The Rosen
Report
Council silences strong mayor advocates
Gary Rosen
J
ames Madison, the fourth president and one of the founding fathers of our nation said, “The problem to be solved is, not what form of government is perfect, but which of the forms is least imperfect.” In Worcester, our present council-manager form of government, last modified by the voters in the 1980s, evidently is the least imperfect Worcester has an 11-member city council (six at-large and five district councilors), which acts as the city’s legislative body. Although Worcester has a popularly elected mayor, Joe O'Brien has no more authority than any other city councilor. Our weak mayor is merely the ceremonial head of the city and chair of the city council and school committee. The person who handles the traditional day-today chief executive functions is the city manager. Not directly elected by the people, but hired and fired by the city council alone, our city manager is beholden to the councilors for his job. He needs to keep his 11 bosses happy for they generally control the city’s purse strings and finances. But sharing power with a group of self-absorbed politicians often hinders the ability of the manager to lead Worcester out of its economic and developmental doldrums. In many other cities, the chief executive is a popularly elected strong mayor, who often does not need the support of his city council to get projects rolling. The strong mayors in Boston and Providence have the authority and power to move their cities forward without all the delay and inefficiency of Worcester’s Plan E form of government. For years, Upton Bell, a commentator on downtown Worcester radio station WCRN AM 830, has echoed the sentiments of many home and business owners, taxpayers and voters. Bell and others are sure that a popularly elected strong mayor would make Worcester a more vibrant,
affordable and business-friendly city. Advocates of the strong mayor/weak city council government model believe that Worcester would benefit from a chief executive with more clout, influence and power than that of our present city manager. The council would still have to set the dual tax rates and approve the budget, but it would take a back seat to the true leader chosen by the voters. Although some individuals, city retirees, unions and community groups would disagree, Worcester is fortunate to have a bright, talented and tireless city manager in Mike O'Brien. Without his prudent judgment and foresight during the past six years, Worcester might be well on its way to going broke. The city council recognizes the value of this man and has given Mike O’Brien a three-year contract extension, so he will remain as the city’s chief executive through March 2015. That’s convenient for the council too, as surely, Mike O’Brien will continue to make them look good and improve their electability during a period of antiincumbent rage. And to date the City Council has effectively silenced the strong-mayor advocates. Yet the question remains: what if we change the charter and give the voters a chance to elect a strong mayor? Perhaps popular City Manager Mike O’Brien would run and be elected the strong mayor. Then he’d have the actual authority, influence and power to initiate and move projects forward without having to maneuver through petty political land mines. Although the city council’s role would be diminished, they still could interfere in the affairs of Arizona, ban hotdog vendors from downtown, stifle local businesses with punishing sign ordinances and pass pit-bull regulations. And switching to this new, least imperfect form of government would give us even more reason to lobby the councilors to roll back their salaries (and future inflated pensions) to before the 84 percent pay raise level. How tempting is that?
commentary | opinions
slants rants& Letters Make a scene I would like to comment on the article [Play On, Oct. 7, 2010]. Firstlygood topic, well done. The article was good, but being formerly involved in this scene for what was just over 15 years, let me comment on what the musicians who play the clubs experienced in the 2000s, at least what I’ve seen. I can recall in the late 90s, seeing a friend’s band and watching them get a substantial payday for playing a packed Lucky Dog. That was then, do I know all the stats? No ... just what we’ve heard. But I want to mention what has sucked the motivation out of me and mine, and really killed our scene. Ok, so... book a show, no club in particular... but local. Now, the club gets anywhere from 2-10$ a drink. Should those funds be applied to the club duties, like the door and soundboard? But, the band who arranges or tops the gig, has to pay the sound guy. Then the club has a door guy, more like friend or fan of the club, who does the door and ID checks. The bands have to split the draw with him. Now let’s pile all our shit on the floor for 5-6 hours cuz we have to be there at 7p.m. and we play at 12:30a.m., umm ok. Alright “who are you again?” the door guy says, he knows we’re paying him, but who are you, he says? Then you play to a sound guy that’s a friggen unorganized mess, but YOU still gotta pay him. Nice set, (I guess) ... now hurry up and get the f**k out, the other band has gotta set up, c’mon move! If we gotta pay the sound guy, we should bring our own. Not one drink for any band members, and no guests. I do not even want to get into the “pay to play” scenario, or the “benefits” for people dead for 7 or 8 years, How do you expect a band to want to be a part of all that BS? If you want bands to bring people and advertise the show, what’s our motivation? To be sure that the dope checkin IDs gets our draw? Oh yeah gas and equipment is free for us right? Aren’t those folks at the bar there for the show, not the door man? Is every band expected to be a charity performer? Do you really think nowadays I wanna got to a “rock club” to do karaoke, or play f**ken Guitar Hero, or to see old movies, or covers til I’m blue in the face? This is why all of my crowd/generation no longer hits these Worcester clubs, and why the bands are disappearing. The music business will eat you alive, we should all be working together to not get consumed, rather than lose it all out of nonsense. You want a scene, then make it worth everyone’s time, not just the club owners. Smarten up. JOH N POLLI Killingly, CT
Trash day for CSX Once you find the pigs who are illegally throwing their trash all over the city, not only fine them, but make them spend their weekends cleaning up the trash sites. Submitted online by J R Simple “broken windows theory” stuff: if it looks like a dump, some people will think it’s okay to use it as a dump. The city and CSX should get together with interested citizens (it’s an active railroad; safety first) and clean it up, then take steps to keep it from happening again. Railroad trespassing is dangerous and illegal, and some of the people who trespass commit other offenses. Arrest the taggers and litterers, make them pay for their messes, and maybe it won’t look like a trash pit anymore. Submitted online by THE WATC HMAN OCTOBER 14, 2010 • WORCESTERMAG.COM
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