The work to revitalize the toxic and dangerous Sullivan Courthouse building has been ongoing since 2008, and the effort by members of the East Cambridge community and a private developer to be allowed to clean up the site for affordable housing, community space, retail, and offices may be reaching its final stages.

The facts support the project, but some elected leaders do not, seeing it as an opportunity for political point-scoring or election year populism.

Chief among those leading the obstruction of the Courthouse project is State Representative Mike Connolly, who represents East Cambridge and parts of Somerville. Unfortunately, rather than make a positive case for his position, Mike has relied almost entirely on populist dishonesty more common on Pennsylvania Ave. than Mass Ave. Members of the Cambridge City Council have expressed their frustration with and disapproval of Rep. Connolly’s reliance on misinformation, which has made it difficult for the community to have a reality-based debate on the merits of legitimate proposals.

Regardless of what one thinks should happen with the Courthouse, we all should reject dishonesty as a political tactic. The people of Rep. Connolly’s district deserve to know that their State Representative isn’t lying to their faces when he speaks to them, which means that the people of Rep. Connolly’s district deserve better than the way Rep. Connolly has conducted himself these past few months.

In the interest of improving the quality of our public discourse and holding those in power accountable to those they serve, I present you with an abridged but representative list of the lies, distortions, accusations, and fabrications Mike Connolly told on his way to the Sullivan Courthouse (so far!):

This list is a living document and will be updated as appropriate.