By Rosalie Tirella
Wow! We had wanted to mention Joff Smith in our blog about moron’s (see below) because he embodies everything that is creepy about America: Joff Smith thinks he is a TV/movie star! Smith, who is in his late 20s, actually has an agent! Someone who tries to get him into the movies! Someone who actually makes calls on the behalf of Smith’s acting career.
Smith is ambitious beyond belief, but his ambition far outstrips his intelligence and ability. But hey, he looks good in a suit and smiles real nice. Why not vote for him? Why not send him to Beacon Hill? To Washington!
When Joff Smith isn’t trying to break into show biz, he is a Worcester City councilor – a job he doesn’t do at all. He has demagogued the Asian Beetle issue – bad beetles! Bad feds! Evil feds! But other than that, he has done pretty much nothing as Worcester City Councilor. He is lousy at constituent services. When constituent Jeff Richardson asked Smith to have the sidewalk in front of his house repaired 3 years ago, nothing got done. For 3 years! Just last week did he get results – probably because Joff really needs his vote. He also placed a Joff Smith lawn sign on Richardon’s lawn without asking; apparently Joff has been doing this all over the district! I saw him a month ago, wearing of all things white gloves as he gingerly placed a Joff Smith sign in someone’s lawn. Yes, wear those little white gloves, Joffy! We don’t want your precious little movie star hands scarred!
People in Smith’s city council district complain that he doesn’t return calls. When I tried to reach him a few years ago, the phone number City Hall provided me was Smith’s work number (most councilors list their homes as well). He never returned my call – I had to stay on him – and pry another number out of the City Council secretary.
But I digress … . Maybe State Rep. District 13 candidate Joff Smith will get his own TV show if he doesn’t win the District 13 House seat! After all, he whitens his teeth! He works out and looks really buff!! He looks exactly like the kind of guys you would see on the reality TV show World’s Most Eligible Bachelor!
Now I read/hear this! That Smith thinks I get the facts wrong!
Well, Joff, here are some facts for you/the voter:
1. Your campaign manager – the guy who has run your political campaigns from the beginning – is Worcester’s very own Paul Giorgio, a political operative with shady leanings.
Paul Giorgio went to court over sexual assault of a male minor (at the time) several years ago – see our stories on this Giorgio episode in our archives! Also, Paul Giorgio was dragged into court again when he voted in the WRONG district (Distrcit 2) during a Worcester city council election where candidate Candy Carlson was giving District 2 incumbent and Girogio pal Phil Palmeiri a run for his money. Candy only lost the election by a few hundred votes. Giorgio, lived on the West Side, but decided to vote clear across the city – on the East Side! Now, what if we all did that, Paul?
Joff, you are a political protege of Paul Giorgio, a man steeped in politics who claimed absolute ingnorance to what every high school kid knows: You vote in the neighborhood where you live!
Giorgio got off, of course.
Joff, after our cover story on your campaign manager Girogio ran, I got calls from all the men who felt violated by Girogio years ago: a former male prostitute, who declined to go on record, and a former DYS kid, who also declined to go on record.
Of course, the blindly and stupidly ambitious – someone lilke you – will throw money at/hitch your political star to a guy who half the city thinks is a creep … if he can get the job done, get you the 13 District house seat.
#2 Joff, your family’s business – Goldstein Scrap Metal – was located on Harding Street for years – you lied when you told John Mahoney it wasn’t. When you all moved your family biz to Lamartine Street ( afew years ago), I noticed that the entrance area to Goldstein’s Scrap – the beginning of Lamartine Street (near Corner Lunch diner), which had always been a one-way street had miraculously become 2-way! How convenient for Goldstein Scrap metal trucks! This is what candidate John Mahoney – a guy with a family, two solid businesses, and morals that you and Giorgio will never have – was alluding to during the debate.
And finally: Get your family from hogging all the snow plowing jobs over at the city’s DPW. Your family doesn’t need the extra money. Let the City of Worcester subcontract with other plow guys and gals to snow plow for the City of Worcester. Let the DPW open up the application process. Let other people make $6,000 to $10,000 a winter – for plowing during several winter storms.
Joff, and finally: Don’t say you are pro-business when you also will vote for the lowest residential tax rate. How phoney of you to say during a summer Worcester City Council meeting that even though the city was thinking of only applying the property tax hike to weathier folks – not seniors on fixed incomes or people whose housea were worth less than $240,000 (a fair idea, I think), you got your dander up and spoke for all the wealthy folks in your district! By God these lawyers and doctros – and paul Girogio – must pay the lowest residential tax rate!
And then at other city council meetings you shamelessly kiss the asses of small businesses – and tell them you are any ally. You can’t have it both ways! You are pathetic and will do/say anything to get elected.
I hope candidate John Mahoney trounces you. He is a better man than you will ever be!