The second of four interviews with candidates vying for East Boston's open House of Representatives seat is with Mary Berninger. The 51-year-old mother of three has been active for many years on a wide range of community issues. Berninger and I spoke Monday at her home, interrupted a couple of times by jets whose flight patterns took them right over our heads. Click on the headline above or on "comments" below to see the entire interview, which I recorded and transcribed in whole.
Interviews with all four Democratic candidates will be completed by the end of this week; however, it will take me a several days to transcribe each one, so please be patient.
44 comments:
A conversation with Mary Berninger, interviewed by your humble Hubster correspondent Jim Correale, at her home on August 27, 2007.
Jim: You’re in this Democratic primary with three other candidates and they’re all part of the system to some degree. They’ve all worked within the government and worked on campaigns. It seems to me that you approach this race from a different angle. You’ve been an activist in the community for many years. Do you think that makes your candidacy unique? And also, if elected, would you be able to work within the system, as opposed to working from the outside?
MB: I do think that I’m unique because I’m a definite alternative to the other three and the approach of the individuals running their campaigns. I’ve also worked on a lot of campaigns over the years because I think it’s important for everyone who loves it here to get involved. This is a great community. There are a lot of positives, but there are a lot of things that need correcting and I really firmly believe that a lot of things that impact East Boston in a unique way can only be corrected through the legislative process. And that is why I’ve always been politically active, and my family has always been politically active, too. I think it’s a natural progression for me.
I think the independence part works. Going around the neighborhood and speaking to people when I doorknock and when I go to venues and forums people say that it’s nice to see someone who is refreshingly honest. I did one of my interviews with one of the advocacy groups and after every question they said that it was unbelievable to hear someone actually just answer with the way she really feels instead of a prepackaged response. You can ask me any question and you may not always want to hear what I say, you may not agree with me, but I will be brutally honest with you. It works in the way I present myself to the community. People have said, “Don’t gloss it over; don’t tell us what you think we want to hear. Tell us what you really feel.” And that’s how I try to approach this. I think that is what is needed in this community -- someone who won’t first try to decide, “If I say this is that what a particular group wants to hear? Is that what my mentors want me to say? Is that what a certain political establishment wants me to say? Or is that how I really feel? And is that what will best help my community?” That’s how I approach it, and that’s why I feel that I am the different candidate, and I wear that badge very proudly.
Jim: For you, what are the two or three most important issues in this race?
MB: East Boston is at a crossroads. I think there is a palpable feeling in the community that the pendulum has swung too far in one direction, in the direction where there has been less accountability, whether it’s in regard to waterfront development, whether it’s in regard to the impacts of Logan Airport, the lack of attention by city government and services over here. Those are the reasons I entered the race, too. I believe in accountability, and I don’t think it does any of the residents any good if someone is elected to an office and has a platform during the whole election season saying all these things are good, bad or indifferent about the community and promising to do things, and then once they’re in office it doesn’t happen, and I’ll use the airport as an example. We’ve had so many opportunities to stop the growth of Logan Airport and to lessen the negative impacts, because as I said earlier, the airport is not going away. We had a legislative opportunity to change a lot of things and we had individuals in the federal, state and city government who gave cursory and perfunctory attention to those issues. The community cried out for leadership, legislative leadership from elected officials, and I honestly don’t think that the community got what they deserved.
When you have US senators and the governor and a mayor who didn’t really do what he could to help this community -- all of those things put together -- that is why Massport was able to get [Runway] 14/32. That’s why Massport was able to get the centerfield taxiway. Those are the reasons that Massport always gets what it wants because it’s a wink and a nod with the elected officials. Massport gives jobs, and I’m well aware of that fact, more probably than anybody, but they should give jobs to people why have a skill set that is … [pause for extremely loud airplane noise] I think the job situation over there is something that they should be doing anyway. It shouldn’t be something that, “Oh geez, an East Boston resident received a job.” The way I look at it is, if someone lives in this community all of their life and they go and receive training in a particular area of expertise -- and the jobs at the airport, a lot of them require that level of expertise -- that person who lived here and has been negatively impacted should be able to go over there and say, “Here’s my skill set. I understand you have a job opening, and I would like to apply for it.” That’s how Massport can be a good neighbor, and that’s what the residents of East Boston should be doing. So, that being said, I think it really was unfair that there wasn’t enough push from the elected officials in the past 15 years to stop some of what went on at Massport.
Jim: Tell me if my assessment is wrong. It seemed like the court injunction was there for 30 years on 14/32 and then we had the misfortune of a Republican president at the same time we had a Republican governor, so despite the opposition of Congressman Capuano, Mayor Menino and our two US senators, it seemed impossible to stop when the chief executives at both the state and federal levels wanted to press forward with it.
MB: My assessment isn’t to far off from yours. I have said in many interviews and many forums that the only one who I think did step up to the plate and went above and beyond what the others did was Mike Capuano. He has been on board trying to stop the negatives and trying to finally get Massport and the FAA to understand that regionalization is the only way to go. I remember testifying at a Massport board of directors meeting, and there were individuals there from Lexington and Concord. It became a little acerbic. I will admit that, and I said, “You can’t come here and possibly try to encourage East Boston residents to understand your negative impacts when they don’t, on balance, equal out, and the only way to solve this problem is regionalization.” Capuano said, “Mary, that is an excellent way to put it.”
So many of the people who live in Lexington or Concord or anywhere out west short of Bradley Airport, if they need to get home quickly, it isn’t landing at Logan and getting into a rent-a-car or limo or a cab and driving to their home. It’s more convenient to have an airport that’s closer to them and that services their needs, and that helps us, too. Massport is out there at Hanscom Field already. Increase it. Bring the planes out there for those individuals who live out there, and I would say the same thing with FedEx. Put a lot of FedEx and DHL and anything else out there, too. It would help with the transportation infrastructure. We wouldn’t have as many trucks bringing all those goods from here all the way out there if there was a terminus out there. I don’t see -- and you’re right, there have been Republicans in Washington and Republicans here -- but the way I look at it, whoever is the president, you have to look at the problems that your constituents are facing and find solutions that help those constituents regardless of their political leanings. But I honestly don’t think that even the Democratic Congressional delegation, minus Mike Capuano, and the state and the city, did enough to stop that. I think it speaks for itself that they got what they wanted, and Massport is happy with that.
Someone asked me about the immigration issue and asked what would I do to bridge it, and I said, “Honestly, the newly arrived have the same impacts on their lives as everyone else who is already here and I think if the two groups could come together and find those common problems that they have and work to the solutions, it would go far to building those bridges and cementing this as a real unified community,” but honestly it works for Massport right now and it works for the FAA that there is a separation. It works for those entities that those newly arrived individuals have no clue about the enormity of this problem because they don’t go to community meetings, for whatever reason -- they could be working, it doesn’t matter. They don’t have the hard facts. If we could get those hard facts to them, that’s one huge group and Massport would say, “Wow, they’re filling the halls now. The newcomers care, too, and somebody has been explaining them the negatives,” and I think we can make even more noise and have Massport understand that we’re not going away and you’re not going away, but you have to be a good neighbor, and these are the things you have to do to be a good neighbor.
Jim: So if you were to be elected, the next issue is the centerfield taxiway. How would you approach that?
MB: Well, a couple of weeks ago in the paper they basically said that it was a fait accompli, and they’ve done an awful lot of the infrastructure over there. You can see them working, and it hasn’t been something that Massport is hiding. They’re already doing the configurations of the other taxiways to make way for this huge albatross that is going to be strung around the neck of this community, and I think we need a forum, somebody to take the lead and bring all of the elected officials into one room and to say, “This is what we hear in the community: They feel disenfranchised regarding problems with Massport and they are not getting help from their elected officials,” and I for one don’t want to hear lip service any more. I don’t want that form letter to come out of a file somewhere that was sent 15 years ago to tell the FAA not to do something and all they do is change the date and change the signatory at the bottom of the page. That’s not good leadership from an elected official.
I’d like to be able to tell them that people aren’t happy about a lot of things in this community. They’re not happy about the cleanliness, they’re not happy about the problems in the schools, they’re not happy at the lack of jobs, they’re not happy about the storefronts that aren’t filled. We have brand new storefronts here in Orient Heights, and I’m really hoping that some higher end businesses go in there instead of just the same kinds of businesses or an empty storefront. I’d like to see this community ratchet up what they want here. Don’t always go for the lowest common denominator, bring it up a little bit. We can have an awful lot, like I see in Charlestown. When you go over there and see the way it was created, the signage, facades, the walkways -- everything is pristine. There’s a pristine cleanliness to the Seaport District. There’s a pristine cleanliness down and around the Marriott. If those areas can look the way that they look, every other zip code in the City of Boston should look the same exact way. That’s another thing I hear people upset about, and I tell them that when I am elected I will lend my voice to your concerns, and speak to my counterparts in city government, but the reality is that we have a mayor and a district city councilor, and if they are asleep at the switch and our community is perceived to be as dirty and grimy as it is in some areas, it is their responsibility to fix. They wanted those jobs, and they asked people to vote for them -- I guess chasing after a noisy ice cream truck is important. It would appear to me that that is not why you become a city councilor. You need to look at the good and bad of this community, and address the bad too, and do it quickly before people get angry because we have a feeling that we are neglected over here.
Jim: It seems to be that people have always complained about dirty streets, and I’ve lived nearly my whole life here. In the Bennington Street, Meridian Street, Marion Street area I chalk it up to a high foot traffic area. Unfortunately a certain amount of people throw stuff on the ground, which is terrible, but you have a lot of bustling over there now. There aren’t a lot of empty storefronts in that area. They’re filled with local businesses. But on the issue of local storefronts, you said you’ve like to see something a little higher end, but by the same token people sometimes complain that yuppies front outside East Boston are moving in, and we don’t want them here, but those are the kinds of people who would frequent those businesses and you can’t have it both ways.
MB: Actually you can have it both ways because whenever I go to a meeting, whether it’s at the Land Use Council meetings or the Orient Heights neighborhood meetings, and people say, “We really can’t “condo-ize” any more. They’re going to push everybody out.” And on the other hand they’ll say, “There should be other communities doing their share for affordable housing.” And this is the way I think of it. If people living in East Boston are going to say to the Dovers of the world or Wellesley or Marblehead or Topsfield, “Listen, you need to do your civic duty, too, and provide affordable housing in your community. It’s not fair to continually ask us to always be the community hat steps up to the plate and provides a housing stock that’s perceived as affordable -- and it’s perceived as low income. I think that’s the case, too. A lot of people equate the two, and they’re not always. Someone who is of a middle income stature wants the affordable piece that they can buy, and that might not be lower income. So if we tell those communities to do that, we need to tell the BRA, different development corporations, different private investors, we want the reverse to come here, too, because we’re asking those communities to balance the housing stock in those areas, I want to see the housing stock balanced here. I want to see some of those individuals in the higher income brackets come here because I think it makes for a very diverse community. I don’t think it should be totally gentrified. I think that is what people are afraid of, but I don’t see that that will happen. I think encouraging the other groups to come is what we should be doing.
We can’t always be perceived as being just low income, and I think that there are some groups -- NOAH [Neighborhood of Affordable Housing] comes to mind -- they want to always keep the numbers down because it works for them. That’s their mission, that’s their targeted constituency, but people forget, the other part of their mission is their voter registration, their activism for new groups to engage in the civic process, and I’m all for that as long as they are encouraging people who have a legitimate right to be here and who have followed the process. I have some new neighbors right here behind me and down St. Andrew Road who came and asked me, “Can I put a sign on my house for you?” because they understood what I was saying, and they said, “We totally agree with you. We participated in a process to come here, we followed the rules, and we’re going through the whole series of events that leads to citizenship. Like you, we are not in favor of allowing non-citizens to vote.” I think that is a very slippery slope that we don’t want to travel. That’s why I’m not in favor of same-day registration. It’s fraught with the possibility of fraud and I’ve heard my neighbors say that they agree with me about the ballot being in so many different languages. There are so many attempts to try to reach out to every single group in such a way that causes division, and that’s why I say, “Stop it. Stop it now. You can bridge the groups a lot faster if everybody speaks English, if everybody is on the same page.” And that will go a lot farther to making this a more united community than all of this targeting of individual groups. I was very happy when these gentlemen came -- one is from Trinidad and one is from the Dominican Republic -- and they said, “This has to stop. It’s not helping. Our children need to learn English. It’s not helping the kids progress if they’re not speaking English.” I’m all for teaching the kids and teaching the parents because you’re going to go up vertically, economically, socially, educationally, and you’ll go up vertically a lot faster if you’re speaking English.
Jim: OK, let me ask you quickly about a few issues. Casino gambling?
MB: I have no problem with introducing casino gambling into Massachusetts. As I’ve written, I am concerned about the infrastructure on Route 1A. I think it’d be great for Suffolk Downs. It’s great for job creation around here. You’ll see a lot of different jobs around here. They have to be union jobs, and they have to come with a true living wage and they have to come with benefits. If those pieces aren’t in place, then I wouldn’t welcome it here. You can’t bring something like that to our community and then not compensate individuals in a just manner, so that they are helping their families and they’re doing that vertical growth that I just talked about. They’ll be able to raise their children in a great way. They’ll be able to build a beautiful home or improve their existing home, whatever it is. But if the casinos come here and they give a pittance in terms of wages and they don’t attach benefits to the jobs, then it doesn’t help anybody except the casino operator. So I’d have to see how the transportation department would address that issue because I don’t think they can add any more volume to that roadway if they aren’t going to fix the problem. And they would also have to widen Route 1, and which of those businesses is going to allow a takeover by eminent domain? So I don’t know if this is the optimum place to put it, but I don’t have a problem bringing it to the Commonwealth. There’s a group of people who want to bring it here, but we have to do it in the correct way.
Jim: The death penalty?
MB: I’m not in favor of the death penalty. Years ago, when I would read about horrible murders, like little Jeffrey Curley -- I was sickened by that whole thing, what those two men did to him -- but as I’ve said before, there are too many opportunities for mistakes in that system, even with DNA testing. Mr. Limone and the other three gentleman -- that was done at the hands of the government, the misincarceration, and if this had been a death penalty state they wouldn’t have been alive by the time their innocence was proven, and that would have been horrible. So we’ll incarcerate them for the rest of their lives, but we can’t afford to make a mistake.
Jim: Same-sex marriage?
MB: On a personal level it makes me uncomfortable, and I told Mass Alliance this in my three telephone interviews with them. It does make me uncomfortable, but it’s the law of the land. I may not like the process by which it arrived at the point that it is now, but it’s the law of the land and we have to respect that. That being said, it’s my honest feeling that it should have gone on the ballot because I am a firm believer in a process. The process was that so many individuals went out and gathered signatures, went through the correct channels for the voters and it didn’t happen that way. And that’s not the first time that happened. Look at the rollback at the percentage of the taxes, and that’s disturbing to me. We have these instruments at our disposal to try to impact the legislative process, and that’s our right to do that, yet when a small group of individuals says, “We’re not going to let that happen,” that’s when there is tension between the legislature and the citizenry. But it’s over, it’s done, it’s the law, and by all accounts it hasn’t affected my life at all, and I don’t think it’s affected my friends lives. I hope in situations where citizens undertake the process in the future, they won’t be ignored.
Jim: Thanks Mary.
MB: Thank you.
Mary says "I want to see some of those individuals in the higher income brackets come here because I think it makes for a very diverse community." and then says "There are so many attempts to try to reach out to every single (ethnic) group in such a way that causes division." So which is it? Does she want diversity or unity? What she is really saying is that diversity is great when its new wealthy neighbors, but multiethnic working class people cause division.
The division to which I referred is in the context of how our voting system is now implemented. Having multilingual explanations of ballots and issues creates a separation in our society. To reiterate my position on the English language: if it became the official language for voting and for other government business, then we would be a more unified society. Our housing, our schools, and our neighborhoods will continue to thrive on a diversity of people and of cultures. But that diversity must be aided by a common language, that of English, to facilitate the groups' finding common ground. To suggest that I vacillate on my views of diversity indicates a less than thorough reading of Mr. Correale's amazing transcription of our meeting. Thank you, Jim, for providing the candidates with a forum through which to reach the residents and voters.
I frankly don't have a problem with East Boston being viewed as a place with affordable housing. Perhaps Mary hasn't been a first time homebuyer in a while, but even middle class professionals like me and my partner would struggle to buy here in Eastie, which we hope to do someday. One of my neighbor's daughter is a school teacher in a local suburb and she could not afford to buy her parent's house if they sold it to her at the market rate.
The more affordable we keep Eastie the more diverse it truly will be.
I don't think Mary has a clue about anything other than MassPort. What exactly can a state rep do to make Eastie "cleaner"? And why does she seem so hostile to poor people. Guess what - even the middle class can hardly afford to buy here.
And what do you have against immigrants? I just don't understand why you and your supporters take every opportunity to bash immigrants. I really don't get it. People come here to make a living under conditions that you can't even imagine and you denigrate them because they don't speak English as soon as they get here. Try reading something other than the Herald and you might understand that Latin American and Asian immigrants are learning to speak English at the same rate as previous European immigrant groups. And since you aren't Native American, your ancestors were once immigrants too. I bet they didn't have to wait 15 years for a visa to join their family. And I seriously doubt they had to depend on Congress to reauthorize their refugee status so that they weren't "undocumented" and could continue to work in the same jobs they had held legally for more than a decade.
Maybe if you talked to some of those Salvadorans who have opened up stores in what were abandoned storefronts you might have learned a little bit more about how complex our immigration system really is. Oh, but you probably don't go to those stores since they cater to the "lowest common denominator."
... the immigration to this country from Latin American countries is in response mainly to US Foreign Policy. The US intervention in many Latin countries on issues like: politics, war, commercial trades and more, makes the Latin American countries suffer, where the rich gets richer, and people in power gets more power to oppress the hard working people...How many of you know that the currency money in El Salvador is the US dollar??? and that the minimun wage is less than $150.00 a month, and that in a small town, the government wants to privatize the water service, and sell it to an american company??? And that El Salvador is the “ONLY” latin country to have troops in Irak, in response to serve the US government and that Salvadoran soldiers had died there too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please, just a little understanding won’t do it harm!!
Mary isn't racist if that what your implying. She just lacks the skills to come up with real and comprehensive strategy. She plays off of peoples anger and fear. Instead of real policy she throws these haymakers at Massport and immigrants (which she is). We need someone who can pull people together and make policy that is going to help our community. Not nsomeone who will divide us and get us no where.
English as the official language? That really bothers me. In other countries children as young as 13 speak 4 languages and 2 dialects.
in places like Ghana (Africa) and Aruba. Here we celebrate ignorance. I want my kids leaving highschools knowing English, Italian, Spanish, Creole and Mandarine Chinese. Thats the real way to take over the global market. It's no longer enough to say we are the U.S and we could nuke you all and destabilize your goverments. We need to really compete and I'm sure we would win if the playing field were leveled.
Steve, I kind of agree. Those places have budgets the size of our City budget. Imagine what we could do?
In my race and ethnic relations classes, I teach that racism is:
The claim of a relationship between immutable characteristics of a specific group and sociocultural traits and behaviors with the purpose or effect of asserting superiority of a group.
In this case, Mary implies that not speaking English (an immutable characteristic) causes division within the neighborhood (social behavior). The effect is to imply that those who speak English are better for the neighborhood (asserting superiority).
Racism is not personality characteristic, it is an action or a behavior the outcome of which is to elevate one group social/political/economic position and simultaneously diminish the position of another group.
I agree that Eastie needs someone who can bring people together. Mary clearly isn't one of those people. She doesn't even see the value of the diversity of East Boston.
Countries have official languages. Ours is English. Get over it. All government documents, civil service tests, permit tests should be in English. If it comes from this government it should be in English, end of story. That does not preclude people from learning other languages. You are right we should be taught other languages in school. Saying the United States is ignorant because it wants English as its official language is a mistake. It totally misses the point. Are we less than worldly because we do not mandate teaching other languages in schools? That is a questions we can debate.
Why are people threatened by the United States having English as its official language?
Here we celebrate ignorance? It’s a little over the top.
To know and understand a little more about Election Day Registration, please go to: www.massvote.org
Election Day Registration, also known as “same-day voter registration,” permits eligible citizens to register and vote on Election Day. Eligible citizens who are not found on the voting lists are asked to show a valid ID to a poll worker, who checks their ID, consults the registration list, and, if they are not registered, registers them on the spot.
Election Day Registration is a proven success in seven states. Six states—Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Wyoming—offered Election Day Registration in the 2004 presidential election. Montana implemented Election Day Registration in 2006. Election Day Registration states averaged voter turnout 12% higher than states without Election Day Registration.
Rocinante, what I'm saying is that our kids should be fluent in at least 4 languages when they leave highs school and at least 6 after college. Imagine that. English can be an official language but we shouldn't limit our kids.
The technology and bio-tech sectors are yearning for innovation and creativity. Not simpleminded and arrogant thinking. English is amazing. Now lets show the global market what's possible when you invest in education and challenge kids. They should leave highschools not only with different languages but with knowlege of technology, research and other things we are ignoring now.
Despite rocinante's claim, the US does not have any official language. There is no federal law or part of the Constitution that mandates that.
Of course, English is the de facto national language, and all official documents are printed in that tongue. However, I see nothing wrong with making information available in whatever language helps people understand it.
What is wrong with a hospital having signs in Spanish that tell people how to get to the Emergency Room? Would you rather a child die in his mother's arms because the location of the ER isn't immediately clear?
During elections why can't the instructions be available in several languages so that people who came to America and want to be part of the process can vote? Why is that a bad thing?
Thats how it should be. I agree with Steve, Anonymous and Jimbo. We should keep Englis as de facto National language and at the same time make sure our kids thrive in a global economy and the needs of our neighbors are addressed.
Jimbo get over yourself. Button of your shirt before your heart falls out. This is the first post that I actually agree with rocinante. This is American and if you want to live here learn the language. You liberals are going to destroy your country.
Jimbo, what happened to you as a kid? were you abused?
Did you have many girlfriends?
Why do you hate America?
Mary doesn't have problems with immigrants, she has problems with illegal immigrants. GOD BLESS AMERICA. (and JImbo if I have anything to do with it "IN GOD WE TRUST" will remain on the currency.
The next real war in Americal is going to be against the librals.
Remember: Libralism is a disease, its a mental disorder!
I believe that those people who propose English only laws are following in the proud footsteps our founding fathers:
“Few of their children in the country learn English... The signs in our streets have inscriptions in both languages ... Unless the stream of their importation could be turned they will soon so outnumber us that all the advantages we have will not be able to preserve our language, and even our government will become precarious.”
- Benjamin Franklin, referring to German immigrants in Pennsylvania in the 1750s
Perhaps we should also follow the lead of Thomas Jefferson and bring back that most traditional of institutions: slavery.
Instructions for the enslavement of immigrants is found in the bible, after all:
The male and female slaves you have will come from the nations round you; from these you may purchase male and female slaves. As slaves, you may also purchase the children of aliens resident among you, and also members of their families living with you who have been born on your soil; and they will become your property,and you may leave them as a legacy to your sons after you as their perpetual possession.
-Leviticus 25:44-46 (NJB)
Although Jim and I have are disagreements on a number of political issues (yes he is pretty far to the left), I agree with him wholeheartedly on the language argument. I find it amusing that people are so threatened by people speaking a language other than English. Although the times have changed, the ideas have not. I quote Ben Franklin about the Germans
“Few of their children in the country learn English... The signs in our streets have inscriptions in both languages ... Unless the stream of their importation could be turned they will soon so outnumber us that all the advantages we have will not be able to preserve our language, and even our government will become precarious.”
WOW those Germans sure took over and dominated America with their language.
Immigrants learn English very quickly. The fact that people fear seeing signs in other languages is an old fear but completely unwarranted. English will always be the language of power in this country. In the meantime, keep an open mind about seeing signs and documents in another language.
Definition of liberal: Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry; Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded
What did liberals bring us:
suffrage
civil rights
social security
minimum wage
worker rights
the 40 hour week and the weekend
birth control
public education
the competitive market economy
disease free meat and milk
universal vaccinations
The Declaration of Independence
The U.S. Constitution
and more.
Anonymous, are you not reading the posts. I agree. People should come here and learn english. Now the trick is do you want poeple to come here, learn English and then get jobs over our kids because they know 3 languages fluently and all your kid can say in an interview is "THIS IS AMERICA" "I DESERVE A JOB" Think about it. Lets not set up our kids to be outdone.
I'm a business man. I'm looking for a great leader of my company.
2 young men or women. Both have degrees from Eastie High. Both went to U-Mass and have degrees in Buisness Management.
One difference: on speaks English and the other speaks English, Italian, Portugese and Spanish. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
When doing business deals over seas do I want to spend more money on a translator? NO. I'll hire the person who speaks more languages. But then they might want more money. So thats the angle Anonymous and others who agree with him/her. We'll say "our kids are cheaper and can work for less" I don't like that. The arguement should be WE ARE SMARTER, NOT WE ARE CHEAPER
My daughter took spanish and like dora and i love the random spanish words whe knows. All I have to do now is speak more Italian around the house (which I can't but my mom can) and cultivate the spanish and my daughter will have three languages. Thats where the big bucks come in.
There are a few of you including Jimmy, if you don't like America then you should leave.
Jim, for a guy who grew up with mostly good people at the Salesian's, you are definetely NOT on the same page as Wally or Dave.
I am more than sure that they must be embarrassed by your views.
You never did get married,right?
I'm sure you won't post this even though you say that we have freedom of speech
Where did I write that I "don't like America"? And why can't we discuss matters of public policy without personal attacks?
There you go again Jim, everyone that doesn't agreee with you is a personal attack. Get over it!
You always bash what America is all about, so if you don't like it move to another country.Ofcourse you won't because in other countries you would be killed for what your writing. Get down on your knees and kiss the ground that WE Americans walk on
We can't Jimb. This blog is full of Berninger and Basile supporters who are flooding it with negative messages. There are a few of us who want to respectfully debate the ideas of different candidates. Good luck with this blog. I'll keep posting.
where do you see berninger supporters "FLOODING" this blog with "NEGATIVE" messages??...if ANYTHING, people are "flooding" it with negative messages about berninger and not actually "thinking before they speak"...are you people actually READING what berninger had to say??...you have no idea how much berninger has done for all of east boston and you have no idea how much she cares about the people of east boston
No one bashes Mary. She can't and won't win. She is the person coming in 4th. I'll bet you any amount of money. She's just having a good time and doesn't want Menino to pick her next rep, She doesn't want Republicans picking her next rep and doesn't want a Immigrant (which she herself is) representing her. She's a non candidate. Sorry.
JOHN, I will bet you any amount of money that Jeff doesn't win either.
The difference between Mary and Jeff is that Mary is honest and pays her parking tickets and she would have never had an 81 year old lady's house demolished.
Bet you don't have a come back!
By the way did Jeff fail his Bar Exam? Oh yes he did
You most certainly did bash Mary by saying she isn't a candidate.
By reading this we all know your voting for City Hall, don't think we are foolish!
I agree with Jeff isn't going to win.
Tired of city hall, Jeff doesn't pay his parking tickets and he hurt a 81 year old lady becasue he is part of a bad administration. Why do you assume I'm voting for Jeff? He can't win but he'll be 3rd over Mary. I'm voting for Mota. At least my candidate will be 2nd if not 1st.
Apparently, Mary is a MassPort NIMBY. That's fine and an important issue, but her other perspectives are more than lacking for someone who wants to be representative. Further, her ideas on marriage equality and gentrification (to name just a few items) seem to be more in line with Republicans. Wouldn't she have an easier time in their primary?
Mary is the onlky candidate with the guts to tell illegal immigrants where to go. I'm voting for Mary. I don't have anything against Mota or basile but that Drago kid is part of a very bad admin. What did did to that poor lady is inexcusable.
Nothing to say to that huh? Basile knows she is his only competetion and she's doing good. The whole independant thing goes out the window when Basile gave to several Republicans and CITY HALL Beholden Democrats. Trust me i'm with you. I'm tired or corruption. Tired of fixed tickets and hurt families. The difference is i won't elect a Republican out of desperation. Maybe if Mota wasn't in the race I would consider Basile as Mary doesn't seem to have enough of an orginization to win and we all know about Jeff's problems. You should check her website out.
Sorry about that. i put gmail.com as my name. That was me.
i figured out you need something called flash in order to see all of Marys website, then its pretty interesting.
To answert brain or brian. Because Mary isnt lined up with every liberal democratic viewpoint she should run as a republican? The elected group didnt want her to run because they knew she thinks like so many other East Boston people. She listens to people.
I think he means she is very conservative. Like a Republican.
Now Ive read every single post to Mary's Interview and I will come right out and say that I am voting and strongly backing Mary. Shes isnt afriad to say how she feels on any issue, I wish she would clarify her stance on Same Sex Union but thats off topic. What is clear to me is that people dont like that she is in favor of higher income buisness's and families coming to our town. What is so wrong with that, it would bring a diverse ECONOMIC community to East Boston. Now that being said, Boston is a very expenxive city to live in; especially with a family. And we should have a ffordable housin for those families, but isnt there enough already?? Maverick projects were turned into "Better" affordable housing , I believe ;and those are beautiful homes I hear. Now I may be mistaken on that so dont hang me for it. But by saying she wants to bring higher income brackets to East Boston doesnt mean she is Anti-Immigrants. Immigrants for the most part are an important part of our society.
They work hard, add to society, and flourish. But thats legal immigrants, illegal immigrants our hurting the system and hurting themselves. Now do I believe everyone deserves the life I was born into, yes, because I dont have an elitest mind set. I was born in the United States so I was handed my freedom and I believe everyone deserves that same freedom. And I cant talk from an immigrants stand point because I am not one but I know that its hard to come here; and sometimes its better to just come illegaly then suffer in their home country. Thats not right, your hurting the economy and yourselves by not coming through the proper channels. You leave yourself open to being exploited by the system. And also you miss out on alot of the civil liberties we citizens enjoy.
And Mr. Corieli (mis-spelled I know) is correct there is no National Language here in the United States, however I do believe that everyone should speak English. It is the "primary Language" here in the US, which means the MAJORITY speak it. And there should be a National Language. I dont go on vacation or visit people out of the US and expect every country to cater to the English speaker by having signs and TV and media in English. That is foolish! So here in the US I wouldnt expect there to be signage or Government documents in MULTIPE Languages. We should all be able to read many languages, and the many posters are right, we should have our kids learning: Arabic, Chinesse, English,and Spanish.
Those are the four languages that will get you ahead in today's Global Society. But when you are hear in the United States, you need to be able to read, write, and speak English. Because Im not going to Mexico and expect everyone to speak English to me so I can feel better and get around. Jim thats an awful example, using the ER. You walk into ANY hospital in the World and ER is a universal term. Jsut like Red is stop, green is go, and the A-OK sign. I know alittle pun, this is politics, were supposed to be mean and straight faced.
Mary is not Anti-Immigrant, she is Anti-ILLEGAL Immigrant. So before the Mota supporters and the NOAH/EBEC crew start circling the wagons. Actually read her position, dont just spin it off your own way so your supports will be Anti- Mary Berninger. I feel as if your using her message, which is truthful and honest, and turning it into your lie to make your candidate come off as the lover of all people. because that is not true, Gloribell Mota is involved with NOAH and EBEC; and there goals in life are to put Immigrants center stage and they dont care about any of the other social groups in the community. Which is a shame becase we could all mix well if those two organzations were trying to segregate us. In this specific election there goal is to get the immigrants to vote, which is great. But for the debate they were going to put signs out JUST in spanish and put them only around the Maverick area. And they were going to provided a translater, which is needed but thats the only area they are concentrating on. They have tunnel vision and Stacy Chaka (however you spell your last name, I apologize) has it the worst. She isnt even from East Boston and she is pushing her agenda on our community.
I hope everyone steps back and reads Mary's points of view because its interesting to hear someone honest opinion rather then a pre-packed response
bottom line about MB......
DROP OUT WHILE YOU CAN!
she kicked butt at the debate this morning!...most well prepared...most intelligent...honest...stood her ground and didn't back down!...i hope everyone is ready for an UPSET on the 25th!!!
Mary Berninger is a racist. That is the contention of N.starluna. Why is Mary Berninger a racist? Because she disagrees with N.starluna. Mary Berninger thinks that speaking English brings people together, apparently that’s a racist view. Who knew?
N.starluna has to resort to some kind of Orwellian Newspeak to define terms so that this definition….. “The claim of a relationship between immutable characteristics of a specific group and sociocultural traits and behaviors with the purpose or effect of asserting superiority of a group”….. can be applied to Mary Berninger.
We are told that the ability to speak English is an immutable characteristic. Immutable characteristics refer to things you cannot change, ethnicity, skin color, gender, Michael Jackson and Renee Richards notwithstanding. In order to claim that the ability to speak English as an immutable characteristic you would have to say that the people you are talking about can’t learn, as opposed to won’t learn, English.
Mary Berninger never speaks to “sociocultural traits.” Mary Berninger never refers to “asserting superiority over any group.” N.starluna has to infer and imply to make the definition work. The people who attended the so called debate on Saturday know that Mary Berninger says exactly what she thinks.
The claim of racism should be based on more than an opinion that might disagree with yours. It should be about a track record. Could I claim that Rev. Jesse Jackson or Rev. Al Sharpton are racist based on some of the things they have said, absolutely. Would I claim they are racist based on their track record, no. Could I also claim that David Duke is an advocate for civil rights based on what I have read? Absolutely. Would I claim he is an advocate for civil rights based on his track record, obviously, no.
Maybe you should find out more about a person before you label them a racist. Or maybe the fact that they disagree with you is enough.
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