Interview with Bill McCarthy Candidate For At Large City Councilor

What will be your primary job as an at large councilor?

Worcester needs new leadership so that we can turnaround our city’s sluggish economy and reform spending so taxpayers are not continuously overburdened by their property tax bill. For years the Council has let us down by failing to attract new businesses to our community and to keep control of spending. I can make a difference. I believe that it is the job of a Councilor to be a fiscal watchdog for his constituents. It is time that Worcester had a bold new plan to promote economic development that creates jobs. I can make a difference by utilizing my doctoral degree in human resource education and workforce development, employing my experience in criminal justice and instituting a bold new strategic plan to promote economic development that creates jobs. I will aggressively promote our city, one-on-one, to CEOs and entrepreneurs so they will locate here. I will build an Economic Development Action Team to create incentives to keep and grow Worcester’s diverse industries.

What in your opinion are the biggest issues facing Worcester in the coming years and what plans do you have to deal with these issues?

Recently the City Council voted for a tax hike for hotel/motel rooms and the meals tax. I believe that is like putting a band-aid on a broken bone. Even with these increased taxes Worcester is still facing a $2 million deficit. It is frustrating to see our friends and families making budget cuts to live within their means while our leaders are taxing us more and more. As a City Councilor, my first order of business would be to rollback the $13,000 pay raises that the council voted themselves. Then I would focus on:

Protecting the Taxpayers: I will put my doctoral degree to work for residents by developing innovative solutions and by finding ways to stretch tax dollars.

Protecting Families: With my experience in criminal justice as a state trooper and professor and as a father of three children, I understand what it is going to take to make our streets safe and I am willing to do the hard work. I believe in stronger tracking of sexual predators and reducing gang activity.

Protecting our City’s Economic Future: It is time that Worcester had a bold new plan to promote economic development that creates jobs. Worcester needs economic triage, the city is bleeding and we need to stop it. To do that, we need more jobs. Our city leaders can talk all they want about these (development) planned projects, but how many jobs have they created? I will work to bring jobs to Worcester by partnering with the businesses that are currently here and finding out what we can do to help them stay here. And then I will work to bring new job opportunities to the city.

How do you feel about the job City Manager O'Brien has done thus far? What do you like about what he has done? Where do you think he needs improvement?

He answers to the City Council and I don't think the City Council has assigned him all the needed performance indicators to really measure his accomplishments and performance in these tough economic times. When elected I would work to revamp those performance indicators and then really assess his performance from these needed measures and baseline.

The perceived lack of public safety in Worcester is a definite image problem for the city. Since in many instances perception is reality, what are your ideas on how to improve this perception and make not only our citizens but people from outside the city feel secure when they are out in our neighborhoods?

With my experience in criminal justice as a state trooper and professor and as a father of three children, I understand what it is going to take to make our streets safe and I am willing to do the hard work. I believe in stronger tracking of sexual predators and reducing gang activity.

On the issue of neighborhood's, many other cities have had success defining their neighborhoods and marketing them separately as different cultural options. How do you think Worcester might benefit as a city by doing something similar?

I like that idea and will work to bring that about. However, Worcester needs economic triage, the city is bleeding and we need to stop it. To do that, we need more jobs. Our city leaders can talk all they want about these (development) planned projects, but how many jobs have they created? I will build an Economic Development Action Team to create incentives to keep and grow Worcester’s diverse industries. Take a moment to look around our city. Why would a business open in Worcester? The amount of empty store fronts in downtown Worcester really says it all. We need to find a way to rent out over 4.75 million square feet of office space. I propose we offer some meaningful tax incentives for businesses to locate here. Many towns in the southern US are offering anywhere from 1 to 10 years of municipal tax-free status. Many towns are offering assistance in obtaining the necessary licenses, permits, and approvals by shortening the process to just a few months. This is another type of model I would implement to encourage job growth too.

How do you envision the urban core of Worcester at the end of 2011? How will you lead us to that vision?

I look at it this way. The previous presidential elections contain some lessons that should be applied to the upcoming Worcester election. “It’s the economy stupid”. Worcester’s economy has been failing and continues to fail. “Are you better off now than you were”? The staggering number of people who have left Worcester would answer no. The large number of residents who do not feel safe in their own city would answer no. “It’s time for a change.” “If we do not learn from history, we are destined to relive it”. It’s time for sweeping reform and change in the government of the city of Worcester. I will work to bring jobs to Worcester by partnering with the businesses that are currently here and finding out what we can do to help them stay here. And then I will work to bring new job opportunities to the city.

2009 Mayor/City Council Elections Episode 1: District 3 Council Seat

So one of the things I wanted to do with this was not hound or try and convince the candidates to do these interviews. The way I see it, as I said in the email, this is an opportunity. As much as I want to, I am not going to spin these interviews in any fashion. The candidates words are going to appear as they write them, without commentary from me. To date I have not recieved any response from D-3 candidate Frank Beshai. Incumbent candidate Paul Clancy however, responded right away. We can talk all we want about how it's the apathy of voters that keeps the same faces in council chambers year after year after year, but maybe it's simply that these people know how to run a campaign. ANYWAYS, here are Mr. Clancy's responses.

Next week: District 2!





1. What do you feel will be the impact of Walmart, whether negative or positive, on the neighborhood of Quinsigamond Village?

The Walmart store, part of a larger retail proposal called “Worcester Crossing”, was a project that was vetted with village residents and retailers. The development should have a positive impact on the neighborhood. It replaces the blighted complex which was efficiently demolished by recycling most of the materials in keeping with the effort for a green environment. The project is being constructed with 100% union labor giving many jobs to area residents. It will employ over 300 full-time and part-time positions offering employment again to area residents. It will also offer shopping opportunities that do not currently exist in the immediate area.

The developer of Worcester Crossing has made himself available at local and municipal meetings. He was able to complete the engineering that was needed to allow for ornamental lighting on Blackstone River Road. He is working with city officials to deliver the right-of-way at the rear of his property to the City for future development – one of the few areas where the Blackstone River is visible. He was also instrumental in working with Walmart to get design changes that would better suit a village concept and in working with local labor leaders to insure that construction would include union labor.

All of these factors contribute to a better project for the Quinsigamond Village area.

2. What in your opinion are the biggest issues facing District 3 in the coming years and what plans do you have to deal with these issues?

The biggest issue facing District 3 in the next few years is the financial impact of decreasing revenues facing the City budget. This will have significant impacts on essential city services such as public safety and education. I have worked closely with the City Administration to maintain services by encouraging the use of PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes)programs with non-profits, by seeking reforms in health insurance costs through legislative channels and collective bargaining negotiations, and by seeking legislative relief through home rule petitions and acceptance of provisions of the Municipal Relief Act. These actions have redirected substantial dollars from fixed costs to maintaining many local services in the areas of education, fire, police, public works, library, etc.

Other key issues facing the district are the continuation of key capital projects such as street and sidewalk repairs, private street conversions, sewer and storm water improvements, park renovations, traffic improvements and school renovations. Through my efforts, the district has received a generous share of street and sidewalk repair monies, the majority of private street conversion monies, significant dollars ($2M) toward the Granite Street and Route 20 sewer projects, $1M to access matching state monies for a $3.5M renovation of Vernon Hill Park. Also, monies ($2M) from the Greenwood Street landfill capping programs have been redirected to Quinsigamond Village projects which to date include street scape improvement programs. It is the first time that monies from a city operation have been dedicated to a specific neighborhood use.

A few years ago, as Chairperson of the City Council’s Public Works subcommittee, I advocated for an increase in the capital budget for funding street and sidewalk repairs. This year, due to budget constraints, the capital budget was cut 17%. However, I again successfully advocated to maintain the previous level of funding for street and sidewalk repairs – which means that 60% of the capital budget is now dedicated to this item.

3. How do you feel about the job City Manager O'Brien has done thus far? What do you like about what he has done? Where do you think he needs improvement?

City Manager Michael O’Brien’s strength rests with his ability to deal with financial issues. He has done a yeoman’s job to trim fixed costs and redirect those moneys to fund essential services. He has advocated for health insurance reforms through the adoption of Section 18 and through negotiations with collective bargaining agreements. By reducing fixed health insurance costs over the past five years, he has redirected approximately $60 million to municipal services saving the City hundreds of jobs that otherwise would have been cut, crippling essential services in the areas of police, firefighters, teachers, public works employees, etc. At the end of the fiscal year 2010, the estimated savings from health insurance reforms will be approximately $100M.

The area where the City Manager needs improvement is in expanding his accessibility to the public and to employees. He needs to make a more concerted effort to attend neighborhood meetings and to make regular reviews of departmental operations.

4. The perceived lack of public safety in Worcester is a definite image problem for the city. Since in many instances perception is reality, what are your ideas on how to improve this perception and make not only our citizens but people from outside the city feel secure when they are out in our neighborhoods?

Each week the Police Chief and his command staff review all emergency and non-emergency call statistics to determine where the priorities of the community rest. These statistics are then compiled monthly, by neighborhood, and presented at the crime watch meetings held throughout the City. On many occasions, people are generally relieved that the actual crime statistics are lower than they had in fact anticipated. I would suggest that a greater effort be made to report these monthly findings to the larger Worcester community. Ironically, the City did not receive any federal funding in the latest round of COPS grants because Worcester is considered a much safer community than most given our crime statistics. This is a story that needs more attention and publicity.

5. On the issue of neighborhood's, many other cities have had success defining their neighborhoods and marketing them separately as different cultural options. How do you think Worcester might benefit as a city by doing something similar?

Worcester has many great neighborhoods which are vibrant for several reasons. Some neighborhoods, such as Green Island and Shrewsbury Street are mixed development areas with residential and heavy commercial components. Green Island has become a destination for entertainment while Shrewsbury Street is a draw for its many restaurants. In District 3, Quinsigamond Village has undergone a visual transformation with the completion of Route 146, the development of Worcester Crossing and the improvements through the village proper. There is currently a committee in place that will market the area for its cultural and historical roots. A central part of this effort is the renovation of the Moen building into a visitor’s center that will anchor the Northern Corridor of the Blackstone River Corridor Commission. To date, $11M of city, state and federal dollars have been set aside for this effort with the Worcester Historical Museum committed to be a major tenant at the site. As chairperson of the committee which has nurtured this project from its infancy, I am very excited about the potential that this endeavor holds for the neighborhood, city and region.

Other areas in the district are heavily residential such as Vernon Hill and Grafton Hill. Each has business and neighborhood organizations as well as a Community Development Corporation (CDC) that work to make improvements and to hold activities for their respective neighborhoods. When the city was designating Neighborhood Stabilization Areas (NSA), I lobbied heavily for the inclusion of lower Grafton Street for such designation. As a result, over a half million dollars of block grant resources are now available for storefront improvements. Two such projects are in the pipeline with more to follow. I also successfully introduced two parking overlay zones for lower Grafton Street and Quinsigamond Village. This allows small storefront businesses to waive restrictive parking regulations that would otherwise prevent them from opening. These initiatives help to create a more vibrant neighborhood business environment that further defines a specific area.

6. How do you envision the urban core of Worcester at the end of 2011? How will you lead us to that vision?

The urban core of Worcester has undergone significant changes during the past decade. The addition of numerous projects such as St. Vincent’s Hospital, the renovation of Union Station, the DCU Convention Center, the new courthouse and the garage on MLK Boulevard have all replaced a most blighted and underutilized area of the urban core. New businesses have sprouted along North Main Street and in the area of the Worcester Common as a result. However, more work needs to occur. With the final details of the City Square development completed and with the agreement of Unum as a major tenant, the demolition of the old Worcester Center Galleria will soon begin. Then the reconstruction of a street grid system in the city core will once again unite neighborhoods such as Shrewsbury Street and Green Island to the urban core while providing for expanded redevelopment. I am most proud of my leadership in all of the projects discussed above. There is not one project that did not have my direct contact. As chair of the previous Commerce and Development subcommittee of the City Council and as the present chair of the Public Works subcommittee, I worked very closely with development teams, the city administration, and my colleagues to ensure that these projects moved forward. I am most optimistic that Worcester’s urban core will once again become an area of activity for all of Worcester’s residents and employees to enjoy. To that end, I will continue my strong efforts to meet that goal.

Council/Mayoral Candidate Interviews

Back in August I had the idea that it might be interesting to attempt to interview each and every one of the candidates running for Mayor and City Council. This is the email I sent to all candidates along with their 6 questions:

Hi everyone,

Some of you know me, and some of you don't but my name is Gabe Rollins and I am the author of a well read blog about Worcester's urban core entitled My Five Senses. I had the idea that a good way to introduce all of you to my readers would be to do a short interview with all of the candidates for Mayor and Councilor At Large as well as the candidates for the mostly urban Districts of 2, 3, and 4.

All of you will get the same 5 questions plus one more that is specific to the office you are running for. Starting on September 14Th I will publish two of these a week starting with the district races first, moving on to at large, and ending with all three mayoral candidates the Monday before the election. Along with this I will publish a picture and any website and contact info you wish for me to publish.

I hope you will take this opportunity to make yourself known to a demographic that may not follow the more traditional forms of media and publicity in our city as well as take the opportunity to set yourself apart from your opponents in the upcoming election. I wish all of you the best of luck in your campaigns.

Thanks

Gabe Rollins
My Five Senses

The time is here. Let's get this shebang going!

When You Think You Are Helping But Actually Making the Problem Worse

If you've been around the common over the past couple weeks you may have noticed that the ice skating rink that was finished earlier this year has changed shape a bit. As a matter of fact if you didn't know that was it's main purpose you may not recognize it as a rink at all. The city took down the boards and left the four wrought iron corner fences. They also scattered about 10-12 cafe tables complete with umbrellas around the oval.

While walking through there the other day I noticed that the tables were all locked up but I thought nothing of it as it was past 9pm and I am sure that the park was technically closed.

About an hour ago I took a stroll up to the White Hen and out of curiosity I walked across the street to see if my worst assumptions would be proven true. Sure enough, on a Sunday afternoon at 3pm all of the tables and chairs were still locked up in a manner that would make it impossible for anyone to sit in them.

You have to really wonder whether the City of Worcester is ever going to get it. When you live in an urban apartment or condo with no yard you depend on neighborhood parks for your outdoor recreation. For anyone who lives in Federal Square or Downtown that park is the common. Now granted I am one of probably only a handful of working money making folk living down here who actually want to use the park but that doesn't mean other folks that live here can't discover the park. A year from now the population down here, at least in Bancroft Commons development, will be doubled.

Making a park have the appearance of a vibrant useful park and then denying neighborhood residents use of a part of it during normal daylight hours is an absolute slap in the face to anyone who has chosen to live down here. I mean why even put the tables out there? What was the point. Can anyone tell me what the point was?

Dear Councilors

Sent this out today. I urge anyone reading this to do the same.

Mayor, Councilors, and City Manager,

I was alarmed to see the story printed in the Telegram today about the low income housing development planned for Water St in the Canal District. If you care about the city and care about the progress that has been made in one of the truly up and coming neighborhoods in Worcester you must understand that this is a terrible idea and one that could erase everything that has gone on in that neighborhood over the past 5 years. While great strides have been made in the Canal District there is still much to do to get things where they should be and part of that is getting the neighborhood densely populated by a demographic that will frequent the great new restaurants, bars, shops, and galleries that are opening on what seems like a monthly basis there.

Low income housing may very well add more crime, and overall will hinder attempts to make the neighborhood clean and aesthetically pleasing as it must be to be attractive to the young urban minded folks it needs to attract to move forward.

I hope that you take this seriously and understand that along with City Square, the future urban quality of life in Worcester also hinges on the success or failure of neighborhoods like The Canal District, Federal Sq, North Main and Shrewsbury St. We should be working diligently to make these neighborhoods our urban crown jewels.

I understand the development is already approved but I would hope you take the opportunity to oversee the process and make sure that it fits with the character of the Canal District as has already been defined and not let the building become an eventual cultural eyesore that may in fact hinder the rejuvenation of what could potentially not only become one of our greatest urban neighborhoods, but a destination for many in Central Massachusetts and beyond.

Thank you for reading and I hope you understand the possible implications of this development.

In case you haven't read it this is what I am all fired up about:

http://www.telegram.com/article/20090319/NEWS/903190624/1101/LOCAL

Dripping With Disdain

So this is almost a month old but I was surfing around the Womag website and came upon this interview with Rajesh Patel, manager of the Newsroom on Front St. Dude seems to really dislike his business.

What strikes me though is two questions at the bottom of the page. One is a follow up of a question where Womag asks if he has had any ideas to turn the store into something else.

Part of his reply is this: "Some people are telling me to turn it into a grocery store, but I can’t do that because people downtown who come by bus won’t bring their groceries from here to home on the bus."

What the hell Rajesh? There are about 600 people living right across the common from you. Do you even know that?

Then the interviewer asks what he likes about doing business on Front St Patel responds: "The foot traffic and the bus stop keeps us going. If there was no bus stop, we would have been closed a long time ago."

The densely populated urban areas of Worcester are coming, maybe not right away but the writing is on the wall and they will be here. Federal Sq, in and of itself will be a very densely populated place most likely by the 2010 census with 11 buildings of dense housing all within a seven block radius that will be mostly filled by then.

The businesses that are going to come out ahead of the curve in that neighborhood and the adjacent neighborhoods are going to be the ones that figure out how to take advantage of the needs of the folks who live in these buildings. It's obvious by this article that even if you know there are people living in these buildings you are already at an advantage over some of your competition because some of them don't even know that. I wonder how many people on Front and Franklin are even factoring in the skating rink into their winter 09/10 plans of attack.

Also, I remember hearing rumors about a year ago that the Newsroom was looking to change formats into a liquor store which was denied by the city. At the time I was glad because my thinking was all they were trying to do was capitalize on the void left by Bancroft Liquors on the 40oz and nip market. Sorry to see I was correct in that assumption.

Place always left a bad taste in my mouth and even though it is right across the common from me as a citizen of the neighborhood I don't find much reason to go in there. I would like to hope that in the future this might change, but after reading this interview it's hard to keep the faith.

Neighborhoods

So if Worcester had a strong mayor, and I was that guy, the first thing I would do would be to meet with the people in charge of this website. What we would talk about is the direction of this part of the website and try to figure out how we could make it more comprehensive. My first order of business would be to get rid of the 7 links under the "More Information" heading (and the heading all together) and then add 30 links which would be:

Airport Hill
Ararat
Beacon
Burncoat
Canal District
Chadwick
Chandler (Or Peidmont Village)
College Hill
Downtown
East Side
Federal Square
Gateway Park
Grafton Hill
Greendale
Green Island
Hadwen Park
Highland/Elm
Lower Lincoln
North Main
North Worcester
Quinsigamond Village
Shrewsbury Street (or Bell Hill)
South Worcester
Tatnuck
University Park
Upper Grafton
Upper Lincoln
Vernon Hill
Webster Square
West Side

Each neighborhoods page would have a map of the neighborhood, pictures of the neighborhood, and information divided into four sections.

1. About The Neighborhood- A clear and concise yet brief history of the neighborhood and explanation as to the shaping of the neighborhood and how it got to be the way it is today including demographics, cultures, ethinicities, and crime stats. This section should sell the neighborhood but should do so in an honest and straightforward fashion and should not be sugar coated unless merited. In Shrewsbury Streets section for example it would be perfectly acceptable to talk about the abundance of restaurants. Negatives should not be talked about but for example if the neighborhood has a crime problem it shouldn't be called a good place to raise a family.

2. Living In The Neighborhood- What does the average house cost and what is the housing stock in this neighborhood? What about the average rent for one, two and three bedrooms? What schools will kids attend if they live in the neighborhood? What does the neighborhood offer for places of worship? What is the parking situation? What highways are close? What bus lines run through? How walkable is the neighborhood? What is here for grocery stores and markets?

3. Playing In The Neighborhood- What does the neighborhood offer for restaurants, cafes, bars, galleries, shopping, museums, theaters, parks, sports, classes, and other indoor and outdoor leisure and cultural activities.

4. Working In The Neighborhood- Does the neighborhood have any large employer or dominant industry?

Worcester is not just one community. In this city of almost 180,000 people there are many communities and many different priorities, but before we start to really tackle any of them we need to organize as best we can these communities so that we can come up with good master plans for all of them and try the best we can so as to not just create desirable spaces to live, work, and play but also do so in a way that not only raises our tax base so that we can keep doing it but also do it wisely so that the neighborhood becomes self sustaining.

I feel that once this happens, once our neighborhoods are defined and master plans are drawn up then we can go through them one at a time, much like you would do with the rooms in a house and do them up and do them up right. Of the 30 neighborhoods listed above 14 of them have something major going on in them either right now or drawn up and being looked at. We are spreading ourselves too thin. I say put enough in to all the neighborhoods to keep them as they are right now without letting get any worse and starting with the ones that are closest to being turned around put everything we can into executing that neighborhoods master plan to the fullest extent we can and then move onto the next one.

We do all this, and when the next real estate boom hits, here we will be, waiting with open arms, organized, saying Welcome to Worcester, here is what we have to offer, take off your coat and stay a while.

Strange Fruit comes to Worcester

If you didn't get to see one of the six performances this Australian performance troupe did over the past couple of days you really missed out on something special. I shot some video of it but these three videos do a much better job and capture almost the entire performance. I still can't really describe it in words so check out the videos yourself.







It was great to see something like this happening downtown. I saw Mike O'Brien watching and made sure to tell him that it's things like this that make city living great. He said there is lot's more to come. Let's hope I can take the man at his word.

Worcester Block by Block #1 in Pictures