City Revenues May Slow Down the Next 6 Mos

As I see more and more foreclosures everyday in the newspaper, it really worries me that the property tax collections will be below forecasted over the next six months. Couple that with lower forecasted revenues from tax titles properties and car excise tax, the City of Worcester should be careful with any additional debt.

By the way business has been very slow so far in 2007, which also may lead to lower collections. I do not know why this surprised me, but I just heard Eddy's restaurant on West Boylston St closed on Saturday. My point being that I do not think voting for items like a SkyBridge, which does have a degree of risk, should be approved at this time.

Lynne Simonds for District Four

Lynne Simonds for District Four

I just wanted to again welcome everyone to our blog. Please make comments, ask questions, offer your opinions and views. I hope to use this as one of the many ways to introduce myself and to open a dialogue with those interested in learning more about me, why I am running for the District 4 Council seat and why I believe I am the best person for the position.

I have great concerns about many issues in District 4. For example, I am still upset about an 84% raise to the Council members. It was so unfair to the taxpayers of our city. I plan on not accepting the full raise maybe 5% and paying taxes on the whole amount but setting up an account to use the balance of the increase on projects in District rather rather than sending it back to the general fund to be lost forever. The money should be used in positive ways in District 4.

Job creation and increases in revenues are two ways that we can offset the continous increases in property taxes and fees. We need to help the taxpayers find relief. We need to encourage businesses to stay and come to Worcester. Just recently, two successful businesses have moved out of District 4. Curtis Cab and Woodmeister both growing and with potential jobs for our neighborhood, especially for people without transportation.

Why has Barbara Haller not been proactive on the development of the Wyman Gordan Parcel and the South Worcester Industrial Park. We need jobs and we need to increase revenues. Plus, we need to be supporting the businesses we have in District 4. The lack of commercial tax base development leads to higher property taxes. We also need to retain the jobs we have in our District

We also need to support the residents. They want housing in their neighborhoods but they want it to be affordable housing and owner occupied. Just a couple of weeks ago Barbara Haller against the will of the neighbors and the abutters in District 4 recommended that they should accept a 21 apartment building to be built on the old Citybuilders property. She did not hear their concerns or respect their strong and reasonable opposition. A comment from one of our bloggers noted that Barbara has a "pretty miserable record since Nadeau left" especially when it comes to no job creation but job loss and no economic development.

Lastly, I want to note I have great concerns about the appointment of Barbar Haller to the Land Use Committee and her being the appointed chair. I think it is an insult to the existing members that one of them was not appointed the chair. I would have not accepted the chair. I worry that Barbara will use her position on this committee to further attack social service sitings and she will use her position to try and hold up the process when agencies are trying to locate much needed services in our comunity.

Most importantly,

I see Barbara's appointment to the Land Use Committee as a potential for a major conflict of interest. Her housemate owns approximately 40 parcels and properties in the Main South area. At the very least she may have to recuse herself from many votes so I ask how effective can she be chairing this committee? All I can say is we better be vigiliant.

I am working on a brief profile of myself. I will post it soon. I want to thank all of you who have made comments to our blog. I want to be available and open to your views and opinions. So keep them coming.

Posted by Lynne Simonds @ 1:10 p.m.

infant mortality

Here's an issue that should be tackled as this shameful statistic indicates that we need to do more in District 4 to alleviate poverty.
Infant mortality rate doubles in WorcesterCity’s 13.9 deaths per 1,000 births leads state

By Elizabeth Cooney Telegram & Gazette Staff and Kate Plourd SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAM & GAZETTEecooney@telegram.com


BOSTON— Worcester’s infant mortality rate more than doubled from 2004 to 2005, reaching 13.9 deaths per 1,000 live births — the highest rate in the state, according to the state Department of Public Health. The city’s rate is up from 6.6 in 2004, with a three-year average of 8.2 deaths per 1,000 births, the DPH said in releasing its annual infant mortality data yesterday. Bruce Cohen, director of the division of research and epidemiology at the Center for Health Information, told the state public health council yesterday that although the trend is not statistically significant, the state needs to watch communities such as Worcester and Springfield

Springfield’s mortality rate was 10.6 deaths per thousand in 2005, the state’s second highest. The statewide rate in 2005 was 5.1, up from 4.8 in 2004. Julie Wisniewski, director of the Worcester Healthy Start Initiative, said that although the new data is alarming, the three-year average shows that the rate has stayed fairly consistent. The Worcester initiative is a federally-funded program that helps women get pre- and post-natal health services and is available for free to all pregnant women and families with babies under two years in Worcester.

Ms. Wisniewski said many women served by the initiative have problems getting proper health care because of cultural and language barriers. “People who are enrolled and participate in our program have healthier babies than other women in Worcester,” Ms. Wisniewski said. A preliminary analysis by the state could find no evidence that mothers or newborns in Worcester received inferior care during birth or in the weeks following. State authorities reviewed births to mothers from surrounding communities who delivered at the same hospitals as the women from Worcester and could find no similar spike in infant deaths. “So it does not appear to be an issue of access to higher medical care,” Sally Fogerty, an associate state commissioner of public health, told the Boston Globe. Dr. Marianne E. Felice, chairwoman of pediatrics at University of Massachusetts Medical School and longtime member of the Worcester Infant Mortality Reduction Task Force, said the high rate of infant mortality in Worcester in 2005 was caused in part by the high number of multiple births — twins, triplets or more — compared to the year before.

Thirty-six infants born in Worcester died before their first birthday in 2005, compared to 17 in 2004. Of the 2005 deaths in Worcester, 12 were from multiple births; only two were from multiple births in 2004, she said. Twins and triplets are at greater risk of being born prematurely, which means they are more likely to have a dangerously low birth weight, among other problems. Massachusetts has the highest incidence of multiple births in the country, said Dr. Dale Magee, a Shrewsbury gynecologist and vice president of the Massachusetts Medical Society. That stems from two factors: Mothers in Massachusetts tend to be older, and older mothers tend to have more twins.

The other reason is that because they are older, there’s a higher incidence of infertility. Massachusetts, one of the few states to mandate infertility coverage by insurers, has the highest rate of in vitro fertilization in the country. “That’s becoming a greater issue for infant mortality, especially for prematurity,” Dr. Magee said. “Across the state, nearly 30 percent of infant deaths occur among multiple births.” Other factors are associated with infant mortality, including poverty, smoking, marital status, education and other socioeconomic forces. But even when these elements are accounted for, the problem persists, Dr. Felice said. Stubbornly high infant mortality rates in the early 1990s led to the Worcester Healthy Start program. “We’re not happy with the numbers,” Dr. Felice said about the 2005 rates.

“We can explain them. We believe this is right in line with what we’ve been seeing before, and we have a plan in place to investigate the problem with more depth over the next year.”

Lynne Simonds for District Four

Sweetheart Deals Redux!

From the most recent InCity Times

."...The sole response by Haller is to express outrage at the tactics used by Simonds, but I say to Haller, cut out the phony baloney outrage and finally do something about the situation. It looks and smells like a conflict of interest...Maybe is hoping that the short attention span of the district's voters, with the lowest turnout for any district in the city, will kill the issue. After the last election season, it should be noted that Simonds was closing the gap, some 300 votes difference. This election season does not bode well for Haller..."

M. Regan

Kudos to City Admin

City has now changed the FOG (fats, oil and grease) ordinance to focus solely on sink drains, not mop or floor drains. This makes alot of sense and is in line with other towns and cities translation of the State Plumbing Code. Restaurant owners now should have no problem complying with the ordinance.

Don't get me wrong some restaurants may still have to spend some money (thousands not hundreds) to upgrade or install a grease trap that complies with the current requirements, but it is pretty clear that they should have this equipment. Putting a grease trap on a map sink and/or floor drain not only seemed useless but put an unfair burden on the restaurant and put Worcester itself on an uncompetitive advantage with surrounding towns and cities.

Abandoned Building Ordinance

This is a great ordinance that needs to be enforced to the fullest extent. Besides the obvious that most are aware to secure windows and doors so people can not enter and to remove any unsafe material, there is one part of the ordinance that I do not believe is being enforced as well as it can be.

7. Maintain liability insurance on the building and furnish the deputy commissioner with a copy of said certificate of insurance; and,

The City of Worcester should be a place that business-owners see as being business friendly. At the same time, the City of Worcester should use whatever means possible to let owners of abandoned buildings that City of Worcester does not want abandoned buildings, which are inherently dangerous.

DCU Special District Finance Zone

I am getting kind of confused by the financing on this but the two recent articles in the Telegram that I have read the past week but here is what I come up with. This is not a a TIF or DIF, but something completely new created during Governor Romney's last days in office, the DCU Special District Finance Zone. It is a fixed geographic area consisting of four parcels: the Hilton Garden Inn, the Residence Inn by Marriott on Plantation Street, the DCU Center arena and convention center and the Major Taylor Boulevard parking garage, including its retail space and operations.

The bill authorizes the City of Worcester to borrow up to $30 million to finance the construction of the “sky bridge” and upgrades to the DCU Center. The initial loan order recommended by the manager initially authorizes $5.125 million in bonds to be issued for the $7 million sky bridge project. The balance ($1.875 million) of the financing for that project is already part of the city’s Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan. How does the City of Worcester pay this back?

The special district designation allows “net new” state tax revenues, such as meals and sales taxes, collected at those establishments to be redirected to the city. The state will continue receiving existing tax revenues from establishments in the special district financing zone, but it will dedicate the "net new" revenues from that zone to the city so it can repay the loans that are taken out for the sky bridge project and improvements to the DCU Center.


Two things can happen.

1. First the DCU Special District Finance Zone will do additional business and the "net new" state tax revenues collected will be redirected to the city, pay the notes and cost the city tax-payers nothing.
   
2. Second the DCU Special District Finance Zone does no do any additional business and does not create any "net new" state tax revenues. In the later case the note would have to be paid back so I would think it would come out of the City's general fund.
   

All I am saying is that there is some risk here. In fact Mr. O’Brien emphasized that the loan authorization limits any further capital improvements to proceed beyond the first allotment of $5.125 million. He said further work would be dependent upon the revenue-generating success of the DCU Special District Finance Zone. The loan authorization requires the city manager, with the assistance of the city treasurer, to report to the City Council on revenues generated by the special district, to demonstrate that they can financially support additional capital improvements beyond the first allotment.

In the end the questions is will these investments create the additional "net new" state tax revenues to pay the notes thus not cost the taxpayers of Worcester?? Reminds me of buying stock on margin. If the stock goes up, you can make some great returns. On the other hand if the stock drops, you get a margin call.

District 4 Candidate Simonds Reviews Race and Diversity

District 4 Candidate Simonds Discusses Diversity and Race

From Clive McFarland's column -

Meeting should have looked issues head-on
One of the most revealing discussions on race relations in Worcester took place Thursday evening at the Worcester Public Library, where board members of the Worcester Youth Center and members of the community faced off over the use of the “N” word by the center’s executive director, Denise Calderwood. The key revelation wasn’t that the meeting confirmed, if ever there were any doubts, that race still matters and that people still have a difficult time talking about it. It was that community members were so busy feeling slighted and board members feeling so unappreciated that both sides passed up opportunities to start the frank dialogue on race that so many feel is needed in the city.


“The subject of race and diversity needs to be discussed,” Lynne Simonds, credited as a founder of the youth center, said that evening. “We have to talk about these things in the community.” Yet, the evening was generally spent talking around, instead of about, the issue of race and diversity. Yes, community members were absolutely right in demanding better accountability from the Worcester Youth Center’s board, and yes, board members were egregiously wrong in putting up a defensive front when their lack of urgency in investigating the incident was questioned. But what, for example, would have been the tone of the meeting had board members, instead of becoming combative, taken the time to introduce Ms. Calderwood to the community members, as her husband did in an e-mail he sent me. “She created and ran a youth center in Florida for years, a community resource that served the same diverse population the Worcester Youth Center does,” he wrote. “To this day, the several generations of teenagers who belonged to the Flagler Teen Center in Palm Coast, Florida, still refer to her as ‘Miss Denise,’ a term used as a sign of respect and love for someone who always treated each of them as valuable human beings entitled to respect. “Denise was respected by everyone in the African American community of Palm Coast and Bunnell, Florida, was a member of the NAACP and was recognized for her civic contributions as woman of the year by the Flagler County African American Cultural Society.” What would have been the tone of the meeting had more community members coalesced around speaker Al Chavis’ contention that the widespread use of the “N” word by African-American youths was because “they are uneducated about the word.” The “N” word incident at the center was precipitated by a group of young people using it on a music track they were recording. “We didn’t pass on the struggle to the next generation,” Mr. Chavis said of how the word still cuts him deeply, and how he had fought to erase it from the public vernacular. Yes, it is important that we demand accountability of the individuals who are helping to mold the lives of our children, but all too often we forget that the accountability begins with the young people and with the people in their inner circles — their parents, friends and neighbors. Charles Luster, a member of Concerned Black Men, understands this level of accountability. The faith-based group, which consists of educators, businessmen, clergy and other community members, is undertaking a number of initiatives to, among other things, help young people become more accountable. The group, which petitioned the City Council recently to rename Central Street the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, has launched a basketball league, which so far has drawn the interest of some 30 young people. The league, which plays at the YMCA on Main Street every Saturday at 9 a.m., has received support from community organizations such as the Sheriff’s Department, the district attorney’s office and Emmanuel Baptist Church, and a member of the Masons. In addition to playing ball, the young people will learn valuable lessons in respect for themselves, their community and their history, Mr. Luster said. “Sometimes we are our worst enemies,” he said of the prevalent use of the “N” word. “For many of our youths, the term is just a way to make money. They don’t care what effects it has on people. Their job is to spread ignorance. We have to redirect our youth, tell them that they don’t have to do what some fools are doing.” Yes, Thursday’s meeting was an opportunity to have a real dialogue about race and diversity; instead it may become what School Committee member Ogretta McNeil, an attendee of the meeting, feared it would. “Race matters, and there are a lot of things going on in the community that we should discuss,” she said. “Unfortunately, you tend to get energized for a moment about one thing, and then you forget about it.” Contact Clive McFarlane by e-mail at cmcfarlane@telegram.com.

Lynne Simonds for District Four
http://www.lynne4district4.blogspot.com/

District 4 Councilor candidate Simonds reflects on incoming Mayor

From last week's Worcester Magazine:

By councilors’ accounts, Murray put a tremendous amount of time into rounds of daily phone calls and e-mails to make sure everyone was on the same page for a vote, to appease an angry colleague, or to criticize someone who was a little out of line. Lukes, who wasn’t always in Murray’s loop, was not part of the circle, yet must now assume its center. That’s going to take a long daily call list and real attention to colleagues and other constituencies.
On the surface, it wasn’t always visible how much spit and duct tape Murray was using behind the scenes, and it is incumbent on Lukes to continue putting in some of that work.
Of course, Lukes doesn’t romanticize intra-Council harmony to the same degree as some of her fellow councilors. And, making it tougher, her colleagues aren’t going to go out of their way to make it easy on her.
“She has to build consensus. In some way, she has to listen. Not to come in with an agenda, I worry about that. That was one of Murray’s best traits. He listened and he was willing to take different points of views,” says longtime city activist and 2007 District 4 candidate Lynne Simonds. “It’s one thing to be the devil’s advocate. But when you’re the leader, you can’t be.”
Simonds voices the sentiment current pols privately espouse. “She has to have a concentrated effort to build some bridges,” she says. “And she’s going to have to say ‘sorry’ sometimes. In the long run, that’s going to be best for her leadership. And best for the city.”
Does Lukes have a realistic shot of gaining the full support of the Council in the next six months? The energetic campaign for next year’s mayoral election alone will probably make that difficult. However, if she measures her actions and reactions and works overtime behind the scenes to talk to key councilors, she could surprise a lot of people with a smooth-running Council.
Simonds cites some of that behind-the-scenes work that Murray did so well. “It doesn’t mean she can’t be a strong mayor, but she has to be fair. She’s going to have to work a lot harder behind the scenes — talk to committee chairs ... to councilors.”
And, says Simonds, looking forward to November, “She does a good job, that’s the best message she can give to the public.”
Lukes knows that a cohesive Council is critical, and is confident she can pull it together. “I’ve learned to overcome the personality conflicts that occurred because people didn’t agree on the issues,” she says. “To get fixated on that is to be an amateur. [The question is], can the City Council acclimate itself to me?

office vacancy

From Worcester Regional Research Bureau report on downtown office occupancy. It seems that Worcester pretty well matches other cities in the region. However, there is room for improvement, and CitiSquare will probably rejuvenate much of downtown.

However, as much of District 4 falls into downtown, it would be important to have a comprehensive business plan for retaining and filling the gaps noted below:

Downtown Worcester Office Occupancy: 2006 Survey
September, 2006
Center for Community Performance Measurement
The Research Bureau Office Occupancy: 2006
" the amount of space currently vacant could potentially support almost 2,500 additional workers in the downtown area. This fact highlights the importance of continued job creation and business expansion efforts in the City."

Job Creation

I do not think the importance, or should I say economic spin-off, of job creation can be over-estimated. Lets say, for example, a development like the Malls at Route 146 had come to the Wyman Gordon Parcel. It would have not only given us jobs for people in the area, but increased the commercial tax base which in turns helps provide residential tax relief for the entire district. Keep in mind that a developer wanted to place a mixed used mall here, but was unable to get a zone change to proceed. In addition it would have also provided additional rental opportunities to landlords in the area and developers selling condos...

I believe Curtis Cab also in District 4 on Dewey Street for years, now is on Higgins Street?? Too bad companies like Curtis Cab and Woodmeister, successful companies that are growing, decide that in order to keep growing that they need to leave District 4.

Main Sout poorest community in county

More on poverty in Main South - notably, that Main South is poorest community in county. Where is the job creation needed to challenge this facts:

Asia comes to Main Street and may learn to speak Spanish: Globalization
in a poor neighborhood in Worcester

Robert J.S. Ross1, with the assistance of Kate Driscoll, Angeline Bilotta,
Brandy Finley, Sasha Hnatkobvich, Joseph Posner, Corrine Robinson and Emily
Salomon.

Introduction: immigration
The community known as Main South is among the poorest in Worcester County: 17.9% of the City population fell under the official poverty line in 2000, but 28.5% of Main South residents did.

Main South poverty rates vs. Iraq poverty rates

"Nearly 5.6 millions Iraqis are living below the poverty line, according to our most recent studies of Iraq's 28 million inhabitants."

From the United Nations News Services

Now, I know poverty is different in Main South and Worcester, I see a lot of it everyday. Nonetheless, interesting to see comparable rates of poverty. We changed course in the last election, why not think global and act local?


Lynne Simonds for District Four

Unemployment in Main South

From Clark University's website:
"over 78 percent of 12,000 residents of the one-square mile area of Main South are of low or moderate income and over one-fourth of the residents live at or below the poverty level. Unemployment is twice the national average and 44 percent higher than Worcester's average. "


Lynne Simonds for District Four

Poverty in Main South

For a long time, I have maintained, and cited, the fact that the engine driving homelessness in Worcester and the region is poverty. Check out the astonishing poverty rates in the Main South area of District 4. Appalling, and a clarion call that the focus needs to be on a new "war on poverty," rather than bashing the agencies that struggle to cope with the unbelievable rates of poverty.

Poverty Rate according to the United States Census
Census Tract # 7312.01- Percent below Poverty level
345 Total families in census tract
23.3% of the 345 families
276 out of 345 have related children under 18 years old
28.8% of the 276 families
115 out of the 345 have related children under 5 years old
27.1% of the 115 families

Families without a husband present:
221 Total families in this census tract with a female householder and no husband present
46.7% of the 221 families
203 out of the 221 families have related children under 18 years old
52.9% of the 203 families
73 out of the 221 families have related children under 5 years old
46.5% of the 73 families

CENSUS TRACT #7313
Percent below Poverty level
753 Total families living in this census tract
38.6% of the 753
518 out of the 753 families have related children under 18 years old
46.5% of the 518 families
260 out of the 753 families have related children under 5 years old
60.4% of the 260 families

Families without a husband present:
Percent below Poverty level
283 Total families with a female householder and not husband present
53.7% of the 283 families
246 out of the 283 families have related children under 18 years old
59.8% of the 249 families
117 out of the 283 families have related children under 5 years old
71.8% of 117 families

These numbers are dreadful, and I will update them as I can. WE CAN DO BETTER, and we must focus on this problem. Can you imagine, that in one census track, 71.8% of families with children under 5, with single moms are mired in poverty? What does this say about our priorities as a district? What does it say about the great thrust of the Democratic party of the past - where is it? The Dems used to always stand up for the poor, it was the trademark of FDR onwards. I worry that we are losing that, and that this district in particular lacks proper, and fierce, representation for the poor.
Lynne Simonds for District Four

South Worcester Industrial Park

Last night we had a meeting of the task force. Refering back to an earlier press release (picture to the right) phase 2 (road construction and infrastructure improvements) starting in 2003/2004 should be done Spring of next year (2007). In other words, overall Phase 2 has taken approximately 3 years.

We have waited a long time watching the South Worcester Industrial Park(15 years at least) and to date not one job has been created and it is highly unlikely that we will see one job in 2007.

Let me add one thing.. The current people working from the Economic Development Office for the past 6 months have been excellent and a breath of fresh air.

Canal District

I was at a zoning board meeting and I noticed another restaurant either on Water or Harding, I forgot the actual street, looking for relief of parking. This got me to thinking. I know we keep hearing alot about all the new restaurants happening in this area and I think it is great, but what about the employers in this area.

In particular you have Table Talk Pie and Pressmet. I wonder how they feel about these changes?? Are they happy?? Do they feel threatened?? I do not know the answer, but I hope someone is talking to them to let them know that we want employers like this to remain in District 4 (I think that is still part of the District).

Even if it is not in the District, they are both valuable assets for the City of Worcester. It is a real balancing act between the existing business and the new condos/restaurants, lets hope we are able to do it.

Anonymous posts

There has been a great discussion here on issues facing D4 - issues like patronage, large pay raises, rampant dumping, and ignored parks. I just wanted to say that a few bloggers told me how much more credible it can be if you put your name to a post in the blogosphere. You automatically lose points, according to a friend involved in bluemassgroup.com , when you are cowardly with the blog (according to him of course!!!!).

Personally, I welcome all takes and views, it makes for a lively discussion, on say, how to represent homeless/poor people. But for those who choose to not hide behind the mask afforded by your laptop, I recommend signing on as your own blogger on blogspot.com. Its easy, and you could even use a "nom de guerre." Here are some names that are not taken when I last checked at blogspot.

mainsouthweaponsofmassdestruction - props to www.worcesteractivist.org
iheartsweetheartdeals
or even
closedownshelterssendthemtorussiawithlove

any non-anon comments?

Lynne Simonds for District Four

Absentee Landlords

There are alot of good absentee landlords in District 4. The problem is the one or two absentee landlords in every neighborhood that can completely ruin the neighborhood. In the my area I can think of two landlords, one who has been in WoMag (picture to the right links to most recent story) every time they list the ten worst properties, and another who between them own approximately 10-15 parcels. Every one is a complete mess.

A concerted effort that targets the one or two bad landlords in every neighborhood and aggressively pursue corrections of all existing code violations would help the quality of life for those who need to live near or next to these properties. A few years back, I read a report from the Worcester Regional Research , entitled Revitalizing Worcester Neighborhoods. It was excellent, give it a quick read.


Amongst many things it recommended was a Dirty Dozen Program similar to one set up by the City of Toledo. I believe the City of Worcester, not WoMag, has a Top Ten Problem Properties Task Force, but when is the last time you have seen this list?? Instead of a new ordinance lets make the Top Ten Problem Properties highly visible and put the full force of the City Manager Enforcement Team (CMET) focused on these ten properties.

Pseudo-Intellectual

Here my favorite Hallerism that does not appear outside her writings in any sociological writing.

"social service ghettoization" - no evidence to back this up. I refer blog readers instead to the Chair of Worcester State's Sociology Department whose new study actually shows that social services in one area of District 4 are :

supported by neighbors
don't detract from property values
don't add to crime

She also has referred to addicts as "social misfits", and we cannot forget her most famous declaration, that she was the only "legitimate person," walking down Main Street.

I recommend a focus on absentee landlords, who have been ignored while social service agencies have been lambasted.


Lynne Simonds for District Four

Telegram Editorial

Great editorial today in the Telegram about Common Cause Massachusetts and their efforts to "to triple the number of communities that have all key public records posted online. Those records include the agendas and meeting minutes of selectmen and city councils; budget documents; the municipal code, ordinances or bylaws; and, where applicable, town meeting warrants, minutes and results. " Click here to access the web site.


I could not agree more with Common Cause Massachusetts. One of my pet peeves is that the Airport Commission basically operated in anonymity, but now have begun post the minutes to their monthly Airport Commission Minutes. To that end I commend Councilor Haller for updating her website letting her constituents know where she stands on the issues. A well informed electorate in District 4 only benefits all of us.

2003 SWIP Press Release

Check it out:

(click above above to read the press release)

Job Creation??

South Worcester Industrial Park on Canterbury, Southgate, Gardner and Armory Streets has literally been on the drawing boards for at least 15, maybe even 20 years. Map to the right is a little hard to read, hit the link above if you want to see it better. To date not one job has been created from the South Worcester Industrial Park.


Grease trap issue. I know it sounds very mundane but if the current requirements (to have grease trap on every drain) are enforced, businesses will get out of business and jobs will be lost. Next time you are out in a restaurant ask the owner about it.

Woodmeister on Washington Street has moved to Holden.

Wyman Gordon parcel remains vacant.

Haller's new website

Haller has revamped the website, probably in reaction to the Worcester Magazine piece that discusses how close the election was last time, and this very blog! Some comments:

1. She should at least learn to spell her opponent's name right. 43% of the people in her district knew where to find it last time.

2. The pictures at the top of the website include what appears to be the College of the Holy Cross and perhaps the Worcester Tornadoes? I am unaware of her role in the founding of either.

3. Record distortion. Haller's website indicates under the candidate comparison section that Simonds, or as they prefer "simond", stands on the opposite side of the fence from Haller with regards to tax cuts, job creation, education reform, and several blank categories as well, they stand opposite. Since we have 30% unemployment* in the district, I'd love to see what jobs were created. As I have learned is necessary in blogging, Specifics, sources?

*mass unemployment figures

letter in Telegram

From today's Telegram and Gazette:

Last night I watched the City Council Meeting and watched my District Councilor, Barbara Haller, say that she canvassed the District as to whether or not she should vote in favor of the City Councilor pay increase from $15,750 to $29,000. She proceeded to report that she had received “overwhelming” support to vote in favor of the 84% increase for herself.

Let me state here that I am a lifelong resident and registered voter in District 4 and this increase certainly does not receive my support, anyone in my family’s support nor anyone in my neighborhood that I canvassed. Exactly where did the City Councilor receive this support in District 4?

One of the reasons I heard that this 89% was justified was that this was the first raise since 1986. This argument may work for someone like Councilor Clancy or Lukes, who has been a city councilor since 1986, but how does that argument work for the others. In the case of our District 4 City Councilor Barbara Haller, is she not taking credit for Councilor Nadeau’s service from 1986 until her election in 2001 to justify the 89% raise?

In closing, I do honestly feel that the City Councilors may be underpaid and deserve an annual cost of living increase, but approving an 89% pay increase for themselves as schools are closed, pools can not be opened each summer and basic services like trash removal cost me $1 per bag is simply unfair. I only wish I was able to approve my own pay increases at my job.


Sincerely,


Patricia Clark
Worcester, MA

Lynne Simonds for District Four

Grease Traps (FOG)

Many of you may not have heard about this, but ask any restaurant owner and they will burn your ears off for the next hour. Grease traps are required in restaurants to prevent grease from entering the sewerage system, clogging said system thus preventing costly maintenance. This makes sense. The City of Worcester is cracking down and making sure that all restaurants are in compliance--makes sense.

Where is gets kind of confusing is that all drains are being required to have a grease trap; for example, a mop sink. There is alot of confusion on this since some of this is coming down from the EPA. In the end if every restaurant (keep in mind this includes Pizza Places, small breakfast joints, etc) in District 4 is required to put a grease trap on EVERY drain---people will end up going out of business.

Lynne Simonds for District Four

Lynne Simonds for District Four

I want to welcome WoMag readers to our blog. I look forward to receiving comments and answering questions from the residents and neighbors of District 4. It is very important that you know where I stand on issues facing our District. I want you to see that you really have a choice in the upcoming election of November 2007. I want to represent all of District 4 and I want to earn your trust and support. Get to know me through our blog.

As noted in the Worcesteria section of WoMag of January 4, 2007 there is "a deep philosophical divide" on the issues facing and impacting District 4 between Lynne Simonds and Barbara Haller. I want you to know there are also policy differences. For example, I would not have voted myself a salary increase of 84%. The timing alone of proposing and voting a raise of any magnitude is questionable due to the current financial pressures already facing the citizens and residents of Worcester. Not to mention the negative impact on the current city budget such increases in salaries are bound to cause.

I will comment further on this issue and others over the coming days. At this time, I wanted to take the opportunity to say welcome WoMag readers and to thank
Scott Zoback for mentioning our blog and noting our campaign is in full swing.

Comments by Lynne Simonds
January 4, 2007