Post Election Blues

Another Worcester election down, and yet another confusing result. Perhaps it's because we have such a low voter turnout, but once again I'm baffled.

Whenever I talk to people about Worcester and its elected officials, they complain. Taxes, lackluster service from its departments, a lack of planning, a lack of foresight, take your pick- people complain. The attitude in this city falls somewhere between a fatalistic acceptance of our mediocrity to optimism that it will get better and we can make Worcester into what we hope it can be.

The past few years in Worcester haven't been the greatest. There's a giant void downtown where CitySquare isn't. City services have been drastically cut. City workers have been laid off. Future layoffs and more budget cuts are imminent. No one will ever yield to oncoming traffic or pedestrians in rotaries or Kelly Square. Our pools and parks are crumbling or shuttered. Our daily newspaper is slowly disappearing page by page. Potholes and cracked sidewalks are everywhere. We still have a statue of a boy spooning a turtle on our Common and no one knows what the story is behind it (seriously- if anyone can find the real origins of Turtle Boy, the next few beers are on me.)

Things certainly haven't improved during the past two years of this Council's tenure, and we voted them all back into office!!!! (With the exception of Gary Rosen, who didn't seek re-election.) The only thing that changed was our mayor, a ceremonial position with very little power.

I don't get it.