Unelected officials and accountability.

Slate.com had an interesting article regarding the new Michigan law Public Act 4 that allows the state to take over 'failing' municipalities.

I found a few things pretty scary, namely the new powers granted to an unelected manager.   The Act gives him or her the power to slash municipal obligations to pensioners; ignore all unions and the concessions they have won through contractual negotiations; fire all city employees and privatize/slash all services to save money; eliminate the fire and police departments; and most importantly, not answer to anyone, whether it is a voter or an elected official, all in the name of 'progress.'

The good news?  Pontiac's Emergency Manager doesn't have to pay the City Council and ripped out all the parking meters because it wasn't cost effective to run them.

This article illustrates Worcester's need for a City Council and electorate that needs to be involved in the daily operations of our City and keep our government from being run by a business manager with zero accountability.

Sometimes giving away our democratic oversight in the name of 'progress' and 'reform' isn't all that it's cracked up to be. 

I can't wait to read this report...

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy released a report on PILOT programs.  Here's the money quote: 

 "However, PILOTs are often haphazard, secretive, and calculated in an ad hoc manner that results in widely varying payments among similar nonprofits." 

 I wonder if there's a section on using off campus drinking to force PILOT payments?   

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Haphazard is the perfect description for Worcester, a place where the City Council requests that city colleges ban Four Loko after the state already restricted the product.  

Jeff Barnard for City Council!

I would vote for his tax plan.  It makes sense, and it rewards behavior that the City of Worcester desperately needs.

I've never met Jeff, but seeing that his blog is always full of well thought out ideas, he's probably too qualified and too smart to enter politics.  I can still write him in though, despite Bill Eddy's disapproval.

2010 is going the be the year of Dual Tax Rate and Affordable Housing debates.  I hope all involved remember that we are in the middle of a recession and budget crisis created by the same bad ideas.  New ideas like Jeff's make sense and might actually work!

The slow, churning inevitabiltiy of government.

I noticed two new No Parking signs across from my apartment Tuesday afternoon.  We've needed them due to a bunch of new people moving into the neighborhood, all with cars, and most with limited off street parking.  There are days where a small car can't get through the bend on Courtland St.

So I wondered when this request was made.

The request was made by Thomas Moore on 8/11/09.  It was referred to the Traffic and Parking Committee.

On 10/14/09, the Traffic and Parking Committee approved the request and referred it to the City Council.

On 12/1/09 the City Council approved the request with a vote of 11-0.

On 1/12/10 the signs were installed.

I wonder when the first ticket/tow will occur?

The impossible has happened!

There was universal agreement on the T&G comment section today!!!!! 

I'm amazed- only our City Council (with the exception of Bill Eddy and Phil Clancy) could unify the message boards with their vote to slap Adi Tibrewal and Lizz Todd in the face.  I emailed the entire City Council before the last vote to note my opposition to the 'historic' tennis court, and the only one who emailed me back was Bill Eddy, who agreed with me.  When government is conducted in a bubble, nothing good is accomplished.

Dear Joe O'Brien, Joe Petty, Rick Rushton, Kate Toomey, Konnie Lukes and Mike Germain:  You've disappointed me and lost my vote (assuming you had it in the first place.)  And if I lived in your district (or was named Paul Giorgio), Joff Smith, Phil Palmieri and Barbara Haller, you've lost my vote also!

In a related note, now we have a new potential lawsuit*** against the City.  According to my unofficial tally, we have a $10 million suit pending against the WPD and Cops after a police sergeant broke into someone's home for TV ratings.  We have the Redaction Imbroglio (brilliantly chronicled by Jeff at Wormtown Taxi) that has been going on for almost one year. 

***(Addendum- it's no longer a potential lawsuit.  Details are here.)

In all three instances, we have had bad decisions by leaders in our City Government produce lawsuits that have spent our tax money defending bad policy decisions.  Perhaps our City Government should stop making bad decisions for the New Year.  In the absence of any indication of previous wisdom on their part, I guess I can only hope for no decisions at all.

Random T&G links

Clive McFarlane had an excellent bit of satire today in the T&G.  I can't wait to see the howling from City Hall over this bit!

What took so long?  It's 2010!  No wonder the Republican 'leadership' in Congress doesn't have a health plan yet!

What took so long II?  It took three years to strip Finneran of his law license after he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice?  For anyone who complains that Massachusetts is dominated by one party, Tom Finneran is the perfect example of how that analysis is flawed.  In any other state Tom Finneran would be a Republican.  His ideas, actions, and agenda while Speaker of the House were all conservative.

Under the headline Study: Newspapers still a step ahead in local news I found this gem at the very end of the article:

"For whatever reasons, the study found that fewer local stories are being published by the Sun and six other newspapers that cover the Baltimore area. The list includes other general-interest publications such as The Washington Post and the Towson Times and specialty publications such as the Baltimore Business Journal.

The change came into sharp focus in July when Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley proposed deep cuts in the state's budget. There were 26 stories published on the subject by the Baltimore-area newspapers monitored during the weeklong study, as well as the AP and other publications around the country. The last time Maryland announced substantial budget cuts in 1991, there were 83 stories published in a comparable weeklong period, according to the study.

Jarvis contends that less original coverage doesn't necessarily translate into less information for readers, because the Web has enabled more people to post comments and links to other material that illuminate.

"Journalism today isn't just about the production of content," he said. "It's about where we can all add value."

 What a waste of time and ink to borrow that propaganda piece from the AP.  Perhaps the editors at the T&G should have devoted that space to actual local coverage.  It's also very amusing that the study focused on The Baltimore Sun, which was taken down by former Sun reporter David Simon in the fifth season of The Wire.  (If you haven't watched The Wire yet, go rent it- it's one of the best written shows in the history of television.)

What would Barbara Haller do?

This item in the paper really got me fired up this morning. Eleven hours later I'm still fuming.

Why tear down houses when there are so many families and individuals at Abby's House, Friendly House or the Mustard Seed who could benefit from a home?
This whole situation was created by the poisonous 'debate' created by the T&G and our City Council in reaction to drunk, rowdy Holy Cross students and the 'need' for a PILOT program.

Every cliche has been thrown into the ring regarding the neighborhood surrounding Holy Cross. It's been characterized in the local paper as rich spoiled brats vs. hard working taxpayers. What hasn't happened is a reasonable dialogue where solutions are possible.

The partying isn't a recent development. It's been going on for years. But to me, it always seems as if the issue gains traction around elections, when it is an easy story for the paper and a winning 'issue' for the City Council to score easy publicity. If the City of Worcester and the WPD can't figure out how to contain a few apartments that are rented by absentee landlords to party prone college students, then how are we supposed to fix the difficult problems facing the City?

As acting president of Holy Cross from 1998-2000, Frank Vellaccio worked with the City to address the problem of off campus partying. Nine years later, nothing has changed, and it won't change until the City cracks down on off campus activities, and Holy Cross helps. What incentive does Holy Cross have to be a good neighbor when a good, decent man like Frank Vellaccio is dragged through the mud in the local paper?

Tearing down houses around Holy Cross isn't going to solve the party problems, unless the College plans on buying all of College Hill and creating a bombed out neutral zone. Holy Cross is a dry campus. All of the party problems are off campus. And because the only parties are away from where the students live, the parties are much louder and rowdier.

I went to Vassar College, which was the exact opposite of Holy Cross. It was secular, very liberal, and very lenient in its policies regarding alcohol and parties. In my four years there, you could always find a party on campus. There were rarely any parties off campus because the students weren't forced off campus to find a good time. The local bars didn't have hordes of underage students pounding down their doors for the same reason. Because the students were partying where they lived and actually had to pay fines for any damage to their dorms and rooms, the parties weren't loud, destructive or all encompassing. If you wanted a quiet weekend or a party, you could find either, no problem. I never had to worry about loud parties on my hall every Wednesday night, nor did I ever wake up to a bombed out hallway on a Sunday morning.

I know Holy Cross will never relax their policies on alcohol due to the religious nature of the school. Perhaps this could all be avoided if there was any sort of night life near Holy Cross, or even a viable public transportation system that operated past 9PM to ferry students to downtown and the bars. I'd suggest turning the vacated three deckers into transitional housing for the homeless, but that's been vetoed in the past by the Mayor's Task Force on Homelessness. Instead of tearing down buildings, Holy Cross could extend their support of Dismas House to the vacated three deckers. Maybe the College could collaborate with Friendly House or Abby's House to provide homes for Worcester residents and a service program within the community for their students. Then we could see how colleges and cities can help each other, and leave any references to PILOT behind.

"With the debate on the verge of violence- or worse, of being turned over to committee" - Tom Robbins

Item 13b on tomorrow's City Council Agenda earns this quote from Tom Robbins.  (Side note- I waited too long to reread Still Life With Woodpecker.  There are so many memorable quotes and good chuckles in its pages that make me tempted to do an quotes column just like Bill Simmons.)

Five pieces of property will be added to the Montvale Historic District if the City Council votes in favor.  Two weeks ago they voted 9-2 to advertise the expansion with Councilors Clancy and Eddy dissenting.  I'm not sure if a vote to advertise will guarantee a vote to adopt the changes.  I hope not.  Liz Todd is one of the owners of 1 Montvale, and her plea for help was posted on Nicole's blog back in December.

I find it interesting that Mr. Crowley (savior of the New Year's Firework Display!) can use his seat on the Historical Commission to influence affairs in his neighborhood.  Having a personal interest in the outcome should be reason enough to recuse himself from the Historical Commission vote.  That hasn't happened in the two sagas regarding the 'historic' tennis court (well documented here on Wormtown Taxi.)

I hope that the City Council recognizes that the current expansion has no reason to come before them and soundly rejects the expansion.  I doubt they will, so I will end with another fantastic Tom Robbins quote:

"Tunnel vision is a disease in which perception is restricted by ignorance and distorted by vested interest.  Tunnel vision is caused by an optic fungus that multiplies when the brain is less energetic than the ego.  It is complicated by exposure to politics.  When a good idea is run through the filters and compressors of ordinary tunnel vision, it not only comes out reduced in scale and value but in its new dogmatic configuration produces effects the opposite of those for which it originally was intended."