Newcomer Haverhill City Council candidate Andy Vargas held a campaign kick-off Sunday at 83 Arlington St., attended by about 100 supporters including “community organizers, elected officials and artists,” according to a statement released Tuesday.
“I’m ready to work on homelessness, youth development, economic development, and I’m ready to work for you,” Vargas said in a kickoff speech. “More than anything, what I want to provide Haverhill is not only an ear for folks, but also an arm, a hand, to act on what the community of Haverhill really wants. But for that we have to organize. For that we have to work. For that we have to be present. For that we have to move.”
Vargas, a graduate of Boston University, is also a community organizer, entrepreneur and longtime resident of Haverhill.
Andy…Your political indoctrination has been one where you’ve come to believe that government is the answer to people’s problems. Nothing could be further from the truth. As one great president said, and I hope you know who this is, but somehow I’m not sure you would have learned this in Mr. Jordan’s class, and I’m very sure you didn’t learn it at BU……”Government isn’t the solution to the problem, government is the problem”.
I realize you are new to this, and you should be commended for giving it a try, but if you’re going to be serious about it you need to have a political platform based on ‘real’ issues, not moronic rhetoric. Where do you stand on the outrageous taxes imposed in Haverhill over the past few years….parking tax, meals tax, user fee increases? What are you going to do to ensure Haverhill taxpayers do not endure a 2.5% tax increase every year? What are you going to do to stop the out of control liberal tax and spend mayor, or are you going to be just another rubber stamp like all the other councilors? What are you going to do to stop the increased spending and pay increases?
Andy, a polite word of advice….I wouldn’t put in your bio that you are a community organizer. I know that plays well on Beacon Hill and in DC where you got your training, but in the real world the last time someone was elected who had that as his main credential it brought this country to its knees because of his failures and incompetence.
Best of luck……
Jack Haverhill, let’s not bring national left-right politics into a congenial, nonpartisan, local election. It’s apples and oranges my friend.
There is nothing congenial when anyone, at any elected level, do The People harm. They “should” be held accountable for not only what they say, but what they do. Some of those issues Jack raised are valid, as a few of them are entirely “local” issues.
Congenial? So the elected Haverhill officials robbing us blind through new taxes and fees is a pleasant thing to you? Ask the people who put their lives on the line to start a business downtown only to have it ruined by intrusive ‘local’ politics and policies if what these thieves are doing is congenial.
A candidate’s political ideology has everything to do with who they are and how they are likely to perform if elected, no matter what level of office they are seeking. Look no further than mayor Failurentini….he brags about being a proud democrat and publicly cites the biggest social welfare redistribution program in history, Obamacare, as a reason. While he’s been in office he’s championed buying a failed hospital which put the city $100Million in debt, taxes are up over 25% in just 8 years while he’s been mayor, we now have parking taxes, meals taxes, fees are up across the board and he’s handed out raises to every employee in the city.
Nothing could prove my quote above about government ‘being the problem’ than to look at the political resume of this mayor and the devastation he’s brought to the city.
When a new candidate comes along whose only working life experience has been learning from and working for tax and spend liberals it is completely appropriate to ask where specifically they stand on issues.
John –
You couldn’t be more wrong if you tried with your statement – local elections are the seed in Massachusetts and elsewhere for either continued social engineering – or – the ability to work with those who play and pay by the rules to enhance growth, law, and a solid basis for constituent work based on the parameters of limited government.
Jack is offering Andy some great advice – and Andy would be well served to take it.