Greenfield Human Rights Commission members will have their first chance Monday night to consider a recent racist cyber assault on one of their own.
Commission Chair Lew Metaxas says he hopes Monday night’s gathering will allow the commission to set a strategy for how to address the racist, digitally-altered photographs of Town Councilor Penny Ricketts that have apparently been emailed to both town officials and several business owners.
“We want to hear how people feel, but I also want to have a real discussion about what comes next,” Metaxas said, adding that the commission may seek help from agencies outside Greenfield to address the matter.
“That’s one option, but it’s really up to the commission,” Metaxas said. “I’m prepared to consider all options at this point.”
I’ll be curious to see what they come up with, but between the Ricketts and Pierce Brothers incidents, a recent unsuccessful attempt by a Holocaust denier to speak in town and the ongoing Confederate flag saga, it looks like that commission is going to have a lot on its plate this summer, which, when you stop and think about it, isn’t necessarily a good thing for Greenfield, committee intentions notwithstanding.
You may not know it — or even care for that matter — but there is a race this year for the 8th District Governor’s Council seat being vacated by Michael Albano.
Former Springfield Mayor Mary Hurley, who originally appeared to be a shoo-in for the job, is now being opposed in the Democratic primary by Hampden County Bar Association President Jeff Morneau, a self-professed “progressive voice” who is very much hoping to ride the Bernie Sanders anti-establishment wave to victory in the September primary.
“When we are talking about long-term appointments to the judiciary, it’s critical that we get it right,” Morneau said in his campaign announcement press release. “My experience with the judicial nominating process makes me uniquely qualified to serve as a governor’s councilor.”
Morneau was scheduled to host an event Thursday night in Holyoke for the party’s elected western Mass delegates while his campaign tries to convince Hurley to debate at least once before September. They went so far as to contact me to moderate and even booked the GCC Dining Commons for Tuesday, July 19, but they forgot to contact the Hurley campaign, which already has an event that night.
It makes some sense for Hurley to avoid debating Morneau. As a former mayor and judge, she already has him beat on name recognition, which is a huge advantage in any election. Still, it would be good to see them mix it up as they prepare to take over a pretty important, though understated, position, one of the few in state government responsible for representing all four western counties.
Congressman Richie Neal continues to take criticism for his absence from the more rural areas of his district.
Not long after the Recorder published its story on Neal’s relative absence from Franklin County’s hill towns, the Daily Hampshire Gazette wrote a similar piece on Hampshire County’s desire to “see more of” the distinguished gentleman from the First District.
Two variations on the same theme, but my guess is the Gazette piece may hit a little closer to home, as there are many more voters in that area, including several Sanders expatriates, who are tired of establishment candidates who take their votes for granted but rarely show up in their towns.
If Libertarian challenger Thom Simmons is as smart as I think he is, that’s the demographic he’ll take aim at as we enter the political dog days of the 2016 campaign.
The only things which ever prevent government from getting things done are money and politics, and it would appear the latter has, up until this week, prevented the Transgender Rights Bill from passing the Legislature and heading to the governor.
The House and Senate both passed different versions of the bill, but the main sticking point appeared to center on when the law would actually take effect. Senate President Stan Rosenberg wanted it to become active upon the governor’s signature, while House Speaker Robert DeLeo wanted to delay implementation until Jan. 1, presumably to allow affected businesses and other entities to be able to prepare for the changes
It seemed like a silly reason to hold up a law with so much bipartisan support, but I’ve seen sillier. Thankfully, a vote on the bill was scheduled for Thursday in both chambers, paving the way for the measure to become law before the Legislature heads out on the campaign trail later this month.