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.
Author Archives: Jack Spillane
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.
Posted inJack Spillane column
Colleagues finally stand up to New Bedford’s ‘forever councilors’
Recent votes against all three ballot questions was a strong rebuke to longtime obstructionists Morad and Gomes
Posted inJack Spillane column
A tale of two sheriffs
The new sheriff got control of the situation and took back the unlocked units the inmates had taken over. He did a good job. … It would also be good if former Sheriff Hodgson gives his successor a chance to do that job, without second guessing everything he does.
Posted inJack Spillane column
Time to enforce sprinkler law in New Bedford’s tenement neighborhoods
State law allows the city to fine owners of multi-unit buildings up to $1,000 for fire code violations, and the city has in some cases tried to enforce the code. But the city has lost some cases when property owners appealed.
Posted inJack Spillane column
Slow start to New Bedford election season, but many faces to watch
Potential candidates for mayor are all keeping their powder dry. City councilors Brian Gomes, Linda Morad and Ian Abreu continue to look in the mirror and see a mayor staring back at them.