By Rosalie Tirella

So this is it? Mayoral candidate Joseph (Joe) Petty’s strategy to keep Worcester’s mayoral seat in the mitt’s of the Rushton/Murray brigade?

A reliable source said political operative – and alleged pedophile – Paul Girgio could be seen racing around after Joe Petty at a public event. Hot on Joe’s heels Paul was! Well, well, so Joe Petty – the guy who says he’s got integrity – is taking advice from Giorgio, a guy who was taken to court by a man who said he was sexually assaulted by Giorgio as a kid. So Joe is listening to Paul Giorgio – a guy who was taken to court yet again for voting in the East Side of the city when he lived on the West Side of the city – just to keep his mitts in the Italian/political side of the city. A federal offense.

Thank God Joe Petty has hooked up with Paul Girorgio!

I wonder if it was Giorgio who gave Petty the “wise” advice to mail out election push cards to people like my mom – campaign “literature” that listed Joe Petty’s accomplishments (zero) like being pro-education and pro-neighborhoods. I don’t know a Worcester city councilor who is ANTI these issues. The truth is after watching Worcester City Council meetings for years, I have never ever ever heard/seen Petty get up and get passionate about Worcester neighborhoods or education. Mostly he just sat in his seat and stayed quiet. Voted for these issues but certainly never led on them.

Which, to me, signals: STAY A CITY COUNCILOR, JOE! You are an OK councilor but you don’t have the vision or leadership skills to Worcester’s mayor.

But Petty’s mailing (in which his lackluster city council record was burnished into a shiny piece of BS) revealed something more insidious: Petty was focusing on subtext when he “wrote” in his mailing that he would not be “polarizing,” would work with everybody, blah, blah, blah.

What Petty was really saying: his opponent was the above. Which Konnie Lukes, when she was mayor, proved NOT TO BE. She was NOT polarizing and she got along well with her peers on the council. She led a great council meeting – business got done in a timely, productive way – and in an atmosphere where everybody respected everybody else.

But let’s go to last night’s meeting. Lo and behold! City Councilor “pinhead” Ric Rushton had to roll out a birthday cake for Konnie last night – just to be ageist. Just to be an asshole.

Konnie should have thrown it into his dopey puss.

Really, do we want this crew back in the saddle again?