Another Goldberg Whopper.
By Jim Conley • August 20th, 2006 • Email This Post to a Friend •
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A reader sent this link to Deb Goldberg’s latest campaign advertisement. The spot says that as Chair of the Brookline Board of Selectmen Deb Goldberg “increased the number of firefighters” at a time when other towns were cutting them.
That’s a good one.
Deb Goldberg was Chair of the Brookline Board from 2002 to 2004. During the budget planning cycles of that time (2003, 2004, 2005), the number of firefighters in the budget - and on the payroll - is 122. No change in any of those years. Except, that the total spending on the firefighter line in the 2003 Budget decreased by roughly $100 thousand.
In 2002, one firefighter position was added (click to see the 2002 budget) but a Lieutenant position was eliminated to keep the total head count the same. And that budget would have been back from the printers before Goldberg was made Chair.
Welcome Massachusetts, to a place called Chumpville.
Update: Looks like the “firefighter” featured in Goldberg’s ad is Boston Local 817 President Ed Kelly. What, no Brookline firefighters avaliable to go on the air and say as does Kelly, “only Deb can do that” (add more firefighters)? Most likely the Brookline crew knows that she’s at the wrong call box on this one.
Update: Apparently, this post went dark after the last update. Sometimes Wordpress will mark a post as “private.” Fixed now.
Jim Conley is publisher of On Brookline.
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[...] Of course firefighters were hired while Goldberg was Chair of the Board of Selectmen. It’s called attrition - we replace those who retire or resign by hiring new firefighters. The fact is that the head count on the force stayed the same - at 122 - during her tenure (budget links here). Hiring laid off firefighters didn’t result in an increase in the numbers on the force. So what’s the point? [...]
[...] When it comes to Deb Goldberg’s false claims in her ad “People First”, readers have asked: “Why would Goldberg lie about such a thing?” Here’s the thing. I don’t think she’s lying. As George Costanza told Jerry, “It’s not a lie if you believe it.” [...]
By the way …none of the firemen or police can afford to buy a house in Brookline those days …spend , Goldie spend. I wonder if the new Ladder
truck (with platform rescue extension features )will be able to negotiate the
humps , bumps and chicanes of our ‘traffic calming designs’ …and poorly plowed streets. The biggest fire truck in our fleet attempts to respond to every
call because one of the 6 men aboard is an EMT and “you never know what
you’ll need out there” (says Chief high paid thinker ) ….spend Goldie spend..
Oh ,and send a patrol car and private ambulance too ! Hey Goldie we got it …lets spend it..RIGHT ?
It’s great to see others are not falling into the political nonsense of Goldberg. How can she put a Boston Firefighter in an Ad that talks about increasing firefighters in Brookline?? How come every other city/town lost public safety personnel two and three years ago and Deb “the savior” was able to hire more? Come on, please, we all know it was the back filling of these positons.
We need leadership for this low key position,we need someone who can be a team player. Someone who understands the true value of how important local government is to all of us. I know that Mayor Murray can and will do a great job in moving this state forward if given a chance. His record ,although he has made hard decisions is one that he should be proud of.
It never hurts to elect someone who lives pay check to pay check,one who actually had student loans, and worked through college. Haven’t we had enough millionares in office in this state. What is wrong with putting an average person in office? Tim Murray is this person, he will do a great job,let’s give him a chance.
I hear Debbie is going to hire…Smokey The Bear …to speak in her next ad.. to impress all her unhappy campers.
[...] You can lie about a lot of things, but to tell the people of Massachusetts that you increased the fire force when it never happened is, as Goldberg’s ad says, absolutely apalling. [...]
[...] There’s much more to say about the perils facing Brookline residents stemming from the tenures of Goldberg and current Selectman’s Chair Bobby Allen. Some of it much more serious than lying over having added firefighters or exaggerating the state of affairs in Brookline. [...]