the taxpayer.”

Ms. Lyons stated that, despite claims from critics and one of her opponents, Eric R. Steinhilber, she was not in favor of a “wastewater authority” with taxation powers — one of the changes recommended earlier this year by the Special Commission on County Governance.

“Nobody has ever voted for it or called for a wastewater authority,” among the county commissioners or the assembly, she said, and the report itself called for the creation of a regional “wastewater district” and “fair, broad-based funding mechanisms” to support that entity.

Commission co-chairman Robert A. O’Leary suggested taxation on property owners as a way to generate revenue for the district, and Ms. Lyons interpreted that as his effort to “emphasize the seriousness of this” and a challenge to county officials to “have the political courage” to pursue the option if they determined it was necessary.

However, Ms. Lyons said the commissioners have heard significant opposition to a tax-funded regional authority from town officials across the Cape, and she considers the proposal dead.

If funding is necessary to support whatever approach the county adopts, that is all the more reason for the county to develop a comprehensive plan. She pointed to the OpenCape project as an example of how a strong plan can leverage federal funding, noting that the plan was unveiled in 2006, and between 2008 and 2010 received a total of $37 million in state and federal funding to make it a reality.

“That’s what you get when you have a plan,” she said. “That’s why you plan.”

New County Structure

“We need to have some structural changes within the county,” she said, and one of the changes she wants to pursue is “a strong administrator” with executive powers, another recommendation by the Special Commission on County Governance.

By creating a “county executive” position, Ms. Lyons said Cape Cod would gain someone who could truly champion county government and its mission to provide economic, efficient services to all 15 towns.

Creating such a post would require shifting certain executive powers from the county commissioners to the county executive, she said, and separating out peripheral duties currently handled by the county administrator and assistant administrator. The administrator also acts as the county’s finance director, and the assistant administrator serves as administrator for the Cape Light Compact.

“These are too many jobs for too few people,” she said, “and for anything to get done well, you need someone that’s much more pro-active in interacting with departments, out there looking for those grant opportunities.”

Ms. Lyons was also supportive of a new proposal from the assembly to create a county finance director who would be solely responsible for monitoring the county’s revenue and expenditures, and she proposed forming a joint county commissioners/assembly subcommittee to explore the idea.

Once the county executive issue is addressed, the commissioners could then better determine whether it was necessary to act on another of the special commission’s suggestions: combining the county commissioners and the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates.

Under the special commission’s plan, the three-member board of county commissioners would be expanded to seven members, five of whom would represent specific districts, two of whom would be at-large members representing the entire region.

While open to the idea, Ms. Lyons said there are “constitutional questions” whether representation by geography rather than population is allowable, referring to criticism from the smaller Lower Cape towns that they do not have a strong voice in county government.

When the assembly was created in 1998, constitutional “one man, one vote” requirements led to the assembly’s weighted vote system, which gives larger towns such as Barnstable and Falmouth more influence on votes that the Lower Cape towns, some of which have less than two percent of the total vote.

She added she understood the concept of having county commissioners represent specific districts, but said that in running a county-wide campaign, “as difficult as it is, I had a much better understanding of Cape Cod because I ran a 15-town campaign. I spent time getting to know not only the elected officials in those towns but the individual voter, and I could start to see where each town has similarities and differences culturally, politically, philosophically.”

“If you’re going to govern over the entire land, you need to know the land you’re governing,” Ms. Lyons said.

New County Services?

Ms. Lyons identified two other brewing major projects for the county, the first of which is the proposed purchase of the Dennis-based Aquacultural Research Corporation (ARC), which has been pitched by its current owners as a possible county service.

The candidate said she first became aware of ARC’s interest in becoming a county service six years ago, while Ms. Lyons was still on the assembly, through local shellfisherman who were concerned at the prospect of losing the state’s only commercial shellfish hatchery, which provide the Cape’s 235 shellfish farms with 90 percent of their seed.

The commissioners have held two executive session meetings to discuss the $4 million proposed purchase so Ms. Lyons could not comment in-depth on the matter, but said the county “would be negligent if we did not look at it.”

However, she added that she would not support the idea if the commissioners’ research suggests the business would be “a money pit…I would like for it to be able to pay for itself.”

“We have to have the right plan, the right business plan,” she said. “It’s not like we’re going to be negligent about it just to go forward.”

Ms. Lyons said she planned to exercise similar caution when exploring the concept of establishing a regional emergency dispatch center. The Barnstable County Regional Emergency Planning Committee’s 911 Dispatch Study Steering Committee is currently working on that proposal, and one option on the table is utilizing existing infrastructure and personnel at the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Department’s regional dispatch center.

While she was open to that possibility, Ms. Lyons said she was hesitant to endorse that model due to past issues with the sheriff’s department and its administration of the region’s Centralized Emergency Medical Dispatch (CMED) system.

The Cape and Islands CMED system coordinates communications between four area hospitals and ambulances operating on the Cape and surrounding communities. It also coordinates MedFlight helicopter landings for the Cape.

Ms. Lyons noted that James M. Cummings, county sheriff, has in the past warned of a possible CMED shutdown if he could not obtain funding to support its $450,000 annual operating costs, and she worried that a similar lack of a funding mechanism for a full-fledged county dispatch service could lead to problems down the road.

Ms. Lyons’ official campaign website is www.sheilalyonscapecod.com.

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Candidate Profile: Eric Steinhilber

Friday, October 12th, 2012

By MICHAEL C. BAILEY

In 2010, Eric R. Steinhilber tried his hand at state politics, running for the open State Senator of the Cape and Islands seat. This year he’s focusing his efforts more locally as he runs for one of two spots on the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners.

“Bottom line is, I just want to serve the community and be involved, do what I can to help and bring about better solutions,” Mr. Steinhilber said. “I just care a lot about the Cape. I’ve got two little kids now, and I want to make sure the Cape’s just as special for them as it was for me growing up.”

He added that he opted against running again for state senate because the incumbent, State Senator Daniel A. Wolf (D – Harwich), “is a millionaire. I got to work for a living, and sometimes you’re going to have a tough time raising more money than what a millionaire can put into a race.”

Mr. Steinhilber said he would be a proactive commissioner who would “see each side of the issue and come to a solution that I feel is grounded in the principle of doing the most good in the most effective manner with the smallest amount of governor.”

“I think that type of leadership is really needed at the county level right now. I think it’s lacking,” he said.

That lack of leadership is most evident in the county’s handling of the wastewater issue, Mr. Steinhilber said, and he has made that the focus of his campaign.

Although the sitting commissioners, including his two opponents Mary L. (Pat) Flynn and Sheila R. Lyons, have voiced their opposition to a proposed “wastewater authority” with taxation powers, Mr. Steinhilber insisted he was “the only candidate in the race that can be counted 100 percent to be opposed to a taxing authority being created and imposed on the people of Cape Cod.”

“I think the proposal is alive and well. I think it’s still being pushed by a number of individuals,” he said, “and I think it is more likely to come to pass if the incumbent county commissioners remain.”

He said evidence of the sitting commissioners’ openness to the concept can be found in their February vote to charge Andrew Gottlieb and Paul J. Niedzwiecki, respectively the executive directors of the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative and the Cape Cod Commission, with exploring the concept, which had been pitched to the commissioners by the Special Commission on County Governance.

“I would have voted not to move the ball even further toward a taxing authority,” Mr. Steinhilber said, adding that by voting on the topic before the special commission had formally filed its final report with the commissioners was proof that “the county commissioners, I felt, couldn’t wait to get their hands on it to vote on it…they were excited to vote for it.”

He said the commissioners, despite their prior opposition, would be likely to accept a new recommendation he expects to emerge from a new task force assembled by the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce — as task force that, like the special commission, is fronted by Robert A. O’Leary.

A task force memo obtained by Mr. Steinhilber noted that the group wants to emphasize “positive messaging during the county commissioners’ election,” and the candidate believed the task force “feels they have a much better chance of getting a taxing authority in place with the two incumbents remaining.”

“I’ve been told by others in county government that this group was formed in direct response to my campaign,” Mr. Steinhilber said, but he declined to name his sources.

Better Communication Needed

Mr. Steinhilber also objected to another proposal by the special commission, to combine the county commissioners and the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates into a single seven-member board with legislative functions. Executive functions now possessed by the county commissioners would be transferred to an appointed county executive.

“You can’t get better government with less representation,” he said, and he expressed admiration for the assembly’s performance, but acknowledged that the delegates — as well as the county commissioners — are not as visible in the community as they should be.

“It’s a communication problem,” Mr. Steinhilber said, and if elected he planned to hold public office hours to create a stronger connection with individual towns.

The candidate did support, conditionally, a proposal by the assembly to create a finance director to keep better control of county finances. Mr. Steinhilber said such an entity was necessary for enhanced transparency, but he thought such a position could be established using existing county personnel and resources.

“I don’t think we should create a brand new position out of whole cloth,” he said. “You can’t keep adding to county government. You need to come up with solutions inside of county government.”

Opposes New County Dispatch

Mr. Steinhilber also wanted to tackle what he regarded as a financial time bomb, the county government’s growing unfunded pension liability. “No one seems to be talking about it,” he said, quoting figures stating that the county’s liability between 2002 and 2010 jumped from $190 million to $475 million.

A report prepared by the Segal Group showed that the unfunded liability was expected to grow by another $25 million between 2010 and 2012, but actually increased by $47 million.

“That’s all on the backs of Cape taxpayers,” Mr. Steinhilber said, and he vowed to take action on that.

He identified another brewing taxpayer expense in the effort to establish a regional 911 emergency dispatch center that served all of the Cape’s police and fire departments. Mr. Steinhilber strongly endorsed the basic concept, but said there was a better way to make the concept reality than creating an all-new regional dispatch center.

“My main concern is that the county doesn’t get into a position where they build a center from the ground up” rather than take advantage of the existing emergency dispatch center run by the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Department — where, notably, Mr. Steinhilber has worked as a reserve deputy.

“We already have a top-notch center that’s run by the county sheriff,” he said, and he noted the sheriff’s department is in the middle of a hardware upgrade and is exploring options for expanding the facility in order to serve more towns.

Local law enforcement department heads have expressed concern over this approach due to the fact the sheriff’s department, and by extension its dispatch center, are state agencies, and they fear losing any local control over the center.

Other Massachusetts counties have established governance boards to keep control of regional dispatch centers at the local level, Mr. Steinhilber said, and Cape Cod could emulate such models.

Mr. Steinhilber said he wanted to address the regulations that deter new businesses from setting up shop on Cape Cod. In speaking with business owners, he said he heard a great deal of frustration due to the sometimes convoluted and multi-layered process of establishing a new business, which included dealing with multiple town boards and, in some cases, the Cape Cod Commission.

“To a lot of them it feels like a constant maze to navigate…it’s tough to get quick decisions,” he said, and he wanted to constantly review regulations to make local and regional review processes more streamlined and business-friendly.

He doubted that the launch of the OpenCape regional fiber optic broadband network would prove a potential boon to businesses. “I don’t necessarily know if OpenCape going to be a big part of that. I don’t think people are not opening a business because they don’t have access to the Internet,” he said. “Call Comcast to get the Internet.”

Mr. Steinhilber said he was undecided whether to support the county’s possible purchase of the Dennis-based Aquacultural Research Corporation (ARC), which has been pitched by its current owners as a possible county service. While supportive of the local shellfishing industry, Mr. Steinhilber said he was wary of the $4 million suggested purchase price.

He proposed forming a county subcommittee to review the finances of the business and the proposal to determine if it would be a worthy return on the county’s investment.

For more information on the candidate, visit Mr. Steinhilber’s official campaign website at www.ericforcc.com.

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The Cape Cod Wastewater Authority – Dead Or Alive?

Wednesday, September 26th, 2012

NOTE: The following piece ran, greatly edited for length, in recent editions of the Enterprise. This is the original unedited story.

Is there a conspiracy afoot to push through a Cape Cod Wastewater Authority?

Eric R. Steinhilber, Republican candidate for the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners, suggests there is, and that the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce is, through a special task force, pushing for a regional wastewater management entity with taxation powers.

He also claimed that as part of this goal, the chamber is trying to push through to re-election two incumbent commissioners who are sympathetic to such an entity.

In a press release issued to the media last week, Mr. Steinhilber claimed county commissioners Mary L. (Pat) Flynn of Falmouth and Sheila R. Lyons of Wellfleet — both of whom are running for re-election this November — voted earlier this year to “move forward with a recommendation to create an MWRA- (Metropolitan Water Resources Authority) type Authority for Cape Cod.”

Mr. Steinhilber called the authority “the preferred plan by those who stand to gain from a big pipe solution with a big government agency solution,” he said. “If allowed to enact their plan, these proponents will re-elect Mary Pat Flynn and Sheila Lyons, who will continue the pursuit of a taxing Authority for Cape Cod after their re-election.”

County officials countered that Mr. Steinhilber is trying to manufacture an issue to prop up his campaign, and that the concept of an MWRA-type agency on Cape Cod is dead.

“It’s apparent to me he doesn’t understand the job he’s applying for or the issue,” Ms. Lyons said, calling his press release “a fiction based on snippets of reality.”

“I can only speculate but it appears the issue has more resonance with him as a perceived opportunity to provide visibility for his campaign than other ones like traffic congestion, economic development, housing, planning, and public safety regional dispatch,” Commissioner William Doherty said, “all more immediate and likely to require attention in the short term.”

The Timeline

Mr. Steinhilber said the main champion of wastewater authority idea is Robert A. O’Leary, a former county commissioner and current chairman of the Wastewater Task Force, a new working group created by the chamber of commerce.

In 2002 Mr. O’Leary, then State Senator of the Cape and Islands District, filed a bill to create a regional wastewater management entity. The bill would have made participation by individual towns optional, and Mr. O’Leary identified a portion of the meals and rooms taxes already charged on the Cape, and/or a tax on short-term accommodation rentals, as potential revenue streams.

By 2004 an assessment on homeowners had been added as a funding option. That possibility emerged from work conducted by the Blue Ribbon Committee on Regional Wastewater, a county-appointed working group that included Mr. Doherty.

Mr. Steinhilber quoted a passage in a blue ribbon committee memo regarding how the concept should be sold to residents, stating the outreach campaign should be “run like a political campaign” that identified those in the media friendly to the concept and “neutralized” any hostile media outlets.

That same memo stressed the need to present to the public “a strong defensible financial model to provide adequate funding” and emphasize the proposed entity’s independence “that allows for accountable action, but it is here that we must be careful not to suggest or imply that it can or will become an MWRA, quasi-independent from direct accountability for the management and control of their costs to the voters that established them.”

Amidst considerable public pushback, the committee abandoned the authority model and instead filed a proposal that led to the creation of the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative.

Mr. Steinhilber said wastewater authorities then decided to bide their time and wait “for an opportunity to bring their failed proposal back again, and in the meantime, [allow] the wastewater problem to get worse.”

In an interview with the Enterprise, he accused “many of the primary public faces here” of being “more interested in creating a taxing authority than in solving the problems. If they were not, they would not have sat on the sidelines for years doing little to solve the wastewater problem.”

Mr. Steinhilber cited a report from the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) indicating there was “effectively no improvement” in water quality between 2009 and 2010, and said prior to that the county made “minimal efforts to address many of these issues…my conclusion is that they were more interested in the Authority than in solving the water issue.”

He claimed the new impetus to revive the wastewater authority concept was the threat of a lawsuit by the CLF and the Coalition for Buzzards Bay. In late 2010 the two organizations filed a “letter of intent,” the first step toward filing a lawsuit, claiming the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Cape Cod failed to meet their obligations under the federal Clean Water Act to control nitrogen loading in coastal embayments.

The county commissioners and the Cape Cod Commission were also named in that letter.

In 2011 the county commissioners formed the Special Commission on County Governance, a body charged with examining the structure of county government. Mr. O’Leary was a co-chairman on that commission.

One of the commissions’ recommendations was the creation of a taxpayer-funded regional wastewater authority — although the commission later chose to avoid the word “authority” specifically to avoid any comparisons to the MWRA and instead refer to it as a wastewater “district.”

Conspiracy Or Political Ploy?

The special commission finalized its report in February and submitted it to the county commissioners in March. The commissioners formally accepted the report that same month. A review of the video from the March meeting showed that none of the commissioners explicitly endorsed any of the commission’s recommendations — including the wastewater authority proposal.

Mr. Steinhilber’s said the commissioners voted in February to “move forward with a recommendation to create an MWRA-type Authority for Cape Cod.”

“The impetus of the entire vote is advancing a special commission recommendation” to create an MWRA-style body, even though materials in his own press kit indicate the commissioners in fact did not vote to support the proposal.

What the commissioners did was charge Paul J. Niedzwiecki, executive director of the Cape Cod Commission, and Andrew Gottlieb, executive director of the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative, with exploring the ramifications of creating a regional wastewater management plan.

“Having a regional plan is very important, and I think all of us, the three [county commissioners] recognize that we must move forward on that,” Ms. Flynn said at that meeting, adding, “to make a decision to move forward, without any public discussion or without any public input on voting to recommend a regional plan that includes a taxing authority, at this time, would not be very wise and I don’t think would show good leadership on our part.”

Mr. Gottlieb met with the commissioners again in July after meeting with town officials across the Cape, and his opinion was that that option was not desirable.

The commissioners concurred that a regional approach of some kind was desirable, but an authority was not. “It would be ridiculous to have an MWRA here,” Ms. Lyons said. “I do think there was a misunderstanding. People latched onto [the word ‘authority’] and never let it go and never allowed themselves to have a clear understanding of it.”

Ms. Flynn reiterated that position on September 5 during a meeting with Sandwich town officials, telling them the county wanted to be responsive to town needs and supportive of current town-level projects. She said the county’s contribution to the efforts is “certainly not a taxing authority, and certainly not taking over the planning and implementation of wastewater planning on Cape Cod. That’s not our intent and it’s not our job.”

Mr. Steinhilber himself joined the chorus and declared the wastewater authority dead — and in fact claimed direct credit for defeating it. On August 9 he issued a press release with the header: “Steinhilber: 1, MWRA on Cape Cod: 0 — The MWRA solution is ‘off the table.’ Steinhilber declares victory.”

“After months of consideration, it took until July 18th for the Commissioners to officially kill it,” Mr. Steinhilber said in the release, referring to the commissioners’ meeting that day. “The County Commissioners have heard the calls and have abandoned any plans to support an MWRA-type taxing authority.”

However, in the weeks leading up to the September primary election, Mr. Steinhilber revived the issue on his campaign signs, which stated “Eric Says No MWRA For Cape Cod.” He now claims the proposal is alive and well and being publicly championed by the chamber of commerce.

Enter The Chamber

“The chamber of commerce picked it up, quietly and behind the scenes,” Mr. Steinhilber said. “It became abundantly clear that the intent of these folks was to go underground during the county commissioners race, since it had become too charged politically.”

Mt. Steinhilber said his declaration of victory was premature as the chamber acted after he issued the statement. “I would have phrased it differently, but the message is still the same,” he said, “the sitting commissioners and Andy Gottlieb are on record opposing it, which means that proposal is dead for now. There is clearly a comeback being mounted, if you believe that these important and influential people continue to pursue it.”

“Wondering why the Cape Cod Chamber is doing this?” Mr. Steinhilber said in his press release. “Remember that the other party to the lawsuit on this issue is the Buzzards Bay Coalition and their President is on the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.”

Mark Rasmussen, president and CEO of the Coalition for Buzzards Bay since 1998, is not on the chamber of commerce’s board of directors according to the chamber’s official roster. Mr. Steinhilber later said he should have been listed as a member of the task force, not the chamber’s board.

However, Mr. Steinhilber noted that the Coalition for Buzzards Bay’s co-plaintiff in the lawsuit, the Conservation Law Foundation, opposes “big pipe” (region-wide sewering) solutions because “large sewer systems make new construction viable in environmentally sensitive areas.”

“Water and wastewater issues are among the largest restrictors of construction right now,” he continued, explaining that without those restrictions, land that could not at present be developed could become buildable, benefiting owners of such property, real estate developers, and building material suppliers.

Mr. Steinhilber maintained that the chamber task force “is already pre-disposed to the big pipe solution and most (members) are on record supporting the Taxing Authority, too. They will shock no one when they, like the Special Commission, conclude that an MWRA-type taxing Authority is the best answer,” that based on the fact Mr. O’Leary was appointed to lead the task force.

Mr. O’Leary, who was traveling in China, did not offer any comment on Mr. Steinhilber’s claims except, “I don’t hold public office, so why is the candidate running against me?”

A task force memo dated July 13 — provided to the Enterprise by Mr. Steinhilber — discussing its “communications campaign” for “how to proceed with supportive action toward solving our waste water [sic] issues” does not explicitly advocate for the creation of a wastewater authority, a regional management plan, or big-pipe solutions.

“The overarching goal is to present a message that is supportive of a process for developing localized solutions, tailored to specific communities and watersheds, which will minimize financial impact on our residents and business owners,” the memo read. “The coalition would not be specifically supporting big pipe vs. small pipe vs. alternative solutions, but a PROCESS of solution development.”

Another memo cites the need for “positive messaging during the county commissioners’ election,” which Mr. Steinhilber interpreted as evidence that authority proponents are working against his campaign.

“There can be no other conclusion than they believe Eric Steinhilber will oppose them and Flynn and Lyons will support them,” Mr. Steinhilber said in his press kit.

“If you believe that the proponents of a taxing authority continue to want that outcome,” he said, “and they are continuing to work towards that outcome…you must conclude that they believe the current board to be more favorable to reach that goal than a board with me on it.”

Wendy K. Northcross, CEO of the chamber, refuted that claim and said the task force documents “state the obvious — that is, the desire of many to keep the facts straight — especially in light of a political campaign that is using our wastewater infrastructure needs as a plank in its platform.”

“The [chamber] is keenly interested in finding a solution that is effective both in its science and its cost,” she said, and that the county commissioners’ race “is only important in that the dialogue on wastewater (as a campaign plank) be as truthful as possible and not laden with scare tactics and misinformation about the Cape’s need to address wastewater planning and infrastructure.”

“The Chamber’s interest is in communicating to the businesses and residents of Cape Cod the need for action on wastewater,” Ms. Northcross said, “and the desire for the planning process to be driven by local information, transparently transmitted, and fiscally responsible.”

“If it wasn’t so sad, in a way it would be funny,” Ms. Lyons said. “It shows me he has nothing else to offer. It’s disappointing. I’ve spoken to Eric and he’s a nice guy, but I expected something better of him.”

“The truth is that I am anchoring my campaign on the issue most call the single most important issue facing Cape Cod,” Mr. Steinhilber said. “The suggestion that anyone would think the others are anything but secondary is silly.”

“Focusing on sedate issues sounds the way incumbents talk,” he concluded. “The truth is, too many people have punted on important issues like this. I assure you, this issue has cost me fundraising, party support, establishment support and garnered me more grief than just the mocking tones of media, but it is the right thing to do by the people of Cape Cod. They have a right to know what is going on, especially when it will have such a negative impact on their wallets.”

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The Week In Politics – February 24, 2012

Friday, February 24th, 2012

 

Busy week this week, so let’s get to it!

Robert A. O’Leary has put an end to weeks of speculation and announced that he will not take another shot at Congress.

Mr. O’Leary, a former Barnstable County commissioner and State Senator of the Cape and Islands District, ruled out a re-match against Congressman William R. Keating (D) because of the heavy financial cost of running a Congressional campaign.

“It was painful to make this decision,” Mr. O’Leary said in a statement released last week.

Rep. Keating and Mr. O’Leary faced off in 2010 for the Democratic nomination, and Rep. Keating eked out a win with 51 percent of the vote.

With Mr. O’Leary officially out, the field of candidate for the Ninth Congressional District remains at four confirmed candidates: Rep. Keating; Democrat C. Samuel Sutter, Bristol County’s district attorney; Plymouth Republican Christopher Sheldon; and non-party candidate Peter A. White of Mashpee.

***

On another Keating-centric note, Rep. Keating last week picked up another early union endorsement, and it’s a big ‘un: the Massachusetts AFL-CIO has not only given the freshman Congressman its official thumb’s up, AFL-CIO President Steven A. Tolman said returning Rep. Keating to office was “one of our top priorities.”

***

Looking more locally, County Commissioners Mary L. (Pat) Flynn of Falmouth and Sheila R. Lyons of Wellfleet last week informed me personally that they would both be running for re-election this year.

That brings us to a field of three candidates for two spots on the board, the third being non-party candidate Ronald K. Beaty Jr. of Barnstable. I’ve heard chatter about a potential Republican candidate, who has taken out papers but has not made any formal announcements, so that’s not yet a done deal.

***

Also not a done deal, but close to it: Hyannis attorney Brian Mannal has announced plans to challenge seven-term State Representative Demetrius J. Atsalis (D – Barnstable) — in the primary!

Mr. Mannal was born in Centerville, moved to New Mexico with his family as a child, and returned to his hometown to raise his family. He briefly worked for former Milford state rep Marie J. Parente and for George H.W. Bush’s campaign in 2000.

This could be a very interesting contest. Rep. Atsalis has had only one serious challenge during his time in the Legislature: his 2002 race against Ann B. Canedy, which he won by a mere 101 votes. Could a fellow Democrat succeed where many Republicans have failed?

***

I’m going to change Thomas F. Keyes’ name to Thomas F. Tease.

The Sandwich Republican has, since losing his 2010 race against Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth), suggested through occasional e-mails that read very much like campaign position papers and a couple of fundraisers that he would mount a second challenge this year.

This week Mr. Keyes sent out to supporters a link to this video:

http://youtu.be/Db-1IkeIWpw

Please note that he doesn’t specify whether he means he plans to run again or refund the donations…although — and here’s your free grammar lesson for the day, Tom — the way he phrases his announcement makes it sound like he’ll be returning everyone’s money.

I somehow think that isn’t what he’ll announce next month, but we’ll all find out together, won’t we?

Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.

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The Week In Politics – November 18, 2011

Friday, November 18th, 2011

It looks like people are already eyeballing Congressman William R. Keating’s (D) seat for 2012.

The Legislature this week approved the revised Congressional districts, which eliminates Rep. Keating’s 10th District and, with some revisions to its borders, replaces it with the Ninth District. Keating already plans to run for re-election, and a handful of potential challengers has already emerged, including Bristol County’s DA Sam Sutter and former State Senator Robert A. O’Leary on the Democratic side, and Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson on the Republican side.

Jeff Perry, the former Republican state rep who ran against (and lost to) Keating last year, said he is not planning on a re-match in 2012, and that’s not at all surprising. As you might recall, Perry was roasted over an open fire because of his past relationship with a disgraced Wareham cop, and I can’t imagine he’d want to go through that again — because it’s pretty much a guarantee that the folks who ground their axes down to nubs last year would buy brand-new axes to grind next year.

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An interview with Jennifer Nassour

Friday, October 1st, 2010

(The following feature ran in this week’s Region section and is re-produced here in full.)

When Jennifer A. Nassour, chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, looks into the future to Election Day 2010, she sees the promise of a major change in the complexion of the state Legislature.

“There are plenty of candidates, so if everyone won (their races), we actually turn the tide a lot and change the course” of state government, Ms. Nassour said. “I feel optimistic about everything right now.”

Ms. Nassour was on the Cape Monday to accompany David T. Vieira of Falmouth, Republican candidate for State Representative of the Third Barnstable District, as he met with residents and business owners in Mashpee.

“We’re doing this for candidates here and there,” Ms. Nassour said of her trip to the Cape, part of a statewide effort to give select candidates an extra boost through personal appearances. “I wish I had time to hit everyone.”

Preventing that wish from coming true: a lack of time and, for the first time in several years, an abundance of candidates.

Mr. Vieira is one of eight Cape Cod Republicans running for legislative seats this year, and according to Ms. Nassour one of 109 Republicans running for the Massachusetts Legislature — “Twice as many as in 2008,” she noted — making this the most active field of GOP candidates since the ill-fated “Romney Reform Team” initiative of 2004.

That effort, which assembled 131 Republicans to challenge Democratic incumbents, ended with the GOP experiencing a net loss of two seats in the Legislature. Critics speculated that the initiative failed because of the aggressively negative tone of many of the races, coupled with the fact that many candidates were not established residents of the districts in which they ran.

Dr. Gail B. Lese and Timothy E. Duncan, Romney Reform Team candidates for the region’s two Senate seats in 2004, were not full-time Cape residents; Dr. Lese moved to the area two months before announcing her candidacy, and Mr. Duncan owned a summer home in Falmouth but claimed Cambridge as his permanent residence.

Ms. Nassour said the Romney Reform Team recruits “might not have had their finger to the pulse” of their adopted districts, while many of this year’s hopefuls “were locally elected officials that now stepped it up and are running for state rep, state senate” in their districts. “They have a base, they know their neighborhoods, they know their districts, they know the people that are in there, they understand the on-the-ground issues.”

Ms. Nassour said she felt extremely confident in this year’s crop of candidates, calling it “the best team that we’ve had in two decades,” and believed that lingering voter dissatisfaction with the status quo of state government would propel many of these legislative hopefuls to wins next month over their incumbent opponents.

“There’s a lot of anger and frustration out there” over the thin job market, the still-weakened economy, and a series of tax hikes championed by the Democratic legislative majority and Governor Deval L. Patrick, Ms. Nassour said. “There are candidates on the ballot that won’t put that they’re incumbents. They don’t want anyone to know they’ve been up there making the wrong decisions.”

She added that there are across the state several open seats – eight in the state Senate, 20 in the House – and she said many of those are due to incumbents who stepped down because “they didn’t want to face challengers.”

“Many Opportunities” On Cape

This year there are two open seats within the Cape delegation, one of them being State Senator of the Cape and Islands District; State Senator Robert A. O’Leary (D – Barnstable) opted not to run for re-election to instead focus on his ultimately unsuccessful Congressional run.

Republican James H. Crocker Jr. of Osterville and Democrat Daniel A. Wolf of Harwich have emerged as the two contenders for that seat, and Ms. Nassour said Mr. Crocker stands an excellent chance of reclaiming a post that, until Sen. O’Leary’s election to the Senate in 2000, had been held by Republicans for 140 years.

“Jim Crocker – amazing candidate,” she said, “and I think that no matter how much money his opponent has, it doesn’t make a difference because at the end of the day voters are looking for someone that they can connect with. They’re not looking for the richest guy on the road to buy an election.”

Ms. Nassour identified F. Randal Hunt of Sandwich as another local candidate in a prime position to win a race for an open seat — in this case the race for State Representative of the Fifth Barnstable District.

“He has so many opportunities there, I think that’s a great one for us,” she said, noting that Mr. Hunt hails from the same town as State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich), who has served the district since 2002.

She described another Sandwich Republican, Thomas F. Keyes, as “an amazing candidate” and a “very viable alternative” to Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth). “He just kind of understands what people are going through right now in trying to raise a family and trying to make a buck.”

Although Sen. Murray holds one of the most powerful positions in state government and boasts an imposing campaign war chest, Ms. Nassour said Mr. Keyes holds an advantage in that he is not part of the entrenched State House establishment. To overcome Sen. Murray, Ms. Nassour said Mr. Keyes needs to focus on “showing that he’s a viable alternative to someone who has spent way too long on Beacon Hill, who can be very affected by special interests.”

“I think that he has something that voters are actually looking for, and we will see him pick up steam,” she said.

The state GOP is also keeping a very close eye on the hotly contested race for US Representative of the 10th Congressional District. Rep. Perry emerged from this month’s primary as the party’s standard bearer in that race, and will face Democrat William R. Keating, and three unenrolled candidates: Maryanne Lewis, James Sheets, and Joseph van Nes.

Ms. Nassour called that contest “a fantastic opportunity for the Republican Party to pick up a seat again” in the US House of Representatives. “Jeff Perry is a quality candidate. He’s been a great state rep, he’s known and loved down here for all the work that he does and for kind of being the outspoken voice on Beacon Hill, and I’m sure he’ll do the same on Capitol Hill.”

The Massachusetts US House delegation consists entirely of Democrats. Eight of the returning incumbents have Republican challengers.

The other big race for the party is for the Corner Office, as Charles D. Baker Jr. attempts to unseat incumbent Deval L. Patrick, and Ms. Nassour dismissed the idea that Mr. Baker’s campaign has failed to effectively capitalize on Gov. Patrick’s lagging approval ratings.

“Charlie has absolutely hit his stride,” she said, adding that Mr. Baker’s poll numbers are following the same track Gov. Patrick’s 2006 campaign followed. “Charlie has actually all along been on pace with where Deval was in 2006 when he was running against Kerry Healey,” at the time the state’s lieutenant governor under W. Mitt Romney. “Same exact numbers.”

She said this week’s Boston Globe poll, which had the governor and Mr. Baker in a virtual dead heat, was “the telling sign…if you take out (unenrolled candidate) Tim Cahill and put those voters where they’re supposed to be, with Baker, Baker is far ahead of where Deval is.”

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The Week In Politics

Friday, September 10th, 2010

Here we are, the final column before Primary Election Day!

As is often the case, the turnout for the primaries will probably be on the light side, but if you’re reading this then you better bloody well get off your cans and go out to vote on Tuesday.

There are four Republicans and two Democrats vying for their respective party nomination for US Representative of the 10th Congressional District, perhaps the Cape’s most crucial race of the season. Congressman William D. Delahunt (D) was a strong voice for the Cape for many years, and the region can’t afford to be without a staunch advocate in Washington.

Although this paper is not going to offer any endorsements for the primaries, I’ll exercise some editorial privilege and urge voters to support State Senator Robert A. O’Leary (D – Barnstable) and State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich) for the very reason I just cited. As Cape residents themselves, either man would immediately be a superior spokesman for the region’s needs in federal government.

You might think their general credentials pale when compared to those of, respectively, William R. Keating and Joseph D. Malone, and I’d argue that point, but there’s a greater concern here: considering the state of the economy, Cape voters need to be more than a little self-serving and stick with the hometown boys.

PS: If you don’t go out to vote and the guy you wanted to win doesn’t, you waive your right to gripe about it later.

***

By the way, Gatehouse Media’s poll on the Congressional race augers good news for Rep. Perry, bad news for everyone else. As of Tuesday Rep. Perry was winning with 48 percent of 652 voters supporting him, 36 percent backing Malone, eight percent for Republican Raymond Kasperowicz, and Sen. O’Leary and Mr. Keating each receiving two percent support.

***

Regular readers know that, while I list noteworthy endorsements in this column, I find them generally useless. They’re more reflective of a candidate’s political allegiances than a true measure of his or her value to the masses as an elected official.

And yet, sometimes endorsements are very telling. I look to Mr. Malone, whose endorsements have been largely from people like him: guys who used to big kind of big wheels in politics and haven’t done anything worthwhile in that arena for years. That always said to me this was a guy set in old and perhaps outdated ways of thinking.

Last week Mr. Malone got an endorsement from Christy P. Mihos, former (and spectacularly failed) gubernatorial candidate. In his endorsement, Mr. Mihos harkens back to a golden time when state government was flawless and effective and everyone was a establishment-defying reformer, and applauded Malone for being part of a glorious time that I’m sure was not at all quite that spiffy in reality.

Let’s be honest: as the saying goes, the past was never as perfect as we remember, just as the future is not always as bleak as we dread. Sometimes old ways fade into the mists of history for a good reason, and in an election cycle when – according to the national media narrative, at least – voters are crying out for fresh ideas, why should voters turn to someone whose heyday was 20 years ago?

***

Remember what I said about endorsements being about political allegiances? Well then, make of these what you will: State Representative Susan D. William Gifford (R – Wareham) is endorsing Rep. Perry’s Congressional campaign, and State Representative Demetrius J. Atsalis (D – Barnstable) is endorsing Daniel A. Wolf for State Senator of the Cape & Islands District.

And yet more: Sen. O’Leary and Mr. Malone got the nod from the Boston Globe last week.

Sheila R. Lyons, Democratic candidate for State Senator of the Cape & Islands District, received the endorsement of the National Association of Social Workers Massachusetts Chapter – Political Action for Candidate Election.

Patricia L. Mosca, Democratic candidate for governor’s councilor of the first district, received the formal endorsement of Carole A. Fiola, the current and departing councilor.

Rep. Perry got the endorsement of the National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund.

James M. Cummings, Barnstable County sheriff, has endorsed Democrat – yes, a Republican has endorsed a Democrat! – Walter Moniz in the race for governor’s councilor of the first district.

***

Now that we have all the praise out of the way, let’s move on to the obligatory last-minute controversies.

Last week the Boston Globe discovered that Timothy P. Cahill, Guy W. Glodis, and Timothy P. Murray – candidates for governor, state auditor, and lieutenant governor, respectively – all had some tax issues in their backgrounds.

The campaign committee for Mr. Cahill, the sitting state treasurer, had failed to pay about $15,000 in state taxes over the past decade. Mr. Glodis, Worcester County sheriff, had neglected to pay $2,568 in taxes on interest collected by his campaign committee between 2007 and 2009. Lt. Gov. Murray’s campaign committee failed to make tax payments on campaign fund interest in 2007 and 2008.

Mr. Cahill and Lt. Gov. Murray acted on the delinquencies right away and offered the perfunctory “This was just a simple mistake” explanations.

Sheriff Glodis, however, is being a bit more obstinate and is insisting that his campaign does not also owe federal tax payments on his accrued interest, which runs contrary to federal tax code. Not a wise position to take in light of recent revelations that he once received a questionable loan from a hedge fund manager now doing hard time in federal prison for bilking investors.

***

The gap between Governor Deval L. Patrick and Charles D. Baker Jr. continues to shrink. That latest Rasmussen poll showed that 44 percent of voters surveyed currently support Gov. Patrick, and 42 percent support Mr. Baker. Mr. Cahill trails waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind at 8 percent (Green-Rainbow Party Dr. Jill E. Stein was not named in the poll).

***

It’s not too late to plan to hit the Daily Brew in Cataumet this evening, for a fundraiser for State Representative Matthew C. Patrick (D – Falmouth). He’ll be there starting at 5:30 PM for a casual meet-and-greet with voters. His special guest is Cape Cod RTA director Thomas S. Cahir, who previously held the Third Barnstable District state rep seat.

Call 508-540-6308 to RSVP.

***

This week’s event reminders:

William Zammer is hosting at his Flying Bridge restaurant a fundraiser for David T. Vieira, Republican candidate for State Representative of the Third Barnstable District. That is scheduled for Sunday from 4 to 6 PM. Donations will be accepted at the door.

James F. Munafo Jr., Republican candidate for State Representative of the Second Barnstable District, invites supporters to a “FUNdraiser” in support of his campaign. Join Mr. Munafo at Sandwich Mini-Golf on Route 6A in Sandwich for the “Vote Munafo Mini-Golf Tournament” on Sunday. The tourney runs from 4 to 7 PM. E-mail votemunafo@integrity.com to reserve a spot in the tournament. Cost is $10.

F. Randal Hunt, Republican candidate for State Representative of the Fifth Barnstable District, is holding a pasta supper fundraiser at the American Legion Hall in Sandwich on Saturday, September 25 starting at 6 PM; a golf tourney fundraiser at Holly Ridge on Sunday, October 3 starting at 8:20 AM; and “Pizza & Politics with Pizzazz” at Two Brothers Pizza & Mexican in Sandwich on Monday, October 11 at 5:30 PM.

***

Finally, a quick correction of sorts. In the ongoing verbal girly slap-fight between Sen. O’Leary and Mr. Keating, the former recently chided the latter for collecting a pension from his State House days while also serving as Norfolk County DA and running for Congress.

According to an official statement from the Keating campaign, “Bill Keating is not colleting [sic] a pension at this time. If he is elected to the serve in the Congress, he will donate the state pension he has contributed to for 33 years to the Norfolk Advocates for Children. Bill founded the Norfolk Advocates for victims of sexual abuse with money obtained in drug seizures.”

So there.

Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net

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The Week In Politics

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

You kids get off my damn lawn!

By “lawn” I mean the hill near the Bourne rotary, and by “you kids” I mean off-Cape candidates for office sticking their campaign signs in among those for local candidates. Take a look sometime and you’ll see names for people running for office in and around the Norfolk County area…you know, races that Cape Cod residents know nothing about and can’t vote in. (more…)

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The Week In Politics

Friday, August 27th, 2010

As mad as it sounds, the wheels have begun to turn for one potential 2012 campaign.

A movement is underway to recruit Victoria R. Kennedy, widow of the late US Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D), to run for her husband’s former post herself in the next election to “take back” the seat from US Senator Scott P. Brown (R).

“We must reclaim the Kennedy Seat for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts not because she is a Kennedy but because we need a strong Democrat in Washington to represent the people from Massachusetts,” reads the message on the movement’s official Facebook page.

I was not a fan of Sen. Brown during the special election, and he has yet to win me over in any big way, but I will nevertheless invoke one of his catchphrases from the campaign: it’s not the Kennedys’ seat, it’s not the Democrats’ seat, it’s the people’s seat. It belongs to whoever the voters say it does.

This idea that a seat has to be “reclaimed” smacks of pointless entitlement on the Democrats’ part; just because a Democrat – Sen. Kennedy – occupied that office for 47 years and the last Republican to hold the post was Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (1947 to 1953) doesn’t mean it’s “theirs.” By their own logic, the seat belongs more to the GOP, since they held it from 1851 to 1926 (75 years vs. the Democrats’ 56).

***

For some time now, the Republican Governors Association has been funding some harsh and rather negative-in-tone ads targeting Governor Deval L. Patrick and gubernatorial hopeful Timothy P. Cahill.

The Massachusetts Democratic Party is turning the tables a bit with its somewhat tongue-in-cheek new website “Charlie’s World” (http://charliebakersworld.com/), “a special place where Charlie Baker can use ‘facts’ that aren’t true; a place where, when things don’t go well, it isn’t his fault or he wasn’t involved; a place where anything might happen.”

I have to wonder if Green-Rainbow Party candidate Dr. Jill E. Stein sees all this stuff going on and, on occasion, finds herself oddly grateful that no one is paying attention to her.

***

Joseph D. Malone, Republican candidate for US Representative of the 10th Congressional District, recently won a straw poll conducted by radio host Jeff Katz on his eponymous talk show on Rush Radio 1200 AM (their motto: “Harkening back to the Golden Days of Radio, when reception was terrible and static was king.”)

Mr. Malone walked away with 80 percent support, and rival State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich) received 15 percent support. Five percent supported Mr. Katz, because they mistakenly thought it would be humorous to kiss up to the host.

***

Raymond Kasperowicz, the third of four GOP candidates for Congress, just gave his campaign website a snazzy new look. Hie thee hither to http://rkasperowicz.com/congress/ and scope it out. It’s all red, white, and blue and patriotic and stuff.

***

James F. Munafo Jr., Republican candidate for State Representative of the Second Barnstable District, invites supporters to a “FUNdraiser” in support of his campaign. Join Mr. Munafo at Sandwich Mini-Golf on Route 6A in Sandwich for the “Vote Munafo Mini-Golf Tournament” on Sunday, September 12. The tourney runs from 4 to 7 PM.

The “suggested greens fee” (a.k.a. campaign donation) is $10 per person. Prizes will be awarded for best scores in the child and adult categories, as well as for the youngest golfer, the older golfer, and for the best golfing outfit.

Shoot an e-mail to votemunafo@integrity.com to reserve a spot in the tournament.

***

William Zammer is hosting at his Flying Bridge restaurant (which, I report sadly, neither flies nor has a bridge) a fundraiser for David T. Vieira, Republican candidate for State Representative of the Third Barnstable District. That is scheduled for Sunday, September 12 from 4 to 6 PM. Donations will be accepted at the door.

***

Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy!? Daniel A. Wolf is! Yes he is! Yes he is!

Mr. Wolf, Democratic candidate for State Senator of the Cape and Islands District, has picked up a new endorsement from the Massachusetts chapter of the Humane Society.

He’s also received an endorsement from the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters, for which I do not have dumb jokes.

But wait, there’s more! Mr. Wolf has also official earned nods from several notable figures on the Cape, including Margo L. Fenn, director of the Cape Cod Commission; Susan L. Nickerson, former executive director of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound; and former state representative Eric T. Turkington.

***

State Senator Robert A. O’Leary (D – Barnstable) probably didn’t need this little tidbit coming out right now as he runs for Congress. This week’s Beacon Hill Roll Call Report listed Sen. O’Leary as tied for having the fourth-worst attendance record in 2010 (he missed 22 out of 227 roll call votes, a 90.3 percent attendance record).

Granted, that’s only 10 percent of the votes taken this year, and lord knows other lawmakers have been far less diligent, but one can only imagine how this might come back to haunt him (courtesy of his many rivals for the hotly contested seat).

***

This week’s event reminders:

Lance W. Lambros, Democratic candidate for State Representative of the Fifth Barnstable District, will hold a meet-and-greet tomorrow from 4 to 7 PM at Merchants Square, at the Sandwich Democratic Headquarters annual barbecue; and on Monday, August 30 he’ll attend from 3 to 5 PM a senior citizens forum at the Barnstable Senior Center.

William R. Keating, Democratic candidate for US Representative of the 10th Congressional District, will also be at tomorrow’s barbecue in Sandwich.

Mr. Wolf is the guest of honor at a house party fundraiser in Hyannis on Sunday. Check out his official website at www.danwolfforsenate.com for more information about that, and his upcoming “Howl for Dan Wolf” (seriously, dude?) at the Cotuit Art Center on Sunday, September 5. That event, featuring comedian  Jimmy Tingle, runs from 8 to 10 PM.

This Sunday is also the end-of-summer lobster and clam bake in support of Rep. Perry’s Congressional campaign. That’s at the Sandwich American Legion Hall that runs from 1 to 3 PM. Go to www.jeffperryforcongress.com for more info and to make any necessary reservations.

Stephen J. Murphy, Democratic candidate for state treasurer, will be in Hyannis on Tuesday, August 31 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. Mr. Keating is also scheduled to be at that event at the Hyannis Anglers Club House on Ocean Street.

Sheila R. Lyons, Democratic candidate for State Senator of the Cape and Islands District, is holding a fundraiser at the Anchor Inn in Hyannis on Tuesday starting at 7 PM. Go to http://sheilalyons2010.com for more info.

Steve Grossman, Democratic candidate for state treasurer, has a visit to Cape Cod planned for September as part of his “Ice Cream Tour.” He’ll be at Four Seas in Centerville from 5 to 6 PM on Friday, September 3.

F. Randal Hunt, Republican candidate for State Representative of the Fifth Barnstable District, is holding a pasta supper fundraiser at the American Legion Hall in Sandwich on Saturday, September 25 starting at 6 PM; a golf tourney fundraiser at Holly Ridge on Sunday, October 3 starting at 8:20 AM; and “Pizza & Politics with Pizzazz” at Two Brothers Pizza & Mexican in Sandwich on Monday, October 11 at 5:30 PM.

Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net

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The Week In Politics

Friday, August 20th, 2010

I lead off this week with a message to voters in the Second Barnstable District: Calm the hell down.

If you read the Beacon Hill Roll Call Report the last couple of weeks, you might have noticed that State Representative Demetrius J. Atsalis (D – Barnstable) was listed as “did not vote” on the many pieces of legislation that sped through the State House in the final week of its formal session.

The Enterprise received some reader letters expressing anger over this, assuming Rep. Atsalis just blew the votes off. Not so; he was in Sweden with his family for his father-in-law’s funeral. He didn’t get back stateside until August 3.

Bet you people feel sheepish now, huh?

***

Ah, the fun just never ends. With the whole “Flanagangate” starting to lose its steam (meaning it utterly failed to derail State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry’s (R – Sandwich) Congressional campaign, as his detractors had hoped), the blogosphere snipers are on the hunt for fresh muck to rake.

Last week Those Who Vent Their Impotent Rage From the Shadows pointed out that during his 2002 campaign, then-citizen Perry noted he had a degree from “Columbia State University,” a now-defunct “diploma mill” that awarded degrees of a suspect pedigree to its enrollees (the guy who ran the non-existent school, a former stage hypnotist, was later convicted in federal court for the scam).

In an e-mail statement to the media, a campaign mouthpiece said Rep. Perry was just one of many people duped by the faux educational institution and has long since removed the credential from his résumé.

Campaign staff for rival Joseph D. Malone, never one to squander an opportunity to score some cheap points, passed around a link to a Quincy Patriot Ledger story on the latest brouhaha. They’re calling for Rep. Perry to drop out, which is laughable, and to me indicates just how scared the Malone campaign is.

Credit where it’s due: Mr. Malone has been extremely active and visible, but he is nevertheless failing to collect campaign donations on the same level as his chief rival, he’s not topping the straw polls, and he’s not getting the big endorsements – all indicators that he has a lot of ground to cover before be can overcome Perry at the polls.

Nevertheless, this latest revelation is not doing Rep. Perry any favors. There is a little over three weeks until the primaries so it’s not at all too late for his momentum to crumble, especially if anything else embarrassing pops up.

***

A quick note on the Democratic side of things, William R. Keating has picked up an endorsement from the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts, a statewide union representing more than 12,000 firefighters from 200 fire departments throughout the Commonwealth.

***

Can you believe it? There’s yet another person running for US Representative of the 10th Congressional District.

Joseph van Nes of West Tisbury announced last week he planned to run as an unenrolled candidate on a primarily “bring the troops home” platform. That bring the current field of contenders to a total of eight – two Democrats, four Republicans, and one other unenrolled.

No, wait: make that nine. Marianne Lewis of Dedham is also in the race as an unenrolled candidate. Earlier in the season she’d been a rumored candidate but after months of dead silence and inactivity, it looks like she is indeed officially in. Her website is up at www.maryannelewiscongress.com.

Having a variety of candidates is great, having non-party choices is great, but come on, people…you can’t enter the race so late in the game and expect any kind of decent outcome. You’re barely even spoilers at this late date.

***

The Congressional race is not the only one enjoying a surge of johhny-come-latelys. Last week I reported that Republican James P. McKenna has entered the race for Massachusetts Attorney General as a write-in candidate. It seems that there’s a second Republican doing the same thing: Guy A. Carbone of Belmont.

Sigh…where were you guys earlier in the year? You know, when voters would have flocked to you to sign your nomination papers so you could more properly challenge Martha Coakley, who was widely regarded as very vulnerable after her loss in the US Senate special election?

***

Daniel A. Wolf, Democratic candidate for State Senator of the Cape and Islands District, last week received an endorsement from MassEquality for his longstanding support of same-sex couples. According to a press release, Mr. Wolf’s company Cape Air in 1996 became the first airline in the nation to offer same-sex health care benefits to its workers.

He’s also received an endorsement from the American Federation of Teachers – Massachusetts.

***

State Senator Robert A. O’Leary (D – Barnstable), candidate for Congress, last week received what you might call a composite endorsement from four former state environmental secretaries, based on Sen. O’Leary’s record on environmental issues: James Hoyte, John Devillars, Robert Durand, and John Bewick. He also got the nod from a former assistant secretary, Richard Delaney.

***

Steve Grossman, Democratic candidate for state treasurer, has a visit to Cape Cod planned for September as part of his “Ice Cream Tour.” Mr. Grossman has made a point to hit a local ice cream shop at each of his campaign stops, and on September 3 he’ll be at Four Seas in Centerville from 5 to 6 PM.

***

Mr. Grossman’s primary rival, Stephen J. Murphy, will be in Hyannis on Tuesday, August 31 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. Mr. Keating is also scheduled to be at that event at the Hyannis Anglers Club House on Ocean Street.

***

This week’s event reminders:

Mr. Wolf has a meet-and-greet in Mashpee this Sunday, August 22, from 4 to 6 PM at Starfish Restaurant at South Cape Village in Mashpee. He’ll also be at house party fundraisers in Marstons Mills on Thursday, August 26; in Osterville on Friday, August 27; and in Hyannis on Sunday, August 29. Check out his official website at www.danwolfforsenate.com for more information.

Rep. Perry’s will be held at the Aqua Grille in Sandwich on Sunday, August 22 from 4 to 6 PM, for a fundraiser hosted by Eileen DiBuono and Patricia Markoff. Sunday, August 29 is an end-of-summer lobster and clam bake at the Sandwich American Legion Hall that runs from 1 to 3 PM. Go to www.jeffperryforcongress.com for more info and to make any necessary reservations.

State Representative Susan D. William Gifford (R – Wareham) will hold her annual clambake fundraiser on Thursday, August 26 beginning at 6 PM. It’ll be held at Zecco Marine in Wareham. Go to www.susangifford.com for details.

Lance W. Lambros, Democratic candidate for State Representative of the Fifth Barnstable District, will hold a meet-and-greet on Saturday, August 28 from 4 to 7 PM at Merchants Square, at the Sandwich Democratic Headquarters annual barbecue; and on Monday, August 30 he’ll attend from 3 to 5 PM a senior citizens forum at the Barnstable Senior Center.

Sheila R. Lyons, Democratic candidate for State Senator of the Cape and Islands District, is holding a fundraiser at the Anchor Inn in Hyannis on Tuesday, August 31 starting at 7 PM. Go to http://sheilalyons2010.com for more info.

F. Randal Hunt, Republican candidate for State Representative of the Fifth Barnstable District, is holding a golf tourney fundraiser at Holly Ridge on Sunday, October 3 starting at 8:20 AM; a pasta supper fundraiser at the American Legion Hall in Sandwich on Saturday, September 25 starting at 6 PM; and “Pizza & Politics with Pizzazz” at Two Brothers Pizza & Mexican in Sandwich on Monday, October 11 at 5:30 PM.

***

Finally, from the Kick Him While He’s Down and Out (of the Race) File: Christy P. Mihos, whose second attempt at the corner office ended this year when he was shot down at the Massachusetts Republican State Convention, last week was hit with the largest fine ever handed down in Massachusetts history for campaign finance violations.

Smilin’ Christy M. agreed to pay a whopping $70,000 fine for using more than $112,000 in personal money – meaning out of his own pocket and his corporate coffers – for his ill-fated campaign, much of which was never properly reported. He’s paid half the fine already and will pay the second half in November.

Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net

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