Mayor Needs Perspective With Opponents

It's Just Not Always About You, Mr. Mayor...

Being mayor of a city is a tough job. It requires intelligence, strong character, political savvy, and a great deal of perspective. It also involves often having to deal with people who — to put it mildly — might be something short of supportive.

Attleboro Mayor Paul Heroux has demonstrated all these attributes during his time in office. But if there is one thing he needs to work on, it’s that last one — perspective.

Heroux has had his share of tiffs with local politicians and activists, as every mayor inevitably does. While his record of accomplishment is considerable, his handling of criticism and opposition has been poor. The most recent example was his spat with former city councilor Roxanne Houghton.

Houghton supported the mayor in the past, but lately has been severely critical. She went public about an apparent inadvertent violation of state pesticide laws. She complained about other city services and demanded the mayor take action. She filed a public document request seeking some of Heroux’s emails.

The mayor says she has been abusive towards him and other officials. In response, Heroux threatened to ban her from attending meetings of his recently-formed Highland Country Club task force. In an email Houghton made public, Heroux wrote:

“I’m warning you right now that if you show up at any of my future use meetings I will have the police remove you immediately…”

Heroux eventually reversed himself, saying he had misinterpreted a conversation with the city solicitor. He points out he could keep the public out of task force meetings completely. However, he admits he cannot selectively exclude individuals. He explained that to Houghton and apologized.

While Heroux now understands he cannot selectively ban certain people from public meetings, it is important to note he says he would have, if he could have. Sorry, but threatening to have someone removed by police just for showing up at a meeting is unacceptable behavior from the head of any local government.

As a town moderator, I have had to threaten to remove people from a public meeting for their behavior. But never just for being there. That would be wrong.

Mayor Heroux bristles at any suggestion he is politically sensitive, or “thin skinned”. However, his statements and actions indicate some merit to that suggestion. Handling criticism and opposition — reasonable and unreasonable, fair and unfair — is a huge part of the job, one Heroux has performed poorly during his time in office.

He states some councilors are working with Houghton in a manner that “selfishly” takes away time that he should be spending on city business. However, sometimes people just disagree. It is not always personal, or a political plot.

Heroux points out there are 43,000 people in Attleboro, and says those who waste his time hurt them and the city.

Leading a city government is not easy. No official should be the target of actual abuse. If Houghton or anyone has done that, they should be reported to authorities.

But when it comes to reasonableness and perspective, the standard for a mayor has to be higher. Mayor Heroux needs to improve in those areas, and understand it is simply not always about him.

Bill Gouveia is a local columnist and longtime local official. He can be emailed at billsinsidelook@gmail.com and followed on Twitter at @Billinsidelook.

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Kids Of All Ages Still Love Planes

All Generations Love The Local Airport

by Bill Gouveia for the Sun Chronicle

There’s something about airplanes that fascinates children — even if they are only young at heart. As grandparents, my wife and I are very happy to take advantage of that.

When I was a kid (yes, I was young once) airplanes were not as sophisticated as they are today. Most of the people I knew had never been up in one. It was only a decade or two after World War II, and as kids we ran around our yard with our arms spread wide, imitating the fighter planes and pilots we saw on television and in the movies.

The nearest big airport was in Boston, a far-off place if you were living here back then. The big jets were not something we saw regularly. But if we ventured to nearby Mansfield, we could enjoy the magic of smaller airplanes close up. We could hear them, see them, and marvel at the way they soared into the air or returned safely to the ground.

We could go to the Mansfield Airport.

My maternal grandparents lived in Mansfield, and we always took “the back roads” to go visit them. That took us right past the airport every time, and we would always plead with my mom to take us up to the big fence that separated the parking lot from the planes.

She didn’t stop that often, but my grandparents — that was a different story. My grandfather would pull up right to the fence and we would eagerly put our faces right up to that barrier in order to feel closer to those magical machines that both roared and soared.

We would get excited when we saw a pilot walk out toward the plane. And when the engines finally kicked in, and the propellers twirled, we would strain our eyes to watch it go to the end of the runway and then cheer as it sped back and up into the clouds.

Pretty boring stuff now, right? With all the entertainment options available today, you wouldn’t think it would be much of an attraction.

That airport in Mansfield is still there, although it looks a lot different. The big hangers are in different places, the planes are much fancier, and there is even a restaurant now where you can have breakfast or lunch while watching the comings and goings. There is a fenced-in area with tables and a wooden plane just perfect for young kids to climb on and imagine they are owning the skies.

Our grandsons live nearby, and we take them there regularly. Tommy is the youngest, and is wild about the airport. He begs to go all the time. He’d rather do that than watch “Beat Bugs” on cable TV or play a game on our cellphones (well, most of the time anyway).

The look on his face and the excitement he feels reminds me of when I was a kid. The feeling I get while watching him helps me understand why my grandparents brought us there so many times.

Some things are generational, while others manage to cross those boundaries. The airport is one we can still share.

Bill Gouveia is a Sun Chronicle columnist and longtime local official. Reach him at billsinsidelook@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @Billinsidelook.

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Keep The Issues Local In Local Election

Local Elections?  Stick To Local Issues

by Bill Gouveia for the Sun Chronicle

It is a sad commentary on our political system that elections have become less about the issues that actually fall within the jurisdiction of the elected positions themselves, and more about simply being an outlet for the hate and distrust so rampant throughout every level of government and society.

There is an old saying when it comes to elections: If you can dictate what is discussed, it greatly increases your chances of winning. Control the topics — control the election.

This philosophy is being used in the race for state senate in the Bristol and Norfolk district, which includes Foxboro, Mansfield, Norton, Rehoboth, Seekonk and half of Attleboro. In a rematch from just last year, incumbent Democratic Senator Paul Feeney of Foxboro will again face Attleboro Republican Jacob Ventura. In 2017, Feeney defeated Ventura, with an independent candidate also in the mix.

This time the race boils down to just the two, and the dynamics have changed. Feeney now has a record to run on and defend, and Ventura now can focus entirely on one opponent as well as touting his own qualifications.

But last week, Ventura made clear two of the top issues he intends to run on are illegal immigration and sanctuary cities. This is despite the fact neither of these controversial and emotional issues are actually before the state legislature, or likely to be. They generate much more political heat than actual impact on the constituents of the district.

Ventura is focusing on an old amendment to the budget — eventually defeated by the House — that would have limited exchanges of information between local police and federal immigration authorities. He claims this would have contributed to Massachusetts becoming “a sanctuary state,” and that such a move would hurt the fight against gangs like MS13.

He is backed by the conservative group Mass Fiscal Alliance, which targets Democratic elected officials with a social media assault on those very topics. They mailed fliers against many Democratic candidates just before the last election, and are the facing official complaints about failing to reveal their political donors as required by law.

Feeney says the group is a prime example of “dark money” political groups that seek to influence local elections from outside the districts.

There are so many crucial issues that should be the focus of debate between local candidates. State spending, local aid, educational funding, the opiate crisis, the MBTA, transparency in state government, infrastructure improvements, school building funding reform, and ongoing regional sewer issues just to name a few. Those are the things voters of the Bristol and Norfolk district expect their leaders to address.

Using the “dog whistle” topic of illegal immigration to attract attention is unwise and wrong. It’s an attempt to cash in on fear and distrust, and distracts from the very real issues a state senator should be taking on. It is a reflection of the current national election strategy – make people angry and defensive, then harness the negative energy to try and win office.

Too many elections lately have been driven by hatred and negativity rather than issues. Here’s hoping local voters don’t allow this to be yet another one.

Bill Gouveia is a local columnist and a longtime local official. He can be emailed at billsinsidelook@gmail.com and followed on Twitter at @Billinsidelook.

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Sign Your Name For Choices In Norton

Norton Signature Drive For Charter Underway

by Bill Gouveia for the Sun Chronicle

f you were around Norton this holiday weekend (and with the golf tournament, many no doubt were), it’s possible you noticed people with clipboards collecting signatures at various events and locales throughout the community.

No, they weren’t getting signatures for candidates running for office. Those were Norton residents collecting signatures from other Norton residents requesting the formation of an elected charter commission that would study making changes to the charter currently in place.

Under state law, signatures from at least 15 percent of the town’s registered voters are required in order to form a nine-member commission, to be chosen at a future town election. That body would be charged with holding public hearings, suggesting possible changes to a wide variety of town governmental structures and procedures, and submitting a recommendation which would ultimately be voted upon at a general town election. It would be similar to the process currently winding down to a conclusion in North Attleboro.

If successful in forming said commission, Norton’s government would be studied from top to bottom. Everyone in town would have an opportunity to make suggestions or comments to people with the authority to actually bring them to a vote. Every registered voter would then have the chance to come out and vote on making changes and hopefully improvements to the way Norton operates.

But none of that happens unless approximately 2,500 Norton voters (about 15 percent) bother to write their names on a petition requesting the mere opportunity.

A group called Norton Citizens for a Charter Commission has been formed to further this cause. They have a Facebook page and are attempting to put forth an organized signature drive.

The group itself does not offer any specific change to government, though many individual members may have certain ones they favor. The one and only goal at this point is to give Norton voters an opportunity to actually cast their ballot on improvements that have been studied and researched by a group of their fellow citizens chosen only for that purpose.

Some changes have been made to the existing charter over the years, but those changes were limited under law because they were not part of a proposal by an elected charter commission. For example, you can’t change from a town to a city, or a town meeting to a town council, unless you go through the charter commission process. A commission is under no obligation to change those things, but are the only entity empowered to study and report to the town on them.

So the question is not so much why would Norton residents want to study improving or changing their government, but rather — why would they not? How does anyone know what can be improved unless and until it is documented and presented?

But gathering 2,500 signatures is a lot of work. Just ask those in North Attleboro, who had to gather even more than that to bring their efforts to fruition.

Here’s hoping all Norton voters will consider signing the petitions and bringing the issue of improving government to the forefront. Then they can elect people to the charter commission, and eventually accept or reject their recommendations.

Bill Gouveia is a local columnist and longtime local official. He can be emailed at billsinsidelook@gmail.com and followed on Twitter at @Billinsidelook.

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