Monday, November 2, 2015

Medford Local elections

Medford Local elections are tomorrow, Nov 3rd - VOTE!

Polling Times: Polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

Find your polling location:
http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.aspx

Sample Ballot:
http://www.medfordma.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/November-3-2015-Sample-Election-Ballot.pdf

I will be voting for:

BALLOT QUESTION (vote yes or no)
Should the City of Medford accept the Community Preservation Act?
YES

MAYOR (vote for 1 of 2)

Stephanie Muccini Burke
http://www.burke2016mayor.com/


CITY COUNCIL (vote for 7 of 14)

Neil Osborne 
https://neilosborneformedford.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/NeilOsborneforMedford
Present member of the Community Development Board
Comments: passionate, involved, formerly NAACP
Responded to arts survey

George A. Scarpelli 
http://www.votescarpelli.com/
https://www.facebook.com/GeorgeScarpelli1?fref=nf
Present member of the Medford School Committee
Comments: Statistical models!

Comments: supports term limits!
Attended debate

Breanna Lungo-Koehn 
No website found
Candidate for Re-nomination, Present City Councillor
Comments: Responded to arts survey

Christopher D’Aveta 

http://www.daveta.com/about-chris-daveta/
Comments: neutral - little issue substance on website
Responded to arts survey
Comments: seems slightly quirky, but passionate. Has obviously put time into understanding Medford's affairs

John C. Falco Jr. 
http://www.johnfalco.org/home.html
Current Vice Chair of the Medford School Committee
Responded to arts survey

---------------------
NOT voting for:

MAYOR

Bob Pent
https://www.facebook.com/PentaForMedford/


CITY COUNCIL

Michael J. Marks
http://marksformedford.com/
Comments: No - 14 years incumbent
Responded to arts survey

Frederick N. Dello Russo Jr.
No website found.
Candidate for Re-nomination, Present City Councillor, Council President
Comments: No - 10 year incumbent
Attended debate

Neal E. McSweeney
No website found
Comments: Attended debate

Adam Knight 
http://www.knight4council.com/
https://www.facebook.com/knight4council?fref=nf
Candidate for Re-nomination, Present City Councillor
Comments: nothing wrong with him, but not interesting. 
Attended debate

William J. O’Keefe Jr.
https://www.facebook.com/okeefecitycouncil
http://www.billokeefe.com/
Former member of the Medford School Committee
Comments: No - incoherent on website
Attended debate

Richard F. Caraviello
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rick-Caraviello-Medford-City-Council/149545795113929
Candidate for Re-nomination, Present City Councillor, 4 years
Comments: No? virtually no info

Leonore J. Eforo 
No website found

----------
Failing to vote on:

SCHOOL COMMITTEE

Ann Marie Cugno, Erin A. Dibenedetto, Robert Emmett Skerry Jr., Paulette H. Van Der Kloot, John J. Amirault, Kathleen P. Kreatz, David J. McKillop Jr., Christopher Adam Murphy, Mea Quinn Mustone, Jane M. Wright

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Medford Preliminary Election 2015

Hey Medford,

2015 is an off-year for most major elections, but there will be local elections in Medford for City Council, School Committee, and Mayor. Given that Medford has had the same Mayor for 28 years (what?!), this is actually pretty exciting.

The Preliminary is this Tuesday, Sept 1st

Only City Council has sufficient candidates to require a preliminary election, so only that office will be on the prelim ballot. The field of 16 candidates will be narrowed to the top 14. You will be asked to indicate up to 7 candidates you'd like to vote for. 

Below are the candidates (in ballot order), with links to their web presences, where I could find them. I'll be voting for the folks with * next to their names. I had trouble selecting candidates to support, given that I'm not terribly familiar with or passionate about most of the local issues. 

My selection processes:
1. Website required (Facebook acceptable) - if a candidate can't wrangle at least a Facebook or blogspot page to say a few words about their candidacy, I suspect they're too far behind the times for me. 
2. Not a more than 10 year incumbent on the Council - Yes this is a little arbitrary, but remember that the mayor has been in office for 28 years. Medford could use some new blood. 
3. The issues, etc: support for data/study based development of Medford's resources, support for investment in local library and school programs, support for reviewing Medford's charter and reforming system of representation and distribution of power between mayor and council, history of involvement in local organizations, general coherency of written statements (a couple failed this point).

I'll be voting for Breanna Lungo-Koehn despite failing both criteria 1 and 2, as she is the only female candidate out of the 16 :( She also seems really awesome. She was elected to the Council 14 years ago when she was only 21 and sounds like she has done some good things since. Read More

If you're not registered to vote, or if you need to update your registration, good new! Massachusetts now lets you register online if you have an MA ID:
https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ovr/
Do it now, and you'd be ready for the full election in November, as well as all the excitement of 2016.

Leonore J. Eforo
No website found

Mark C. Crowley *
http://www.crowleyformedford.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CrowleyForMedford

Christopher D’Aveta

http://www.daveta.com/about-chris-daveta/
Comments: neutral - little issue substance on website

William J. O’Keefe Jr.
https://www.facebook.com/okeefecitycouncil
http://www.billokeefe.com/
Former member of the Medford School Committee
Comments: No - incoherent on website

Michael C. Ruggiero *
https://www.facebook.com/takegovernment
http://takegovernment.com/
Comments: seems slightly quirky, but passionate. Has obviously put time into understanding Medford's affairs

Michael J. Marks
http://marksformedford.com/
Comments: No - 14 years incumbent

Frederick N. Dello Russo Jr.
No website found.
Candidate for Re-nomination, Present City Councillor, Council President
Comments: No - 10 year incumbent

Neal E. McSweeney
No website found

Mario Martin *
https://www.facebook.com/MarioMartinMA
http://www.mariomartin.org/
Comments: young, out of town, supports charter review

Brian Chamberlain
No website found

Neil Osborne *
https://neilosborneformedford.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/NeilOsborneforMedford
Present member of the Community Development Board
Comments: passionate, involved, formerly NAACP

George A. Scarpelli *
http://www.votescarpelli.com/
https://www.facebook.com/GeorgeScarpelli1?fref=nf
Present member of the Medford School Committee
Comments: Statistical models!

Adam Knight *
http://www.knight4council.com/
https://www.facebook.com/knight4council?fref=nf
Candidate for Re-nomination, Present City Councillor

Richard F. Caraviello
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rick-Caraviello-Medford-City-Council/149545795113929
Candidate for Re-nomination, Present City Councillor, 4 years
Comments: No? virtually no info

John C. Falco Jr.
No website found
Current Vice Chair of the Medford School Committee

Breanna Lungo-Koehn *
No website found
Candidate for Re-nomination, Present City Councillor

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Recommended Reading: Putin's Russia

The New Yorker Out Loud Podcast - Putin's Russia

Conducted just days before Russia's intervention in Ukraine, this discussion gives interesting insight into Russia's, which is to say Putin's, behavior with regards to Ukraine, LGBT issues, and Russia's aggressive posturing generally.

TL;DR    Russia (Putin) is suffering a crisis of identity rooted in the humiliating disintegration of the Soviet Union, and is attempting to rebuild a strong national identity that distinguishes itself from the West. Putin is also terrified of an Egypt- or Ukraine-style overthrow and suspicious that the West may foster one.

Notable excerpts*: 

...in 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed and what followed was a decade...[that] was one humiliation after another: NATO expanded , the Warsaw Pact disappeared, the economy collapsed, ... millions ..of Russians were now parts of other countries: Kazakhstan, Ukraine

Interest in that part of the world fell of the cliff following 1991. They were no longer the great Other, they were just another problem area of the world... this is part of what frustrates and humiliates somebody like Putin. He wants to be the Other.

Part of the way he's trying to establish himself as a rival, reestablish Russia...is to create a new state ideology of Russian nationalism that's tied to a certain kind of moral conservatism

...what Putin is saying implicitly is "back off, back off. Why should it be that we have to develop at exactly the same rate as you do, on every issue?" He's extremely sensitive about and angry about Western moralizing, Western grandstanding, Western interference in the sphere of Russia's perceived influence. That's the source of the conflict.

Russia, in his [Putin's] view, needs a new sense of itself, it needs more confidence, it can't be in a constant state of self humiliation and self criticism and defeatism.

Two years ago there were big demonstrations on the street. this is something that Putin could not countenance. when Putin sees things like Tahrir square and now Maidan square in Kiev [Ukraine]...that is the ultimate fear, that somehow ..with Western complicity and Western funding, this could happen in Moscow. 

*imperfectly transcribed by me from the audio

Monday, November 4, 2013

Nov 5th: Medford Local Elections

Tomorrow, November 5th, is the Medford municipal election for mayor, city council, and school committee. Polls will be open from 7am to 8pm. You can check your polling location here.
 
Mayor
The mayoral election features 13 term (26 year) mayor Michael J. McGlynn against challenger Anthony D'Antonio. 

Mayor Michael J. McGlynn  City mayor website  WickedLocal article
Anthony D’Antonio   Campaign website  WickedLocal article 
 
I'll be voting for Anthony D'Antonio over Mayor McGlynn, in large part because I think 26 years is quite enough for anyone to hold the same office. McGlynn has done some good work, but seems focused primarily on finishing the projects he has already started, not taking on new challenges. I'm also strongly swayed by the fact that D'Antonio advocates a modernized, user-friendly website for the city which I must say it desperately needs. Mayor McGlynn doesn't see the need for making information on project bids and city spending available online. He strikes me as behind the times in terms of technology - he doesn't even have a personal/campaign website. I honestly can't say I think D'Antonio is brilliant, but I sure do think McGlynn's time has past.

City Council
The Medford city council consists of 7 seats for a term of 2 years. All 7 seats are up for re-election tomorrow. There are 13 candidates: 6 incumbents and 7 challengers. You can vote for up to 7 candidates.

Incumbents;
Robert Penta   WickedLocal article
Breanna Lungo-Koehn   WickedLocal article
Michael Marks   WickedLocal article   Campaign website
Paul Camuso   WickedLocal article
Fred Dello Russo Jr.   WickedLocal article
Rick Caraviello   WickedLocal article   Campaign website

Challengers:
Bob Fitzpatrick   WickedLocal article   Campaign website
Neil Osborne   WickedLocal article   Campaign website
Jim Morse   WickedLocal article   Campaign website
Jeanne Martin   WickedLocal article   Campaign website
Robert Cappucci   WickedLocal article
Adam Knight    WickedLocal article   Campaign website
Mark Crowley   WickedLocal article   Campaign website

Choosing City Council candidates was a challenge for me. First, there are 13 candidates running for 7 seats; that's a lot of individuals to investigate. Second, none of the major issues in the race matter much to me: the building of a parking garage in the square, the enforcement of parking restrictions, the renovation of the police station. I don't really care what is decided on these. So as a first pass at narrowing down the candidates, I looked to see which ones have campaign websites. In my opinion, if you're running for election and don't have a website in 2013, you're not prepared for the present, much less the future. Sadly but unsurprisingly, that narrowed the field from 13 to 8. I'll be voting for:
 
Adam Knight
Mark Crowley
Neil Osborne
Bob Fitzpatrick
Rick Caraviello
Michael Marks
Jeanne Martin 
 
School Committee 
The Medford school committee is a 6 person body, elected every 2 years. This year, the 6 incumbents are running unopposed. You could write in an alternative, but otherwise these 6 will be re-elected.
 
John Falco, Erin DiBenedetto, Ann Marie Cugno, Paulette Van der Kloot, George Scarpelli and Robert E. Skerry Jr.
 

Useful in writing this post was:

Monday, October 14, 2013

Vote 'em out! Wait, vote Brownsberger in!

Hey Medford, Waltham, Revere, Melrose, Natick, Framingham friends (and the rest of MA 5th Congressional district)! Know how it feels like Congress isn't representing us right now? It's literally true, because we don't have a Representative in the House at the moment.

The primary for the special election to fill now-Senator Ed Markey's former congressional seat is TOMORROW, October 15th.

If you want to check if this election is relevant to you, enter your address here and scroll to the bottom of the results. If you see "Congressional: VACANT  --  FIFTH DISTRICT", then this is for you. That page also reminds you where your polling station is.

I'll be voting in the Democratic primary for State Senator Will Brownsberger. He strikes me as a strong liberal with a particularly open-minded. Congress is suffering from a plague of absolutist thinking. Brownsberger understands that for government to function, both parties need to be willing to negotiate on all the issues. 

I am favorably impressed by his concern about privacy issues and support for pro-privacy legislation in MA, including opposing the expansion of wire tapping to include those suspected of minor offenses like drug possession, cosponsoring the Electronic Privacy Act which would update and strengthen protections related to email, phone, and location data, and cosponsoring the Act to Regulate the Use of Automatic License Plate Reader Systems. 

I am also totally wowed by his engagement with constituents. Where most politicians have an "On this Issues" page with brief, vague paragraphs, Brownsberger's website includes discussion forums where he not only answers questions, but actually engages in back and forth dialog with anyone who wants to write to him. Way to engage with constituents in the 21st century.

Read more about Brownsberger and the other Democratic candidates on their campaign websites (vaguely ordered by my preference): 


If you're voting in the Republican primary, your options are (not ordered): 


Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Supreme Court Learnings, Courtesy of SCOTUSblog

In anticipation of the recent Supreme Court decisions on same-sex marriage, I spent a lot of time reading SCOTUSblog's liveblog about what was going on in the court room. Here's some of what I learned about how the Supreme Court works:

  • The Supreme Court announces its decisions on specified "decision days"
  • The Court does not notify anyone ahead of time about which decisions will be handed down on which decision days. This causes significant anticipation among interested parties and the media as they attend decision day after decision day hoping to hear about they cases they're interested in.
  • Copies of the decisions are printed out and carried into the court room in cardboard boxes to be handed out. The number of boxes is used as an early indicator of approximately how many decisions will be handed down that day. It's not 1:1 box:decision. Three boxes may indicate 3-5 decisions, for example.
  • The Justices divide up the writing of the decisions roughly equally. There is much speculation on how cases will be decided based on who might be writing which opinion. (A member of the majority writes the majority opinion.)
  • The Justice who was the primary author of the decision announces it on decision day. They may read the decision in full or in part or make other comments. Dissenting Justices occasionally read their dissents or make comments.
  • Nobody can adequately explain why the Court doesn't allow live audio streaming of decisions, or even release recordings at a later date. The media is not allowed to record or stream either. There is literally no record of the Justices' decision day comments (if they vary from simply reading the opinions).
  • The Justices announce decisions each decision day in reverse seniority order, so the most junior Justice with a decision to announce that day will start.
  • 80-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg can do 20 pushups
  • Justice Ginsburg rides a flying unicorn to the Court everyday that leaves a rainbow trail in the sky behind it...
 

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Supreme Court Rulings on Gay Marriage Expected This Week - It's gonna be big (but not as big as it could be)

Back in March, the Supreme Court of the United States considered two majorly important cases regarding gay marriage. Those of you on Facebook probably remember all the equals sign profile pictures. The official decisions in these cases are expected this week, possibly as early as Monday.


Back in March when the hearing were happening, I listed to the audio recordings of the oral arguments and found them absolutely fascinating. I wanted to share some of my thoughts and predictions, as well as a brief background on what the cases are about and their possible implications.

If you've never listened to a Supreme Court debate before, you may be surprised at how lively they can be. The lawyers for each side speak directly to the 9 justices, who frequently interrupt with questions, thoughts, criticisms, and even jokes. Highly entertaining!

Here are the links to the audio recordings if you'd like to listen for yourself. (Do it!)  

Background: 

The Court first heard Hollingsworth v. Perry, a challenge to California's ban on same-sex marriages. Second was United States v. Windsor, a challenge to a provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as between a man and a woman and prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, even those legally performed in states that allow it.

Even aside from the weighty substantive questions, both these cases bring up very interesting questions of standing, that is, do the parties involved have a legal right to represent their sides. 

In Hollingsworth v. Perry, the state of California (i.e. the Attorney General and the Governor) refused to defend the statute, so the defense was taken up by the official proponents of Proposition 8 (the ballot initiate that declared same-sex marriage unconstitutional after it had been briefly legalized and many marriages performed). This is highly unusual, if not unprecedented, and the Supreme Court seems to be in some doubt as to whether they should be allowed to do so. 

In United States v. Windsor, the Obama administration has abandoned the defense of DOMA on the basis that it is unconstitutional, and it was taken over by the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) of the House of Representatives. The Supreme Court has expressed concern over whether Obama's abandonment is appropriate and whether BLAG's takeover of the defense is permissible, especially considering that the Obama administration continues to enforce DOMA, while at the same time calling it unconstitutional. 

Here are some of the things that jumped out at me. Note that this is not an attempt at a complete summary or impartial analysis. Note also that I have no legal training or expertise. I strongly encourage you to listen for yourself, and I'd love to hear what you think.  

Hollingsworth v. Perry

Standing question: Do the proponents of Prop 8 have standing to defend California's gay marriage ban when the state refuses to do so?
Defense: Yes, given that this was a referendum question, allowing the state to let it be struck by refusing to defend it essentially gives the state veto power over an action of the people. Purpose of referendum is to circumvent public officials, so if the public officials fail to defend it, someone else must be allowed to do so. 

Merits:
Q: Is there any other circumstance where sexual orientation can be used to discriminate?
A: No - the lawyer for Prop 8 (Defense) couldn't think of a single example
Defense's Argument: Redefining marriage as a genderless institution will sever its abiding connection to its historic traditional procreative purpose and will refocus purpose of marriage from raising children to fulfilling the emotional needs of adults. The state has an interest in marriage as furthering responsible procreation.

Argument:
Infertile straight persons have a right to marry, therefore, lack of fertility can't be used as a basis for excluding gays from marriage
Some really funny back and forth between Justice Kagan and the Defense over the fertility of elderly straight couples. 

Q: When did it become unconstitutional to exclude gays from marriage?
A: When we decided sexual orientation was not a basis for discrimination

37,000 kids in CA with same sex parents
Netherlands in 2000 was the first country to legalize same sex marriage

Interesting quandary:
There's an inconsistency in saying that states that grant civil unions have a higher burden - that of granting marriage, than states that grant no rights. If you've done more, you have to do it all, where as if you've done nothing - you need do nothing.

Q: For every legitimate purpose of marriage, are same sex and opposite sex couples indistinguishable?
If yes, then no basis to discriminate
If no, (i.e. ability to have children, welfare of children) then there may be basis to discriminate
California has already established gay couples as indistinguishable for the purpose of raising children by allowing gay couples to adopt - therefore that argument doesn't apply in CA. 

Waiting is not a neutral act - it denies parents right to marry, denies children the stability of married parents

United States v. Windsor

Standing:
The legal situation here approaches the hilarious in that the United States government, the named defendant who would normally be defending the law, has actually taken the side of the plaintiff, Windsor, and asked the court to rule for Windsor and against themselves! Thus, the Congressional group BLAG, mentioned above, has taken over the defense. All 3 parties (BLAG, Windsor, and the United States) agree that BLAG should be allowed to do this, but the Supreme Court wasn't sure it agreed, so it appointed an outside party to present the argument that BLAG should NOT be allowed to take up the defense! Fascinating.

Merits:
BLAG's argument is that the Federal government's is attempting to act in an even-handed way by establishing its own single definition of marriage. That its defining marriage as between a man and a woman is actually an attempt to stay out of the fight and treat all states the same while they work out the definition of marriage on their own.

This is an interesting argument. At least one Justice was not impressed, asking if the government could then choose any arbitrary definition of marriage, as long as it applied it evenhandedly to all states.  

Outcomes and Predictions:

I found this wonderful flow chart of the likely outcomes of these cases.

After listening to the questions and comments of the Justices (admittedly, notoriously unreliable in predicting actual decisions), here are my best guesses at what the Court will rule: 

Hollingsworth v. Perry (Prop 8): I think the Supreme Court will dodge the merits of this case and kick it on standing, ruling that the proponents of Prop 8 do not have legal right to defend the law. That would leave in place the lower federal court ruling striking down Prop 8 and allowing gay marriage to resume in California, without any effect on other states.

As much as I want gay marriage to be restored in CA, I think this would be an unfortunate ruling. It would give the state government a back door veto to any referendum question by simply refusing to defend it. If the government is to be allowed to abandon defense of a law, someone needs to be allowed to step up and defend it, and here that should be the proponents of the legislation. I think the Court is not ready to make a sweeping ruling that would legalize gay marriage country-wide and will, unfortunately, take this opportunity to put it off for another day. 

United States v. Windsor (DOMA): I believe the Court will decide that defining marriage is a power held by the states and that the Federal government should not interfere, thus striking down DOMA's definition of marriage and forcing the Federal government to recognize same sex marriages performed in states that allow them. The 4 liberal justices will see it as a mater of gay rights, and conservative Justice Thomas will cast the deciding vote on states rights grounds. I could even see Chief Justice Roberts getting on board here. Gay couples legally married in their states would then be able to file taxes and inherit property as other married couples, sponsor their foreign spouses for citizenship, etc.

What do you think will happen? If you have thoughts, especially if you've listened to the transcripts, I would love to talk to you or hear what you think here!