A new audience

In the wake of yesterday's Telegram story (see yesterday's post if you haven't read it), we've added about 100 hits to this blog, and more importantly we've gotten a few comments -- including a thoughtful piece from incoming City Councilor Dean Tran. A few e-mails have been sent our way, and we're working on getting them publicly posted.

A few thoughts on the feedback we've gotten so far:

-- Some people are paying attention to this issue, but very few are worked up about it. Obviously, we'd like to make sure a potential override is stopped in its tracks, so hopefully more people get involved in the near future.

-- City officials either don't read the Telegram, don't care enough to check this blog out, or are staying out of the discussion at this forum. We're betting on the last option. We're thrilled Tran wrote in -- we consider it both a sign of his involvement and fairly politically courageous -- and hope others do, too. We'd also like to hear from folks who are invested in city politics but don't hold office (like Jay Cruz).

-- There's a lot of unrest in town toward our legislative representatives. Tran touched on it, and an e-mail we received is pretty harsh toward Rep. Emile Goguen and Sen. Robert Antonioni. Our initial efforts to reach out them have been unsuccessful. Our note to Goguen was bounced back undeliverable. Antonioni sent an automated reply that his office received the e-mail, but we haven't gotten any follow up. We sent our e-mails on Thursday. Not sure what to make of that yet, but we're planning on following up soon with the hopes of some contact there.

At this point, Goguen and Antonioni are in a bit of a jam -- everyone wants them to pony up the cash. But that would sent quite a precedent at the State House (we'll talk about this in a later post, I think).

With the holidays looming and the basics of this issue now well covered, it's been quiet on the override front. We hope more officials publicly discuss this issue, whether it's here or in the newspapers. The city's fiscal situation certainly deserves a lengthy appraisal.