Chronicle bull !
Anyone see the WCVB Chronicle program tonight ?
Linda O represented the realtors.
MHRC put forth a nice Indian woman (who works for the Planning office) to counter school OCR violations.
Joy Boot Camp "friend of the Mayor" bragged that the Mayor takes her yoga classes.
Denise "smart growth" Gaffey earns her paycheck.
Joe Nevin's Moynihan building project is highlighted.
State of police, fire and Memorial Hall buildings aren't on camera.
The Mayor's Godfather (who goes to court next week for stealing Cemetary funds) wasn't profiled.
Melrose has a lot to offer but is far from perfect.
PR firm earns their paycheck.
Spin City !
Visited here for the first time in a while to see the reaction by the Melrose haters to the great coverage that our fine city got last night on Chronicle. At first I was a little disappointed at only two whiners out here, but I think it is clear to everyone now that this is simply one of the the best cities in the country with one of the best Mayors. If you really don't like it here you are crazy not to sell and move. The Real Estate market is on fire. Melrose is great. Those that live here, both long term residents and newbies, are all coexisting tremendously and the city is fantastic.
To all of the Dolan haters out there that have been bashing him for years, I think it is time for you to wave the white flag. Not only has Dolan given this city the recognition it deserves locally; it now is getting national attention.
Great job Dolan and thank you for the increase in my property values!
http://www.wcvb.com/article/super-towns-melrose/8568122
As someone who does love this city, grotesque flaws and all, this piece is especially offensive.
And of course Dolan has to insert his not-subtle and totally gratuitous slam at Malden. Predictably it's Linda O speaking as the local authority. What BS. And they have a lot of nerve trying to claim the schools are a primary reason for the city's greatness. It was once true that the city had decent, if mediocre, schools. Now however they are a cesspool of subpar staff, underperforming students, and heinously bad administrators across the board. How about the "racially hostile environment" that the federal Office of Civil Rights labeled the city/schools with less than a year ago? They are so brazenly contemptuous that they think trotting out a new naive resident who happens to be a female of Indian descent (whom RD crassly and immediately placed on his pretend "human rights commission") that all about the city's dirty racist behavior (which is ongoing) is forgotten. All superficial, silly, ironic, and a slap in the face to the citizens who know the truth and want good things for our community, starting with an honest reckoning.
How about that forensic audit that is now totally necessary in view of the indictment of the mayor's godfather/former chief of staff/Superintendent of Wyoming Cemetery?
How about fixing the pathetic and grossly flawed document that is our city charter?
There it is! That is the type of hysterical reaction I was looking for. I am glad that the fraudulent anti-Melrose crowd on MelroseMessages did not dissapoint. Let's hear from more of you as to how horrible this town is as our home values skyrocket; kids head off to the ivy leagues and the restaurant scene continues to flourish. Haha! Don't kick your dog today, it isn't his fault!
Awesome. I too love Melrose but please tell me what continues to be your fascination with the ivy leagues? Is that the be all and end all of education to you? You do know there are alot of other great schools that melrose sudents attend.
"Awesome" is just ClownPatrol/Vuvu with another troll name. Same stupid posts, always some inanity about Ivies, sometimes a booya thrown in just to emphasize the mindless idiocy of this poster. No point in trying to reason with this kind of poster.
We have a school system in chaos, new admin staff coming and going into the system thus creating continuity issues, poor teacher morale and why not given the OCR findings and more on the way, and how can forget our decrepit safety buildings - police & fire! Bet they didn't highlight these buildings in the segment.
I enjoyed the program! They must have done a horrible job at promo for the Moynihan building because that was the first I heard of the new building there. I was wondering what they were going to do.
I do object to the constant realtor classifications of Melrose as being such a great place. It shouldn't be all about sales. While it's nice that many people obviously want to move to Melrose, I think it's more relevant to know why people want to STAY in Melrose. They're the ones who actually know what's going on.
And guys, you really need to stop nitpicking about small problems. The state of Memorial Hall isn't great, but why on Earth would it prevent someone from wanting to move to Melrose? There are a lot of factors that go into someone's decision to move. I think the transit options, general location and housing stock are great. There are problems with the schools, but kids are still going to top rated colleges? The police are understaffed and are in an old building, but crime isn't out of control?
Let's look at the big picture. Some things suck, but overall, Melrose is still pretty good compared to other cities.
There is definitely two sides to this. I'm speaking on the mayor's success and his downfalls. Rob Dolan is a smart man, especially when it comes to fiscal responsibility. I know someone will argue that point, and so be it, but that is my belief. He is a genius when it comes to the audience he's playing. He knows that the young families in this city are his ticket and he rolls with it. The schools, while still not great, ARE improving. And this coming from a long time critic of our school system. Slowly but surely. His smart growth plan so far is a success, once again, definitely debatable, but I stand by my statement. The downtown is great, simply fantastic. It is flourishing, especially compared to surrounding cities and towns. And from a commercial stand point it is not just down town, you have business on Franklin Street now popping up. I'm still waiting for someone to open a sports bar or pub ;)
On the other end of the spectrum you have his faults. From what I've heard, he is not the friendliest of men. Short temper, with a little man syndrome like you read about. But then again, he is a politician, smile in your face stab you in the back. The traffic/parking situation is awful, but how much of that is his fault? We are a Boston Metro City.....and we've been "discovered" for lack of a better term, this was going to happen under him or any other mayor. But the fact remains traffic and parking suck. Our public safety buildings, I mean, what else is there to say that hasn't already been said. He has let these buildings come to the point of "we must act." Literally, he waited so long they're now screwed if they DON'T do something. City could face some liability if anything happens in or around these buildings. The override, which will go down in my mind as his biggest loss. The city fed him a beating that he will never forget, and I still don't think he is over it.
I agree with your overall, honest assessment above - and I have lived in this city for many decades through many administrations. However, I am disappointed in the personal weaknesses of the Mayor and in particular his temperament and how he talks so readily with anyone about someone else's problems or issues. This is a character defect and he makes no effort to correct or control it. By now he should have mastered how to control his temper and refrain from being a busy-body! Also, he did the city a big disservice when he got himself on the school committee - I realize he thinks that this has been good for him - but not so - we should have an independent city school department - there is so much more collusion going on between the Mayor and the school department which impacts public transparency or lack of it. Sadly, the Major has turned into a power-hungry political hack - who will be looking for a big payoff when he leaves office - like all hacks! The Mayor's position should be term-limited!