This week’s Business West includes an editorial making a few rare, striking comments about former Springfield mayor Michael Albano. The comments come on the heels of news of Albano’s testimony in a federal civil court trial related to the protection of an FBI informant. From the Business West piece:
Outside the courtroom, Albano told reporters that …he was told by two FBI agents that voting for the commutation [of convict Peter Limone‘s sentence]—which he eventually did—would not be a good career move for him. It appears that Albano is trying to use these events, and his ancestry, to suggest that the FBI has no good reason for being in Springfield and turning City Hall, the Housing Authority, the Mass. Career Development Institute, and other once-corrupt agencies upside down looking for wrongdoing.
The truth is that the FBI has every reason to be here, as evidenced by the convictions already won, and it should stay here until its job is finished. …
The truth is that the mayor presided over a City Hall that was corrupt, out of control, and an embarrassment to the community. And that’s why we believe the FBI’s work, as damaging as it has been the city’s reputation, must continue until all the questions are answered. Then, it will be appropriate to move on.
Former Springfield resident Brian Smith, who now lives in a transitional Washington, DC neighborhood, Shaw, and blogs about it, recently posted about a visit home to Springfield. It sounds like it really got him down, as he writes about feeling "a little scared" and seeing a lot of abandoned buildings. He seems to blame it all on the empty promises of politicians past (granted, some he criticizes are still with us).
Tangentially, the Turcotte family, which was featured prominently in the film Running with Scissors—based on Amherst resident Augusten Burroughs‘s memoir—sat for a first interview with Vanity Fair reporter Buzz Bissinger for the January issue. According to the article, in 2002, the youngest sister, Theresa Turcotte, "went to a bookstore in Springfield, Massachusetts, where she lives, to buy a copy of Running with Scissors. As she thumbed through it, she could feel her anxiety heighten. But because she still had obligations that day at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she works as a public-health practitioner, it wasn’t until that night at home that she began to read it."
As I tried to take this tidbit in stride and put myself in Turcotte’s shoes, it occurred to me that Springfield does not have that many bookstores, and then I began to wonder if anything else in the article was accurate. It’s more likely, technically speaking, that Turcotte went to Enfield or Holyoke to make a book purchase.
In some ways this prospect of access to books is more depressing to consider than abandoned buildings, childhood friend betrayals, or corrupt and greedy politicians, because it makes such a statement about the city and its readers. At least our libraries are back in the hands of the public, and remain open and lively. (The membership of the new Mason Square branch steering committee, which will search for a suitable location for new construction, was recently announced.)
The current issue of Business West features a cover story by George O’Brien about developer Glenn Edwards of Rockville Centre, New York, who purchased the old Johnson’s Bookstore building on Main Street. Edwards apparently held a recent holiday party in the Marketplace atrium, a building he also purchased early this year, where Mayor Charles Ryan dropped in to wish Edwards well. From the article:
"I’m not close to being done in Springfield; I’m looking at a number of other opportunities," said Edwards, adding that he is encouraging others, including those who live in the 413 area code, to recognize Greater Springfield as a great place to invest. "The city has all the makings of a good turnaround story." …
Edwards sees many similarities [between post-industrial Wichita, Kansas and] Springfield, which is being discovered by some outside investors and will, he believes, catch the attention of more individuals and groups. He invites those who call the area home to join the party before it becomes too late.
"I hope people from Springfield don’t wake up in five years and say ‘I should have bought property when I had the chance—all the outsiders came in and made money,’" he said. "Because that’s what’s going to happen if they don’t step up."
