When will he STOP!

0 Kudo

Author	Comment
Bartertown		#21	[-]
(07/14/08 02:29 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	Let me just clear the air and say I am not jealous of Gordo's money. I just find it a bit funny that a man of his financial benefit would dare to write an op-ed slamming unions. Unions have a great history in this country by providing the working class with a living wage. When such a small percentage of our population controls a large amount of wealth and the rest of us our stuck fighting over crumbs, I would think he would just lay low and enjoy his life. Really, how much do unions really cost him. Pennies? What is the alternative - slave labor at the whim of the employer? Would that make Gordo happy? I don't know? I guess I expected more. Perhaps some leadership in the form of supporting a debt override for the CSO. Now that would be a step in the right direction. I think living in a state that has passed prop 2 1/2 which strangles a cities ability to keep up in hard financial times is not enough for him. I thought he might be able to do the simple math problem and not blame the unions for trying to provide their members with a decent standard of living but rather be able to see the whole picture and not pick on the small guy. I guess I expected too much from a wealthy boy sent to all the proper schools and given a large trust fund and a seaside shanty to spend his days shitting on people who work hard every day for a cause they take to heart and believe in. Yeah, I'm sorry for pointing that out. Keep writing Gordo and don't worry what an ass you look like. Apparently you are in good company here on the CAO msg board.
Flip		#22	[-]
(07/14/08 02:55 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	I would be curious to know who he talks to and where he gets his infomation from or is it just what he reads in the gloucester daily rag.
Bobby Dinero	Go Gordo	#23	[-]
(07/14/08 03:21 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	I don't have very high regard for Gordo and his public displays of buffoonery on the stage or in the newspaper, but I do think he is right on this one. Granted he is pretty self absorbed as you state but I am not sure what his "stature" has to do with your argument, or how his "fight the light" position figures here. His criticism is with the union contracts mandating overtime and minimum police detail hours. It has nothing to do with the police dedication to public safety. "The city is in crisis" largely due to poor decisions made at the administrative level. You should direct your venom appropriately. Gordon Baird is not someone I want or need to defend and I agree that he is often a "total schmuck," but you sound like a public trough feeder who is afraid the free lunch will disappear. VR is Right on the money with Gordo being right on the money!! He can be a total jackass, but he really nailed this one. I don't see how anyone, especially those attached to the teat, could offer a legitimate argument against. Well done!
flounda		#24	[-]
(07/14/08 03:33 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	Some people here are saying that Gordo nailed it. Where are his facts and numbers backing up his rant that police fire and teachers unions are bankrupting the city. How can you take seriously a man who says that city unions are the reason for the collapse of the fishing industry and the demise of cape pond ice? Are you all fucking nuts?
Bobby Dinero		#25	[-]
(07/14/08 03:59 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	He never said that city unions are the reason for the collapse of the fishing industry and the demise of cape pond ice you blabbering union moron. Read it and, if you can, comprehend words and the intent of the sentences. He is merely pointing out that the skyrocketing water rates are partly attributed to the fact that 30% of the CSO project cost is police details.
Dun Fudgin		#26	[-]
(07/14/08 04:23 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	Relax....Gordo has a comedic background,at least he's trying to enhance it! It's so easy to attack one's opinion! And Gloucester with so much material he probably can't help it!
flounda		#27	[-]
(07/14/08 04:31 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	He never said that city unions are the reason for the collapse of the fishing industry and the demise of cape pond ice you blabbering union moron. --------------------------------------------------------------- He makes these statements ,so read it again you frustrated bitter dickhead. The water and sewer bills are a bombshell from those contracts - and there are more to come. When Mr. Scott Memhard raises the specter of a fishing industry with no ice company in town, he is giving you The Writing On The Wall. The scalding rise in water rates - nearly 10 times the rate of his New Bedford counterparts - has Cape Pond Ice teetering on survival conditions. Make no mistake, it is a tax levied to pay the bills and keeo our city afloat because of the union contracts - to pay those top 25 Gloucester earners their hundreds of thousands of dollars in details and to keep up with the fire overtime accounts. Will they care if Cape Pond Ice is driven under by the water taxes levied to pay those contracts? I repeat ,The insane water rates and sewer costs can be blamed on the cities refusal to sewer and comply with standards when the government would have covered 90% of the costs. Alper listened to the snobs from annisquam and others that feared it would lead to more developement. Get your head out of your fucking ass and face the real reason for our sewer and water dilemma
seaworm	Unions are the problem	#28	[-]
(07/14/08 05:29 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	Gordon is right on the money, pun intended. Unions are counter to what this country was founded upon. I fear that we are headed toward socialism. I must agree with Gordon that the majority of these people certainly work hard but why do they rate a "special" deal that most every taxpayer does not enjoy. Save your crap about risking their lives etc. Are police or fire listed by the dept. of labor as a top ten most dangerous job? Most of us in the private sector are praying that our IRAs r 401Ks don't tank if we are lucky enough to even have one while these guys are going to get a pension paid the same people who wry every day if they will be able to make ends meet in retirement. I could go on and on, state and loacl government is so far broken that it will likely have to melt all the way down before it can be reconstructed the right way. Oh by the way, these unions will be one of the major causes of that melt down.
globalwarmer07		#29	[-]
(07/14/08 05:37 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	Quit with the personal attacks. Stick to the issues and respect the airing of his side. THis board always goes right to the heart of a person. Agree or disagree......his personality, personal wealth, and social status has nothing to do with what he is talking about. Whatever you think of him, he is a guy filled with passion for whatever he does. No Y. Not interested in the perv comments you would have had for me. Not sure yet whether I agree or disagree but he definitely gives some food for thought.
Mike Hunt		#30	[-]
(07/14/08 05:40 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	seaworm wrote: Are police or fire listed by the dept. of labor as a top ten most dangerous job? Here ya go: http://www.askmen.com/toys/top_10/16b_top_10_list.html Police #6 Fire #5 Alaska Crab Fisherman #1 GFD - 5% of the budget, 100% of the problem....
Rocky Neck	Gordo	#31	[-]
(07/14/08 05:42 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	is a moron. I've said it before & I'll say it again. Years ago when some "little people" on the fringe of eastern point were directed to bring in public sewers - (because their old septic systems didn't pass muster), Gordo led the charge to tell these residents to move out. These residents had very small houses and had lived on the point over 50 years. It was a very unattractive side of "good old comedic Gordo". If Gordo had to lump fish, work at Cyrk, or God forbid, work at the DPW to feed his children like the rest of us, he would be singing another song. He was fortunate enough to be born into money - God bless him - however, when he writes and speaks down to the natives of "GLOSTA", I find it in poor taste. Luckily for him, all his kids attended private school with other blue bloods and they will only mix with the wealthy.
globalwarmer07		#32	[-]
(07/14/08 05:57 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	Git 'ER Done! Love Captain Andy!
Bartertown		#33	[-]
(07/14/08 06:13 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	I understand the guy working two jobs with no bennies getting a bit riled up against a union worker but I just can't understand a guy who has never had to work a day in his life bitching about a man making a living wage. It is a bit much, reallly, really Gordon. Is this all you got?
WONDERING		#34	[-]
(07/14/08 06:54 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	Go Gordo....I agree 100% time to bust this city up and think of the little guy.
Bartertown		#35	[-]
(07/14/08 07:09 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	Go Gordo....I agree 100% time to bust this city up and think of the little guy. What? Who is the little guy? Can I take this time to talk to you about Unions?
Damon		#36	[-]
(07/14/08 07:19 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	I have a hunch that the most dangerous profession in town is fishing, not firefighting or policing. Despite the decrease in fishing employment I am sure there are a lot more fishermen than firefighters or police officers. Therefore the public employees are not likely to get a lot of sympathy on this account. Deserved or undeserved it is just plain not a compelling argument for wages and benefits far beyond those of the people who are paying those wages and benefits. Forget it guys. As for the real issue the city management, and I agree with Gordon that Bruce Tobey has been a major contributor to the problem, has simply given too much. The residents could not really afford it when times were good. Now it is simply out of the question. There is no point in blaming the police officers and the firefighters and the teachers. They simply lucked out in a public giveaway. Dumping on Gordon is amusing but in the category of shooting the messenger. It is too bad that this particular messenger is so easy to shoot because it may hinder the message which I hope the union people will get before it is too late. The real question is what to do. I am not sure, but I am willing to make a guess as to what will happen, nothing useful. The wages and benefits will not be reduced and more and more people will be out of work and the city infrastructure will continue to run downhill and schools, fire stations and the ill designed police station will continue to decay. Until enough of the current generation of city employees dies (not retires of course in this case), the city will be on ever increasing cash crunch. No argument for over rides will lead to passage. It probably makes perfect sense to pass an over ride for specific purposes such as mandated sewer or water improvements, but it will not happen as long as people see city employees with incredible wages and benefits. One possible solution might be to completely rewrite the contracts for any new hires if there ever are any. Any union worth its salt would fight this tooth and nail, but at some point reality must set in. Damon
Martin Del Vecchio		#37	[-]
(07/14/08 07:45 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	Bartertown wrote: I just find it a bit funny that a man of his financial benefit would dare to write an op-ed slamming unions ... Really, how much do unions really cost him. Pennies? What is the alternative - slave labor at the whim of the employer? Would that make Gordo happy? I don't know? What does it matter how much money he has? If he is as wealthy as everybody here assumes, then he probably pays much more in real estate taxes than the rest of us. But he's not complaining about how much it costs him. He's concerned about the city's ongoing budget crisis, and how it affects the services the city can provide. The schools have been devastated in the last five years, and the fire department hasn't been able to keep all of its stations open for several years. It is beyond dispute that this financial crisis is affecting the city in a negative way. Gordon has an opinion about the source of the problem. Some agree, some disagree. But the man's alleged wealth doesn't have anything to do with the point he is trying to make.
Flip		#38	[-]
(07/14/08 08:42 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	I remember in the nineties when the economy was booming. People making 20% a year on their ira's, high paying tech jobs, contracters were making plenty of money.A lot of these individuals looked at city employees as chumps working for the city. Even in this booming economy , fre dept personel were reduced and the east gloucester station was permanently closed, an indication of past shitty management. Raises were inline or below that of the private sector. Now that the economy sucks, the same people are coming after union benefits, pissing and moaning. So beside police details , what else do you want to do. Layoff more FF's, cops teachers? Eliminate minimum manning and just run with who's availiable. Eliminate all overtime so we don't have to replace people on vacation , sick or injury. Please explain with solutions and numbers to back them up.
ifiwanna		#39	[-]
(07/14/08 08:42 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	Teachers, have the best set up as far as health care. They will continue to pay for premiums what they paid when they work. Family coverage. So, they can retire prior to 65 before they are eligible for Medicare coverage. Trouble is.. if we cannot afford our taxes, water and sewer due to high prices for gas, oil, rents, etc... where is the city going to get the CASHOLA to pay the premiums on their health insurance??? Who agreed to that for a provision in a contract? Nothing against union contracts, but be realistic... we cant afford those kinds of benefits.
Hades	what's 10 years of your life worth?	#40	[-]
(07/14/08 10:38 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Friend Request Blocking Visit My Community Ignore User's Posts	Damon replied that he felt commercial fisherman had the most dangerous jobs in the city. I would say he is way off on this. Many retired firefighters die each year. Not from a sensational tragic fire, but from all the unseen toxin's they were exposed to during their time in the fire service. Some show signs of cancer before their retirement age and are retired early. Others die before they have a chance to "cash in" on their GIANT pensions. Their families are short changed, and left watching them get eaten alive by terrible forms of cancer and lung disease. I heard it once said that the average firefighter losses ten years of his life compared to the average lifespan of an American worker. Go to Firefighter's Memorial Sunday in Gloucester some summer and count the names on the stones. There fewer and fewer retired firefighters every year and more and more names going on the stones.

<< Previous Topic Next Topic >>

Add Reply

Live Weather Stations: East Gloucester \| Rockport \| Sandy Bay Yacht Club \| GoMOOS Buoy
Gloucester Inner Harbor	Sandy Bay Yacht Club	Sandy Bay Yacht Club	Lanes Cove

Yuku free message boards

email admin - Cape Ann Web (capeannweb@yahoo.com) | Cape Ann Web Home

Shout Box

Local Bloggers

When will he STOP!

Quick Reply