"Hopefully, we'll be able to make a charter that will keep some of us politicians in line."

— Methuen City Councilor Philip Lahey Jr., after voters approved the formation of a new Charter Commission on Tuesday night.

Left speechless

When Methuen City Councilors took turns at Thursday night's meeting to thank voters in last week's election, ousted incumbent Joseph Leone, who lost his East District seat by 103 votes to Patricia Uliano, left the room.

"Once in a while, even I'm speechless," he said after the meeting.

Council Chairwoman Deborah Quinn, who lost her West District seat to James Hajjar by 112 votes, was in better spirits.

"I'll be the next Jack Burke, with Jack Burke," she said, referring to the government watchdog and failed West District candidate who speaks at just about every City Council meeting.

If he were Willie

The Rev. Edwin Rodriguez is not William Lantigua, but he has some suggestions for Lawrence's mayor-elect, which he sent via e-mail to several people (but not Lantigua) last week. Rodriguez finished last in his bid for City Council District B in September's primary.

Here are a few of his recommendations, translated from Spanish:

If I were William Lantigua, I'd forget all the ill-feelings, arguments and resentment against those who did not support me, understanding that this was their right among the democratic and constitutional process.

If I were William Lantigua, I would clean the streets of garbage without charging people who are already up to their noses in bills, taxes and fines, knowing that they elected me so they would not get more taxes, but to look for ways out of so many. To do this would be a continuation of (Mayor Michael) Sullivan's oppression.

If I were William Lantigua, I'd bring new blood to City Hall and would make it easy for certain elderly employees to retire, since they have given all they could already. We need a new leadership made up of people who can eat rice and beans, but who have an education to treat people who have problems.

If I were William Lantigua, I'd do good, the best, so I can achieve the goal of being the best mayor in the history of our city in the next eight years.

Change is in the air

"We're going to change the world!" declared Haverhill City Councilor-elect Sven Amirian, as he greeted fellow Councilor-elect Colin LePage at J.P. McBride's on Tuesday night.

Both new councilors are expected to push for citywide single-stream recycling and other environmentally helpful measures after they take office in January.

More than Menino

By winning a fourth term on Tuesday with 58 percent of the vote, Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini did better percentage-wise than Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, who took 57 percent in his victory over Michael Flaherty.

It's electric

Some Haverhill candidates did mass e-mailings after Tuesday's election to voters, thanking them for their support. The electronic messages mimicked the candidates' campaign strategies.

Mayor Fiorentini used his electronic newsletter format to thank voters for returning him to "the greatest job in the world."

Even in defeat, School Committee challenger Daniel DeRoche Jr. used his e-mail blast to thank voters for coming to the polls and making their choices for Haverhill's next leaders.

Both men had used electronic messages during the campaign to get their messages out to voters.

Support from the home front

Part of the job of being a parent is to motivate your children. But for Haverhill School Committee member Joseph Bevilacqua, it was a case of two sons motivating their dad.

Michael, 24, and Joseph, 26, "encouraged me to work harder," Bevilacqua said. And that had a lot to do with his first-place finish in Tuesday's school board race, he said.

Not a major miscue

Methuen Mayor William Manzi said he didn't mind when he was called, "Major David Manzi" of Methuen at the Salute to Veterans Military Breakfast on Monday at Wyndham Hotel in Andover.

"I got up and waved anyway," he said.