Equality Rules In Cambridge

You may have heard about low information voters and taxpayers. In Cambridge there are low information political activists. The letter writer celebrates the remarkable filing of a complaint with the state Attorney General about an alleged violation of the Open Meetings Law by The Cambridge City Council. What? These late comers are unaware of the reply of the Council when challenged that they were violating that law about 20 times in 2003 when Harvard was getting city permissions to build the new graduate dorms on Hingham and Akron Streets at Banks Street in Cambridge. The response was, "Open Meetings Law? What Open Meetings Law? We don't got to obey no stinkin' Open Meetings Law." And the Attorney General agreed with the council's lawlessness. The state government is run by the same political interests as the City Council. They do not want to offend one another and so ignore law violations. It is how Massachusetts and Cambridge do business. One party rules best!

Then it was not emails passed among the Councilors to avoid Open Meetings Law requirements. They tried to have only four Councilors in a meeting room at City Hall at one time in order not to have a quorum, requiring an open meeting. They stopped me twice when I tried to enter telling me it was a private meeting. They tried to thwart the requirements of the Open Meetings Law then as they did this year. They are so used to ignoring inconvenient laws, that they show no remorse. They are being imitated by the President and his Attorney General in Washington DC.  

The usual response by Councilors when confronted by concerned citizens about state law and city ordinance violations is "Will you shut up." It is surprising that the editors of the local paper published the letter revealing these council misadventures. They refused to publish my letters and allowed officials to libel me when I complained about corruption. The notion of equality is understood by city officials and the editors as some people are more equal than others in Cambridge.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x1926909099/LETTER-Another-look-at-City-Council-policy-order-0-6#axzz2I4Mqm0N1

LETTER: Another look at City Council policy order 0-6
GateHouse News Service
Posted Jan 15, 2013 @ 11:14 AM
Rick Snedeker
Clifton Street
Cambridge MA