Editorials – Everett Leader Herald

We Put No Faith In The MCAD

The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination has received another complaint from one of the administrative heads of the Everett School Department.

About seven months ago, the MCAD received a detailed complaint from School Superintendent Priya Tahiliani.

She made detailed claims of racism and sexism against the mayor and the school committee.

The complaint sat for months at the MCAD.

For whatever reason, the MCAD chose not to pursue the claims.

This, despite the fact Tahiliani is a woman of color and she made claims of racism and sexism which included the mayor.

Mind you, maybe the MCAD was too busy, or Tahiliani’s claims were too evil for a bunch of bureaucratic lawyers to touch.

Then again, the MCAD could have simply sent the complaint on to the Attorney General’s office where nothing would have been done unless of course a crime had been committed.

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Richard Sasso Was A Good Guy

Richard Sasso took a great deal of pride in his restaurant on Norwood Street, the 8/10 Bar & Grill.

Those of us who enjoyed Richie’s company, and his food, found the 8/10 a very comfortable place.

Richie took a great deal of interest in what he served and he insisted it should be fresh, always, tasty, and if it was steak that you preferred, the 8/10 excelled at that kind of dish.

He most always sat at the far end of the long bar watching everyone meander in.

He was talkative, friendly, and humorous, always.

The restaurant where he spent his work life was a monument to his understanding about what to do with a small city legendary eating place.

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November 22, 1963

It is impossible to imagine for those of us who lived through the assassination of John F. Kennedy, that 59 years have passed since that fateful day in November.

The photo used with this editorial has been with me since 1963.

For many of us Baby Boomers just starting out in our lives, JFK’s death at the hands of an assassin’s bullet in Dallas, Texas was all about things to come.

The nation was veering off its path, descending into an era of social revolution and violence, promiscuity and liberalism and all the while the Vietnam War was heating up, preparing to take a generation of our youth before we finally came to our senses and stopped the war.

All of us who remember JFK, who recall that time in our lives when we were riveted by his speaking ability, his handsomeness, his Irishness, his wit and his charm, have always hoped for another JFK.

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A Blatant Example of Racism and Discrimination

The efforts by the administration and its mouthpieces on the School Committee to deny Superintendent of Schools Priya Tahiliani an extension of her contract reeks of racism and discrimination.

At a time when the city has just had to ante up $500,000 for legal fees regarding the US Attorney’s investigation into racism and discrimination in Everett for the past five years, it seems so out of the orbit of good government to be playing games with the superintendent’s contract extension.

A vote taken at Monday evening’s School Committee to allow a discussion about the possible extension does little to change the deal.

Does anyone in government, or at least the four members of the School Committee who voted against the Monday measure feel that maybe, just maybe, the US Attorney’s office is watching such shenanigans?

We don’t think so.

Yet it is impossible to properly convey the feeling that the administration’s anti-Tahiliani stance is part and parcel of the racist tendencies of this administration and of its followers on the School Committee.

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Will the mayor keep his word?

It is disconcerting to hear from numerous city officials and players in the ongoing Pope John drama that the mayor may choose to do nothing, rather than to act to reduce overcrowding in the public schools.

The School Committee recently sent a non-binding resolution to the city council asking the mayor to get the ball rolling on the rehab of Pope John so that more than 1,000 of the 1,500 kids now crowded into classrooms that used to be closets and libraries and music rooms can be educated in a seating and teaching situation more conducive to learning than 30-35 student classrooms.

Mind you, the resolution came after several months of agitation and government efforts, city hall protests and speeches by public officials, nearly all of them wanting to act.

Mind you, the resolution came after the mayor got his way, entirely and completely, arguing for a $76 million rehab of the facility to assure its integrity instead of agreeing to the School Department’s $46 million plan to open the school as soon as possible.

Under the rules of government here, which the mayor completely understands, a non-binding resolution is just that – a non-binding resolution.

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