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Health & Fitness

Pohl's Polemic Ignores Impact of Mayor Spadaccini – A Role Model for Bipartisanship

Mayor Spadaccini a Role Model for bipartisanship.

In a recent , Democratic Party Chairman Mike Pohl praises the Democrats for their “bipartisan” approach on one hand and demeans the Republicans in a sharply partisan attack on the other. This has been his style in the past two elections.

The chairman would have us believe the Democratic directors are Manchester’s super heroes and the Republicans are evil hate mongering protagonists who accomplished nothing during their tenure.

But don’t order the capes yet. The fact is the Democrats find it easy to be
bipartisan when in the majority, claiming credit for everything good including the many accomplishments of the Republicans. When they were in the minority it was a different story. Almost every vote on important issues during the Republican majority was along party lines – there was no such thing as a good Republican idea. You name it – blight control, budget cuts, the referendum on the Parkade. They argued against and voted against them all.  In the last election Democratic candidates and the chairman actually campaigned against the Broad Street referendum only to find the public wanted it. Then they were for it. Now that they are in the majority the chairman attempts to take credit for it.

Unbelievably, he says the Republican Platform “assumes Manchester has unlimited resources” when in fact the Republicans have a history of fiscal conservatism and restraint, trimming budgets successfully and reigning in Democrat spending. Evidently he believes in the big lie theory – tell it often enough and people may believe it.

It’s a good thing for the Town that the Board of Directors has been acting in a more “bipartisan” manner. ALL nine members deserve credit for that. But I have to believe it’s in spite of the Democrat chairman, not because of him. In a glaring omission, he totally ignores a very significant factor in the recent “bipartisan” tone of the Board – we have a minority mayor for the first time in history. One who is known for his bipartisan approach.

The model for bipartisanship starts at the top as does the model for vicious partisan attacks. Let’s hope the chairman’s tactics are not catchy for the Democratic directors. Thankfully Mayor Spadaccini, our first ever minority party mayor, has been a positive role model for bpartisanship. We are fortunate the Democrat directors know who to emulate, at least when in the majority.

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