{"id":17,"date":"2011-04-24T03:40:57","date_gmt":"2011-04-24T03:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gbvdems.org\/blog\/?p=17"},"modified":"2011-04-24T04:12:34","modified_gmt":"2011-04-24T04:12:34","slug":"milford-dispatch-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gbvdems.org\/blog\/?p=17","title":{"rendered":"Milford Dispatch #3"},"content":{"rendered":"

BV Dispatch #3 <\/strong>Neal Delivered for His Constituents<\/strong> <\/strong>Jay Gilchrist, GBVD<\/p>\n

Ritchie has done his list of personal accomplishments I asked for (<\/em>Oct 2, 2010<\/em>)<\/em><\/p>\n

He did it in a better way than I suggested.\u00a0 He ran it as a \u2018broadside blast\u2019 <\/em>against charges from a primary opponent. I reformatted to bold up the salient points. <\/em><\/p>\n

There is a 15 bulleted list\u00a0at the bottom\u00a0suitable for presenting to voters<\/em><\/p>\n

_______________________________________
\nThe following article appeared in <\/em>Northampton<\/em>‘s Daily Hampshire – Gazette on <\/em>Tuesday, October 5, 2010<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

NEAL DEFENDS HIS SERVICE TO HIS EAST DISTRICT CONSTITUENTS<\/p>\n

By Congressman Richard E. Neal<\/p>\n

When Dr. Jay Fleitman announced his candidacy for Congress last year, I welcomed the challenge. I respect anyone who enters the public arena and engages voters with honest discussions about the issues that matter most. He worked hard to get his name on the ballot in the
\nRepublican primary that was held on September 14th. He ran a positive and substantive campaign, but the voters made their decision on Election Day and he was defeated.
\nThat is why I was surprised to read his angry and mean spirited comments in the Daily Hampshire Gazette last week. I have never met Dr. Fleitman, and I never commented on his campaign, despite being asked by reporters on several occasions. My position was to simply let
\nhim focus on his Republican opponent in the primary, and I would engage the winner of that contest in the general election. Following his loss, it was clear that there was more he wanted to get off his chest.
\nI have no doubt that Dr. Fleitman met many good and decent people on the campaign trail from western and central Massachusetts . The second congressional district is filled with thousands of hard working men and women from the Connecticut River to the Blackstone River and
\nbeyond. Many have become my friends and supporters. I have been to their chicken barbeques, porkettas and festivals. I have visited their Rod and Gun Clubs and VFW Halls. I have met them in their homes and at their jobs. I am proud to represent them in Congress, and I share their hopes and aspirations.
\nSo when Dr. Fleitman suggests that I have neglected people from <\/strong>the eastern part of the district, he must not have met<\/strong><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

The <\/em>young teacher<\/em>from Hopedale who wrote to thank me for the tour of the Capitol I arranged for her class. I have her note in my desk;
\nThe <\/em>senior citizen<\/em>who stopped me in North Brookfield\u00a0 this month to say that his Social Security issue had been favorably resolved by my office;
\nThe <\/em>father<\/em>from Northbridge who e-mailed me a photo this week of his son at West Point after I successfully nominated him to the U.S. service academy;<\/em>
\n<\/em> The <\/em>high school student<\/em>from\u00a0 Southbridge whose painting I had hung on the wall of the United States Capitol Building ;
\n<\/em> <\/em>Or the <\/em>Fire Chief<\/em>from Douglas who just thanked me for securing federal funds to purchase a new fire truck for the town.<\/em><\/p>\n

When Dr. Fleitman was traveling east, he must not have attended the annual financial aid conference I have held in <\/em><\/strong>Milford<\/em><\/strong> for more than a decade where hundreds of students and their parents appreciate the advice we provide them every January as they decide how to pay for college. He must not have visited <\/em>Milford<\/em><\/strong>Pond, where I have worked <\/em><\/strong>with town officials and the <\/strong><\/em><\/strong>U.S.<\/em><\/strong>Army Corps of Engineers for years to <\/em><\/strong>restore that local landmark. <\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

He could have even joined me for a cup of coffee at theoffice I have at the <\/em><\/strong>Post<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>Office<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>Building<\/em><\/strong> in <\/em><\/strong>Milford<\/em><\/strong>. <\/em><\/strong>I would have been happy to tell him that we are making progress on the local storm water issue of the <\/em><\/strong>Charles River<\/em><\/strong>. <\/em><\/strong>
\nI don’t know the nameless public officials that Dr. Fleitman says have been ignored. However, he should talk to people like<\/p>\n

State Senator Dick Moore of Uxbridge, <\/em>State Senator Steve Brewer of Barre, State Representative John Fernandes of <\/em>Milford<\/em>and <\/em>State Representative Geraldo Alicea of <\/em>Southbridge<\/em><\/em>
\n<\/em>They will tell you their phone calls are always returned.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ask the students and teachers in classrooms from the 41 cities <\/em><\/strong>and towns that I visit each year to talk about the importance of a good education. Ask the families enjoying the heritage corridors<\/em><\/strong>, the
\nbusiness executive in Spencer<\/em><\/strong>, or the hospital administrators in <\/strong>Charlton<\/strong><\/strong><\/em> about my work fighting for them. These people do not care that I am from Springfield ; they just know that I have always been in their corner.
\nThe most puzzling comments from Dr. Fleitman were about my work in Southbridge and the south county region. Let’s start with the\u00a0 American Optical facility<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em> Without the intervention of myself and the late Senator Ted Kennedy, that building would be empty or demolished.
\nInstead it is a state-of-the-art hotel and conference center that is the crown jewel of the town. In addition to its partnership with the Department of Defense, both Quinsigamond<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>Community College<\/em><\/strong> and<\/em><\/strong>
\n<\/em><\/strong>Westfield<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>State<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>University<\/em><\/strong> have a presence on the <\/em><\/strong>Southbridge<\/em><\/strong> campus<\/em><\/strong>.
\nStudents are taking classes from morning to night six days a week with more coming. The medical company Karl Storz is a new tenant with more <\/em><\/strong>than 600 employees.<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Across the street is the police station that was built with federal funds that <\/em><\/strong>I helped secure. <\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Not far is <\/em><\/strong>Harrington<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>Hospital<\/em><\/strong>where medical equipment that provides better <\/em><\/strong>cancer screening for women was purchased with my help.<\/em><\/strong>
\n<\/em>
\nI learned long ago that politics is a tough business. And I know that during campaign season, many candidates say things they later regret. As far as Dr. Fleitman is concerned, I am glad he was a candidate and got to travel this beautiful, historic and diverse district. But when discussing my record, he is certainly entitled to his own set of opinions, but he is not entitled to his own set of facts.<\/p>\n

Remember, it’s Promises Kept, not Promises Made <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

————————————————————————————————————————–<\/p>\n

Richard Neal\u2019s Personal List of Accomplishments for Us<\/p>\n

WITH ALMOST 300,000 CONSTITUENTS IN US DISTRICT 2, MANY NEED HELP<\/p>\n

* \u00a0Barbecues, festivals, VFW halls, homes and sadly funerals. That’s where I’m\u00a0often seen<\/p>\n

* \u00a0Hopedale teacher’s class: ”\u00a0thank you Rep. Neal for arranging\u00a0our tour of the \u00a0Capitol”<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 N. Brookfield citizen says “your office solved my Social Security issue ”<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 Northbridge father emailed\u00a0 this week “Son nominated by Neal and now at\u00a0 West Point”<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 Southbridge student’s painting “Now hangs in the US Capital building”<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 Douglas Fire Chief send thanks ” We got the fire truck we needed and you\u00a0\u00a0provided”<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 Annual financial aid conference, Milford, “gets needy kids into college”<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 Neal and Army Engineer Corps – “restored landmark Milford Pond after years of\u00a0work”<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 Neal pushes for storm water project relief for beleagured Milford town\u00a0businesses<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 Business executive in Spencer “aided in local issue and issue resolved”<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 Restoration of American Optical Bldg – now revenue producing hotel-\u00a0\u00a0Southbridge<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 “Two new colleges opened on Southbridge Campus thru Neal’s efforts”<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 Karl Storz Co. – new tenant, “600 employees now, in Southbridge. Thanks,\u00a0 Rep.Neal”<\/p>\n

* Southbridge got a new Police Station, ”\u00a0thanks to Richard Neal’s federal\u00a0efforts”, and<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 Harrington Hospital thanks Rep Neal for the cancer screening equipment he\u00a0arranged<\/p>\n

From the <\/em>Connecticut<\/em> to the Blackstone Rivers, \u00a0Promises Kept, \u00a0Not Just Made<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BV Dispatch #3 Neal Delivered for His Constituents Jay Gilchrist, GBVD Ritchie has done his list of personal accomplishments I asked for (Oct 2, 2010) He did it in a better way than I suggested.\u00a0 He ran it as a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political-news-blackstone-valley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gbvdems.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gbvdems.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gbvdems.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gbvdems.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gbvdems.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.gbvdems.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gbvdems.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gbvdems.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gbvdems.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}