Trane (and Curtatone) re-open Hodgkins-Curtin Park

In a moment that makes me proud to live in this city, Ward 7 Alderman Bob Trane and Mayor Curtatone re-opened the ball field at Hodgkins-Curtin park. Trane called the renovation his greatest achievement as alderman.

I'm proud to see Somerville spend money on parks and recreation in difficult economic times. It would far too easy to sacrifice 'quality-of-life' spending these days. Furthermore, skimping on such spending is, in my experience, never 'made up' when economic prosperity returns.

I didn't see the other candidates at the ceremony; however, my active imagination "added" them.

Mayor Driving Agenda (Puglia)

During her appearance on 'Greater Somerville,' Joan Whitney Puglia mentioned that she felt that the mayor was "driving the agenda" in our fair city and that the Alderman were merely reacting to that agenda.

Reading Alderman Gewirtz' comments here: http://dlvr.it/cx5Pv makes me wonder if this is what Puglia was referring to. Whether the mayor is right or wrong on this matter I am glad to hear that the Aldermen will look upon the deal with a critical eye.

I welcome the thoughts of our Ward 7 candidates on this matter.

Candidates to Appear on Greater Somerville

Joan Whitney Puglia was first on July 19.

Door to door campaigning

I saw one of the candidates (plus a volunteer) heading out for what looked like some door-to-door campaigning today. I won't mention which one as it's not relevant (and I assume they will all do such campaigning at some point).

Has your doorbell been rung by Trane, Puglia, or Ballantyne? If so, what was the "pitch"?

Joan Whitney Puglia's opening salvo

I was inclined to like Joan Whitney Puglia from the outset. Maybe I'm just a sucker for "pull oneself up the by the bootstraps" sort of story.

Joan's early use of social media (Twitter and Facebook) has been similar to Katjana Ballantyne's i.e., mostly a re-hash of a community calendar with no commentary that would hint at the candidate's position on matters. As I mentioned previously, I find this disappointing.

In mid-June, Joan's campaign released its first piece of literature. Sadly, the topic was parking fees and fines - a topic worthy, in my opinion, of a rant to 'Speak Out' but not one on which I will base my vote. One a positive note, it was Joan herself who dropped the flyer at my door -- I like a candidate who gets her hands dirty with the grunt work.

Joan - I still like your story and I'm still rooting for you but over the couple months I need to heard some 'big picture' ideas/positions from you. I need the 'vision thing' more than I need to save $10/year on my parking permit.

Curiosity about the Kat

Katjana Ballantyne's announcement back in March was the first one that I saw for Ward 7.  She seemed to hit the ground running with a campaign web site, a Facebook page, and a Twitter feed.  Her web site hints at a history of community involvement and a Google search appears to confirm it.

Due to her involvement with the Progressive Democrats of Somerville, I expected Katjana to have a slick, well-oiled campaign in place from the outset.  Instead, it seems like she's struggling through a number of missteps...

In late April Katjana held a campaign kick-off event at Orleans which seemed, from the photos on her Facebook page, to have been well attended.  But, isn't Orleans in Ward 6?  Am I being too picky to think that a Ward 7 candidate should hold her events, especially the first one, in her own ward?  (I will admit, though, that holding this event a few steps from Ward 7 isn't as bad as the Bush family raising money from Saudi oil interests.)

Next up, Katjana showed her support for local artists by attending Somerville Open Studios with her younger daughter (~ age 3).  She posted, on Facebook, some photos of herself and her daughter along with Ward 7 artist Sydney Hardin.  Those photos were pulled down quickly, however, when a commenter pointed out that Hardin's work might not be considered suitable for such a young child.  Hardin has done some work (at left) depicting another female politician so perhaps that was part of the draw to her studio.

Throughout May, Katjana used her Twitter feed to keep her prospective constituents aware of the various community events and projects e.g., the call for comments on the Green Line expansion, the mayor's meeting about the North St. playground etc.  None of these posts gave us any indication, however, of her position on the projects or whether she had similar projects in mind for our ward or city.  Perhaps, she was trying to make sure that we knew she was reading the Somerville Journal.

In late May, Katjana took a bold step by aligning herself with the Boston Bruins just before they earned their spot in the Stanley Cup Finals (so, I suppose it could have been a worse case of pandering had she waited until that berth had been secured).

In June, I expected Katjana to take the difficult stances of being "pro Mothers" and "pro Apple Pie" but, apparently she was too busy gathering signatures.

Just when my cynical heart was giving up hope, July rolled around and Katjana saw the opportunity to wrap herself in the flag - the one that suddenly was flying outside of her house.  Kudos to her for taking it in at night per the Uniform Flag Code.

Where does that leave the voters of Ward 7?

So far, Katjana Ballantyne has regurgitated the committee calendar, aligned herself with popular symbols (the flag and the Bruins) and shown, albeit briefly, that she attends local events (Open Studios).

Will she show us where she stands on any of the issues facing Somerville?  Or, can we expect more fluff (like, perhaps, campaign literature with photos of her and her daughters wearing matching clothing or maybe a photo of her petting a cute dog from Ward 7)?

[Addendum: I just noticed that The Sunsetters are performing in Ward 7 tonight - will we see a Katjana Facebook post about it?]

What about Bob?

It was April or perhaps May when Katjana Ballantyne and Joan Whitney Puglia announced their interest in running against incumbent Bob Trane.  The challengers seemed to acquire the requisite number of signatures without issue and earned their spots on the ballot.

Throughout that time, I (and probably a few others from Ward 7) have been left to wonder: "What about Bob?"

I've seen him around the neighborhood a few times this spring and the Somerville Journal reports that he is running so it seems as if we have a three-way race...  However, has he issued any evidence of a campaign or does he feel that these challengers don't merit any attention?

I can't help but wonder how he's coming with that missing paperwork.  Should a candidate be ineligible with such an outstanding obligation?

Getting started...

I created the Ward7Somerville Twitter account when Alderman candidates Ballantyne and Puglia first announced their intentions to stand for election (against incumbent Trane) in 2011.

I've followed their nascent campaigns for the past couple months with some frustration (more to come on that).  While wondering about the direction of this campaign - the only alderman race in Somerville requiring a preliminary ballot - I thought I would go ahead and create a blog as a "holding pen" for my thoughts.

This race may not hold my attention for very long, however.  Furthermore, it comes with a built-in deadline anyway so there's a chance that my thoughts will escape the holding pen and this blog will just become a place for random thoughts about my neighborhood.