Menino loses a vote

Inexcusable? I don't know. It would be encouraging cranks to address their complaints directly to the mayor before actually contacting the department responsible. Shouldn't the guy be encouraged to talk to (or even meet for the first time) his neighbors? Why is this guy's street more important than someone else's street?

Telling the guy to go through the proper channels was maybe not the most crowd-pleasing move, but organizationally, it makes the most sense. I'd rather have a mayor who knows how to make things run smoothly than some grandstander who looks good but doesn't get things done.

Well, I am happy to see that someone else has woken up and smelled the coffee. Menino lost my vote a long time ago, but not for just an answer in a debate. This is why he lost my vote.

I am a Bostonian who remembers playing in the Frog Pond as a kid, back when it was really a pool for little kids. Menino decided to destroy our little pool so he could create a place for the Tourists to Ice Skate (did he think it would be just like Rockafellow Center). But he did eventually give in and state that the residents could use it too (after an outrage by some locals).

Menino wants to turn our harbour into a "World Class Port", but he doesn't want it to be for Bostonians. He wants to create a port where lots of big cruise ships will stop for an hour or two while enroute from one place to another. Of course this is a great idea because we will make lots of money, from our 5% sales tax, if even only a couple of them would buy a $5 or $10 dollar Boston Trinket. From what I gather, with all the negative stuff he has said in the past, he doesn't want our ports filled with tankers and frieghters because they won't look appealing to the tourists, thus it will make "Our World Class Mayor" look less than desirable. Well, I for one would rather see our port the way it use to be when we had jobs for the Steveadors / Longshoremen / Teamsters, etc. I would rather have a port where our locals can have jobs to earn a paycheck. Just think how much more money they would spend in the city. Think they will only buy a few trinkets? Just think they could buy a house or rent an apartment. They can buy groceries, and clothinhg and all kinds of other stuff (lots of tax dollars there). They could have a car and pay excise tax. They could even have a family to spend their money on.

I pay taxes in Boston. I want my tax money to go to things that are important to me: like policemen, firemen, schools, and other city services. I have always known cops and firefighters, and even though a lot of Menino's supporters will disagree, I believe they should have top pay and top benefits. They risk their lives daily, everytime they leave their house. Do you know what it is like to hear that a firefighter or cop was injured and / or killed and have to wonder if it is your son / daughter, husband / wife, brother /sister, or even just your friend? They continually take the chance of leaving their families without a parents / child / sibling, because they believe in trying to help a lot of thankless people ( and some of us who are thankful). Menino made them work without a descent contract, and penalized them when they called in sick. And a lot of Menino's suporters agree with him. I have even heard some call the cops and firefighters "BUMS". But of course, if they ever need a cop or firefighter, they will be yelling the loudest if there just aren't enough to get to them quick enough. A lot of menino's supporters are from the neighborhoods with the highest crime rates. I wonder, do they not want cops because they themselves do not want to get caught comminting a crime, or do they just not care about the kids that are shooting and killing each other in their own neighborhoods.

I don't want my tax money to go to wasteful 'white elephants' just so Menino can put his name on some more things in and around the city. Tell me, has his 'new convention center' paid for itself yet? Think it ever will? I doubt it. How about all the signs and plaques he put up throughout the city, just to have his name in print? How about the clocks he replaced with 'replica's' at the price tags of tens of thousands of dollars each? Think he could have gotten a better price? or perhaps found a better way to spend that money?

We see Menino in the minority neighborhoods a lot, but tell me, how many of you see him out there if it isn't a photo op for him? I personally know that he loves the camera. A number of years ago I graduated from the Citizen's Police Academy. After the graduation I had a friend take my picture with a Police Captain from area B2 and Commisioner Evans, I was really proud to be able to have my Picture taken with those two great guys. While I took my time chatting with the two, and other people, Menino stood waiting to have his picture taken with me. After a while I had to give in, after all it wouldn't really do to just tell the guy to go away in that type of a situation. But the thing is; he didn't know me, he didn't care who I was, he didn't care if I wanted my picture taken with him or not. All he cared about was that a camera was present and someone could possibly send the photo to the newspaper. Another photo-op for him. (by the way I keep that photo hidden in the back of a closet that no one uses for anything other than storage, and I only keep it so I can have a good laugh about it once in a while.)But I have to wonder how many other times he wasted an hour or more just to get his picture taken with someone who didn't even want to have their picture taken with him, just because he thought that someday someone might publish the stupid thing.

My husband and I own a condo in the Adams Village area. My husband bought the condo over ten years ago. He paid off the mortgage and suddenly found out that he was no longer eligible for the residential exemption. We both live in that Condo; he since he bought it, and I since we married. We both use that address for all of our bills, including Taxes. We are both Voters who are registered at that address and vote every single election. We even pay the city an Excise tax on our car that is resgistered to our address. But when we found out that we were no longer receiving the Residential exemption, we were told that we lived in Quincy ( my husband moved out to Quincy for a short time before he bought our condo) but everything that the city sends to us is mailed to us where we live in Boston. Even though we have brought every kind of document possible to Boston City Hall, we still do not have the Residential exemption. On The City's web site it correctly states that we live at our address, but it also states 'no residential exemption'. Things like this actually make us feel that perhaps we should move out of our city, the city where we both grew up.

Hey, did you ever watch that special they had on TV a few years back. Right on TV, Menino showed how he was extorting money from companies. If large (and smaller) coorporations wanted to do business in The City of Boston, then they had to pay a kickback to Menino. Sure, after the show was aired and people raised hell, he came up with excuses that he was using the 'kickbacks' for stuff for our city (like his white elephants). Everyone complains that our former Irish Mayors were all corrupt, but I don't believe any of them could have been as corrupt as Menino is.

Another thing, Menino is always carrying on about how he loves the minorities, and they are his biggest followers. Hell it even came to light that he offered to pay the funeral expenses for someone killed in a violent crime (one of Bobby Brown's relatives no less) with our tax dollars becuase one of there own minority funeral homes wanted the money up front, of couse this was in addition to a few hundred dollars the city had already paid to the family. (The funeal director even knew the family). Do you think Menino paid this out of his own pocket? Hell no. Why should my tax dollars be used to pay for the funeral for someone who is related to someone like Bobby Brown and his wife Whitney Houston, who have more money than I will ever have as a regular old working stiff. Will Menino pay for a funeral for my family too? I doubt it.

Tell me something. If Menino loves the Minority community so much, then why does he live in West Roxbury. There really aren't any Minorities living out there. Hell, there is more of a chance of a politician in South Boston having a Black or Hispanic neighbor, than there is a chance of Menino ever living next door to a minorty. So, If he loves the minority community so much, and he cares so much about their well being, and he identifies so much with them, why doesn't he and his family live in Dudly Square or Grove Hall.

You know, I could go on and on about all the reasons that Menino
will never get my vote. But I have a life to life, and a job to go to so I can pay my taxes to the city. I can't stay on this forever, but now you have a little bit of an idea why Menino lost my vote a long time ago.

But I have to ask, why would anyone, especially someone in a minority community, want to support Tom Menino. He doesn't care about anyone or anything unless it is going to be profitable for him, or a photo-op for him. So, Why have so many people voted him in election after election? Is it just that people are to lazy to get out and find out about other candidate? Are we really just sheep in Menino's big old pasture called Boston? Come on people, wake up and smell the coffee. Do what is right for your city. Get out and vote that jerk out of office.