“His job is not to dispense legal advice. He may have made some suggestions, but at the end of the day, he said, ‘I’m not a lawyer; you should talk to a lawyer.’” — Mayor Jon Mitchell on Election Commissioner Manuel DeBrito.
Author Archives: Jack Spillane
Posted inJack Spillane column
New Bedford aiming for ‘dream school’ at Goulart Square
“Our report, our submission to the MSBA was touted as a model of how an education plan should be written.” — Interim Superintendent Andrew O’Leary describing the new DeValles/Congdon plan.
Posted inJack Spillane column
Time to stop nips in the bud
The swarms of nip bottles are already in the city. We need to change. We’ve already done something similar by banning the plastic bags, and it has not been the end of the world.
Posted inJack Spillane column
City and Whaling Museum burned by bad hires
The question is this: If we think of substance abuse and related crime as another illness and societal problem, what level of risk are we willing to accept in giving people a chance?
Posted inJack Spillane column
Have city government unions turned their backs on low-income taxpayers?
The City Council can face the facts about the cost of government and who is favored and who is not. Or it can continue to make phony cuts like it did Monday — in which it cut $7 million from a fund that covers fixed costs and will just have to be replenished later in the year.
Posted inJack Spillane column
Abolition Row Park opening is landmark achievement for New Bedford
It was the New Bedford community of color who were proportionally there in the greatest numbers. And they were there in the greatest numbers because they knew, from first-hand experience, that it was their own hard-won efforts over decades and decades that finally brought this park and what it symbolizes to the city.
Posted inJack Spillane column
Big plans for Dias Field always seemed to fizzle
Question about how Mt. Pleasant area park got its name leads to a better story about the long history of struggles to improve a park near the heart of New Bedford.
Posted inJack Spillane column
Suburbs get funding for new schools, while New Bedford waits … and waits
New Bedford continues to struggle with its century-old schools — nearly all of them located in low-income neighborhoods. Meanwhile, the MSBA has repeatedly funded the cost of replacing suburban schools built in the 1960s and 1970s.
Posted inJack Spillane column
What do you say New Bedford? Is it time for a little love for Dias Field?
The swing set has not been painted in years. And the single basketball court, which ostensibly was resurfaced a few years ago, does not appear to have been a high-quality surface because it’s already tattered and worn.
Posted inJack Spillane column
Mayor and New Bedford legislators can’t find a way to work together
After years of fruitless negotiations, the mayor took out a big stick. If he had a better relationship with the delegation, or if he and the delegation were better at communicating with each other or advocating at the state level, it might have been different.
