Happy New Year!

2008 is upon us, and it's time once again to ring in a brand new year. "Out with the old and in with the new." It's been a tough year in Everett, but we enter the new year with a clean slate that is much like the newly fallen snow at Glendale Park before the dog-walkers get there.

Our hopes for 2008 are as follows, and in no particular order:

Tax stability for Everett's taxpayers. City Government needs to put the fiscal stability of the city first and foremost. The economists say there's a recession on the horizon. Start planning now.

Decrease in domestic violence. Of the 39 domestic violence-related deaths in Massachusetts, two of them are from Everett. One is too many, anywhere.

Help for Everett citizens caught in foreclosure. Everett has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the Commonwealth, and many of our citizens have been caught in the subprime mortgage mess. They need help and helping them helps the city - because there's nothing good that can come from vacant houses in neighborhoods.

Unity for Everett. Everett has always been passionate about its politics, but it's long past time for people to come together. McCarthy, Ragucci and Hanlon's days are done....and it's time to let it go and bury the hatchet. We've all witnessed the cost of unbridled revenge in city hall and it was bad for every taxpayer in this city. We have a new mayor, and hopefully, he will bring in a new team to lead this city out of one of its darkest times.

Leadership - Leadership is in doing the right thing; it's the ability to make the hard decisions and put the needs of the city before political gain. It's about being accountable to the people who voted you into office. It's about having the courage of your convictions. The city needs leaders, people who care more about the city than in getting reelected. The political games, the made-up jobs, the incompetent hires, fiscal mismanagement and rewarding bad behavior needs to stop, or this city will never get anywhere. That means you, too, school committee!

Happy New Year, one and all. Please feel free to add your own hopes and dreams of 2008.