"In light of everything that's going on, I'd like to know who's the acting acting?"
— Lawrence City Council President Patrick Blanchette asking who the acting Lawrence school superintendent is these days, with Acting Superintendent Mary Lou Bergeron on vacation and Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy on administrative leave pending a criminal investigation into "financial impropriety."
Don't blame Daddy
Salem Superior Court Judge David Lowy was not very impressed with James Flaherty's letter to him prior to Flaherty's sentencing last week.
The judge said the letter, in which retired Haverhill highway superintendent Flaherty professed he would never intentionally steal from or hurt the city, showed Flaherty was not taking responsibility for the felony larceny crime he was convicted of by a jury. Lowy said the letter showed Flaherty "just doesn't get it."
Flaherty's lawyer, Scott Gleason, insisted his client was "deeply sorry" for the crime, but that Gleason didn't feel it would have been right for him to edit Flaherty's letter to the judge. Apparently Flaherty's daughter, Dorothy Flaherty, an assistant principal at Haverhill's Hunking Middle School, did not feel similarly constrained. Before addressing the judge to ask for leniency in the sentence Lowy was about to give her father, Dorothy Flaherty said she was responsible for the content of much of the letter. She said she helped her father craft the message to make sure it was "formal enough" and had proper grammar, out of respect for the judge.
Catching up with Laboy
Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan said he had a "personal" and "friendly" conversation over coffee and bagels with School Superintendent Dr. Wilfredo Laboy on Wednesday at Friendly's Restaurant in Salem, N.H.
An observant reader called The Eagle-Tribune after spotting the two men at the restaurant.
This is the first time Sullivan and Laboy had met since last Tuesday when School Committee members voted to place the superintendent on administrative leave pending the outcome of a criminal investigation. A letter sent by School Department lawyer Naomi Stonberg to Laboy's lawyer Scott Gleason said the superintendent cannot have any contact with school officials. But Sullivan, who chairs the School Committee, said the ban does not include him.
"That was alluding to anyone employed by the Lawrence public schools," the mayor said. "It doesn't include any elected officials."
Sullivan said the meeting was a time to catch up with Laboy.
"His family has been through a lot," he said. "He feels good, looks good and is taking care of himself."
He'd rather be on the green
Methuen City Auditor Thomas Kelly received a big round of applause from city councilors at the 9 a.m. budget meeting two Saturdays ago. They cheered him for his hard work on the budget.
"I missed my tee time," Kelly quipped.
Kelly sure looked like he would have rather been golfing. He was dressed in khaki pants and a green collared shirt sporting the Merrimack Valley Golf logo. Who could blame him? That Saturday was one of the few sunny days last month, and Methuen officials spent three hours in City Hall talking about the budget.
Speaking of the budget meeting...
Methuen City Council Chairwoman Deborah Quinn accused Councilor Stephen Zanni and Jack Burke, who hopes to be elected to the council, of using the meeting as a venue to grandstand in front of voters.
Dozens of people attended the meeting, which was televised live on local cable TV.
He's got two good reasons
Methuen City Councilor Kenneth Willette Jr., a sharp critic of Schools Superintendent Jeanne Whitten, said Monday night that he thinks he'll run for School Committee this year.
"I think I am, I haven't made a final determination yet," he said — and a double dose of family responsibility is causing the delay.
Willette explained he is now the father of twins.
"Do I want to spend time at these meetings," he said, "or spend time with my twins?"
Boosting the community's 'soles'
Leota Sarrette was "stepping out" last week.
Sarrette, a civic organizer, appeared before the Haverhill City Council to talk about the Soles of Haverhill Shoe-La-Bration, which will feature the display of sculptures of large shoes in the form of ladies footwear from the Victorian era.
Councilor William Ryan said he hopes the Shoe-La-Bration, which will run from July to October, boosts people's spirits, given today's economic hard times.
