MICHAEL MARKS FOR MAYOR of MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS

    Mr. Spock in the original Star Trek series used logic as a weapon to peacefully persuade. We citizens need to peacefully persuade the politicians in Medford to accept term limits. 

     You've heard the expression "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  Well, certain aspects of Medford politics ARE "broke" and it is well past the time to fix them.  Thus I am channeling quotes from Star Trek's Mr. Spock to guide Medford into a new era of enlightenment.
   
    First we start with the race for Mayor.  Michael J. McGlynn wants to be Mayor for another 2 years when he has 26 under his belt already.   We ask (by psychic channeling) Mr. Spock what he thinks about some of the stubborn policies of the 26 year incumbent we hear:
   
"I shall not waste time with you. You're too inflexible, too disciplined once you're made up your mind..."   Mr. Spock, MIRROR MIRROR (1967) 

     Which brings us to Michael Marks.  Mr. Marks certainly sounds like he disagrees with the Mayor week after week after week, pounding away at the flaws in the current Administration, which is an easy thing to do when any incumbent is in for 26 years, all due respect to Michael J. McGlynn.   Crop rotation is as essential to politics as it is to farming, and without rotation of the right crops, nutrients(farming) ...and progress(politics)...disappear from what is supposed to be PUBLIC SERVICE in both industries.

                               * * * * *

  The real Captain Kirk to the Parallel Universe Mr. Spock in MIRROR MIRRO

  "I submit to you that your Empire is illogical because it cannot endure. I submit that YOU are illogical to be a willing part of it.  (Mr. Spock in the other universe obviously causes a mutiny per the advice of the "real" Captain Kirk)
                              * * * * *

     And Medford is ripe for a good old fashioned mutiny.   Michael Marks has set the stage at the City Council, now he has to be a man of his word and do what he has to do for the citizens: run for Mayor.

     Captain Kirk: In every revolution there's one man with a vision.

     Mirror Spock in reply: Captain Kirk, I shall consider it.


The Michael Marks website currently asks voters to re-elect Marks for the City Council.   Here is content from that site:
http://marksformedford.com/
"Hi my name is Michael Marks and I'm a candidate for re-election to the Medford City Council. I am a life long resident and homeowner. My wife Lisa and I reside at 37 Wellington Rd with our three children Giana, Olivia and Evan. As a member of the city council I know first hand that our neighborhoods are the life line of our community. That is why I stood alongside neighbors protesting the encroachment of industry upon their residential neighborhoods. I insisted upon the installation of thermoplastic crosswalks and introduced numerous traffic calming approaches to address speeding and pedestrian safety in our community. - See more at: http://marksformedford.com/#sthash.z97aQnco.dpuf

      In 2007 Michael Marks had this to say when running for City Council
http://insidemedford.com/2007/09/03/candidate-for-city-council-michael-marks/

     In 2009 Marks made this argument to hold the seat:
http://www.wickedlocal.com/medford/town_info/your_vote/x23523871/Michael-Marks-runs-for-re-election-to-Medford-City-Council?zc_p=1#axzz2WdPbxf6d

    In 2011 the then-45 year old Councilor made this pitch to Patch
http://medford.patch.com/articles/city-council-candidate-profile-michael-marks

    After awhile it becomes routine, a broken record, recycling old ideas for a new campaign.  And for the residents it inspires voter apathy, not excitement and hope for a bold new vision.  If Michael Marks runs for City Council again it will be disappointing.  We'll hear the same old cries for the Mayor to do this, for the Mayor to do that, and by 2014 and 2015 Michael will sound like a cranky old man wanting to be the bride but, aw shucks, always ending up the bridesmaid.

IT IS TIME TO STEP UP
     There are important issues not being addressed in Medford.  Take River's Edge. Wouldn't you love to know how much the TOTAL cost of Rivers Edge was and is?  How about the Telecom City / Telecom Highway years before that --- and what was spent getting prime land to sell itself for apartments?  How much Federal funds did they REALLY get and who got paid from those monies?.  Two different projects on the same parcels of land... they not only did it once but twice.  Residents want answers, and we won't get them from a neutered city council under the wrong plan of government.  Voter apathy won't get us answers, progress and a better city, an improved city.

    Medford Housing Authority, the non-operating public access TV station, the potholes, the empty storefronts from Salem Street to Riverside Ave, the failure to meet the people who live on each and every "private way" that are a wreck - which - though private - are a nuisance and a disgrace to an allegedly modern municipality in the 21st century.   Some private ways are newly paved, others look like they haven't been repaired in 40 years.  Shameful.

THE CASE FOR MARKS TO BE MAYOR HAS ALREADY BEEN MADE
    Michael Marks should resign from the City Council.   He has accomplished all that he needed to do there.  It is time to move on to the next phase of his political career.    All the council - each councilor - stuck in a rut that pays them too well to leave.  Woburn pays $9,000.00 per councilor, Medford three times that at $27,000.00 or more each (the Vice President gets 1200.00 more, the president $3,000.00 more), far too lucrative to pass up, even if the close to $200,000.00 is a waste of material since the Mayor holds most of the cards.

    Mr. Marks does not need that 27K.  He has a great job at Partners HealthCare, which was founded in 1994 by Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital.  If Mr. Marks runs for Mayor and wins he can leave the health care profession and work for the city that he claims to love full time.   It is easy to complain about a Mayor of 26 years, it is a lot harder to put yourself front and center for what you believe.  Anyone who knows me knows that I have fought for public access television with actions, not lip service, with hard work...and putting myself at great personal risk, which the council explained on June 18, 2013.

     Effecting change takes risk.   Remember the final moments of the third Matrix film?  The Architect tells the Oracle that she "played a very dangerous game" helping the humans, to which she replies that "change always is [dangerous]".

     We expect no less from public service...and the 7 current councilors, with only one seat changed in the last ten years or so (due to a possible Mayoral candidate, Stephanie Muccini-Burke, being hired away by the McGlynn Administration, great poker play there, Mr. Mike McGlynn, we'll give you that!) ...those 7 councilors heard the definition of "public service" from this man fighting for our public access rights.

      Change always is dangerous.  That's why it is for the courageous.  Once someone has achieved a comfort zone - twenty-seven thousand a year to sit in a chair for a few hours a week, bang one's fist and pontificate - the starlings don't really want to fledge, to leave the nest.   Do we have a fledgling city council, an organization that is immature, inexperienced and underdeveloped in how to fight a powreful 26 year incumbent?    It would appear so.  These current seven councilors can stay in for another decade and there would be little impact on life in Medford with the ONE MILLION DOLLARS that would cost for a lot of hot air.

     It is time that Mr. Marks spreads his wings and runs for Mayor.  To quote Mr. Spock to Mr. Kirk in the Wrath of Kahn film (2nd Star Trek movie)

                                   Anything else is a waste of material."