Our future mayor, Mike Soucy, has had a few meet-and-greet events in various parts of the city. I did not attend the Castro’s Backroom one as I don’t smoke, but I was at the first one, well-attended and hosted by Family Pizza in Ward 5.
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This is a report on the most recent one yesterday at Chen Yang Li in Ward 2. To give some background, there is a lot of reliable local intel reports that Family Pizza is a routine Friday night watering hole for Attorney Bolton, the city attorney, and my opponent, Alderman Dowd, and their ilk. Please see the many Grok pieces written by his perceived nemesis, Laurie Ortolano, who is being honored this month for doing things that are repugnant to Bolton.
People who are familiar with Laurie Ortolano’s RTK journey and various others are also familiar with MY litigation against the City, which was self-represented and “shepherded,” as Nurse Terese would say, by Laurie. On a sidenote, I encourage anyone without blind faith in their local assessor’s office to visit her amazingly constructed public service self-help site, good-gov.org. But back to the story.
I needed to get some more palm cards from Mike Soucy, and what better venue to accomplish that errand than to attend an event of his in my own zip code? I got there a few minutes early and went inside, also with the intention to meet the owner and say that Lily Tang Williams says hi because they know each other, and I told her I would. Mrs Soucy warmly greeted me while Mike was talking to supporters already seated in a reserved banquet area on the outskirts of the bar. This restaurant has an open-concept architecture, and the football game was on the bar’s big-screen TVs.
Once Mike saw me, he greeted me and quietly mentioned that Attorney Bolton and his ilk, Mr Tabasco, were in the bar. Not wanting to be seen turning my head around like a careless passenger who just heard the driver say the police were following them, I played it cool. There was a potted plant blocking my view as I was told to order my drink from the bar. (Drinks are not a campaign expense, and a mayoral candidate running on a pillar of transparency will point those things out despite it being common sense.)
I contemplated my approach to the not-so-busy bar that had an attentive barkeep. Attorney Bolton and I have only seen each other once in person, and it was in court last May. We did not make eye contact that day, plus his accomplice, Attorney Celia (you’re breaking my heart) Leonard, was standing next to him during the hearing, and I was dressed up for court.
I am otherwise a T-shirt and jeans person. Hoping not to be recognized, I approached the bar from the side, pretending to be interested in the football game, even though I hate football and there was a long series of commercials playing. The bartender prepared my drink, which seemed to take an eternity(perhaps only in my mind the same way a slow modem or a red light would) as Bolton was living rent-free in my head both then and while she went to the register made change from my $20.
When I picked up my change, left a tip, and collected the drink and my pocketbook, I turned 90 degrees to walk back to the banquet area and shifted my gaze in that direction, and I was taken by an unpleasant surprise! Alderman Dowd, my opponent, was seated next to Bolton, either having just entered from outside or returning from the restroom. Knowing darn well that it’s not “all bout me” as it was Mike Soucy’s event, I was able to refrain from taking the situation personally. However, whether or not Bolton recognized me at that point, Dowd was sure to say something. I acted casually and pretended to ignore them.
These two, or three if you count Tabasco, were spying on Mike Soucy, plain and simple. Of course, they will probably point out that Chen Yang Li is a public accommodation and they were paying customers there to watch the football game, but nobody that I know of has ever seen them there before. What a coincidence! Dowd will also point out that this is his constituency, Ward 2, but since when does he give a darn about restaurants that are NOT on Main St? “Where’s Chen Yang Li’s Jersey barrier for outdoor dining?” said nobody.
Mike reformatted the event from a stump speech with following audience questions to more of a wedding reception-styled venue. Attendees enjoyed a complimentary appetizer buffet while he visited each table for some light conversation. Acts 17:26-28 points out that God has already chosen certain times and places if you will.
This impromptu and adaptive situation set up two things for me. One of them was meeting Mr & Mrs Brown of Ward 2. Not only were they fine people to talk to, but they let me place my sign in their yard, and they have an orange cat named Cheddar. I am an unapologetic cat person, and I am building a collage of pictures called “Ward 2 Cats Against Alderman Dowd,” in which Cheddar is among the ones that need to be added.
The other thing was that the Browns and I were talking about the Ward 7 homeless camp that city hall is relocating from next to the Merrimack River to a controversial place somewhere between Bob’s Pizza and the bridge. Anyway, Mike Soucy approached our table, and I told him how timely it was because were were talking about the homeless camp, and I asked if he planned to release a statement. I encourage everyone, Nashua residents or not, to please sign this e-petition related to it.
Mike plans to attend the upcoming Wednesday event to discuss it, followed by a statement.
So, this story is really about spying and how emboldened the ruling class has become. These things don’t happen overnight. They are insidious. And this behavior has been on full display many times. Nashua’s ruling class thinks that we commoners are really stupid; let’s show them that we are not by showing up to vote and voting correctly!
