John Barrett Quotations

We let them get belligerent and antagonistic. ... As closely as we can, we try to replicate what a real meeting is like.

We're starting to hit a wall as far as Internet penetration goes. We're getting down to the people who just don't want it.

When this land was acquired by the city over 100 years ago, it was acquired as a water source, ... It was an excellent water supply until they told us our water wasn't safe.

Let's give them the benefit of the doubt right now. The time has come to tell them to stop using this (zoning freeze) as an excuse. It's just a matter of time before the redevelopment board takes steps and requires them to make improvements to the property,

Of course I was a little worried knowing how many points they had come back from and how dangerous they are. But we've been playing together for a while. Based on our past games, I knew we would come up on top.

If we can take five steps forward and take one step back, I'll take that every time,

But do I want to go that route? No.

I don't think we've ever passed the math portion. This is the first time (the district) has ever met both the objectives,

There is a Hershberger cult. People in society are always looking for direction. Sally clearly sees that and is not frightened to have her own image, but also to just say, 'I'm so cool, you guys have to follow me.' People are totally willing to do it.

We've finally settled, and I think both sides are pleased with it,

I think it's an excellent deal for the city of North Adams, ... It relieves the city of taxes, allows us to boost up our reserves, which have been beaten up over recent years, and allows us to retain our water rights. I'm very confident that the watershed, being in the hands of the Forest Service, will be protected indefinitely.

I think it's an excellent deal for the city of North Adams,

I think the impact on our local citizens is they're finding that their sons and daughters that they send off to college now have an opportunity to come back here and work,

I think (adoption) is slowing down. Part of it is that it's hard to get cheaper on the dial-up side than where prices are already at.

It is much worse if someone is working directly with the witnesses to shape their testimony.

I think even more disturbing was that the president of the company described North Adams as a 'shrinking, depressing city with no future,'

People are going to park somewhere. I can see confrontations in the parking right now if that happens.

My rationale is that both options had common themes. Whichever direction we decide to go, let's implement the parts that are common between them.

That's usually the consumer's way of saying they're not interested.

was really what saved us. Without that chute, we'd really be in trouble, because the water level (of the river) was very high on Saturday.

We should look toward implementing those in the short-term so that whichever option is chosen long-term, it will make the transition easier.

We are clearly facing a problem of demand, not supply. Computers and Internet service have never been cheaper, yet many households still show little enthusiasm for the technology.

We don't always get from slow-motion the pace at which they play.

We need to remind the Kenyan government officials that TB is entirely curable disease and action can deal with it,

What this is saying to Mr. Ellis is that nothing (in relation to zoning bylaws) is going to change mid-stream. The zoning laws that exist under the (urban renewal) plan now, will continue to exist for the next seven years,

We lost a lot of beautiful buildings to urban renewal, ... The uniqueness of these buildings is the character and charm of the community. They'll never build factories like that again.

We certainly are a much different community than 50 years ago.

Communities are figuring out that they can take these old buildings and think outside the box and find good reuse for them,

Did I know what they were? ... I didn't have a clue. But I knew that there was something on the horizon. I knew something was there.

Oh God! The butt of jokes that I received from my fellow mayors throughout the state of Massachusetts. One of them said, 'You don't even know how to spell the word contemporary, never mind know what it is,'

No prosecutor would accept that from an ordinary witness. You'd get a subpoena the next day and ask specific, pointed questions until you got answers, or you'd indict the guy.

They know that there are different people in town and the comment that I get now is, 'I was down at the coffee shop the other day and I didn't recognize one person in there,'

You don't want to err on the side of jeopardizing the advising process that allows the president to do his job.

They're going to make a big play for the living room.

It's a fair compensation package, ... It called for very little language change, and the Fire Department was very cooperative. Union members handled themselves in a professional manner, and I hope this is a show of good things to come.

The No. 1 mistake people make is not claiming the correct amount of estimated tax payments.

Each nation has particular strengths and weaknesses in terms of technology adoption. Canada, for instance, is a very impressive market for home networking while Japan is the undisputed champion for mobile phones, with over one-half of all Japanese households using mobile phone features like e-mail or photo messaging every month. Of course long commute times in Japan encourage the use of mobile phone entertainment features.

It's a national dialogue that a lot of people by definition can't participate in today.

They call this the mayor's celebration but it's about the people. The people have a lot to celebrate, ... This is the biggest I've ever seen. I say it every year, but it just keeps getting bigger and better every year.

Smaller businesses can open, but they're not going to survive until other businesses remain that create foot traffic, ... To make this happen, property owners have to understand that they have to work with smaller business owners and not jack rents up when their businesses are doing well.

The laptop market is a mile wide and an inch deep.

Their strategy is becoming more and more apparent.

If you don't have access to the roads of information, you are economically disadvantaged.

I hear all these rumors around town about what's going in there. They are just rumors. Not once since the purchase has Mr. Ellis or First Hartford had any contact with myself or the city,