Fiscal Responsibility – Thanks to 20 plus years of sound financial management, Brockton is on strong financial footing. In our current environment of decreased local aid and increasing interest rates, raiding the city’s stabilization fund is a bad idea for our future and could be the first step to a return to the dark days of the early 1990's when the city was on the brink of receivership.
Now is not the time to change course, we must maintain the same disciplined approach as we have over the last 2+ decades.
Business and Economic Development – The ONLY way to provide long lasting tax relief for Brockton residents is to attract new business that will provide jobs and increase Brockton’s commercial tax base. We need to make Brockton a more attractive place for businesses to call home.
Streamlining our permitting and licensing processes will go a long way in making our city easier to deal with. Hiring a full time City Planner and giving the planner the resources needed to effective will have a much longer lasting impact. Within the City Planner's department we should also have a "Main Street" or "Downtown" manager. By emulating sucessful policies that have worked in the City of Boston, we will begin to show improvements in the experience of doing business in Brockton.
Public Safety – Brockton has the most hard working and professional Police and Fire Departments around. We need to provide the tools necessary to make Brockton safe! If we are going to improve things in Brockton, we need to make our streets safe. Right now, our police dept is under-manned. We cannot raid the stabilization fund, or depend on grants that only pay for 3 years of an officer's decades long career to add permanent police jobs, we need to find more revenue. NO! We cannot increase the tax burden further. We need to find additional sources, building the commercial tax base is the only way.
As it stands right now, Brockton has seen a $10 million reduction in local aid from The Commonwealth over the last 5 years. That $10 million per year could fund up to 60 police officers and 20 firefighters! We need to work with our local state delegation to restore Brockton's local aid to at least the 2008 levels, that's what they're there for! While I wouldn't consider this a permanent solution, this would give us time we need to build our commercial tax base and "get our house in order".
Support of Gateway Cities Principles and Goals
Gateway Cities Wiki
MassINC Gateway Cities Innovation Institute
Gateway Cities Compact for Community and Economic Development
Taxes- I'm all for lower taxes! Until we build a healthy and vibrant commercial tax base, there is no sustainable way to lower tax rates for residents or businesses.
Some may want to try risky moves to raid the city's stabilization fund, but that would be a one time fix...what happens next year, and the year after that, and so on. Also, raiding the stabilization fund would be reckless in that it could very well adversely affect our bond rating. With bond interest rates on the rise, this would be bad for us. I fear that it would be a first step in a slide back to Brockton's budgetary dark days of the early '90's.
Working to attract business, and making it easier for business in Brockton is the only answer I see.
Desalinzation Plant- As a member of the water commission, I served when the desal plant came online and we began using its water. This was after over a decade of permitting and construction delays. When it all began we were given a mandate by the state to find an additional source of water. The choices at the time were MWRA or desal, at the time desal was the best solution.
In the meantime, the water department began a leak detection program and replaced miles of 2 inch mains that were laid by the Campanelli Company. Thanks to Larry Rowley and workers at the water dept., the result was that the system went from the equivalent of a faucet constantly running into the ground to a very tight and efficient system.
Now we are in a situation where we don't need the water, but we are contractually obligated to pay a fixed cost.
There have been ideas from breaking the contract, which I don't believe is possible, continuing as we are, to having the water department purchase the plant. I have spoken with the city's CFO and know that the end goal is to find the best answer for water rate payers. I will continue to monitor the situation and advocate for whatever solution is best for the water rate payers.
Power Plant- As was mentioned in the stance on taxes, we need to build a stronger commercial tax base. The very fact that we are not negotiating with a company who could become the city's largest contributor is puzzling to me. The science does not bear out any claims of heavy pollution, and the fact that it is already allowed to be situated in Brockton's only I-3 zone mean that fighting it will prove to be a losing battle. Natural gas fired power plants have been proven time and again to be clean. If natural gas were not clean, why would so many people cook their food and heat their house with it? Through my personal research I have found that claims of adverse health consequences are suspect at best.
Revenues from taxes and host city fees could help to keep taxes down, amd put more police on the street. Water used to cool the gas turbine could also pay for much of the fixed cost of the desal plant! If effluent water from the wastewater plant were used, it would increase capacity allowing us to sell water treatment services to neighboring communities whuch would be another source of revenue.
Quality of Life- Doesn't it all come down to the quality of life in Brockton? Any revitalization needs to include quality of life improvements. The city's parks department is very small and unable to keep up with the constant maintenance required. An idea I've been formulating would include forming multiple community, or neighborhood organizations to work with the Parks Dept, residents, the business community and service organizations (service clubs, fraternal organizations, etc.) to work to maintain parks. A "Friends of 'xyz' Park" made up of these groups for many of our parks would go a long way. These groups would operate under the umbrella of the Park Department and raise funds, apply for grants, organize clean up days and hold neighborhood events. Still formulating ideas, but I think this is a good start.
While we are adding many new residential units downtown, what is there to do? Various condo projects are designed to attract young professionals, what is there to keep them in Brockton during off hours?
I've heard from many people on quality of life issues. Families wonder why they have to leave Brockton to find entertainment venues to spend quality time with their children, adults wonder the same thing about entertainment. While the Brockton Rox and Campanelli Stadium are a tremendous asset to the city, we need to find ways to do more! And it all ties in to making Brockton a more attractive place for businesses to invest.
