The following column featuring the Blue Suit is written without notes, e-mails, evidence and sources. This column is all out of my head – made up-100% completely. It is fabricated and fake. But don’t ask the Blue Suit to agree to this description. The Blue Suit takes this column seriously. He feels there is some truth to the column and certainly the truth comes out when I, Josh Resnek, editor of the Leader Herald, interview the Blue Suit and spell out in narrative what exactly he has to say.
“Many people may feel I don’t exist, but I do,” the Blue Suit repeats to me over and over. “ I’m as real as Jason Marcus,” joked. “I didn’t have the chance to speak to Mike Marchese or Stephanie Smith before the election,” he recounted to me as we took drive around the city on Election Day.
“I was very unsure as to who would top the ticket – Mike or Stephanie?”
“I don’t think it really matters. This I know. Mike won’t allow the mayor to run unopposed next time around.
“But I’m not sure if Stephanie has it in her to run…but her candidacy, from my experience, would be ideal,” the Blue Suit said to me.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because she’s a woman. She’s a mother. She’s a wife. She’s successful in business. She’s assertive. She’s smart. She’s young. She talks only about what she knows, and she studies issues. Bottom line, she’s very very sharp, just the kind of candidate who the changing city would likely give quite a few votes. Could she beat the mayor? I don’t know. Right now I’m in the corner with those who believe, as his best friends believe, he’ll be the mayor forever. Nothing lasts forever. We all know this intuitively,” the Blue Suit said to me.
“I watched the School Committee meeting Monday night on ECTV. What a show that was. Actually, it was more like a three ring circus with fireworks and daredevil acts. Fred Capone was on fire. I hadn’t seen him confront the mayor with so much vigor and vitriol – never. And Fred looked fit and strong, strong enough to take the room apart if he got angry enough. I wondered to myself what is up with Fred? Does he still have it in him to want to be the mayor of Everett? Yes. I believe he does but I’m not entirely sure,” the Blue Suit added.
“His back and forth with the mayor Monday night at the school committee meeting featured an energized, almost hostile Fred Capone. The mayor probably should have said nothing. Instead, he traded barbs with Capone. Both men appeared angry at having to listen to and to be in the presence of one another at a school committee meeting. I wondered what acting superintendent Billy Hart though about the proceeding at the school committee meeting, his first since being appointed. I asked the question but in reality I knew the answer. Hart watched the meeting. He took mental note of what was going down. The politics of it was not lost on Hart. He is a masterful dancer when it comes to Everett politics. He knows how to play the game. When he finally did say something, he sounded smarter than everyone else, and less taken aback by all the bickering and innuendo.”
“What exactly did he say?” I asked the Blue Suit.
“Debate and conversation is productive. Civil discourse isn’t a bad thing,” he said, the Blue Suit told me.
“And you know what, Josh? He meant it,” the Blue Suit said to me.
“Yeah. So as I was saying…Hart is a new force of nature operating at a very high level. He’s become the second most powerful man in the city. He knows how to do this. He will be good at his job. People will like him. His office will be open to common people, and to him listening to their problems, their hopes and their dreams. He will do this. He will become very popular for doing so,” the Blue Suit insisted.
“Also, the divide that now exists in the city and causes such political dysfunction will be bridged by Hart’s type of leadership. Again, Josh, “he knows what to do and how to do it… and he knows about education. But when you put all his attributes together I know this about Billy Hart, he probably still dreams of becoming the mayor of Everett!” the Blue Suit said.
“It’s in his DNA. But he would never run unless he knew and believed to his core that his time had arrived. And here’s the other thing, Hart will be his own man. He’s not good at being bullied or taking orders that make no sense. He will run the school department the same way he ran the Massachusetts State Junior College System – with intelligence and intuition and an understanding of a bigger picture,” the Blue Suit said to Josh.
“Yeah. He definitely will be his own man. As for running for mayor, that’s a bit down the road too far away to get a good feel of,” I said to the Blue Suit.
“Could a guy like Billy Hart bring the city together if he played a wider role?” I asked the Blue Suit.
“Oh yes,” the Blue Suit replied.
“First things first,” I said to the Blue Suit. “Does Billy Hart become the superintendent of schools?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” the Blue Suit replied.
“He’ll have the votes for that…and besides…he’s thoroughly qualified,” the Blue Suit added.
“Who chose Hart to become the acting superintendent?” I asked the Blue Suit.
“Come on Josh. You know it was Mike Mangan,” the Blue Suit said to me convincingly.
“You don’t have it quite right,” I answered. “It was someone else who gave Mike his marching orders, and he carried it out. It was a move that is a winner for everyone.”
“Who was that person?” the Blue Suit asked me.
“I can’t say. I’m sworn to secrecy. But you know what, I’m going to give our readers a hint. Hart was brought here by a member of the school committee that drives a BMW convertible. How’s that for a hint?