Issues

Neighborhood Streets and Sidewalks

Our streets and sidewalks and parks are in tough condition.  We need to continue to find additional resources including from the local meals tax and from the paid parking program to improve these conditions.  I was the sponsor of the local meals tax of which a large part of the revenue - $210,000 - will go to sidewalks.  Prior to 2009, the City spent $30,000 a year on sidewalks, which was increased by the Council to $60,000 in the FY 09 budget process.  I also think we need a more organized and inclusive process for determining which streets and sidewalks will be improved each year.

Waterfront and Downtown

I am in favor of more park at the two dirt lots owned and managed by the Newburyport Redevelopment Authority retaining a limited amount of parking for senior and handicapped access. The riverfront is too valuable and precious to pave over and it would be a travesty of the highest degree to miss this opportunity.  The Cecil Group plan was a reasonable basis for further discussion to reach closure on the elements of an improved Waterfront Park.

In terms of Waterfront West, we need to work with the developer very assertively.  We should not be waiting for a plan from the developer.  We should be telling the developer what will be there in accordance with the Overlay District which was passed several years ago.

Parking

Our needs ought to be addressed by a comprehensive and inclusive process ---one process--- that includes all relevant stakeholders, not limited to abutters, but including the entire Newburyport community. In the past we have had countless studies, self-selected adhoc groups and processes. What we need is one process to move this along towards a comprehensive solution we can agree on. The citizens of Newburyport have spoken repeatedly on park/parking and our leadership needs to resolve this issue so that we can turn our attention to the ensuing development of Waterfront West by Steven Karp’s team.

Transportation

Take a look at a passing and often empty Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority #51 bus and you will know that we need better planning.  We need better connections between the commuter rail station, the Park and Ride on Route 95, and new/old ways of getting around like bicycles. For an example of a community which has embraced a more comprehensive approach to transportation and parking, we could learn from Portsmouth's approach, in particular how they operate a 'seasonal downtown loop.'

Water and Sewer

For many years we neglected the necessary improvements which should have been done.  The result is that we are engaged in major projects to improve our Waste Water Treatment Facility (Sewer) as well as our Water Treatment Plant (Drinking Water).

Parks

Our parks budget is very meager.  We need to continue to support maintaince and improvement of all our parking including the rail trail project.

Historic Preservation

I favor the adoption of a Local Historic District.  Information from the Local Historic District Study Committee which has been working on this issue for several years is at http://cityofnewburyport.com/Planning/lhd.html

Education

In 1837, at a time of national discussion of new approaches to education, Senator Daniel Webster said:

"I apprehend no danger to our country from a foreign foe - Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence, I must confess that I do apprehend some danger. I fear that they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants, and fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they may be made the dupes of designing men, and become the instruments of their own undoing. Make them intelligent, and they will be vigilant; give them the means of detecting the wrong, and they will apply the remedy."

The children of Newburyport may represent 18% of the population but they represent 100% of our future.

As the product of Massachusetts public schools, as the son of a retired teacher who taught for 30 years in a junior high school, and as someone who has worked with homeless people for 20 years, I can attest to the value of education.

I grew up in Bridgewater, Massachusetts--a historic community not unlike Newburyport.  When I grew up there in the 1960s and 1970s, it was mostly a middle class community.  As a high school student in the late 70’s during a period of fiscal crisis which led to Prop 2 ½, I could see the difference in learning between small classes and large classes, between qualified and unqualified teachers, between care and indifference.

Over the last decade in Newburyport, we have seen classes sizes continue to rise, teaching positions continue to be cut, foreign language instruction continues to be foreign to elementary and middle school classrooms, and sports, arts, music, and transportation are only available to those whose parents can afford them.

In this era of globalization, of rapid technological change, of economic uncertainty, we need to come together to find ways to support education.  As a voter from Ward 4, a retired teacher, emailed me, "the arts, visual, musical and dramatic, as well as foreign language instruction, are not frills to be discarded as soon as a budget crisis is announced.  These subjects are vital to a complete education." 

We need to support education in Newburyport and we need to do that in ways that are not injurious to those taxpayers on fixed income or little income. 

A huge part of providing an adequate education is infrastructure.

There is a good depiction here about the current conditions at the Bresnahan and Nock/Molin schools, which have been deteriorating for many years.  The Council passed two orders.

http://cityofnewburyport.com/pdf/school/public_hearing_presentation6-9-11.pdf

• The first order is to appropriate $650,000 for the cost of a Feasibility and Schematic Design Study for the Bresnahan.
• The second order is to appropriate $500,000 for the cost of a Feasibility and Schematic Design Study for the Nock Middle and Molin Upper Elementary Schools
• Each year since 2007, the City has submitted Statements of Interest to the Mass School Building Authority. 2007 was the first year the MSBA used this process.
• The City learned this spring that both the Nock/Molin for 'renovations' and Bresnahan for "Model School" were invited into the MSBA 'pipeline'.
• The Feasibility and Schematic Design Study is an important component to the MSBA process in that "the District and its team collaborate with the MSBA to generate an initial space summary, document existing conditions, establish design parameters, develop and evaluate alternatives, and recommend the most cost effective and educationally appropriate solution" (quote from the MSBA website) and develop a "schematic design of sufficient detail to establish the scope, budget and schedule for the Proposed Project." (also from the MSBA website).
• Basically the Feasibility and Schematic Design Study is a way to save overall cost by having better planning in the beginning.  Assistant Superintendent Farrel pointed out that Norwood saved $33 million dollars on the cost of its new high school. http://www.massschoolbuildings.org/node/41023
• The costs of the Feasibility and Schematic Design Studies have been estimated by looking at recent projects for 13 schools across the State.
• There were about 100 citizens in attendance, including parents and members of the Newburyport Mothers Club.  Many spoke to the poor physical conditions at the Bresnahan and Nock/Molin.
• The City is also interested in pursuing the idea of using some of the Bresnahan (after a new school is constructed in the rear of the current site) for a Senior Center.  This would be a more cost effective alternative to the current site at Cushing Park which would require an entirely new building.
• Current estimates are $30 Million for the Bresnahan new school and $15 Million for the Nock/Molin Renovation.  The MSBA would cover between 48% and 50% of the costs.

Charter Reform

·         When I first started campaigning for City Council, a neighbor and I talked about various ideas for new revenue, cost savings, education, infill, and other matters.  Then he asked me, “That’s all great, but how are you really going to change things?”  I believe that a key to sustainable change in Newburyport is charter reform.

·         With all due respect to Bossy Gillis, the days of governing Newburyport from the corner gas station are long gone.  In Newburyport, the current structure of our local government limits our ability to make the hard changes that are often necessary if we are to provide needed services at a reasonable cost to taxpayers.

·         The position of Mayor, the position in which we place executive powers, has a two-year term.  To me, two years is not long enough to learn a job, let alone do a good job.  People tend to forget that until the 1960’s, Massachusetts had a two-year term for Governor.  With our current two-year term, a Mayor upon inauguration needs to start worrying about her or his re-election immediately.  Personally, I would prefer a Mayor to make decisions based on the merits of an issue rather than on what is politically popular in the short term.

·         I was an early proponent of creating a Charter Commission, an idea which had been started by Councillors Fowler and Shanley prior to my arrival on the Council. 

·         Newburyport voters voted to create a 9 member Charter Review Commission in the election of 2009.  The Charter Commission’s recommendation, which I support, will be before the voters in November 2011.  Information on the Charter Review process is here http://nbptcharterreview.weebly.com/

Transparency and Communication

·         Citizens can be disconnected from their local government, not for lack of interest on their part but because our municipal systems are not set up to keep citizens informed nor are these systems designed to solicit citizens input.

·         In this day and age, a useful and functioning website is a necessary component of good customer service.  Good customer service and an informed public are vital for good governance.

·         Building a more functional website is not necessarily more expensive than what we’re paying already and in fact might save us money while providing a better customer/citizen experience.  In fact, in 2007, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts laid out how to do it in a manual called A Recipe for Success Building a Citizen-Centric Website with a specific outline for how to make the transition.

·         While some progress is being made with the City's website at the City Clerk's page and the Office of Planning and Development's page, we need to do more.  Check out these websites in large and small communities and you will get a sense of what we ought to have in Newburyport. 

·         -         Boston: http://cityofboston.gov/ 

·         -         Cambridge: http://www.cambridgema.gov/index.cfm 

·         -         Marlborough: http://www.marlborough-ma.gov/Home/

·         -         Newton: http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/

·         -         Shrewsbury: http://www.shrewsbury-ma.gov/

·         -         Somerville: http://www/ci.somerville.ma.us

·         -         Weymouth: http://www.weymouth.ma.us/

·         In order to have faith in our local government and our local leadership, citizens need access to information.  The improved website will move us toward that goal.  The City recently made an investment of several hundreds of thousands of dollars into our Information Technology and phone systems which are necessary first steps toward improving the public interface.

·         I have also sponsored two orders which are currently in committee.  Basically, these are simple ways to improve transparency.

The first is an order I've sponsored "that the City of Newburyport shall post on its website in an accessible place the Campaign Finance Reports-Municipal Forms which are submitted by candidates for Mayor, City Council, and School Committee.  The Reports to be posted shall include the current year and the previous three years."

·         These are reports which all local candidates file with their local municipality and are then sent to the State.  There isn't a place to find them online on the State's Office of Campaign and Political Finance--unlike candidates for State office which are very accessible.

·         The only municipality I've seen do this is the City of Holyoke at this site http://www.holyoke.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13:city-clerk&catid=14:public-meetings-and-hearings&Itemid=80  If you scroll to the bottom of the link, you'll find the information on their candidates.

·         The second is an order which I and Councillor Tom Jones have sponsored " that the City of Newburyport shall post on its website in an accessible place each municipal union contract for the current fiscal year and the previous three fiscal years."  I believe the only other municipality in Mass that does this is Tyngsborough.  You can see the way they share the information at

·         http://www.tyngsboroughma.gov/employment-contracts/

Civil Service

·         I sponsored the order which was approved by the Council to exempt the positions of Police Marshal and Fire Chief in the City of Newburyport from provisions of civil service law of Chapter Thirty-one of the Massachusetts General Laws.  The civil service status of the persons currently in the positions of Police Marshal and Fire Chief will not be impaired; the change takes effect when these positions are next vacant.  This is common practice in other municipalities which have pulled these positions out of civil service.

·         Without the constraints of the civil service laws for these two important positions, the City can select from a much broader and diverse group of candidates, which certainly increases the City’s ability to hire the best candidate for the position.  For the Marshal position, the October 2001 Newburyport Police Management review recommended this change be adopted by the Council.  I proposed this change to put the City on the best footing possible going into the future.

Seniors

·         I am a very strong supporter of a Senior Community Center.

·         In talking to seniors about a Newburyport Senior Center, a frequent comment I’ve gotten is “I’ll be dead before we have one.”Sometimes it’s said with a little grin, sometimes with a grimace. When I say I support building a Senior Center, a question I often get asked back is “How are we going to pay for it?”

·         To me, it’s a basic city service just as we provide schools, libraries, roads and sidewalks. The services offered for seniors help to connect them to their peers, help them stay independent and active, and let them know that their community values their contributions.

·         Out of a total population of 17,000, Newburyport’s population over the age of 60 is over 3,000 and expected to rise to over 5,000 people as the baby boomers age in the next 20 years.

·         Salisbury recently renovated its senior center and Amesbury is building one as part of a transportation center (good idea!).

·         Newburyport has been talking about this for years with sites ranging from the Armory on Low Street, the waterfront, and Cushing Park.

·         Recently, the Mayor and Council started talking about including a Senior Center into the school building project to replace the Bresnahan School.  I favor that approach.  This would be a lower cost alternative and still get us an excellent Senior Community Center.  Let’s keep the process moving.