Up until now, it appears to me, that Mayor John Moak has been running the City of Newburyport from the approach of running the City Clerk’s office–can’t go there as mayor–big difference, a whole different managerial ballgame.

Mayor John Moak admitted in an article in the Newburyport Daily News, March 15, 2006, that, “Maybe I haven’t been spending enough time politicking.” Yes, I couldn’t agree more.

And I think it could be time for someone to take Mayor John Moak aside (wise men where are you–see earlier post) because I don’t think being a good politician is easy, no, not easy at all.

Being a really good politician is about consensus building. And being a politician is not deciding what you think would be best and then doing whatever you can to get your idea implement. This might work very well in to other areas but it tends to backfire big time as the Mayor of Newburyport, Massachusetts. An example being, yes, the axing of Mary Lou Supple and seriously thinking about Byron Matthews as a replacement. And now a fiscal response to the Community Preservation Act (CPA) bond schedule.

According to yesterday’s Newburyport Daily News, Friday, March 17, 2006, the mayor apparently, does not want to abide by the Community Preservation Committee’s 6-2 vote (and they have a lot of good reasons for voting the way they did) to keep the bond schedule as approved by the Newburyport City Council. According to the article, “despite not having support from the committee, he (Mayor Moak) plans to take his proposal to the City Council.”

Now the mayor wants to ask the Newburyport City Council to alter a vote that they have already voted on. Politically, this baffles me. This is just not a good way to “make friends and influence people.”

It surprises me in a way, but there appears to be a whole lot of difference between observing different mayors as the Newburyport City Clerk (and Mayor John Moak was able to observe a whole lot of different mayors who had a whole variety of approaches to politics) and actually being the Mayor of Newburyport, Massachusetts yourself. “Politicking” is a definite art form and I would very much like John Moak to have some first rate mentors to help him with this new kind of managerial style.

And if I had John Moak’s ear, which I don’t, from a politicking viewpoint I would advise him to apologize to Mary Lou Supple, ask her forgiveness, beg her to come back to the NRA board. And if she couldn’t see going back there, which would be quite understandable after all of this, ask her who she would recommend, appoint her recommendation (if she declined herself) and tell then media all about it.

This would not be a “flip-flop” thing this would be a “learning from your mistakes thing” and “keeping the trust of the people of Newburyport” thing. This would be a very good thing indeed.

Mary Eaton, Newburyport

Axing Mary Lou Supple from the NRA board and even thinking about putting someone like Byron Matthews in her place, would be like a “progressive” axing Erford Fowler (who was put on there by the State, not the City, so this analogy doesn’t quite work, but bear with me anyway) and replacing him with former mayor Lisa Mead. This would simply not be politically a good idea.

What it would do is make everybody angry. As a more “progressive” human being I would be outraged if Erford Fowler was replaced by former mayor Lisa Mead, not because of any lack of political “know how” on Ms Mead’s part, but because it would feel like a “hostile” act. It would feel like an act that smacked of “pay back,” personal agenda at any cost and not an act that would seem wise or concerned about what would be best for all the people in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

So this whole NRA thing, with the Newburyport Daily News reporting on March 16, 2006, that former mayor Byron Matthews is on the “short list” for a NRA appointment, is becoming even more of a mess.

My only hope is that people will wake up sooner rather than later. And if it is possible that what Harvey Beit (see earlier post) calls the “power group” could be calling the shots in this administration and there may not be a “wise man” in sight (see earlier post), then wow, we are in for a long 21 months. And I would find this possibility to be very, very discouraging, because that is not my hope or wish for Mayor John Moak’s administration.

Mary Eaton, Newburyport

Let’s have a little chat about political “wise men.” It appears after the taking Mary lou Supple off the NRA board blunder, that a chat about political wise men might be in order.

Now a political wise man is different from what someone that Harvey Beit calls the “power group.” People from a power group are not wise men. People from a power group have their own agendas and own egos in mind and most probably would like to use the mayor for their own individual gratification. Not pretty.

Wise men on the other hand have their egos in check. Or, if they don’t have their egos in check, at least they are willing to check them at the door for the overall good of Newburyport, Massachusetts. An obvious example of a wise man would have been Ed Molin.

I can think of a very good group of political wise men, from a variety of different political points of view who could come together as a “think tank” if you will, and hash things out with the Mayor, and come to a consensus that would be politically beneficial to the people of Newburyport, Massachusetts. Now the nice thing about these wise men is that they would be enormously upset with me if I mentioned their names as “wise men” on the Newburyport Political Blog. And that’s why they are wise men.

Now I would think that a political wise man would tell the Mayor of Newburyport, Massachusetts a) not to ax Mary Lou Supple from the NRA board in the first place and b) absolutely not to even think about putting someone like Byron Matthews on the NRA instead. (The Newburyport Daily News, March 16, 2006.) And not to even think about having someone as controversial as Jonathan Woodman (who is the architect for the Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank that demolished One Temple Street, part of Newburyport’s historic down town–see earlier post) taking charge or having any influence at all over a design review board for the City of Newburyport. No, no, they would tell the Mayor of Newburyport, Massachusetts that these would be very, very bad ideas indeed.

These wise men would tell the Mayor to use high profile people with contacts on a state or even possibly national level, to help with such things as the DEP and help solve the mess at the Crow Lane land fill and Plum Island. Now the DEP probably is not going to pay a whole lot of attention to a newly elected mayor. But, if there are folks in town who have any kind of contact with large agencies like the DEP, that’s where it’s a good idea to put these folks to work.

At the moment the Mayor of Newburyport, Massachusetts is getting a political “F” in my book. Not a good grade. But learning from one’s mistakes (we all make mistakes, that’s just part of being human) with the help of people who have the best overall good of Newburyport at heart and not their own agendas and ego gratification, could bring that political “F” up to a solid political “B+.” And a mayor with a solid “B+” would definitely work for me, in fact I would even settle for a decent “B-.”

Mary Eaton, Newburyport

Axing Mary Lou Supple from the NRA board ( today’s Newburyport Daily News, March 15, 2006.) Bad political move, John Moak. What do they call this, a “Pyrrhic victory” (a victory won at too great a cost)?

And the two names I hear floating around (Now I said “floating around” which does not mean “definite”, it’s only definite, positively, absolutely true when it appears in the Newburyport Daily News, the Newbuyrport Current or the Undertoad. This is a blog, the editor (me) does not fact check except to read the three periodicals mentioned above.) are yes, Byron Matthews and a possible second, Norbert Carey. Pray that it ain’t so folks, but don’t be surprised if it could be.

My guess is that if there were some rumblings in Newburyport, Massachusetts so far, this is the beginning of an 18 month all out rumble, if not an all out riot. Especially if the Byron Matthews thing, or the Norbert Carey thing or anyone remotely close thing is anywhere near the truth.

Going to be hard to get anything you want done after this one John Moak. If you think it’s bad now, this is “bubkes” (Yiddish for “nothing”) if you go and ax Nick Cracknell on top of it. Wow.

Mary Eaton, Newburyport

In the Newburyport Daily News, Monday 13, 2006, there is a Letter to the Editor by Harvey Beit urging Mayor Moak to keep Nick Cracknell on as Planning Director. Now Harvey Beit is one of the most respected lawyers in town, and as Mr. Beit points out at the beginning of the Letter to the Editor, he has been practicing law in Newburyport for the last 40 years.

Harvey Beit nails it, when he says, “Unfortunately, there is a power group in Newburyport who would like to see his (Nick Cracknell’s) removal because he does not yield to their goals or accommodate their wishes. Simply stated, he is tough and does not play ball as a result of influence.”

A whole variety of names and projects came to my mind when I read that part of the Letter to the Editor, and I couldn’t agree with Mr. Beit more.

Nick Cracknell is looking at what is the overall good for Newburyport, Massachusetts. One of the things I really like about Nick Cracknell is that it is irrelevant to him what kind of “influence” someone in Newburyport might have. And what is important to him is what is best for the present and future for all of Newburyport, Massachusetts not any one individual or “power” group. From my point of view, that is enormously refreshing.

But as a result, Nick Cracknell has stepped on a few toes.

I can imagine how frustrating it could be that Nick Cracknell is just not cooperating. Folks in town that have been used to getting preferential treatment, most likely aren’t getting preferential treatment, instead, from what I understand, they have been asked to discuss what they have in mind. This is new, this is very new. And it is my impression that people have been getting some “bang for the buck” but not as much “bang for the buck” (those New York phrases again) as they would like to get.

And let’s face it, with Nick Cracknell as Planning Director it sounds like a lot of people no longer have the complete power and control that they once might have had–pretty frustrating. And from what I hear Mr. Cracknell has been saying, “sorry folks, good planning is more important than anyone’s particular agenda.” And I can imagine that this could be very frustrating indeed.

So thank you Harvey Beit. And I hope your letter gives Mayor John Moak extra incentive to say “no” to the “power group,” and to stand up and say that good present and long term planning is what’s best for the City of Newburyport, Massachusetts, not individual interests.

Mary Eaton, Newburyport

This is another mystery I’ve been trying to figure out, why John Moak won the mayoral election. Now I can understand why “conservatives” (see previous post) voted for him, but why “liberals” apparently voted for Mr. Moak in droves (well maybe not droves, but pretty much droves) alludes me.

When a project I had been working on “went south,” Donna Holaday called me up and said how sorry she was and that she knew how hard I had worked on this particular issue. She was the only one in the entire City of Newburyport who did that. With that one phone call she won me over for life.

So the question I keep asking myself is why didn’t the people of Newburyport see in Donna Holaday what I came to see? And different people have pointed out that it took a while for me to “come to see” Donna Holaday, whereas people seemed to relate to John Moak immediately. And as I’ve said in earlier posts, I agree, John Moak is a very affable person.

And John Moak was also an excellent candidate. Because “liberals” ( I still haven’t come up with a good phrase) apparently assumed that he would be open to their ideas and there would be some genuine give and take.

From what I can make out, so far there hasn’t been any genuine give and take. But if there could be some genuine consensus building then John Moak could end up being a pretty good mayor. And if there is no give and take ( the Mayor’s letter to the editor about Waterfront parking in the Newburyport Current on March 10, 2006, is a tad discouraging in the give and take department) then John Moak could end up being a not so good mayor.

So, please John Moak, I want to advocate for you, I want you to be a “pretty good mayor.” Learn from your political “wise men, ” (I hope you have political wise men) even though I know I would probably disagree with them politically, I can’t imagine them not counseling you that the “give and take,” consensus building thing is part of being a very good politician.

Mary Eaton, Newburyport

I’ve been trying to get inside the head of Mayor John Moak here. I just can’t understand why he would even think of the possibility of having a Chapter 40B housing project on the Woodman property on Storey Avenue, or getting rid of someone as talented as Newburyport’s Planning Director, Nick Cracknell.

And then I had an epiphany if you will, an understanding, the big light bulb went off–fiscal conservative.

So I went to the Wikipedia Encyclopedia on the Web and looked up, “fiscal conservative.” ( Believe me, I am learning more stuff than I ever dreamed of doing the Newburyport Political Blog. If you had told me three months ago I would be looking up “fiscal conservative,” I would have told you, you were definitely nuts.)

So to quote Wikipedia:
“fiscal conservatism is simply is the stance that the government must “live within its means”. Above all, fiscal conservatives oppose excessive government debt; this belief in balanced budgets tends to be coupled with a belief that government welfare programs should be narrowly tailored and that tax rates should be low, which implies relatively small government institutions…

…In other words, a government doesn’t have the right to run up large debts and then throw the burden on the taxpayer; the taxpayers’ right not to be taxed oppressively takes precedence…

conservatives support a smaller role for the government in the economy…”

Well now things are beginning to make a little bit of sense to me.

( One of the things I like about Newburyport is that in local politics there are no Republicans or Democrats. There are however, “progressives” and “good old boys,” two labels I’m beginning to really dislike. I’m working on new phrases to capture the different political viewpoints in Newburyport, Massachusetts. If anyone has any thoughtful ideas please “chime in.”)

So, if I now look at Mayor John Moak as a “fiscal conservative” I can understand why keeping taxes low is to him more important than having a Chapter 40B project on the Woodman property. Paying for open space or a senior center, a youth center–a whole myriad of possible and needed projects, would burden the taxpayer, hence, for our mayor, things like these would not be commendable ideas.

Obviously I come from a completely different point of view. I think things like preserving open space helps the taxpayer. It helps keep Newburyport a unique and desirable place to live, instead of just another place to live in New England.

So I think I’m beginning to understand where Mayor John Moak is coming from a little better, which believe it or not is a huge relief, because up until now, for me it’s been a complete mystery.

Mary Eaton, Newburyport

More and more I am beginning to hear people say, “I’ve gone and talked to Mayor Moak and he doesn’t listen.” These are progressive people that voted for our mayor.

Intelligent, progressive people who really pay attention to local Newburyport politics, voted for Mayor John Moak, and apparently when they go talk to the mayor about things that really matter to them, what I hear is that our mayor is not listening. I find this very disturbing.

Why these good folks voted for Mayor Moak, I don’t know. Because I feel Tom Ryan, the editor of the Undertoad, nails it when he describes Mayor John Moak as a “good old boy.”

So, wake up everybody, if you are a “progressive” and have a certain ideas about the direction in which you feel Newburyport should go (and believe me, a lot of these ideas are shared by many of the “old boys” as well, because they too have a reverence for Newburyport’s integrity,) we as a city could be in deep trouble.

And what happens in Newburyport, Massachusetts when administrations don’t listen?

Well, what has happened in the past is a lot of very angry citizens groups form. And believe you me, citizens groups are very effective. And the citizens groups go over the top of Newburyport’s Mayor and the Newburyport’s City Council and go to their state representative and Senator John Kerry and Senator Ted Kennedy, because that’s the only way they can be heard.

And let me tell you, that’s pretty embarrassing for the Mayor of Newburyport, Massachusetts. But if Mayor John Moak doesn’t start paying attention, valuing and taking into account all of his constituents, that’s exactly what is going to happen. All hell is going to break loose.

We are a very feisty community and we are not afraid to fight for what we believe is the best course for Newburyport, because often our local politicians don’t have a clue. Historic downtown Newburyport and historic High Street were saved by citizens, not by local politicians. And yes, I am comparing Mayor John Moak’s administration to other deaf administrations that could have caused irreversible damage to the City of Newburyport if it wasn’t for the people of Newburyport who saved the day.

Mary Eaton, Newburyport

I just spotted my first “Ferrick” signs. The bright green signs (plural) were on Sheriff Frank Cousins’ fence.

For all of you out there in web-land or who are new to Newburyport, Massachusetts, Frank Cousins (whether you agree with him or not) is a major political “player.” Who knows, this may turn out to be a pretty interesting race for City Councilor for Ward 1.

It must now be official. I spotted my first “Gillis” sign. This must mean officially that Jeremy Gillis has made the decision to run for City Council in Newburyport’s Ward 1.

Mary Eaton, Newburyport