Ernani Jose DeAraujo: In Support of Dan Conley

The following letter was submitted by Ernani Jose DeAraujo on September 19, 2013
 
[Editor's note: All East Boston residents are invited to submit letters of support for their mayoral candidates. Contact editor@eastboston.com.]


Dear friends and neighbors:

I ask that you please consider voting next Tuesday for our District Attorney, Dan Conley for mayor of Boston.

Dan and I share a mutual legal mentor, an esteemed jurist who speaks highly of Dan’s integrity as a lawyer and thoughtfulness as a prosecutor. As DA, Dan brings justice to victims of crime and works with other law enforcement to keep us safe. Dan has directly managed one of the most successful District Attorney’s Offices in the United States. This experience—of being a good manager, trusted voice to the public, and thoughtful prosecutor dealing with the most significant matters of life and death—gives me confidence that Dan will have the ability and motivation to successfully manage our city government as mayor.

Since Dan announced his candidacy for mayor, I have personally observed his engagement with residents to hear their concerns and provide workable solutions to their problems. When East Boston residents expressed to Dan their concern over taxis and tolls, Dan promised that he would work with residents to put forward a solution that he could champion as mayor. From those discussions was born Dan’s 5-point action plan for East Boston that called for taxi fairness for our neighborhood and a moving of the tolls onto Massport property. Dan’s creation of the 5-point plan showed me how he will deal with residents’ concerns as mayor: Dan will listen first and then listen again for a solution from residents who many times know best on how to improve their neighborhoods. Dan will take what he’s learned from residents and use his experience and guidance from experts to fashion a solution. I want Dan’s approach to problem solving in our next mayor.

Dan has impressed me with his commitment to political independence. No one has been more of leader on the casino issue than Dan Conley. Back in April, Dan took issue with the movement for a casino in Boston and called for more transparency and public engagement in the process. He was the first to propose a citywide vote to engage all residents of Boston on the casino issue and to permit a casino in East Boston only if both the city and East Boston residents said yes. He was also the first to decry the call for a low turnout special election for the casino and championed having the vote on the general election day of November 5th. While Dan respects the right of voters to decide the existing Boston casino application, if that application were to fail Dan would oppose any new casino or slots application for Boston while he is mayor. If you believe in transparency and a fair development process as I do, Dan has been on our side from the beginning and paid the political price for standing by the people. We need Dan’s political courage in our next mayor.

There are many other great candidates on the ballot for Tuesday’s election. A younger generation of leaders—Rob Consalvo, Felix Arroyo, and John Barros—have contributed so much to this race and will doubtless influence our city for decades to come. Dan asked me to entrust him with my vote so he can lead our city government for the next 4 years from good to great. I hope you do the same and vote Dan Conley on Tuesday. Thank you.

NOAH is seeking a Youth Organizer for Chelsea Creek Action Group

This just in from NOAH:  Deadline is Monday, so act now!  

Youth Organizer: Chelsea Creek Action Group

Overview: The Chelsea Creek Action Group (CCAG) is seeking dedicated, positive and committed youth who are interested in community organizing. We’re a group of youth and adults that fight for Environmental Justice and Social Justice here in East Boston through community organizing. The youth conduct education and outreach and perform direct actions to address local issues including public health, access to green space, and youth involvement in the community. Some of the projects that this group have worked on include, but are not limited to, growing vegetables and fruits in Our Garden, organizing a biking campaign in East Boston, hosting Know What’s Up concerts, and putting together an annual Chelsea River Revel event with our fellow Chelsea community organizers.

• Job Responsibilities may include but are not limited to the following:
• Being on time and present during all program hours. Every month we receive a copy of our work schedule for that month and it is important to keep track of that schedule. There may be times where we work some additional evenings and weekends, and there may be times where we have overnight trips for conferences, so it is important to be as flexible as possible.
• Working with and representing the community
• Attending monthly Chelsea creek action group meetings, other community meetings, and even meetings with city officials.
• Maintaining an organic garden and public open space during spring/summer seasons and planting seeds to grow food. Also, there may be times where we work with middle school and elementary school students in the garden.
• Attending and supporting recreational and educational programs at the Condor Street Urban Wild and “Our Garden.”
• Participating in the biking campaigns in East Boston and being comfortable with riding a bike as well as wearing biking gear.
• Designing and giving workshops to other youth and adults about Environmental/Social/Community issues.
• Learning about local community and planning new campaigns according to its needs.
• Developing Civic Organizing skills

Qualifications:

• Must be an East Boston resident ages 14-18 and/or attending high school
• Possess a real interest in making positive changes for the community.
• Able to work cooperatively as part of a team.
• Have a respectful, professional manner
• Shows motivation and able to help others be motivated
• Willingness and interest to learn about environmental/social justice issues and work outdoors
• Able to step up and show initiative to work independently when it’s needed
• Bilingual (English and Spanish, or Vietnamese, Khmer, Italian, Portuguese, Etc.) is a plus
• Ability to express self creatively (music, spoken word, dance, etc.) is a plus
• Skills (Computer Tech, Writing, Social Speaking, Political, Video Production, Etc.) is a plus

Pay: $8/hour, 6-10 hours a week during the school year, 
18-25 hours a week during the summer

Applications are due by Monday, Sept. 17th at 5:00 PM

To Apply Contact:              
Chris Marchi, Coordinator of Sustainability, Youth & Community
143 Border Street,
East Boston, MA 02128
617-418-8243 or 617-417-2093

Friends of Meridian Street support mayoral candidate Dan Conley's stance on Logan Airport taxis

Paul Howes sends this along: 

Friends of Meridian Street support Mr. Conley's stance on Logan Airport taxis, 

"Finally, I want to improve taxi service for East Boston.  Right now, there are a number of issues with cab service here: a minority of drivers take advantage of the confusion surrounding tolls to charge inflated fares; some other drivers are reluctant to serve East Boston for fear of not finding a fare back to the rest of the city; and still other drivers use residential streets as cut-throughs to avoid tolls.  Although these may sound like minor inconveniences, they actually make East Boston a harder place to visit, which harms residents and businesses.  As mayor, I will crack down on price fixing and these other practices."

As our elected East Boston officials, MassPort managers, Mass Department of Transportation and the Boston Police Department Hackney Division have stuck their heads in an "Ostrich Hole" refusing to take any action to stop the Logan Airport taxis from using Meridian Street and the public streets of East Boston, the residents of Eastie continue to suffer environment, health and safety problems on a daily basis. 

These cabs must be made to use the multi-million dollar bypass road from Logan Airport to Chelsea build just for this purpose. With taxpayers money may I add!