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www.DrFechner.com WORCESTERMAG.COM • AUGUST 18, 2011
proponents and opponents of the lowest residential tax rate are praising City Manager Mike O’Brien, Mayor Joe O’Brien and the council for showing wisdom and foresight in the allocation of the city’s $5.37 million windfall (a combination of additional local aid from the state and free cash generated by the city). While 70 percent of the surplus will be saved in reserve accounts, $150,000 will be used to add three project manager positions to the Economic Development Division. Soon the shorthanded crew in that ofďŹ ce will have a better chance to compete with other cities and towns in approaching and persuading business and industry (and jobs) to come to Worcester.
Gary Rosen
BUT WILL THE POLITICIANS AVOID THE BEER GARDEN?:
Centro Las Americas’ Latin American Festival outside City Hall on Saturday, August 20, will be a hotbed of political activity. Besides the lively music, dance and tasty ethnic food, there will also be politicians galore. City-council and school-committee incumbents and challengers will be courting the Latino vote, which is expected to be higher than usual this fall. Popular Latino candidates Sarai Rivera (running for District 4 councilor) and Hilda Ramirez (running for school committee), Mayor Joe O’Brien and the inuential group, Neighbor to Neighbor, among others, are expected to educate, motivate and deliver to the polls a substantial percent of registered Latino voters.
HOPING SHARP CLOTHES LEAD TO SHARP MINDS: It will be navy-
blue shirts and khaki pants for the students at Worcester’s Chandler Magnet School this year. Hopefully the school’s voluntary uniform policy approved by parents and the School Committee (except apparel rebel Tracy Novick) will reduce peer pressure, encourage school pride, and improve test scores, attendance and discipline. In any case, some parents say they’d like to see a dress code enforced for Worcester public-school teachers so those who wear sloppy or provocative clothes instead will look as sharp as the Chandler Magnet students.
TWO POUNDS OF HADDOCK AND MOBY DICK: The Shaw’s Supermarket in the Webster Square Plaza (across the street from Gates Lane School) is too large for its volume of sales. So market ofďŹ cials have removed some shelving and shortened all of the aisles. The store now has so much clean and empty space that it could be used to house a small branch of the Worcester Public Library. When the main library downtown was closed for renovations several years ago, the temporary branch on Fremont Street (now the Fremont Lofts) was packed with children, teens and adults from that area of the city. A Shaw’s ofďŹ cial loved the idea. MAGIC MARKERS WEREN’T INVENTED TO CONCEAL THE TRUTH: As seen in the Washington, D.C., and Atlanta public schools, high-stakes testing of students is leading to cheating by unscrupulous administrators and teachers. Here in Massachusetts, state education ofďŹ cials threw out the 2010 MCAS scores of Worcester’s Goddard School because of “tampering.â€? But the public still has little idea what the testing irregularities were because MCAS ofďŹ cials have heavily redacted (blackened out) their explanatory e-mails and reports. It was Buddha who said, “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth.â€? GIVING VOICE AND POWER TO THE PEOPLE: Several local groups have
partnered to form the nonpartisan and nonproďŹ t Initiative for Engaged Citizenship. Among others, they hope to promote civics education, encourage and empower Worcester residents to new levels of involvement in the community, and increase interest and participation in the municipal elections. With 45 percent of Worcester’s registered voters now on the “inactiveâ€? list, the efforts of the nonproďŹ t and its executive director, David LeBoeuf, should be welcomed by candidates and the general public.
IT’S NOT THE CLANCY SEAT, IT’S THE PEOPLE’S SEAT: With District 3 City Councilor Paul Clancy retiring after serving for 24 years, attorney and part-time lawenforcement ofďŹ cer Rick Peters is one of four candidates for that seat. Like Clancy, he’s committed to the lowest residential tax rate. Peters, who once ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for Massachusetts state senate, has the backing of Republican powerhouse and Worcester County sheriff, Lew Evangelides.