Inaugural Address 2010
Before we begin, I would like to ask all in attendance to take a moment of silence to honor the passing of Worcester Police Officer Mark Bisnette, who was a dedicated father, veteran and a valued member of the city family. I know I speak for all of us in offering our deepest condolences to his family, his friends and his co-workers. (Moment of silence) Thank you.
I want to start by thanking Congressman McGovern, Lt. Governor Murray, members of the State Delegation, City Manager Michael O'Brien, Superintendant Melinda Boone, members of the city family and all the members of the Worcester Community who have joined us here for tonight's inaugural event. On behalf of all of us on the City Council and School Committee, thank you for honoring us with your presence.
I also want to thank City Clerk David Rushford, John Brissette and the staff and students here at the Worcester Technical High School who helped put together this event and the reception that will follow.
Finally, I want to thank my new colleagues on the City Council and the School Committee for their willingness to serve in elected office in these difficult times. Thank you for your service to the people of Worcester. I look forwarding to working with you.
Why We are Here
We gather today in this wonderful building because this school represents so many things to our community.
First, Worcester's Technical High School celebrates our city's rich manufacturing history. It also represents our continued commitment as a community to provide a highly skilled workforce so that our businesses can compete in the world economy and this is a place where our young people can acquire the knowledge and skills needed to realize the American dream.
Second, this school serves as a powerful symbol of our commitment to public education and our belief that all of our young people should have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Finally, this school is a shining symbol of partnership, living proof that when we work together we can accomplish incredible things. The building of this school happened because of a powerful cooperative effort between our local and state government, the business community, our building trade unions, and leaders throughout our city who came together to construct the finest technical school in the country.
It is this kind of cooperation that we need to help our city come together to overcome our challenges and emerge stronger than ever. Tonight is one of those rare occasions when the necessary partners are together in one place the City Council and the School Committee, elected officials with the City Manager, the School Superintendent and their teams, leaders in government, business, labor, neighborhoods, non-profits and higher education and city residents. Looking around at this crowd, let's imagine what we could do for our city if we could really all work together over the next two years in a true spirit of partnership.
In the next term I believe that we must have the following priorities:
First, Jobs
We must redouble our efforts to create jobs and grow our commercial tax base. Today, thousands of people across our city have lost their jobs and countless more live in fear that the job they have today will be gone tomorrow. Over the next two years we need to bring together our business, academic and governmental leaders to build new partnerships to help our existing companies grow and to invest in the next generation of jobs in the energy, life science, biotechnology and healthcare sectors.
To support this effort, I will be working right away with the City Council and the City Manager to recruit a Working Group on Job Growth and Retention. Within six months, we will ask this group to develop a series of recommendations on tax incentives, tax rates, public investments and other policies to help existing business stay and grow and to attract new companies to locate here. At the same time, we on the City Council will work with the Manager to move forward a number of stalled major projects that will help put people to work and reinvigorate the local economy.
Second, Schools
I believe that the future of Worcester - its prosperity and its promise - largely depends on the future of its public schools. For generations, people from around the world have come to Worcester to build a new life, and our strong public schools have given their children and their children's children the skills and tools they needed to be successful. Now as we seek to compete in a global economy, attract investment and retain families, our goal should be to make Worcester the best urban school system in America. This will not be easy. In the short term, we must meet unprecedented budget challenges, use our limited resources efficiently and address the issue of underperforming schools. This alone will require a new level of cooperation between our schools, our unions, municipal, state and federal government and the entire community. At the same time, we need to expand our existing partnerships and build new ones. Over the next term, we must work together with our colleges and universities, our businesses, our non-profit community and all of our citizens to mobilize our talents to make Worcester synonymous with educational excellence, from our kindergartens through our colleges and universities.
Third, Neighborhoods
All of us in this room, whatever our politics, want to protect and improve Worcester's neighborhoods. We all believe that the quality of life in our city depends on the strength of its neighborhoods, the safety of its streets, and the collective commitment its people. Worcester's neighborhoods are more than just streets and sidewalks, parks and buildings-they are the heart of our city, and their residents are its lifeblood. That is why we need to make investments in police and fire services to ensure our neighborhoods are safe. That is why we must meet the challenge put forward by Congressman McGovern and Lt. Governor Murray through the Worcester Tree Initiative to plant 30,000 trees in five years. That is why we must work to find new resources to rebuild our sidewalks and to improve our neighborhood parks. That is why we must redouble our efforts to build community gardens and to improve our city's environment by fully implementing our climate action plan. And most importantly, that is why we must find new ways to engage our citizens so they have better access to information and can more fully participate in decisions that impact their neighborhoods.
Let Me Say a Little More About Participation
We have a great deal of work to do, but government cannot do it alone. We face great challenges, and to move the city forward we need everyone, I mean everyone, to participate in our civic life. During the election, we candidates talked to people from all sectors of Worcester. One common theme we heard from almost everywhere - from inner city sidewalks through well to do back yards to downtown offices - is that government doesn't care or doesn't matter. Far too many people tell us that their voices are not heard, their interests are not considered, their hopes and fears are not taken seriously. Whether its neighborhood people worried about safety, sidewalks and pools; or business people worried about taxes and regulation; or newcomers fighting to overcome sometimes bitter experiences of poverty and oppression, almost everyone feels left out.
If we believe, as I think we do, that everyone, really everyone, in Worcester shares responsibility for our community, then we have to invite people to become involved and we have to mean it. That means that we in government have to listen, but it also means that all of us in Worcester have to speak up. To make that happen, we must create new ways for people to take part in their government and to come together to do our public work. To start this process I will walk the neighborhoods and hold office hours throughout the city. I will ask people for their input and their experiences with city government. And then we must start a conversation with all our city residents about how we can better work together to improve our city.
This could not be more important. I pledge to work every day to enable all of us to share responsibility for Worcester's future. All of you are here tonight because you care, as I do, about Worcester. Please help us in city government find better ways to engage all our people in making Worcester work, for everyone.
Worcester is an incredible place to live and work. At times this seems like a secret we are afraid to share. I believe that we must all do a better job talking about what is good about our city: our rich heritage; our beautiful neighborhoods and parks; our wonderful colleges and universities; our great museums and restaurants; and our richly diverse and hardworking people. Worcester is a great city and I am honored to share with so many of you a new level of common responsibility for its public life. We know that if we work together, our best days lie ahead. Thank you for being here tonight, thank you for your commitment to our city, and thank you to the people of Worcester for inviting me to work with all of you.
