The Quiet Revolution
2011/11/09 in Alex Morse, Bresnahan, Casino, Charter, Council, Elections, History, Holyoke, Lies, Mayor, Patti Devine, Pluta, Politics, Purcell, Tallman
Oh, What A Night!
So…. it happened. The bar has been officially been raised. I don’t think that elections in this city could ever be the same after this. Yes, we have two years to shake this out and really absorb what has happened… my only hope is that now we can have more folks step forward to rid this stale environment of its collective inertia. I also hope that never again we can rely on names, political favors and yard signs as an indication of the political climate – that we have popular engagement, emotion and true spirit driving the action. I do believe Alex’s credo when he says: “This is not about my campaign, this is about Holyoke.” People need to stand up and make this true and support him in this effort. Yes, he won. Now we have work to do.
Morse won… Devine lost. Lisi held on. Tallman is a winner. That is some serious joy to be shared. Sure, we gained that jackass Bresnahan and still carry a ton of dead weight, but I do hope that we end with a council that will work with our new mayor. At-large did not have that great of a shakeup because there was not the competition, but Morse’s win is a mandate… I hope that these people see his win as affecting their political liability if they are expecting to work against Morse. …and down the road we need to challenge McGee, Vacon and run a larger field of at-large in two years to make this possible. I said that I wished that I could vote in Wards 1, 3 and 7. They went my way except for Ward 3. Purcell’s loss was the biggest disappointment here. Of course, with the at large not being contested there is no way it could have gone my way and seen Vega, Devine, Murphy, Leahy and Bresnahan as losers (in the election, that is… they are still losers)… so I am at least happy to see the exit of Devine. Purcell would have been the sole progressive voice on the committee. Sure, there are some that lean left, but he was my most politically aligned candidate. I do hope he keeps it up and is part of the 2013′s at-large contest to eliminate more of the chaff.
Of course, I do hope that the progress we see is not “growth” and not gentrification but rather efficiency. We are a severely divided city. Downtown is not the desert that many view it as… it is an asset. We do not need “revitalization”. We have a vibrant culture that needs to be engaged, lifted up and made our calling card. It is all about perspective. The Latino community and the burgeoning artist district are our diamonds in the rough. Yeah, with the casino versus data center I will always choose the later, but I would never bet the house on some high tech computing that will possibly have military and surveillance applications. I know that this is a campaign issue, but I would be happy with neither happening. This election was about the people… Holyoke has what it needs to make it happen right now without the “jobs” mantra or this versus that bad idea.
The campaigning for 2013 has already started for many, that is the sad state of affairs in our political environment but we can only hope that the Old Guard has seen the writing on the wall and that this is the beginning of a sea change for this great city.
I dedicate this song, to you, Holyoke:
(yes, I want to make love to Holyoke… every one of you)