Jan. 11, 2006 - Hopes they'll accept invitation This is in response to your invitation to House Speaker Salvatore F DiMasi and Senate President Robert E Travaglini in the December 26, 2005 edition of The Reminder. We have a long hard road ahead to bring Springfield back from the graph, corruption and nepotism of the past twenty-five years. We need people who are going to make tough but fair decisions for the citizens of Springfield. I am not sure that the decisions to date have been fair. This is not just about budget. This is about people's lives, homes and jobs! We are living in a City that is not safe. The school system will fall apart in an instant if we do not address the issues that are necessary to keep teachers in our schools. We need some objectivity and communication. Most of all we need to know that the politicians in the eastern part of the state understand that the situation in Springfield is about people. It is now the innocent population of Springfield who watched our city and state officials turn the other way while all of this was going on. Where are they now? We need to have contracts for our police, firemen and teachers. We have to be able to offer the people of the City of Springfield a School System that is second to none. Our school system is perceived as not being safe and able to educate our children. If we have qualified teachers (licensed and highly qualified by state standards) then we have a school system that can educate our children. But, we have teachers who are leaving and teachers who will not apply for positions in Springfield because of the lack of a contract and safety issues. Our police and firemen need a contract for the safety of the people in the City of Springfield. Our streets are not safe, our homes are not safe and our lives are in turmoil wondering what will happen next. We have watched the Control Board make the same mistake. The Control Board broke the law by using negotiated salaries to try and balance the budget. The same law former Michael Albano broke. The people in the City of Springfield do not know what to believe anymore. In today's Republican we could be as high as 70 million dollars short. Where did this new figure come from? Where is the money for the state mandated busing program? We need a meeting with House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and Senate President Robert E Travaglini. They need to hear the concerns of the people they are suppose to be working for. We need a meeting without politicians and no control board. The City of Springfield has a government that is looking more like a dictatorship rather then a democracy. As Springfield goes so goes the rest of the western Massachusetts region. Let's make this invitation a reality! Mary Dionne Springfield