HOUSE BY HOUSE!

David Gass, Director of THE HIGHLANDS COALITION shared some good news. Our neighborhood grows stronger with every victory!

HICO,
 
A second victory yesterday re housing: Anthony Howard and Shana Seaforth 
at 108 Rockaway owed $350k or more on
their single-family. They battled the bank for several years to no avail 
and dropped out of LUFC (http://www.lynnunitedforchange.com/).
 
I asked them to re-join LUFC, who helped them apply to Boston Community 
Capital, a non-profit bank.
 
BCC bought the house and sold it to them today for.....$108,100.
 
Shana came to the lunch today. She will talk about her struggle and 
victory at our next mtg.
 
Building community one house at at time.

WENT TO A GARDEN PARTY

Met up with some old friends, food was being served (you know I don't miss a meal), ad sweet sounds were serenading the children and some neighbors who happened to drop by the International Garden at Ford School, a HIGHLANDS COALITION event.

Seeing DAVID GASS on the harmonica was a sight that will be indelibly burned into my memory. JULIO as always can "Stand By Me". I got lots of pictures I hope yo get up soon (Actually my wife took a couple).

My man, CEF ROSA, candidate for Ward 4 councilman was there. I snagged some T-shirts for me, my wife and kids!

The Daily Item: East Lynn tops Pine Hill in City Series

The Daily Item: East Lynn tops Pine Hill in City Series

Several Highlands kids are on this team including the pitcher and oh yeah, my son, TRIPPY WOTRING. I'm sure the misspelling was an honest mistake (who am I to judge) and not a personal dig to me.

The Daily Item: Lynn police bust prostitution house

The Daily Item: Lynn police bust prostitution house

This why neighborhood organizations like the Highlands Coalition are so important. YOU'VE GOT TO KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS.

CELEBRATION ON HIGH(LANDS)

Mark your calenders. September 21st is the day tentatively planned for a dedication of a plaque honoring the memory of Harry Harly and all the tireless work he put into the  establishment of and the continued growth of the Highlands Coalition. Further details will follow as they come available.

BEING THERE

You can tell it is election time. Politicians and wanna-be politicians filled all the extra seats at our meeting. It's a good thing when you can command that type of attention. Hopefully some people are starting to pay attention to the Highlands. Good things are happening. I mean HICO was giving away FREE tomatoes and NONE were thrown.

In attendance last night were RICK STARBARD and MARIA CARRASCO, both from the Lynn School Committee and DELORES "how can I be prejudiced with a name like this?" Defillipo, a candidate for the Lynn School Committee. Also present were CALVIN ANDERSON, candidate for councilor-at-large, and CEF ROSA,Ward 4 candidate. I have to study more but Cef may be my man.

I missed CLAY WALSH. I guess his "Sail For Change" don't dock here.

ALL THAT JAZZ, HIGHLAND'S STYLE

Learned at the HIGHLANDS COALITION meeting last night, thanks to a grant, a bus will be heading to the NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL on August 6th. Everything's free, just pack a lunch. Kids will need to be chaperoned by an adult. For more details and to sign up, call Dr. Crane at 781 477-7375

.Newport Jazz Festival: The Illustrated History

DOUGLASS'S HIGHROCK PARTY!

Remember the Fredrick Douglass event on July 3rd. Now you can look back at these memories on videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWUWjs3A5-I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH6QE0Afr7o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwSFU-IBSMw
 

RUN, DON'T WALK TO FIX THE LIGHT

Walking to Volunteer Field to watch to play Little League baseball I have been noticing that the WALK light is out at the corner of Chestnut and Adams Street. Seems like that is a pretty dangerous problem with all those kids there.

"Politics Make Strange Bedfellows"

McKeon & Associates, LLC. - Referral Network it says on Ms. McKeon's website

www.mckeonandaossociatesllc.com

Words become tired old cliches when they become overworked, overused. They become overused because no other word or combination of words better describe a particular situation. It looks as if HICO's former lawyer, Mari McKeon is in a partnership with Mark DeJoie, businessman, lawyer, social activist extraordinaire.


One of the many pies Mark has his finger in is KIPP. Now Mari spent hours in discussion with various members of HICO about ways of blocking KIPP's construction. A lawsuit was even filed by a HICO member in Superior court. Mind you, I believe it says on one of the pages on Ms . McKeon's website she teaches or has taught ETHICS.

 Other board members were surprised when HICO got a big bill in the tens of thousands of dollars from Ms. McKeon when originally they had only intended to hire her to file papers of incorporation as a 503c non-profit corporation. Then people got off track talking about KIPP's evil empire. Highlanders are passionate people who love to talk. Well I've learned with lawyers the meter is always running.


A huge bill was amassed that no one wanted to pay so Ms. McKeon being a lawyer, doing what lawyers do she sued all the board members of HICO. That included ME. Since nobody had any money a suggestion was made by a former HICO board member who went to work for Ms. McKeon that if a letter was written, the debt could be written off somehow on her taxes. What college does Ms. McKeon teach ETHICS at?

Oh yeah, the non-profit incorporation papers were never properly filed!

Anyway in the interest of full disclosure, Mark is a friend on Facebook and I am LinkedIn to Mari. What did you expect from me? I am on my 4th marriage.

Why Can"t We Vote At FORD?

I received a response the other day to my part of a class action lawsuit against the city of Lynn for closing down the Ford School polling location in 2004 for reasons of non-compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). One would think that I should have been overjoyed to see the voting rights of the disabled treated with such respect and sensitivity. Or were they?

You would think the remaining locations would be violation free. My personal inspection of all eight remaining polling places found the opposite to be true. Every polling station had some violation. So does that mean we should close down every other place?

The spirit of ADA is not confrontational. As a community, we disabled have been oppressed too long and we have learned from great examples of past discrimination that real change does not come from the point of a sword but instead from the point of a pen especially when used in a ballot box.

So it infuriates me when the ADA legislation is perverted to be used as a justification for a possibly dubious task. This law is meant to be one of accommodation and participation, not one of retribution and retaliation. ADA is not just to protect the disabled minority, everyone at some time in their lives will have the opportunity to benefit from the realities of its enforcement.

Failures to enact this legislation because of solely financial reasons is unacceptable. The purpose of this legislation was to insure civil rights, equal rights. You can't put a price on that.

FORD SCHOOL PARTICIPATES IN FREE FOOD PROGRAM

From LYNN SCHOOL WATCH:

   This is a picture of a poster on the fence at FORD SCHOOL but it is not the only location of this great program. You can go to the Lynn Public Schools Website for other locations.

A POETIC TRIBUTE TO HARRISON HARLY

HARRY'S WAR

Mother country had
a son of liberty
who was a child of history
that grew into a man of science

Battles waged against
faceless warriors insured
probable defeat despite hopes
of small victories. Fighting

until the last man standing
could stand no more. Memories
become legacies after
the lessons are learned.

FROM LYNN SCHOOL WATCH: REMEMBERING HARRY!

DOING HIS PART

This past weekend education in the Highlands and really throughout Lynn suffered a big loss with the passing of Harrison Harley. A retired teacher, former Lynn School Committee candidate, and fellow board member of the Highlands Coalition, Harry shared with me and others a view that the community provides the best environment for the intellectual growth of ts citizens.

A constant worker in the International Garden at Ford School, Harry felt his efforts helped to provide students with an opportunity to better their intellect and their health. He will be sorely missed.

I propose that the HIGHLANDS COALITION place a plaque memorializing  his contributions to our garden at one of the tables where he spent so much time fighting for recognition of this garden's importance. A proclamation by Lynn City Council or the mayor would be nice too.

MEMORIALIZING HARRY

We should put a plague in the International Garden at Ford School memorializing HARRY HARLY. While I often disagreed with the paths he chose, I was always in agreement with the destination.  No one can doubt his sincerity and the garden would not have achieved the level of success it has without his involvement.

Sad News For The Highlands

I got this horrible e mail, from David Gass, a real tragedy!

Hello all,
 
I'm sad to report that our dear friend Harry Harley died today, of a 
sudden heart attack at
his home. He had congestive heart failure twice before, so he knew he 
didn't have long to live.
Through all of his suffering with breathing, gout, return of malaria, he 
never complained.
 
Every day through the winter, he trudged to the school or garden to work 
on our vision of the future
of growing food. He always took a moment to explain what he was doing. 
His knowledge of science
was breath-taking.
 
Harry first connected with us at the debate in Fall, 2009 for School 
Committee candidates. He
impressed me as a highly intelligent, passionate person. Meeting him 
last year, I told him what
were doing. Without hesitating, he said: You're doing exactly what 
should be done, with education,
the community, etc.
 
He never hesitated to give us his time, ideas or money. He was one of 
the most innovative, radical,
and honest people I've met in my life. I will miss him.
 
Annette and Harrison will inform me about the funeral.
 
David
 

A Good Read?

In the infancy of this blog, an idea was presented to me about compiling a HIGHLANDS COOKBOOK. A certain person who shall remain nameless offered to take on this project. He or she thought it could be a GREAT fund raiser for the HIGHLANDS COALITION. Not only that, I like to eat.

Habla Espanol? Want To Work?

A JOB FAIR is being held at NORTH SHORE ADULT DAY CARE t 191 North Common Street in Lynn on Friday July 8 at 4 pm. They need drivers, RN's, Kitchen help, Medical Assistant/CNA's, Activities Assistant and who knows what else> If you need a job, go and find out!

BUILDING ON SUCCESS

The quick action THE HIGHLANDS WATCH received over the dead cat removal prompted the following response: 

                        "Please ask them to remove the TV bed and bureau at the corner of Jefferson and Ward that we have been looking at for months"

Councilman Phelan, how about it?

PHELAN COMES THROUGH AGAIN

Here is a copy of an e mail I received minutes after my last post. A lesson in the POWER OF THE PEN.

July 5, 2011

Mary, A constituent contacted Council President Phelan to report a dead cat on Bay view Avenue.  Can you please have Kevin check it out in the morning for removal.  

 

DEAD CAT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD

HERE AT LEAST TWO DAYS!

 With school being out and kids playing in the street the fact that a dead animal is starting to draw flies.  Won't somebody do something? Look on Bay View Ave.