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The Clam-splainer: 2025 Preliminary Edition

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Welcome, dear readers, to the Gloucester Clam’s no-nonsense, all-snark voter guide for our beloved mayoral preliminary. We promise to serve it up with a side of humor, because if we don’t laugh, we might just start throwing clams. We started working on this a couple of weeks ago but got caught up in public records – so sorry we’re posting at the last minute!

 

Greg Verga: The Incumbent (aka Greg Burger because letting AI handle city voicemails is hysterical)

Ah, Greg Verga. Where do we even start? Maybe with the infamous teacher strike gesture that was less “peace and love” and more “talk to the hand.” Greg’s got a bit of a habit of dialing and texting everyone like a teenager grounded with a flip phone these days with trash and recycling updates, but dude, read the room – we get it, we have been managing our waste for two months now so say less. Add in the last-minute scramble on private roads—because four years wasn’t quite enough runway—and you’ve got a mayor who’s now juggling more last-minute plans than a procrastinating college student. Overall, he’s fine enough but it’s clear that voters are shopping around this time as compared to the last two races so look for him to tout his accomplishments, but we gotta hear more on vision and get communications consistent on non-election years, too. We’ve liked Greg just fine over the last four years. Did he handle the teachers strike well? Not really. Did he help us stay out of the 3A weeds? Yes, he did, though more leadership would have helped. It was really the Yes For Gloucester team who pushed us over the finish line on that one. Has he been on top of the trash strike? Ehhh, maybe not so much – though he’s adapted after a couple of months. And our DPW workers are rockstars.

Jeff Worthley: Midnight Texter Extraordinaire

Next up, Jeff Worthley. If you ever wondered who’s burning the midnight oil sending texts, well, here’s your guy. He’s managed to turn a personal legal saga into a Gloucester soap opera, and we can’t help but chuckle at the irony: a guy who has struggled with his own mortgage now wants to balance the city’s $170 million budget. That’s especially funny considering he’s taken checks from donors without actually reporting to the state OCPF who’s giving what, and where that money is actually going, until recently. Perhaps there’s a reason he took so long to report his fundraising, but the silence is deafening. We have heard many stories that are credible enough to be even more alarmed at his actions, but his legion of FB fans applauding his every move is Sefatia-esque without any of the sass and all of the pandering instead. There isn’t a good thing in town that’s happened that he won’t take credit for, and when that’s pointed out, his fans are sure to attack anyone that isn’t drinking the Kool-Aid. If he didn’t have a porn lawyer turned first amendment watchdog ready to pounce, we think there would be a lot more scandalous news for voters to digest but here’s to journalism not being quite dead: the GDT has actually done some reporting on these claims in addition to everything else they have to do. At least it’s never boring with him around, but we do worry greatly about a JW mayorship and how batshit cray cray things would most assuredly be under his administration. 

Paul Lundberg: The Sweater Vest Sage

Finally, we’ve got Paul Lundberg, the guy who was basically drafted out of retirement like your favorite grandpa who suddenly becomes the town’s voice of reason. Picture Joe Biden’s sweater vest cousin, and you’ve got Paul. He’s the non-incumbent, non-elected official who’s here to give us all a dose of “let’s just be sensible, folks,” and maybe a cup of tea while we’re at it. He’s boring, he’s smart, and he’s a safe pick with very little controversy, even while serving as Council President alongside the Sefatia Administration, but perhaps that’s a bad thing in today’s never-ending-social-news-why-did-I-login-today-cycle as his biggest problem is answering, “who’s Paul Luxemburg?” and “hasn’t he ever done anything wrong?” But hey, he’s got hair (and pretty good hair, at that), so that’s something.

Two of these three will move on to the final election. We’re hoping it’s Lundberg and Verga, and a narrow majority of Team Clam are backing Lundberg – even though it’s good for our pageviews (too bad we never monetized it) we’d love a drama-free local government for a while so we can just snark about Fiesta, regret the loss of the Wendy’s Gloucester page (it was run by a Friend Of The Clam), and follow the national drama.. And we’re hoping that after this prelim we can forget the name Worthley forever.

Opinion: Jeff Worthley’s Issues Extend Beyond Catfishing Constituents

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City Councilor Jeff Worthley has made his name by portraying himself as an affable figure, transparent and available to “get things done” to his fans. He seems to be more popular with residents than he was during his first two mayoral runs and first city council experience. 

However, the Jeff behind closed doors, in his financial dealings, and in personal communications has shown himself a much more worrisome figure. One who, in our opinion, is not fit to be mayor when there are two other options. While we won’t tell you who to vote for, we do have some concerns about this option in particular.

Let’s take a look at what we know of from readily available public documents and on-the-record statements.

Finances

One of the most important jobs of a mayor is setting a city budget. It’s a big responsibility, and it relies on prudent decision-making skills. It’s critical that when we vote, we’re voting for someone we can trust who has experience making sound financial decisions in their personal or professional life. Gloucester faces some serious financial issues that are structural with no easy fixes. As we reported earlier this year, we’re pretty much a sensible mid-sized sedan away from the brink. We all know what it’s like to be facing financial issues. You could argue that everyone reading this has had struggles at times paying the bills, or even making required payments on a loan, a credit card, or something else we owe money for. Unfortunately, Jeff has a long list of public financial issues that are far beyond someone running into temporary money trouble, and are chronic and show utter disregard for creditors and taxpayers alike. 

Firstly, taxes. Jeff has had multiple tax liens on his home for unpaid MA income tax reported to the Essex County Registry of Deeds, which makes these available to the public. The liens add up to over $25,000 and are as follows:

  • On May 18, 2022 a total of $18,298.67 is owed for 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020. 
  • On March 6, 2024, a total of $3374.16 is owed for 2021. 
  • On June 10, 2025, a total of $4,153.76 is owed for 2022 and 2023. 

While full payment status at this time is unknown, the amounts and multiple years show disregard for paying taxes to fund state and municipal services in a timely manner. This is one of the more difficult things to understand coming from someone who says he believes in the community, who has kids in our school system, and who takes taxpayer money for his work as city councilor. I’m sure most of us would find it somewhat understandable and forgive if any candidate for public office had a lien for a year they didn’t calculate correctly, found out they owed taxes, and needed time to pay them off. This is a different situation, and runs nearly an entire decade. It matters that a candidate pays taxes to the Commonwealth where they receive services. 

Jeff has also faced two foreclosures in 2021 and 2025. One of these foreclosure documents seems to somehow state he did not pay his mortgage for ten full years. This document is available on the Essex County Registry of Deeds and/or MA Court websites for anyone to read. Another document from 2021 shows him 6 months behind in payments. 

 

Lastly, public records show two small claims cases for unpaid debts owed to collections services, with several other small claims debt cases with Jeff Worthley as a defendant settled or dismissed before a judgement was issued. 

  • On 10/25/18, a judgement for $1,792.49 was issued against Jeff in favor of Portfolio Recovery Services. This appears to have been paid in 2021. 
  • On 8/26/2024, a judgement for $1879.21 was issued against Jeff in favor of Midland Credit Management after he defaulted on debt. A Capias warrant  was issued for his arrest as he did not appear in court in October of 2024. 
  • Jeff’s FINRA broker disclosures also mention, in addition to his taxes, a judgement of $8,826.17 on 7/2/2019
  • His broker disclosures also mention a civil judgement for unpaid child support order on 4/30/2019 .

 

Interpersonal

Finances aren’t the only concerns we have with Worthley as a candidate. There are issues with Jeff’s relationships with others that are unsettling.

Divorces and custody are messy situations all around. However, the publicly available civil documents regarding Jeff’s custody battle a few years after his 2nd divorce was final paint a worrisome picture. While we are not sharing all of it in respect for his kids, who are lovely people, it provides insight into Jeff’s personality and importantly puts on record to the world how he treats those in his world who he is at odds with. The highlights include the following text, taken directly from the judge’s ruling report in the public record (while removing some identifying information about his children and their school): 

  • The Guardian Ad Litem reported, “Mr. Worthley made serious attempts to manipulate me in order obtain a favorable outcome for himself in this evaluation – e.g. he asked to read my report before I submitted to the Court and he asked if he could pay me to testify on his behalf… Many times Mr. Worthley seriously distorted (and these distortions often verged on outright falsehoods) what I said to him.” 
  • The principal and teachers at the elementary school his children attended told the GAL that Father has tried to talk to them negatively about Mother and tries to involve them in the dramatics of this case. Ms. Morgan stated to the GAL, “He is always looking for us to find something wrong with mom. It gets very uncomfortable.”
  •  After asking Father about the children’s attendance issues, Father wrote the GAL an email accusing the school principal of lying about the children’s attendance records. 
  • The GAL credibly found Father as manipulative and that he questions the children repeatedly about Mother, coaches the children to say negative things about Mother, and disparages Mother to the children.
  • The GAL did not find Father to be a credible reporter and found that he did not know how to deal with the children’s problems in a constructive manner.
  • As found by the GAL, Father’s filing of the complaint for no harassment order (discussed hereafter), on almost eight year old son’s behalf, against his son’s best friend, was an unusual and concerning step for a parent to take on behalf of the child. In her twenty-three (23) years of juvenile experience, the GAL has never seen such a drastic response to conflict between two young children who are friends. 
  • Father is unable to effectively communicate with Mother regarding the children. Admittedly, he sends hundreds of emails and text messages to Mother. His communications often contains inflammatory and egregious allegations. Father berates Mother and sends messages to provoke Mother. Often times, to avoid conflict, Mother will not respond which causes Father to send additional messages. Father continues to file 51a reports against Mother and involve the local police alleging Mother is abusive and neglectful, yet no allegations have ever been supported. Father continues to insist Mother abuses the children and has even stated Mother is attempting to kill him. 
  • Father uses doctor’s appointments and meetings with the children’s educational providers as an opportunity to speak negatively about Mother. Father tries to involve others, including known mandated reporters. When individuals, such as the children’s teachers and principal, do not file 51a reports, or tell him not to speak negatively about Mother in front of them, Father has accused them of wrongdoing or inappropriate conduct. It is noted that Dr. Carbone and the Gloucester Mayor filed 51a reports against Mother and both were screened out.

This is not the behavior of someone I’d trust to be mayor.

There are other stories of odd personal behavior as well. With the recent GDT article, Jeff told the police as well as the paper that Janessa Williams was an intern that worked for him, and it was not him sending the messages to Kiley Davis through a fake profile. However, when Kiley came forward, a former longtime friend of Jeff’s, Vanessa McKenzie, asserted that Jeff and Vanessa had made the profile together. She corroborated this with a screenshot of an email of a Facebook message sent by “Janessa Williams” in 2022.

Vanessa’s statement was intriguing, to say the least. We here at The Clam specialize in digging, and dig we did. We were unable to find any Janessa Williams in Massachusetts using public records searches. At first, we thought Janessa Williams was British pop singer Tali Jackson because that’s what Google AI thought. But that seemed far too simple, and we dug in further using our human brains. That brings us to the conclusion that it is not actually Tali Jackson. Google AI just thinks that because a profile with her name uses it.

Definitely a real person.

In various places around the Internet, the photo goes by many names: Tali Jackson on SoundCloud, CDMixedBaby and Giselle on Twitter (we’re not calling it X), Karolina Protsenko on Pinterest, and Kelsey4447 on a booty call website that we will spare directing you to. TinEye, an image search website, first indexed the image in 2013. Whoever this poor girl is, her picture has been co-opted by all sorts of seedy backwater Internet sites. Don’t navigate your way to these sites without antiviral protection, kids. In fact, maybe just stay away from them altogether.  Suffice to say: We don’t know where “Janessa Williams” downloaded this picture, and we might not actually want to know.

Jeff attempted to explain away Vanessa’s intentions by telling another city councilor she owed him a whopping $50,000 and never paid him back. However, Vanessa denied owing such an amount and provided Cashapp and Venmo transactions that show Jeff routinely paid her small amounts “just because,” many during the same time period that his mortgage went unpaid for months and his unpaid child support obligations were reported to FINRA.

 

We’ll end with one more odd message, sent to a then-19 year old. While we aren’t claiming any of it is illegal – it’s still not acceptable and unbecoming of anyone representing Gloucester.

 

We’ve heard a lot of rumors of women who may have had similar experiences, but we are only sharing here what can actually be corroborated. We aren’t here to spread rumors, just verifiable truth. And while Jeff has rabid fans who claim anything negative about him is a smear, we believe every candidate for public office needs to take responsibility for their own actions and words when they ask for our votes.

In our opinion, Gloucester deserves a Mayor who can keep his or her own house in order to keep Gloucester in order and out of the news for some salacious scandal.

We want and deserve a Mayor we can trust, even a little bit. Based on the evidence, that is not what we’re seeing from Jeff Worthley. We hope that next week, you cast a vote for either of the other two candidates, based on your preference. 

Schoolpocalypse Part 2: Please, Please, Please 

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Hi all. We had a whole second and third explainer in the works, with the background on the school committee’s role and how they are elected. But, things are kinda bad right now. We may get to it at some point, but today, we wanted to just talk to everyone. And a few people specifically. 

 

Hi guys, It’s KT this time! Anyway, Jim Dowd’s dead, which is really rude of him, as I normally would have had him help me with this. But where we are as a city, things are so bad the current management of the Clam rolled me out of the closet I was hibernating in. So I guess I’m here on my own, just one mom hyperventilating into a pillow at you. 

 

 

For us parents, It’s been a long week. It feels like Covid times again, doesn’t it? Ah, nostalgia. Is your house filled with tiny boxes of chocolate milk and those mini powdered donuts like mine is? It should be. Go to your local school and get some free food. The staff is dying to see a friendly face and give you seven different small containers of apple juice, I promise. 

Yesterday seemed so full of promise for our school situation. The daily messaging from the principals changed from the divisive tone and seemed more inclusive, more wiling to work things out, less finger-pointing. The phrase “illegal strike” didn’t even come up once, nevermind the seven thousand times I heard it last week. At least, for the moment. The no-school call came late. The teams at the bargaining table worked until nearly midnight. It seemed like we could be a community again, instead of whatever this is. 

But today’s sentiment, and releases from the teacher’s union, on the heels of what seemed like a promising day yesterday with both sides working late and hard… that sucked. And that wording was decisive. Not inclusive. It was clear we were so far from the end. 

 

And it was the breaking point for me as a parent. I lost it. In the middle of a long work day, I absolutely became the screaming cowboy in the sky. 

So many other parents I know, the ones who have always been smart and reasonable and involved, echoed the sentiment.  The patience we had is gone. The goodwill is waning. We are tired, our PTO days grow thin, our spring vacation plans fading like the photo of Marty McFly’s siblings after he kisses his mom. We work hours when we can to catch up so our bosses don’t lose their patience with us. We have family chip in. But some don’t have family. Some don’t have any options at all. 

Our children are bouncing off the walls at best, and really struggling without school at worst. 

Right now, our frustration is because this all has seemed so fruitless. The teachers feel disrespected. They feel the paras have been disrespected. Their frustration turns to agitation.

Then there’s a rally outside the house of a school committee member who isn’t home. But her young kids are. And they see their teachers, and dozens of other teachers, outside screaming at them. The people they trusted.

Then Greg Verga gives the finger. The freakin’ M A Y O R.  Sure, it was meant for a guy that has more than earned a middle finger salute with his aggressive stance on everything and I’ll go down swinging on that. But everyone saw it. It stoked the flames. There’s a rally outside the mayor’s house. People yelling at 10pm. Things have gone from bad to worse.

And then the Facebook warriors take every piece of news, every photo, every comment that’s thirdhand from a guy who used to sell cigarettes to Greg Verga’s second cousin and repeat it as gospel truth. Even when it’s nowhere close to the truth. Even when it’s taken out of context to make the other side look bad. “You weren’t at the bargaining table!” Sounds terrible until it turns out they weren’t supposed to be and someone much better suited to hammer out a particular detail was. 

Here’s the thing: When you tell people to get mad, you are responsible for what happens when they get mad. 

Right now, the kids are watching and listening. They’re watching the union obfuscate the truth if it doesn’t fit the agenda, and refuse to take responsibility for any of the downsides of a strike that they voted on after 60 days of no contract (with, according the the Globe, suspect timing). They’re watching the mayor be petty. They’re watching the school committee hire a firm to write scathing emails every night. 

 This community is made up of fantastic caring educators, and also hard working committee members and administrators who care about this city, and both sides are stuck in a vicious cycle like when eagles lock their talons and fall to the ground in a death spiral.

It’s been…bad.

The timing is awful. We just lived through a fraught election cycle, and got no room to breathe. The parents, the kids, the city did not need this. But we were thrust into it, all the same. 

And it feels like tonight we’re on the edge of the cliff, where something big and bad looms if we aren’t pulled back. Like the city is a powderkeg ready to explode. Today was the first day I felt like something really terrible could happen from this, and someone could get hurt, accidentally or otherwise. People are that upset and whipped up, a mob unable to regulate. It isn’t getting better. It’s getting worse. But it doesn’t have to.

Right now we are lucky enough to have a school committee full of people who care deeply about our community, our kids, and, most importantly, education. They are our neighbors, our friends, our coaches. They care. To turn around and treat them like this is a continuation of the election and they are the enemy is not fair. It is disingenuous. It is ugly. Who will want this job when they are done? Who is going to run to be treated like that? 

Assuming the worst of intentions from the folks on the other side, and only assuming the best on your side, is never going to end this strike. It’s damaging, especially when it’s not just assuming these intentions, it’s also announcing them publicly to make people upset. 

Having hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people who haven’t been paying attention – until everything came to a screeching halt – believing literally anything without verifying the truth or understanding the backstory or the reasoning makes the problem worse and widens the divide. 

I want the teachers to get a fair contract so they stay here instead of jumping to a district where they can get more money, and benefits that keep them educating instead of moving to private sector jobs. Our educators are amazing, and there are so many teachers who have helped my kids in the decade I’ve been a GPS parent. But I also understand where our city is financially. The school committee is only given a specific amount of money to fund the budget. We need to address that. If a contract goes through and we can’t fund what we need, our educators face steep layoffs to stay within the budget given. That’s the truth at the end of the day. The problem of school funding is systemic and can not be solved in a few weeks by a handful of elected community members. 

I promise you, all of you on either side, that no one is trying to do their worst. At the same time, we all need to be doing better. Taking stock of where we are and how we can get to the end goal of a signed contract for our educators and paras with a reasonable salary the city can pay for in line with our peer districts. How we as a city pay for what we need- because the money we have right now is not enough. 

I do not say any of this to be patronizing to either side. I say it because I have been there – I once went through a divorce where everything seemed personal and disrespectful and I would not give in on anything because of my anger. No one could convince me that the righteous anger I felt was maybe not the full story. But time healed, and I moved on, and I realized – in that moment, I was unable to see the forest for the trees. I’m thankful for that gift of time, and that once it passed, it was clear our goals were more similar than we could have let ourselves believe in the thick of it. 

Being too far in the fight, entrenched for so long has clouded the vision of those tasked with coming to an agreement. Our words and actions matter. Finger pointing and declaring your side not responsible for any of this mess does not solve the problem. Every single person involved is part of the problem, and must also seek a mutual solution. There has been progress. Focus on that and let it guide you. 

Let’s get this done, unified, as a community. Please. Find a “good enough,” a “close enough”. For all the kids struggling with no one home to help them, for all the parents who cried silently in their closet today when they learned we weren’t done, for the teachers who miss their students, for Fiesta’s sake! – take a deep breath, forgive the words said in anger by the other side, stop saying them yourself, remember to use your indoor voice, and move forward, while we still can. 

2024 Election Clamsplainer – Antifa (the side we were on in WW2) Edition

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You know who we are (even though you haven’t seen much of us on this website for quite a while). You know how we vote. And you know how we feel about Cheeto Mussolini. The TL;DR is: vote for Democrats.

You may not believe us, but we are really getting tired of saying that. The editorial staff at the Clam ranges ideologically from “Kim Driscoll’s Get Stuff Done Wing of the Democratic Party” to “Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism,” so while none of us are particularly conservative, we do manage to have some healthy debates over how exactly we think society should be run and who is best to do that. But at the end of the day, most of us will go for the option that isn’t frequently in bed with Nazis. So…

Our pick for President: Kamala Harris

Period.

Look, we would have voted for Joe over Donald Trump. We would have voted for a houseplant over Trump, even if it was that one from Little Shop of Horrors. Biden has clearly lost his fastball and the toughest job in the world has taken a lot out of him. Just driving through Tally’s Corner from Angle Street takes a lot out of us, so we get it. A diminished Biden was still a better choice than a shambling mound of fast food, grievance, and rage that already bungled the levers of power once and who wants to literally jail his enemies (of which he has quite a few). Trump has shown us clearly that he’s incapable of leading a one-man parade, let alone the United States. This past weekend’s Trump rally – where the campaign paraded a line of supporters who went on racist tirades against Puerto Rico, Hispanic-Americans, and African-Americans, lobbed anti-Asian and misogynistic insults against Kamala Harris, and culminated with Trump’s usual inflammatory and fascist rhetoric about the “crooked, radical left machine” and “the enemy from within” – is just the latest example. Someday in the future, history will look back at this era, see the people who supported Trump – whether fervently or passively – and judge them harshly. And Hulk Hogan is dead to us now.

We were ok with hoping for another four years under Biden like the last four, ready to vote for Kamala Harris to be the successor. Biden stepping aside just moved it up a bit. Do we like Kamala Harris? Absolutely. Does she have the intellect and temperament to be President? Absolutely. Is she more likely to preserve America’s standing in the world? Absolutely. In a Harris presidency, Ukraine will be supported, NATO will be a powerful tool to neutralize Russian expansion, Taiwan will be protected from an invasion from the mainland, and we’ll continue to be the only major global economy that didn’t have a full-on recession from COVID and the aftermath. And yes – despite what your cousin yelled at you at the Labor Day barbeque – she DOES actually have her own agenda of plans to make life for Americans better. It’s all on her website and social media. Tell your cousin to loosen that MAGA hat, and go read all about it instead of embarrassing himself in front of his kids.

Joe, thanks for the memories. Kamala, let’s make some new ones. Donald, we told you to stop calling us.

We are really going to miss the “Dark Brandon” memes, though.

Our pick for US Senate: Elizabeth Warren

You don’t need us to tell you about Elizabeth Warren. Or maybe you do, if you are one of those types that thinks she is a raging socialist because she has the audacity to say that a society where all the wealth sits with a handful of people (note: this is not you and never will be) isn’t the best way to run things. She may go a bit hard for some people, but honestly, we probably need that. If you are the type who seriously doubts her bona fides, indulge yourself on one of her 13 books (the majority of which were written before she was a senator, so just cool your jets before you go off) or her sizable library of academic publications. In terms of policy, she has been on the right side of almost everything we care about: health care, child care, making sure the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, et cetera et cetera. We would probably pick Warren over a lot of people on those alone.

We’ll admit, John Deaton is doing his damndest to make himself seem electable, if for no other reason than to avoid Warren crushing him more handily than she did Geoff Diehl in 2018. Deaton has said that he’d break with his party and vote to make a woman’s right to choose the law of the land, as well as a couple of other things that are unusual to hear from a Republican who is running at the federal level. This is Massachusetts, after all. But merely not being a crazy person isn’t a particularly compelling reason to elect someone to be a US Senator. In any case, we’ve seen what happens to seemingly reasonable Republicans when they get to Washington and have to get along with the rest of their party, which has vacated any facade of a desire to govern responsibly. We don’t know if you remember Scott Brown, but we do.

How could we forget?

Scotty 2 Hotty won a special election to take Ted Kennedy’s seat in the Senate in 2010. His appearance on the scene killed any prospect that the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare) would be anything more than the landmark-though-slightly-underwhelming legislation that it ended up being. It was also quite a lift to get Brown to listen to his constituents and break ranks to vote for some sensible banking regulations after the worst Wall Street-induced financial crisis since the Great Depression. (Sensible regulations, we will note, which included the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the brainchild of a pre-Senate Elizabeth Warren.) We aren’t willing to take that gamble now that the Republican Party has flipped from “corporations are people” to “dictator on day one.” It isn’t just about good policy anymore. It isn’t even about passable policy. The woman, trans folks, people of color, and others that regularly come under attack from both elected Republicans and their base can’t take that risk. Fascism is pretty bad for the economy as well. It’s Warren all the way.

Also, a crypto bro with an endorsement from Elon Musk? Really? Nope.

Our pick for State Representative: Ann-Margaret Ferrante

Ferrante has been the state rep for Gloucester, Rockport, and Essex since 2009, with Manchester getting thrown in during redistricting to give her the full Cape Ann set since 2022. As the daughter of a fisherman who has lived in downtown Gloucester her whole life, Ferrante knows the community and the people in it. She’s also got a pretty hefty educational background: a double-major bachelor’s degree including economics, a law degree, and a master’s in public administration. She has proven to be effective and actually pretty visionary, having helped to spearhead the creation of the Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute and Gloucester Biotechnology Academy, bringing science to Gloucester’s waterfront and giving students a new path to actual careers in the life sciences without needing a college degree. GMGI even named a fellowship after her in recognition of her pretty relentless support.

More than all that, Ferrante has played the State House game well. Politics is fundamentally about working with people, after all. She worked her way up, serving as chair of a number of committees and a stint in House leadership. Now she’s earned a spot as Vice Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. For those of you who had friends in high school and aren’t government nerds, the Ways and Means Committee is the last stop for every budget and piece of legislation that goes through the Massachusetts House of Representatives before it gets a vote on the floor. That means that every bill, every dollar appropriated, and every amendment filed comes across Ferrante’s desk and gives her the opportunity to press her finger on the scale in favor of her constituents (that’s us). With something like 5000 bills filed every legislative session, that’s a lot of paper.

Ann-Margaret Ferrante’s desk, probably.

It’s also a pretty big deal, if we say so ourselves. Combine that with the fact that Bruce Tarr is the minority leader in the Senate and Cape Ann gets two very big influencers at a scale that rank and file reps and senators can’t match. Year after year, they have worked together to bring the funding to Cape Ann necessary to do things like grow GMGI, vastly expand The Open Door to meet growing food insecurity, support the formalization of the Grace Center to help the unhoused, reopen the UMass Marine Station for fisheries and environmental research, and a lot more. Heck, we are such fans of the tag team that we might even tell you to make sure you vote for Bruce too, even if he is a Republican and doesn’t have an opponent this year. As Jim Dowd told his kids at every election cycle, Bruce Tarr is “The one Republican daddy votes for.” We miss that guy. 

We aren’t going to waste much time talking to you about Ferrante’s opponent, if for no other reason than the fact that he hasn’t given us much to talk about. Former Ward 3 City Councilor and City Council President Steve LeBlanc pulled papers to run as an independent. He has said in the one interview he has done as of this writing that he likes to help people and do things and that the parties don’t do enough bipartisan work. It would be a wonderful message if not for the paragraph immediately previous to this one where we talked about LITERALLY ALL THE BIPARTISANSHIP between Bruce Tarr and Ann-Margaret Ferrante. It also lacks any actual reasoning to throw out Ferrante in favor of him, which would be a pretty uphill argument anyway, given the results she produces and her position in the House. We heard that he wouldn’t even accept an invitation from the local League of Women Voters to have a debate. If you can’t manage to debate one person, how can voters be even remotely confident that you can joust with the 159 other reps who are gunning for the same resources for their districts that you are for yours? We’ve been positive on LeBlanc in the past during his tenure on the City Council, but there isn’t even a case to make here.

Our pick for Register of Deeds: Eileen Duff

Eileen Duff is a North Shore powerhouse who has served on the Governor’s Council for 12 years. Southern Essex County needs a competent leader to fill the shoes of retired Register of Deeds John L. O’Brien, Jr., who occupied that office for an impressive 48 years and worked to make the massive number of historical records in this institution accessible to all. Duff has taken up that call. A lot of people level criticisms at politicians running for offices for which they don’t seem to have any relevant experience, but nothing could be further from the truth in this case. Duff not only brings her experience with the judiciary from her time on the Governor’s Council, but also a ton of real life interactions with the registry from her time as a real estate agent. Especially in forward-facing roles like the registry, having a broad range of experience from the customer’s perspective is extremely valuable. We have no doubt Duff will use this experience to continue serving as O’Brien did while bringing her own fresh ideas and flair to the office. Come on Eileen! (Sorry, kinda.)

Now, we’re not one to get on too much of a high horse when it comes to how one dresses, but we’ve always firmly held to the idea that you should dress for the job you want. That is why half of us here at the Clam dress like elves and the other half dress like space elves. With this in mind, we aren’t quite sure what Duff’s opponent, perennial Republican candidate Jonathan Ring, thinks he is running for.

He seems to take this seriously.

The answer could be, “Basically anything.” By our count, Ring has run for Rockport School Committee, Rockport Town Clerk, Register of Deeds (the current run marks his second), and Rockport Housing Authority, the latter of which being the only office he succeeded in holding. Even that was a bit much for us, with what we know about his views on gay, trans, and women’s reproductive rights, for a start. Given the results of all those other elections, we are willing to bet that a lot of people agree with us on that. Now, what harm could those views bring with Ring in the registrar’s office? Who knows, but we aren’t willing to give him that chance. We would much rather see Duff bring her experience to bear in that office to continue moving it forward.

Our pick for Governor’s Council: Eunice Zeigler

Eileen Duff’s departure from the Governor’s Council leaves a larger-than-Eileen-Duff sized hole in the Council. Duff’s pick to be her successor is Methuen City Councilor Eunice Zeigler. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Governor’s Council, it is the body of eight elected councilors in Massachusetts that confirms judicial appointments and reviews pardons and commutations. We agree with Duff that Zeigler, a first generation Haitian-American with a master’s degree in economic and social development, seems right for the role. Her background and work in the community – giving individuals and families the help they need to be self-sufficient – has put her in contact with exactly the types of people who need the justice system to understand them the most. She has proven herself on the Methuen City Council and she’s ready to dive into this important yet not-well-known position. While we aren’t crazy about losing our friendly neighborhood Governor’s Councilor seat to the opposite end of the district, we will trust that Zeigler is a fan of the beach and that we will be seeing her often.

Zeigler’s Republican opponent, Peabody City Councilor Anne Manning-Martin, describes herself as “a strong independent voice.” Her pretty stock, right-wing opinions on the justice system indicate otherwise. Now, we think there are roles for all sides of the justice system to play in deliberations about how to get the best justice possible. We endorsed former cops Kevin Coppinger and Paul Tucker in their races for Essex County Sheriff and District Attorney, respectively, against opponents that were arguably more liberal, and we did it exactly for their experience in the field. We also sometimes think that one side of things already has pretty good representation in the system. A current corrections official running on her determination to make sure Massachusetts judges collaborate with ICE ain’t it for us. Anyway, given how Republicans at the federal level are handling the courts, we aren’t hot to give the same thing a chance to happen to Massachusetts.

Our pick for Essex County Clerk of Courts: Tom Driscoll

The various clerks and registers around Massachusetts may be the only elected offices that have even lower profiles than the Governor’s Council, other than Electors Under the Will of Oliver Smith (this is a real thing in nine municipalities in western Mass). We’re not even sure that we would remember that Register of Deeds existed if Jon Ring wasn’t running for it all the time. The Clerk of Courts is responsible for keeping the court’s records, running court sessions, and acting as a liaison between judges and lawyers. In Essex Country, our clerk of courts is Tom Driscoll, and we think it should stay that way. He’s been doing this job effectively since 2001. We don’t think a long incumbency should be anything but a benefit in a job that is almost solely administrative. We say Driscoll is a steady hand at the wheel, and we need that more than ever these days. 

Driscoll has two opponents for the first time… ever? They are two unenrolled (AKA “independent”) candidates named Todd Angilly and Doris Rodriguez. The fact that the Republicans don’t even seem to want to contest the seat should say a decent amount on its own. We are sure they are fine people (Angilly’s the guy who replaced Rene Rancourt as the Bruins’ anthem singer), but we just don’t see the logic here.

And: Ballot questions. 

Question 1: The Clam is a bit divided on this issue, though a majority of us will be voting yes. We all agree government transparency is of the utmost importance in order to uphold our democracy. What isn’t clear is if this will be successful in moving that goal forward. Currently, the Legislature is periodically audited by an outside accounting firm. If question 1 passes, the measure states that the Auditor would have the authority to audit the state legislature, something that was a significant campaign issue for current Auditor Diana DiZoglio. However, it isn’t likely to go without some pushback from the House and Senate, who say it would violate the constitutional separation of powers. We are waiting to see how this unfolds either way.

Question 2: MCAS or Nah? 

The Clam is a resounding Yes on this one. 

MCAS = teaching to the test, highlighting economic disparities among students. MA teachers and students are already stressed out enough these days without worrying about this huge test. At the same time, voting Yes doesn’t eliminate the MCAS, and that’s probably good. Standardized testing is a useful way to see where disparities lie between demographic groups and different districts. But tying graduation to a single test (or series of tests, in the case of MCAS) has never been a good idea. Let teachers teach.

Question 3: Yes. Unionize ride-share drivers, like Uber and Lyft drivers, who always seem to get the booty end of the stick thanks to their VC-backed employers. Slam dunk. 

Question 4: Yes. As we learn more about mental health care and how much we all differ as humans, why not regulate the use of psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) and other hallucinogens derived from plants as another option for treatment-resistant depression and PTSD? Responsible providers will prescribe it and monitor its effects. A commission would be formed to regulate the sale and services of psychedelics. A tax would be imposed on any psychedelic treatment facilities and sales. It would also allow anyone age 21 or older to grow, possess, and use the substances in Massachusetts. (Sauce: https://www.wcvb.com/article/question-4-legalize-psychedelics-massachusetts/62600006) This seems like the most trivial of causes and, like the recreational cannabis ballot initiative a few years ago, it’s scary to opponents. Fact is, like pot, magic mushrooms are already out there. Until the Feds set up a way to do this nationally, we might as well lead the way on regulating use and distribution. 

Question 5: Your The Clam are about an 80-20 split internally on this question about raising the minimum wage for tipped workers. We know and love so many people in the restaurant industry who are a No on this question, and that is about where we’re at, too. In theory, we’d like to protect those waitstaff who are in vulnerable positions at quieter, less expensive restaurants. The ones who know if they tell their boss to abide by the “minimum wage if tips dont add up” they’ll get taken off the schedule in retribution. However, this bill’s pooling of tips didn’t make sense and implementation was overly onerous. As consumers, we’d like to make sure our waitstaff aren’t hampered financially by people who chew and screw, or just leave no tip and rely on the rest of us to make it up. In reality, a more prevalent autograt on a tab for ALL would help even the playing field if this doesn’t pass. 

Question 6: Yes. 

Question 6 is a non-binding ballot referendum question which is only on ballots in 11 districts around the state. It is asking our opinion on whether we would like single-payer health insurance for everyone in Massachusetts. It will give our lawmakers a good idea of where we stand. More info here: https://masscare.org/ballot-question-2024/ 

 

The Jim Dowd Fund at the Gloucester Education Foundation

  By
[Guest Post by Bo Abrams-Dowd]

Jim. The Gloucester Education Foundation. Johnny.

 

What do they have in common?

Learning is their highest priority. 

And 

Two of them are dead. 

 

Johnny died the day before his own birthday. 

November 16. 

From an overdose.

That’s all I know. It sucks. 

 

I hear you now. “What the fuck Bo. You can’t tell people Jim’s younger brother Johnny died in a post for Jim’s birthday!”

 

But I can and I have to and I don’t want to wait and it’s all connected.

Besides, Jim hated his birthday.

He’d prefer we told you about hard things on this day and not spoil another perfectly good day. 

 

Johnny’d been mostly clean the last time I saw him, the week before Jim died.

Johnny was as smart and funny and charismatic as Jim. 

Jim used to say Johnny was the smarter one.

I tell you this not to compare them, but so you understand the caliber of kid Johnny was.

Johnny was clever and a lot of fun.

But he didn’t have this one thing: Support outside his family that offered not just a view to another path, but an actual mentor to help him get on or stay on the path when it could have made a difference.

 

I’m not judging addiction here.

I am judging our systems which allow so many kids to fall through the cracks. 

 

Yesterday Treely went with the Docksiders to Beeman Elementary School to give a performance.

Seeing the high school band come into his elementary school was part of what got him jazzed about music to begin with. Then it was the instrument petting zoo. Then it was getting bused to after-school lessons with friends at the middle school. When he was in middle school, it wasn’t the academics that made him want to go to school. It was getting to go into the music room or doing a science project. Playing music makes his day better.

 

When he got to high school Treely thought he’d give it up. Playing trumpet that is. Band didn’t fit in his schedule. He didn’t want to practice. He told me he wasn’t going to be a professional musician. Why bother? 

 

Of course I thought he should keep going. But, it wasn’t my voice that convinced him to stay when he was ready to quit. It wasn’t his dad. His dad had died about three months earlier. It was the voice of some other adult that made him willing to stay. I don’t remember who it was now, maybe it was you. Who cares. I’m fucking grateful. He stayed in band. He stuck it out over a hard patch. I needed that. He needed that.

 

Anyway, back to the Docksiders and driving to school.

Treely has his permit and has driven enough these days so I no longer point out insanity in the gauntlet that is driving across Gloucester. Instead I watch the people on the side of the road. 

 

I see kids waiting for the bus. I see people getting ready for work. I see homeless people leaving the shelter. After dropping him off sometimes I see the kids who missed the bus walking to school. It’s the same kids, always late. Too many times a week. 

 

I see a Johnny and Jim of the past. 

 

You know where this is going right? You know that it’s the little things that add up. 

You know one kid started missing the bus more and the other one started missing it less.

 

Jim talked a lot about all the people who mentored him along the way from the time he was about 12. It wasn’t any one person. But it was one person at time, one interest at a time, one program at a time, that helped him survive to get to the next thing. Someone to give a nudge to stick with it when something was hard. Someone to suggest a book or a program. Someone to talk about colleges or vocations or hopes and dreams. 

Johnny never had that. Jim hated that. 

 

It’s both the fact that there is a band program and the fact there was someone who wasn’t me who was there for Treely in a way I couldn’t be. It’s because of the combination of these things that Treely is thriving, not just as a musician. 

Is he gonna be a famous jazz trumpet player? Probably not, but who cares?

 

You and I can give an occasional ride. And we try to. But like I said earlier, it was a combination of rides and programs that helped Treely, and also allowed Jim to survive and eventually thrive. 

 

Which leads me to Gloucester Education Foundation. They are the reason there is a band program and a hundred other programs that make sure practically every kid has something they can connect to in school. And they’re adding more. GEF is starting a mentor program at the high school in conjunction with Wellspring. And they just helped GHS get a grant to bring in an administrator in the vocational program. They are also beginning a student advisory group so students can have a say in GEF leadership which offers a stipend, because you can’t do internships for free if you have to make money.

 

The kids and I want to help. You may remember we collected money in honor of a Jim Dowd Scholarship Fund. Because of how much GEF does to help Gloucester’s kids, we’ve decided to transfer all that scholarship money to the GEF. The Jim Dowd Fund at the Gloucester Education Foundation will support the stipend with a goal of bringing student voices to the organization that may not otherwise be heard. 

Is this gonna help all the kids? 

No.

But it might help one. 

 

So in honor of Jim’s birthday and his brother John Robert Dowd’s memory.

Please help us grow this program. 

Think about every time you would have bought Jim a beer if you had the chance. 

Or texted a funny meme. Or just cursed his being.

and donate to the GEF in both their memory 

so the Johnnys can be offered opportunities to thrive like the Jims. 

 

 

JOHN ROBERT DOWD

November 16, 1969 – November 15, 2021

May he rest in peace

May his memory be a blessing

May the wind be always at his back

DONATE HERE: The Gloucester Education Foundation