Ballantyne Denounces PDS

“I’m really happy to have gotten their endorsement,” said Ballantyne. “I’m not fully aware of what their process is because I’m not a PDS member.”

Unfortunately, that quote sounds less like a denouncement than it sounds like a wishy-washy non-apology apology.

Full Story:
Somerville Journal

Meaning of "Soon"

How about a break from all this election talk? Sound good?
Great, let's get some lunch at that new Indian & Nepali restaurant in Teele Square...

Oh wait - it's not open yet. Damn. It seems like forever since Top Top Thai shut down and it seems like forever since work started and the sign went up on Masala.

In late March I bumped into the owner of Masala as he and a contractor were leaving the restaurant. I asked when we could expect the place to be open for business and he told me, "April 15" - I guess I should have asked which year.

Countdown to Preliminary Election

The Preliminary Election is fast-approaching below is a reminder of the key deadlines remaining:

Event	Date
Registration or Change of Address for Voting in Preliminary Election (last day)	Aug. 24 8:00 p.m.
Preliminary Election	Sep. 13
Registration or Change of Address for Voting in City Election (last day)	Oct. 19 8:00 p.m.
City Election	Nov. 8

Also, note that the polling place for Ward 7 Precinct 3 has been moved to The Visiting Nurse's Association Assisted Living Facility located at 405 Alewife Brook Parkway (Map). Formerly, Precinct 3 voters used the West Somerville Neighborhood School on Powderhouse Blvd.

Election Department Links:
Calendar
Polling Places
Preliminary Election Sample Ballot (PDF)
General

Incumbent Spotted at SomerStreets

Bob Trane himself was out greeting the citizenry at today's SomerStreets and he also had a table setup for distributing cold refreshments (no proof of Ward 7 residence required).

Not seen (at Going Green on Rt. 16) during my short stay were the two challengers including the one who is, according to her web site, currently working to start in a new company in the green economy.

Follow-Up On PDS Endorsement

Reading through the comments regarding Barry Rafkin's post I find myself wondering...

a) Why the PDS members who are commenting do not mention the obvious bias that was shown by the organization in sharing, on its web site, ONLY Katjana Ballantyne's announcement?

b) If, as it seems to me, the PDS members are so set against the re-election of Bob Trane, why they aren't expressing, specifically, how Trane has failed them. I admit to some guilt at how rarely I mention Trane on this blog. But, as he continues to be a 'stealth candidate' I find it increasingly difficult to find him on the 'election radar.'

From the comments of the PDS members it seems that they would rank the candidates thusly:

1) Katjana Ballantyne
2) Joan Whitney Puglia
3) Rick Perry
4) Bob Trane

If that is how they feel then I would like to see them expend some effort explaining why Trane is last on the list so that the voters of Ward 7 will find themselves faced with a Ballantyne-Puglia choice in November. Please, put aside your silly spat and works towards improved representation as the principal goal.

Candidates and New Media

I mentioned yesterday that Katjana Ballantyne 'blocks' me on Twitter which I take a sign that she struggles with listening to those who say things that she finds unpleasant (it's also a little silly because I CAN still read her Tweets).

Can we learn anything about the candidate from the people & organizations that she listens to ('Follows' in Twitter-speak)?

Who Katjana Ballantyne follows

Hmm, Ballantyne doesn't follow anyone. How is she going to represent the citizens of Ward 7 if she doesn't listen to them and to others who may have something to say about the issues?

Who Joan Puglia Follows

Puglia follows a mix of politicians, media sources, arts groups, community activists etc. It's good to know that Puglia is paying attention to the diverse constituencies that make up our ward and Somerville in general.

For comparison, let's include Ward 4 candidate Christine Barber
Who Christine Barber follows

Well, it looks like Barber pays attention to the same type of information as Puglia.

Now, I'm not such a 'New Media' junkie as to believe that it is the one true path to knowledge and understanding. However, in the spring when Puglia and Ballantyne announced their candidacies and setup their web-sites and twitter-feeds I thought Ward 7 might benefit from an increase in information from them. So far, I've seen web-site updates from Puglia and none from Ballantyne and as mentioned above it seems that Puglia, alone, is using Twitter to listen and to share her positions.

Is This An Example of 'Open and Inclusive'?

Do we want an Alderman who "sticks her fingers in her ears" when she doesn't like what is being said?

Boston Globe Catches-Up on Story of PDS Chicanery

I'm glad to see The Boston Globe has picked-up on the story of the Progressive Democrats of Somerville's endorsement chicanery and have pinned-down Chairman Marty Martinez on the matter of Joan Whitney Puglia's questionnaire:

The full Globe story is here:
Whitney Puglia calls out Somerville Progressive Democrats

Also this morning, the Somerville News alleges that Katjana Ballantyne lied to her PDS cronies about voting Republican in 2006:
Newstalk – August 17

A Closer Look at Puglia's Responses

As mentioned earlier, Joan Whitney Puglia did respond to the Progressive Democrats questionnaire (despite what the PDS web site says and despite what was, according to Puglia, told to a Boston Globe correspondent). While the PDS site does not display Puglia's responses, they can be found here on Puglia's web site. Let's take a look at some of those responses...

1. 'Adjustment of education records' has me confused right off the bat. Puglia may have wanted to explain this reply more thoroughly as I simply do not understand what adjustments might be required for members of the GLBT community (unless, like me, those members earned a 'C' in a summer class because sailing in the harbor seemed more attractive than studying).

2. Excellent response. Puglia actually lists three things that should would work to accomplish rather than simply spouting three vague themes (like, for instance, "open, inclusive government, affordability and local jobs").

3. Here again, I think we see a 'more concrete' reply from Puglia than we saw from the other challenger. I will admit - and this probably prevents me from ever earning a 'progressive' endorsement - that this is a hot-button issue for me. In my opinion, when government seeks to keep privately-owned housing affordable, the landlords/property owners are left holding the bag or are more inclined to allow the property to decay thus harming the neighborhood.

4. Once again Puglia shows 'real world' wisdom rather than engaging in the type of 'politician-speak' of Ms. Ballantyne.

5. As I mentioned in the look at Ballantyne's responses, I think Somerville would be better off with a Wal*Mart than it is with an empty space.

6. Another point for Puglia as she points out, in my opinion, how silly the question is.

7. Puglia points out her experience in supporting candidates.

8. An easy issue for all candidates to support.

9. Hold on, Joan -- we need you take a stance on plastic bags! ;)

Having read the responses of the two challengers and the pages of the Progressive Democrats web site, I have cocluded that I am not qualified to make the determination regarding which of these candidates should win the title of Ms. Progressive. It is, however, clear to me which of these two challengers knows how to give a straight-forward answer to the question that is asked.

I believe that Puglia did the right thing by choosing not to seek the endorsement of the PDS. Further, the PDS should be grateful that she did so as they would have looked even sillier and more disingenuous had they endorsed Ballantyne after giving consideration to both sets of responses.

Lie Down with Dogs - Wake Up with Fleas

I've given more thought to the endorsement of Katjana Ballantyne by the Progressive Democrats of Somerville (PDS) and exchanged e-mails with Marty Martinez, chair of PDS, and with Barry Rafkind of Joan Puglia's campaign.

I asked Rafkind why Puglia had not sent responses to the PDS's questionnaire. Rafkind responded that Puglia had sent responses but had then informed PDS that Puglia would not be seeking their endorsement due to the appearance of bias towards Ballantyne by PDS. The bias that Rafkind refers to is that PDS had included, on their website, Ballantyne's campaign announcement (and no such announcements by other candidates):

Martinez confirms that responses were submitted by Puglia and that, through an unnamed PDS member, Puglia informed PDS that she was not seeking their endorsement.

By my system, these events result in a score of -2 for PDS (-1 each for displaying Ballantyne's announcement exclusively and for failing to display Puglia's responses) and a score of +1 for Puglia for refusing to associate herself with, by seeking the endorsement of, PDS.

Given the shameful behavior of PDS, I call on At-Large candidates Bill White and Dennis Sullivan, Ward 4 candidate Christine Barber, and Ward 7 candidate Katjana Ballantyne to renounce the endorsement of PDS lest they be considered tainted by the 'fleas' of the biased PDS 'dogs.'

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When I wrote the above, I had not realized that Puglia had posted her PDS responses and her own telling of the bias-story.

As I did with Ballantyne's responses, I will be taking a closer look and posting about Puglia's.

More on Ballantyne PDS-Response #9

I will work to make Ward 7 more bicycle-friendly, to discourage the use of plastic bags and plastic water bottles

Ms. Ballantyne, you may want to have a word with your husband who was just spotted (thanks, Correspondent X) leaving Johnnie's Foodmaster with a plastic/paper combo bag. Or, is he a Trane or Puglia supporter?

Puglia Supports Zoning Reform

Puglia Supports Zoning Reform

Now, there's an actual POSITION being taken by a candidate. Good for you, Joan.

Small Number of People Choose Ballantyne

As expected, the Progressive Democrats of Somerville have endorsed Katjana Ballantyne in the Ward 7 race. Based on the Boston.com story, we can conclude that a small number of people, when given no other choice, support Ballantyne's candidacy.

The group did not receive responses to questionnaires sent to incumbents Bruce Desmond (at-large) and Bob Trane (Ward 7), or challengers Joan Whitney Puglia (Ward 7) and Tony Lafuente, said PDS chair Marty Martinez.

...

Endorsements require a two-thirds vote of the active members in attendance. About 25 of the group's approximately 75 active members showed up, said Martinez, plus some observers. The listserv has just over 250 subscribers.

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Progressive Democrats to Issue Endorsements Tonight

The Progressive Democrats of Somerville are holding their endorsement meeting tonight at 6:30 at the VNA on Lowell St.

It seems pretty likely that Katjana Ballantyne will receive the 'nod' for Ward 7 Alderman as she appears to be the only candidate seeking the endorsement. Ballantyne's responses are here. The short version goes like this: blah blah blah open, inclusive government; accessibility; jobs blah blah blah.

I'm not sure if the other candidates see no value in the endorsement or whether they just failed to get their 'homework' in on time. Perhaps they simply expect the PDS to put their stamp of approval on the insider and thus did not bother to reply.

My thoughts on Ballantyne's responses...

Question #1: 'Worked on initiatives...' sounds like the resume' bullet in which one vaguely attempts to take credit for the accomplishments of others ('Was part of the team that...').

Question #2: You listed 3 themes rather than 3 agenda items. Tell us what your goals are.

Question #3: How are you going to actively seek-out complimentary [sic] businesses...? Are you going to cold call manufacturers and ask them to relocate their plants to Somerville? Have you got any leads?

Question #4: Aah, the return of Dilbert's 'best practices.'

Question #5: Is the empty (former Circuit City) space better than a Wal-Mart?

Question #6: I would like to hear more about these accomplishments (perhaps they would have made a better reply to Question #1).

Question #9: As in Question #3, I think you meant 'complementary.' As for the Dilboy Stadium and surrounding green-space, Alderman Trane seems to have already worked, successfully, towards that goal (as he mentioned at the Hodgkins-Curtin opening).

Ballantyne appearance on 'Greater Somerville'

As with Joan Whitney Puglia's visit, we learned quite a bit about how Joe Lynch feels on the issues (suggestion for you, Joe: ask the question and let the guest speak - start at 14:30 for a lengthy Joe-speech).

As the Green Line Extension (GLX) has been in the news lately, it was no surprise that this topic was first. Ballantyne seem unsure whether Ward 7 residents are going to be discussing this with her or whether they already had done so.

The most interesting part of the program, for me, was when Lynch asked Ballantyne about the Powder House Community School and what the city should do with that site (approx. 7:15 mark).
Ballantyne used this question to talk about her main themes: Open & Accessible Government, Affordability, and Jobs. Fluff, fluff, fluff in stead of an answer to a specific question.
Later, Joe brings her back to the specific issue and she answered by merely discussing what ideas had been discussed at community meetings and focus groups.

As a resident of Ward 7, I certainly want to have my voice heard on this and all other topics. However, as a voter trying to make a choice between 3 candidates, I'd like to hear, specifically, how the candidate stands on the matter.

Other moments of note:

a) Reminiscent of Sarah Palin and 'Joe Six-Pack', Ballantyne relayed her meeting, that very day, of a mother from Charlestown who is attracted to Somerville but concerned about the schools (start at 4:30 mark).

b) When discussing Teele Square businesses and vacancy rates, Ballantyne seemed proud to be able to enumerate the vacancies (i.e., she seems to have studied for the exam) but didn't offer any plans to help the businesses in Teele. Let's hear some ideas for raising foot traffic in the square or increasing public (non-resident) parking opportunities to bring in customers, from outside the immediate neighborhood, to those small businesses.

How excited should we really be about the I-Phone accessory store?!? And, for amusement, I would have liked to hear some discussion about the closure of Lavender Massage Therapy.

c) Regarding relations between residents and Tufts students, Ballantyne suggests learning what other communities do and determining 'best practices.' Wow -- straight from the Dilbert playbook.

At this point, we've heard from both challengers. But, what have we really heard?

Greater Somerville Site

Ballantyne on 'Greater Somerville'

Did she appear? Puglia's appearance was on the 'Greater Somerville' blog the next day....

Puglia Campaign Literature #2

First, a bone to pick: Joan, your literature lists Somerville web sites of interest and this blog isn't listed!?! ;) Okay, you're forgiven.

I'm glad to see that Joan has branched-out from parking (though parking issues clearly still weigh heavily on her mind). I'm glad to see Puglia pushing for more information on zoning & development and for stricter code enforcement. A 'development mistake' can have a negative effect for many, many years.

I would like to see Puglia expand (on her web site, for instance) on her ideas particularly with regards to Code Enforcement, plans for the Powder House school (Puglia wants Ward 7 voters to have their say via referendum - I think all of Somerville deserves that chance, and placing limits on the Zoning Board of Appeals.

This second piece of literature is on glossy stock and was mailed rather than hand-delivered by the candidate. Should we take that to mean that her campaign is attracting donations?

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Must-See TV alert: Candidate Katjana Ballantyne appears on 'Greater Somerville' tonight (Aug 2) at 7:30 p.m.