Have You Heard? mayor Elliott is a hero!

zing·er noun \ˈziŋ-ər\

1: something causing or meant to cause interest, surprise, or shock
2: a pointed witty remark or retort

Finally. I think I'm picking up what Tipa was laying down about our mayor.

Except, some heroes do more damage, than they are worth.

Let's take a look at this story, that ran today in the Blog of Record.

Lowell school board lawyer's family ties draw scrutiny
Of course, it was jotted by mayor Elliott's biggest fan, the cub reporter (Link)

The story goes on about Lowell's penchant for public/private purgatory. Being the littlest Big City, you will ever love, Lowell's lines of politcal incest are so often blurred. But, fear not, my fine taxpayer/voter! (Lowell residents, meh.) mayor Rodney is on the prowl; ever seeking to find a wrong and make it right!

(bold mine)

Jim Hall's family ties have raised some questions about the ethical propriety of him representing the School Committee in contract negotiations.

Mayor Rodney Elliott, chairman of the School Committee, said he would like the committee to take a closer look at having Hall represent it in its negotiations with the teachers' union.

"I have some concerns," Elliott said, declining to go into detail. "The committee should look into this further."

Elliott, who has yet to be part of negotiations with school unions, said he plans to file a motion in the near future for the School Committee to discuss the process used to hire Hall.

ZOMG! We should all just thank our lucky stars that we NOW have Rodney Elliott on the School Committee! God only knows what kind of screwed up, crazy shit they have been up to, all these years Rodney wasn't mayor. Worse, yet! Patrick Murphy was Mayor, last time. *looks to heaven in gratitude*

OR

Once again, Elliott is manufacturing a kerfuffle, so that he appears to be large and in charge? A savior in a golf shirt and khakis. Amen!

Oh, and, by the way, he is making his new peers on the School Committee look like shit. In the Infantry, we call that 'collateral damage.'

Oddly enough, since we are talking about 'collateral damage,' is now the time to be turning up the spotlight on Union/management nepotism on the "school side," Mr. mayor? If you link to the Blog of Record, in the PR job jotted above, the very first online comment says this:

Kevin Murphy represented his wife in Lowell School Department contract negotiations back in 2008.

The author cites this article: Murphy: No conflict on work for Lowell school administrators' contracts (Link)

It's a tangled web that is woven in our great City of Lowell. So much so, that such finger pointing is shunned, not embraced.

Through the decades city councilors have mostly refrained from publicly accusing each other of ethics violations mostly because they ascribe to the “let he who is without sin cast the first stone” guideline. (Link)

But, with the election of this new Council, the selection of mayor Elliott and the resignation of Bernie Lynch; a domino effect has caused the Bubble to turn on itself. The chips will fall in disarray. The running gag, among those of us that favor 'professional city management,' is that 'once the clans that had united to rid Lowell of Bernie Lynch had succeeded, they would immediately turn against each other, trying to anoint THEIR favored prince to the corner office.'

I'm just saying, it's a pain in the ass to be Rodney Elliott's prince. Because, he is so self indulgent and completely undisciplined.

And, his 'civic heroics' is a hoax.