DiMasi
has been under fire in recent months for alleged ethics violations. The
most recent allegation was made last week when the Boston Globe
reported that Richard Vitale, DiMasi's former accountant and campaign
treasurer, paid some legal fees of DiMasi's in-laws. Vitale has already
been indicted on charges of violating lobbying laws.

The letter
from DiMasi continued, "No matter what the cynics and critics will say,
all my actions as state representative and as speaker were based solely
on what I thought was in the best interests of my district and the
people of the Commonwealth. I leave the Statehouse knowing that I did
what any good public servant hopes to do before they end their service
– I made a difference. I am proud of all I have done and I leave with
no regrets, – not one."

According to DiMasi's communications
director, David Guarino, DiMasi will give a farewell speech at a House
session on Tuesday at 1 p.m. and a Democratic caucus will be held at 11
a.m. Wednesday to elect a new speaker.

Two candidates
hoping to succeed DiMasi, current Ways and Means chairman Rep. Bob
DeLeo (D-Winthrop) and Majority Leader John Rogers (D-Norwood) have
both in recent weeks indicated that they have the 81 votes necessary to
be elected speaker.

DeLeo, moments following this breaking news,
sent out an e-mail to the media. "I thank Speaker DiMasi for his
service to the House. Today, with humility and an eagerness to work on
the issues we face, I announce my intention to be a candidate for
Speaker of the House. I will work to restore faith in the House through
meaningful ethics reform, to guide the state budget through perilous
fiscal times, to fix our statewide system of transportation and to
serve the Commonwealth and its people with the knowledge that our
actions and decisions will have lasting affects for all people of
Massachusetts."

Some of my colleagues believe I have
given them one too many chances when I voted in favor of the 60 day
trial period for extended hours. When I made that vote I believed that
their poor judgment and poor decision making could be corrected and
that any business that has provided 26 years of good service to our
community shouldn't be written off as if they had committed a capital
offense. Aside from bruising the ego's of some of my colleagues on the
Board of Aldermen and ignoring Captain O'Connor's orders to close at
the appropriate time, have they committed such horrible or horrendous
offenses that would warrant us to not try everything in our power to
bring a business that has operated in Davis Sq. for 26 unbridled years
into line with newly developed policies being set by the Board of
Aldermen.

There is no arguing they were wrong and out of line,
but while doing business over the past 26 years in the same location I
have only recently heard about noise and littering complaints. I
haven't seen or heard of any evidence relating to Health Department
violations. I haven't heard complaints about customers being cheated or
treated poorly; in fact it's been just the opposite. Nearly 200 people
signed a petition to allow the extended hours. Dozens of people took
time out of their evenings to appear at two separate public hearings
and give testimony in favor of the extended hours as opposed to one
email received and four individuals appearing in opposition. This tells
me that they have been providing a good product and good service to the
people of our community for the past 26 years and that the service,
although not perfect, is appreciated.

As far as noise and
littering complaints are concerned, it's not fair to hold the Golden
Light Restaurant accountable for all the noise and littering that
occurs after 2:00AM in that end of Davis Square. The Golden Light can
and should accept some of the responsibility but 2:00AM closing times
for bars holds much of the responsibility for that noise as well. We
must work together to ensure that the city and all of the businesses
that we allow to remain open past midnight play a roll in maintaining
peace, quiet, and cleanliness in the neighborhoods after closing time.

Any
time I make a vote that affects someone's livelihood or someone's life
work; I have always and will always error on the side of caution. Such
is the case with my vote on the Golden Light Restaurant. At this point
in time I have provided every opportunity for them to understand and
operate in an appropriate manner within the guidelines of the City of
Somerville. After all the testimony that has been given and all the
discussions that have taken place and everything we have gone through
on the Board of Aldermen I will have no hesitation whatsoever to roll
their hours back to midnight seven days a week if any further
infractions or abuse of operating hours is to occur. I can say this
because I have now done everything I possibly could to help them.

Bruce M. Desmond

Alderman at Large and Chairman of Licenses and Permits

In today's world, in
which global warming is raging like an uncontrollable hard-to-cure
virus, it is essential that Somerville's environmentally-friendly
nature serve as a model to other communities, many of which could ask
residents to emulate the city's "green" effort.

In accordance
with Somerville's sustainability efforts, residents and business owners
will be encouraged to comply with and to exhibit an increased level of
participation in the city's renewed recycling education campaign.

Under
current rules, plastic shopping bags, even when used to store other
recyclables, such as bottles and cans, as well as Styrofoam and
food-stained cardboard, including pizza boxes are unacceptable items.

Presently,
recycling rules deem it acceptable to place glass containers, plastic
containers marked 1-7, metal cans and containers, and milk and juice
containers inside of blue bins.

"Clear" plastic bags must
encapsulate shredded paper and extra containers placed next to bins. In
comparison, plastic shopping bags will not be accepted.

However,
outside of recycling bins, cardboard, newspaper and mixed paper will be
accepted, only when tied together in a bundle or in a paper bag.

"Basically,
we accept anything for recycling that the recycling facility will
accept." There are other options for the items we don't accept,
though," said David Lutes, Director of the Office of Sustainability and
Environment (OSE). For example, Lutes suggests recycling plastic
shopping bags at local grocery stores.

The City of Somerville
was honored as one of the nation's top environmentally-sustainable
cities by the organization, Our Green Cities. Founded by Kent Portney,
a professor at Tufts University, it spotlights cities across the
country. In Massachusetts, Somerville stands out as the only city to
receive a spot in the Top 20.

Our Green Cities recognizes
municipal leaders, all of whom display a commitment to the promotion of
sustainability efforts in their respective communities. The way in
which the organization accomplishes that task, is by its serving as a
link, between local leaders and the resources, which are needed to
fashion a more sustainable community. Mayor Curtatone was chosen as one
of the 20 "Top Mayors for Sustainability" of 2008.

In 2007, The
Board of Aldermen formed a "permanent Subcommittee on Energy Use and
Climate Change," which develops innovative environmental policies and
identifies additional energy conservation opportunities, and finds ways
to reduce Somerville's carbon footprint.

Since 2006, the City of
Somerville has reduced carbon emissions through the implementation of a
number of aggressive energy efficiency measures. The city purchased
biodiesel fuel for Department of Public Works (DPW) vehicles and many
city department-owned vehicles, and purchased hybrid vehicles and Smart
Cars. In addition, the city has installed renewable energy in some
municipal buildings; as well as a 10 kilowatt (10kw) photovoltaic array
on Somerville High School.

Somerville High School (SHS) does
much to protect the environment. Ryan Guilmartin is in charge of the
recycling program there, and, for seven years, he has been a teacher in
the social studies department, as well as the Student Council advisor
at the school.

"There is an ecology/oceanography course offered at SHS. It has existed for many years," said Guilmartin.

Specifically, the ways in which the school protects the environment are great.

Student
Council has reinstated the paper recycling program, which has been a
tremendous success. "We are currently in the process of adding the
recycling bottles in the cafeteria," said Guilmartin. "Student Council
is also researching the feasibility of installing solar panels on the
roof."

Cara Carpenter recently initiated a brand new
environmentally-related club — the Green Club — at the school,
according to Guilmartin.

However, Styrofoam plates and cups are still used in the cafeteria at Somerville High School, according to Guilmartin.

The law contains two brief but important
changes for bicyclists. First, a new signaling specification, making it
not necessary for bicyclists to signal when both hands are needed on
the handlebars, and second, bicyclists being allowed to ride
two-abreast as opposed to the old 'single-file' policy. The bill is
more concerned, however, with the etiquette of the motorists on the
road. This includes a strict statute against 'dooring,' or opening the
door in the way of bicyclists or pedestrians on foot, giving law
enforcement the power to issue a one hundred dollar ticket to violators
on the spot.

In addition, motorists now have to wait to pass
bicyclists on the right until they are at a safe distance, thusly
making it illegal for them to cut off a bicyclist on either side after
they pass. Motorists are no longer allowed to 'squeeze' bicyclists into
narrow lanes, and make abrupt right-hand turns when a bicyclist is
present. They must also now yield to all bicyclists before making a
left-hand turn, and are now held liable for hitting bicyclists to the
right.

In respect to police training and enforcement, police
are now required to receive training of the new laws. In the past, each
town had to come up with their own procedures to follow when going
through a given problem. Now, there will be a central and clear set of
rules and guidelines to follow throughout the Commonwealth, which will
certainly produce a better structure in regard to the law enforcement
of motorists and bicyclists.

The bill also includes a piece that
mandates bicycle rental businesses to supply helmets to their
customers. Also, the Bicycle Registration mandates have been repealed,
as well as the safety standard for helmets now refers to the guidelines
of the U.S. Product Safety Commission.

David Watson, the
Executive Director of MassBike, proclaims this new law as a "big step
in the right direction." When asked what this bill meant to him
personally, as the head of the committee who spearheaded the fight to
make this all possible, he replied "this shows the strength of the
bicycling community, and how as a whole the people want to improve
their own communities."

Bicyclist's safety, however, is not
the only area that will be benefiting from the bill. This can be seen
as an obvious effort to improve major issues such as the environment,
transportation as a whole, health, and the erratic nature of gas and
oil prices. In a nation struggling for a vast turn-around in respect to
obesity, pollution and economic strife, the betterment of a clean and
healthy form of transportation is essential. According to Watson, "this
is an environmental bill, a safety bill, a health bill and a
transportation bill. This is a quality bill, that improves the standard
of living for all."

With bicyclist's safety being such a big
issue throughout the Commonwealth, in communities like Boston,
Somerville and Cambridge, many potential bicyclists could be steered
away from getting a bike. These laws, along with Mayor Thomas Menino's
promise two years ago to "do a lot with bikes," including his
appointment of former Olympian Nicole Freedman to the Director of
Bicycle programs, a position that had been without a director since
2003, are all paving the way for a drastically improved environment for
bicycling.

Watson described Boston and the surrounding areas as
being "easy to get around" because of how flat most of the layout is,
and how there are "a lot of bikers" which make it a "good community to
bike in." This is proven in the way that this new bill was firmly based
in grass-roots organizations, dedicated legislators and a call for
change from the people.

Bicycling Magazine placed Boston in
their "worst cities for cycling" list three different years. Now, they
are proclaiming it to be "the future best city for cycling." The
efforts of people like Watson, Mayor Menino, Governor Patrick and the
collective bicyclist community, as well as organizations like MassBike
are proving to be responsible for this swift and somewhat sudden
turnaround.

When asked what the future holds for MassBike,
Watson responded how "we will attempt to gain better federal funding to
improve the infrastructure of the roads themselves to further improve
the safety of bicyclists. Massachusetts is last in the country for the
funding of this transportation; especially in the way those funds are
distributed. The Executive Office will try to get federal and state
legislators to direct a fair share of funding to bicycles and
bicyclists."

Awareness will also be key in making sure that
this new law holds substantial weight on the road. "We will have to
reach out beyond the bicyclist community," Watson stated, "making sure
law enforcement knows them, as well as motorists."

For
additional information on the new Bicyclist Safety Bill, go to
MassBike's website, www.massbike.org. There, the laws are listed and
explained in full, as well as the other measures and projects this
important activist organization is taking on.

-Abraham Lincoln

If
you live in Somerville, you probably know of someone who has suffered
from drug abuse. Coke, meth, crack, and particularly heroin and
oxycontin use is ruining lives, stressing families, promoting crime,
destroying young peoples' futures, and occasionally, killing them. A
significant portion of assaults and murders are drug related.

Somerville
Cares About Prevention educates citizens regarding drug use and its
consequences. Our Police Department works hard to reduce drug related
crime. They do at least as well, and probably a little better, than
their colleagues in other urban areas. Yet there are always more
addicts to treat, more dealers to arrest, more funerals to attend, more
heartache to heal.

Thirty-five years ago, Richard Nixon declared
war on drugs. Since then, we've spent more on that war than in Iraq and
Afghanistan. We've made 37 million arrests for nonviolent drug crimes.
Prisons are our fastest growing industry, with 2.2 million Americans
currently locked up. We're annually making 1.9 million arrests and
spending $70 billion. Yet drugs are cheaper, more potent, and far more
available. What is to be done?

If you drive northwest on Mystic
Avenue, not far past the Medford line you'll pass a modest office
building. One of its tenants is LEAP, an organization that is
influencing opinion on drug policy across North America. Law
Enforcement Against Prohibition's members-current and retired law
officers-propose a different way. They advocate "a system of regulation
and control of production and distribution [that] will be far more
effective and ethical than one of prohibition."

LEAP member,
Terry Nelson was a federal drug enforcement officer for 30 years. He
"saw on a daily basis that we were making no difference….When you put
a drug dealer in jail, you create a job opening."

Former federal
Drug Czar Lee Brown says, "When you're in that position, you see very
quickly that you can't arrest your way out of this. You see the cycle
of people using drugs, going to prison, getting out, and getting into
drugs again."

The alternative? Brown points to a study
conducted fifteen years ago by the RAND Corporation. A team of
mathematicians calculated the most cost effective tactics in the drug
war-law enforcement, interdiction, foreign aid, treatment, and
prevention. They were surprised to find that only treatment was
effective.

But the hard evidence has no impact on drug
policies that have not just failed in their stated goals of reducing
drug addiction, crime, and juvenile drug use. Instead, the drug war
continues to worsen each of these.

LEAP member Jim Gray
describes himself as a conservative judge in a conservative
jurisdiction. Prior to joining the Orange County Superior Court, he
prosecuted what was then Los Angeles' largest ever drug case. He says
unequivocally, "We have a more radical approach [to drug law] than any
other western democracy, and we have a bigger drug problem. I'm
convinced there is a connection."

The plain truth is that drug
laws create crime. In his book Bad Trip, conservative author Joel
Miller writes, "Drug prohibition does not end drug use. It simply
forces the consumer to break the law to get what he wants."

Add
to that addicts who steal to support their habit and drug bosses who
kill to dominate their territory. Peter Christ, a LEAP member and
retired Buffalo PD captain observes, "We legalized alcohol because it
only took us 13 years to learn the lesson that alcohol did not create
Al Capone. Prohibition created Al Capone. And everyone didn't become a
drunk in 1934."

He's right. With alcohol prohibition, murder
went up 13% and robbery, 83%. Prohibition ended in 1933, and violent
crimes returned to their pre-prohibition levels by 1937. Judge Gray
estimates that 80 percent of felonies are drug related.

One of
the drug war's hypocrisies is that its purpose is to prevent harm to
users. While drug addicts do serious damage to their lives, the drug
war destroys those lives.

Jay Fleming, a thoughtful LEAP
member, served 15 years with multiple drug enforcement agencies: "As
with all wars, you have to have an enemy. That enemy turns out to be
our fellow citizens. Once you make the enemy evil, its ok to use any
means to destroy them." He relates how, working undercover, he got to
know drug culture people and their families. "And then you have to come
back and destroy that family."

The number of Americans behind
bars for drug offenses, mostly nonviolent, has increased by 1,200
percent since 1980. Legendary NYPD crusader Frank Serpico describes the
prison system as an industry. "They run it like real estate. They have
so many rooms, they have to rent them out, and the police fill them."
Former drug cop, then coroner, then mayor of Vancouver Larry Campbel
says that the drug war isn't really a war, it's a business.

Imprisonment
and a criminal record is not the only damage prohibition does to
addicts' lives. Joel Miller writes, "People who fall into a drug habit
and do not want to harm others by stealing, instead harm themselves by
whoring."

Fleming's remorse suggests another drug war impact.
Former Seattle Police Chief and LEAP member Norm Stamper says,
"Narcotic enforcement puts cops in an untenable situation. They are
enforcing laws that in many cases they don't believe in." Then there
are lucrative temptations to corruption. The few cops who yield, damage
the morale of and public respect for the many who don't.

Nor
is corruption limited to law enforcement officers. LEAP member Cellie
Castillo was a DEA agent interdicting Latin American drug traffic. He
discovered that U.S. officials were sending flights of cocaine to the
U.S., buying weapons with the proceeds, and sending the weapons on
return flights to Nicaraguan Contras who used them to commit
atrocities. His reports were ignored.

And of course the
Taliban, al-Qaida, and terrorists in Colombia, Peru, and Pakistan can
finance their operations through drug trafficking because drug use is
criminalized in the U.S.

LEAP's solution is to legalize,
regulate, and heavily tax drugs. Then as Judge Gray suggests, "Hold
people accountable for what they do instead of what they put in their
bodies."

A portion of the enormous revenues and reduced costs
thus generated could be put into drug treatment. The RAND study found
that 13 percent of addicts who went through treatment stopped using
permanently. That seems minimal until you realize that no other tactic
has produced any reduction at all. And treatment programs have become
more effective since the study.

This is not a matter of
morality. Enforcement causes more misery than it prevents. It's not a
matter of ideology. George Will, Howard Zinn, William F. Buckley, Noam
Chomsky, Milton Friedman, and George Shultz have all agreed with the
policies that LEAP advocates. It's a matter of hard evidence, honesty,
and courage.

Nixon was right to call drug abuse an epidemic,
but he was wrong to make "war" on its victims. Over my lifetime, a half
dozen people whom I have known died from overdoses or bad drugs. At
least that many got caught in prison/addiction cycle. One was shot to
death in a transaction. Judge Gray says that, "Eventually we will come
to our senses." I hope so.

Congressman Mike Capuano proposed a number of
provisions to H.R. 384 which is expected for floor consideration later
this afternoon. Specifically, language was added clarifying that one to
four unit family homes are included in the definition of "residential
properties", making them eligible for participation in the foreclosure
mitigation program. Renters also receive some protection with the
inclusion of a measure that prevents any entity taking over a
foreclosed home from evicting tenants for 90 days.

"This gives
renters facing the loss of their residence through no fault of their
own some additional time to find alternative arrangements," stated
Congressman Capuano.

Language changing the membership of the
Financial Stability Oversight Board to include members who are not
currently federal employees or appointees was included as well as
language giving this Board the authority to overturn policy decisions
of the Treasury Secretary on TARP by a 2/3 vote.

"This will give
the Oversight Board more autonomy when it comes to overseeing the TARP
Program and provide an additional layer of assurance that taxpayer
funds are being spent wisely," stated Congressman Mike Capuano, a
member of the House Financial Services Committee.

Additional
language would set a floor of at least 15% for warrant provisions for
all institutions receiving TARP funds, which sets an even playing field
regardless of an institution's size. A "warrant" ensures that the
federal government is able to buy stock in a company at a specified
price so that taxpayers will benefit from any future growth of these
companies.

Congressman Capuano also worked with his colleagues
to include language for strict rules on compensating executives of TARP
recipient institutions, including prohibiting golden parachutes,
curbing the reward of risky behavior, and allowing the recovery of
bonuses based on false earnings. These measures were also applied
earlier to automakers receiving government funds. In addition, language
was added prohibiting recipient institutions to merge unless federal
regulators determined it would reduce risk to taxpayers or that the
merger could have occurred without the use of TARP funds.

"The
amount of money that the government has invested in the TARP program is
substantial and our overall goal of unfreezing the credit market and
stabilizing the economy must be realized. If entities receiving these
funds are using them in ways that do not directly provide economic
relief, they should not be able to continue using the funds. Now that
the Senate has voted to allow the use of the second $350 billion, it is
more important than ever to place conditions on its use," stated
Congressman Capuano.