BROCKTON 2ND MAYORAL DEBATE BETWEEN MAYOR LINDA BALZOTTI AND BILL CARPENTER

BROCKTON MAYORAL DEBATE WILLIAM CARPENTER AND MAYOR LINDA BALZOTTI

Paul Beckner's Platform for a Better Brockton

BECKNER FOR A BETTER BROCKTON!

As City-wide Councilors we need to collaborate on ideas together by using social media, being visible in the community, visiting homes and promoting group block meetings not just Ward meetings. Interaction with all of our diverse community leaders is imperative in order to accomplish our objective to bring our community together as one collective, vibrant, innovative and compassionate force pulling together to promote economic growth and safer community to live in.

A. Pairing together with business leaders and the new City Planner, we need an immediate restructuring of the heart of our Main Street area beginning with returning the area from Court St. to Belmont St. back into two way traffic. This would likely mean changing other streets such as Belmont St. from Warren Ave to Main St. and Warren Ave itself. I would propose a program where we could ask for sponsorship from wealthy individuals to maintain our roads and restructure Main St. In return we could co-name the streets that are sponsored after the sponsoring party.

 B. As for Safety; adding more Police is a huge priority. We should consider a “closing down” of our entire City at 2:00am. (This was a suggestion from a concerned citizen). This would show a seriousness and absolute commitment to making our City a safer more respectable place to live. Gangs and groups of youths and young adults wanting to hang around while awaiting disturbances to break out will be disbursed. The influx of the criminal element coming to Brockton at all hours of the night and morning will be lessened and Brockton will be less inviting to those peddling drugs, prostitution and desiring to commit criminal acts. In addition; adding a mandatory course to our school curriculum concerning Violence and Lawlessness and how it affects not just the victim and their family but also the perpetrators family and the community as a whole, while inviting guest speakers into the classroom to tell of their experiences with Violence and Lawlessness would have immeasurable effects on preventing root of crime.

C. Finding new ways of creating revenue for our City can be done again through collaborating and soliciting ideas. I have several that have been proposed to me but I do not feel that they are a solution yet but rather viable “last resorts”. We can maximize our collection of fines and moving violations and maximize our share of the revenues from such. This would require lobbying the State. We can ask for emergency funds to help with crime. This is not to mention the $millions that our CFO has stashed away in investments but is reluctant to use. I should note; that I spent 3.5 hours with our CFO, Mr. Condon studying our City budget and I have learned a little something by running an $11 million retail store over the years.

D. We need to start the New Year and the New Council by pledging to stall the continuing march on raising property taxes every year. I pledge to never vote for a tax hike while on our City Council. I will never vote for a budget that contains a tax hike without the consent of the people. (I don’t envision that happening) We need to force the hand of Aquaria and throw that Desalination Plant, contract away. Power Plant notwithstanding, it will bring us $6.2 million and let us begin the road to putting that fiasco behind us. We can then start anew to plan for a back-up water source and perhaps a power source that will benefit Brockton by helping to lower our electric bills.

 E. The Stonehill contract needs to be settled ASAP….Dragged out negotiating? It’s getting nowhere and still costing us money with each passing day. And the Rox Stadium and the Conference Center should be sold to private investors.

 F. We need to begin cutting back on subsidized housing and the construction of such. As compassionate as it is, Brockton has done its share and it is sucking the life force from our City. We need to rebound and grow economically and community-wise before taking on any more affordable housing units. Truth be told; the waiting list for these units will never subside but will only continue to grow if we continue to embrace, this situation. Our hearts bleed for these people as we all should, but it’s time for other surrounding communities to step up to the plate and to share in the burden of this compassionate effort.

 ***These were a few of my ideas and the ideas of others who have expressed their thoughts to me. I will continue to post more as they come along. We need to promote more community participation and I will encourage your participation when I am elected by expanding interactive social media and having more face to face meetings with our citizens.

 God Bless all our many and various religious and civic organizations.

Paul Beckner

WWW.PAULBECKNER.COM

Carpenter announces his plan to fight crime, telling residents that "Help is on the way."

http://billcarpenterformayor.com

BROCKTON -- Mayoral candidate Bill Carpenter unveiled his 10-point "Brockton Fights Back" crime-fighting plan to restore safe neighborhoods to the City of Brockton, today telling beleaguered Brockton residents that, "Help is on the way."
"The City of Brockton is at a crossroads. We will either roll over and let the criminals take control of our city or we will fight back. I choose to fight back!" said Carpenter. "We will take back our neighborhoods, block by block."
At the heart of the Carpenter 10-point plan is the following:
1. Relentless Pursuit: We will relentlessly, aggressively pursue, remove and prosecute every gang member, thug, pimp and drug dealer in the City of Brockton.
2. Saturated Enforcement: Increase police presence using motorcycle patrols and deploy traffic units to conduct motor vehicle stops in high gang/high crime areas. Utilize every available resource to take back control of the city.
3. Counter-Insurgency Techniques: Adopt counter-insurgency tactics, similar to those used by the U.S. Military in Iraq, to identify and remove urban terrorists from our neighborhoods.
4. Community Police: Every Brockton Police Officer will be a Community Police Officer, working within the community to establish a partnership with the residents of Brockton to fight crime in every neighborhood.
5. Community Involvement: Establish a Street Leader Program, Neighborhood Walks, and distribute materials to residents in multiple languages. Re-launch and promote a “Text a Tip” program, for anonymous reporting of information to police.
6. Police Hiring Plan: Create an aggressive hiring plan to increase the size of the Brockton PD. Proactive Policing will require more “boots on the ground”.
7. Quality of Life: Utilize City Ordinances to conduct Quality of Life Enforcement Campaigns in target neighborhoods. Enforce Loitering, Public Drinking, and Noise Ordinances. Apply the City’s Nuisance Ordinance to remove graffiti, junk vehicles and secure and clean up abandoned homes.
8. Drug Court: Work with State and County leaders to establish a Plymouth County Drug Court in Brockton. 90% of property crime is committed by people stealing to support a drug/alcohol addiction.
9. Community Forums/Programs: Establish regular community forums, meet with civic associations, faith-based groups and newly organized neighborhood associations. Develop & expand community based programs geared toward young people at risk.
10. G.R.E.A.T Program: Re-implement the G.R.E.A.T Program (Gang Resistance Education & Training) in the Brockton Public Schools as the first step in implementing anti-gang and anti-drug curriculum into our Middle and Elementary schools.
Carpenter also announced on Thursday that former Boston Police Deputy Superintendent Robert Hayden, has joined the campaign as his Special Advisor on Public Safety. Hayden is credited with creating Boston's first city-wide anti-crime gang unit. Hayden is also the former police chief in the City of Lawrence. He also served as Under-Secretary of Public Safety within the administration of the late Governor Paul Cellucci.
"The essence of any successful crime plan is to be relentless," said Hayden. "It is relentless pressure on criminals 24/7. We do that by using every available resource to take control back of the city. You send the message to the criminal element that their actions will not be tolerated and they will be arrested and relocated to a jail cell."
While all the candidates for mayor in Brockton support putting more police officers on the street, Carpenter believes he is the only candidate who has put forth a financial plan to fund the additional boots on the ground.
"I will aggressively develop our water, sewer and electricity resources to generate the revenue necessary to provide real property tax relief and put 50 more police officers on Brockton’s streets." said Carpenter. "The Brockton Police Department is drastically understaffed and there has been no attempt by the Balzotti administration in the past four years to put more officers on the streets.”