Nelson Benton
One suspects Beverly mayoral candidate John Burke knew exactly what the reaction would be when he made a big show of reaching for incumbent Bill Scanlon's hand at Tuesday night's forum in Centerville.
And Scanlon did not disappoint, turning his back on his opponent and exiting the stage to a chorus of boos.
This should be a walkover for the mayor. His opponent, a ward councilor, is something of a gadfly and was censured by a unanimous vote of his colleagues two years ago after being identified as the author of an anonymous letter casting unflattering aspersions on the Police Department.
But Scanlon isn't taking any chances. He recalls the pain of Election Night 2001 when he was upset by Tom Crean, and today fears that voters could take out their frustration with the economy and politics in general on their incumbent mayor. So he's turned the race into a slugfest, launching in the last week of the campaign a Web site (www.truthforbeverly.com) that uses media reports, quotes from fellow elected officials, official documents, and the challenger's own words to tear down Burke's candidacy.
None of which seems to faze Burke, who borrowed former mayor Jack Monahan's famous line Tuesday to accuse Scanlon of running a government "of the lawyers, by the bankers, for the developers."
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Speaking of good lines, Beverly councilor-at-large candidate Elliott Margolis defended his independent stance at Tuesday's forum, quoting Gen. George S. Patton to the effect that "if everyone in the room thinks the same, someone is not thinking."
Margolis, Crean's campaign manager in 2001 and founder of Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, the group that led the successful effort to defeat a school override last year, is portraying himself as the outsider in the five-person race for three at-large seats.
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Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jennifer Nassour released the following statement Wednesday on the occasion of former U.S. Sen. Edward Brooke, who served from 1967 to 1979, being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal:
"(He) was the first African-American ever elected by popular vote to the U.S. Senate. He is admired in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and across our nation as a man of honor and devoted public servant who embraced bi-partisanship. His tenure in the U.S. Senate also reminds citizens of Massachusetts of what it is like to have a strong Republican voice of reform and common sense on Capitol Hill."
Perhaps if Nassour's party returned to the more moderate Brooke tradition, there would be more Republicans in Congress.
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Former MBTA general manager Dan Grabauskas of Ipswich has landed a new post as senior fellow for public policy with the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC).
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Wayne Burton, who wears a couple of important hats locally as president of North Shore Community College and chairman of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, was asked by Gov. Deval Patrick to help organize this week's economic summit held at the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston.
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Datebook: Beverly Republican Brett Schetzsle (pronounced like pretzel), will kick off his campaign for the 6th Essex state representative seat Monday night (Nov. 2) at 7:30 p.m. at the Beverly Golf & Tennis Club. ... Peabody voters still have time to see and hear the candidates for mayor, councilor-at-large and School Committee. A recent forum sponsored by The Salem News and Peabody Access Telecommunications (PAT) will be rebroadcast tonight at 6 (Channel 9) and 11 (Ch. 10); Saturday, 11 a.m. (Ch. 9); Sunday, 5 p.m. (Ch. 9) and 9 p.m. (Ch. 10), and Monday, 8 a.m. (Ch. 10), 3:30 p.m. (Ch. 9) and 6 p.m. (Ch. 10).
