Salem Muckraker

Why I Have Left The Unenrolled Voter Majority Unenrolled Voters Outnumber Democrats, Republicans, and All Others. By William Legault Recently I announced that I have agreed to become the Chairman of the Salem United Independent Salem City Committee.  This was not a decision easily reached as I have always avoided party politics. When I first registered to vote in 1978 it was as a voting free-agent.  I truly don’t recall what we called that designation then.  Maybe the term was independent, maybe it was something else.  It didn’t matter to me at the time, my only concern was to avoid being ...

Tom Daniel Returns As New City Planner By William Legault The Mayor’s announcement of Tom Daniel as the Director of Planning and Community Development has just become public as I sit here and type these words on my laptop. It comes as no surprise that here that the announcement comes so quickly on the heels of the retirement of Lynn Duncan.  Kim Driscoll seldom sits on a decision and that is a strength.  The selection of Daniel also came as no real surprise. Most probably expected that the Mayor would appoint someone that she is familiar with to the post. I ...

There Is No Public Profit To This Proposal By S. S. McClure   In a city full of residential and commercial development projects it is seems that very few get the opportunity to fly under the radar. No matter what somebody wants to build, or where, there is always a party or two prepared to object. Sometimes those objections are flaccid attempts at obstruction. Most of those fail to gain any real traction after the initial public protests. On occasion they do gain some traction even if they fail in the end. I would cite the hue and cry over ...

Mayor Should Not Support Local Road Tax Ballot Initiative The State Needs To Fulfill Its Obligations By Cassius Concitato   The Boston Globe Metro North Section this past Sunday featured an opinion piece by Mayor Kim Driscoll supporting Senate Bill 1474, An Act Relative To Regional Transportation Ballot Initiatives. This bill, if it were to become law would allow local municipalities to vote on the funding of local transportation projects. Basically, like the Community Preservation Act (CPA) passed by Salem voters a few years back it would allow us to create a new local tax specifically for road and presumably ...