1.2.

19 - 2020 Inaugural

Thank you, reverend clergy, Judge Bibaud, Senator Markey, Congressman

Kennedy, elected officials, City Manager Augustus, Superintendent Binienda,

the Worcester community, honored guests on stage and of course my wife

Gayle and my children and family, for being here today.

This year’s campaign featured some of the most diverse and vibrant policy

discussions and debates. I want to thank everyone who participated in this

highest form of civic engagement. I want to recognize someone who is not

here, the longest serving School Committee member - Brian O’Connell - who

passed away a few months ago. His service to our city will always be

remembered.

I also want to recognize our second ever Poet Laureate Juan Matos and the

first ever Youth Poet Laureate Amina Mohammed.

Tonight is the time when we put behind us the differences that defined our

campaigns and our candidacies. Politics is built on competition but governing

is about consensus. Politics is about a promise, a promise of change and of

betterment, but governing is about progress and it is a process.

As we stand on the edge of a new decade, I know that our city is stronger than

ever. We did not get here by doing less, but doing more. Streets are safer due

to the work of the Worcester police, health services are provided to those who

need it, and programs are in place to help those who are hungry and

homeless.

We have much to be proud of in our city. It’s not just about a new ballpark or

the development in Kelley Square. These accomplishments are something to

be quite proud of but don’t define us. There are other changes that are just as

important: we’re creating a vibrant downtown with new housing and

restaurants. The City Square development is almost finished. The South

Worcester Industrial Park is filled. Flights from Worcester Airport happen

every day. After languishing for decades, the old courthouse is under

construction and we’re seeing the northern end of Main Street slowly coming

to life.

At moments like this, when things are going well, it’s important that we focus

on the building blocks of the future. Long before the idea of a ball park

became a reality, we started looking at our three-decker housing stock,

investing and developing more affordable housing, stabilizing our

neighborhoods, and investing in our parks and school facilities. This is the

work that is before us. Though it may be the large scale developments that

generate news and excitement, it is the SLOW work of improving our

neighborhoods, our schools and our city which moves our city forward.

This is about a generational promise to the future of our city; setting in place

the building blocks of the next generation. That is why we are building new

schools, why we have the highest bond rating and the largest unused tax levy

in our city’s history. The work we do is a process and we move forward

together.

For all the work that we do as a city it is imperative that we move forward in a

data-informed manner, measuring results and adjusting policies over-time if

we are not meeting our goals.

With the new Office of Urban Innovation we should begin with a data audit for

our internal systems and analyze current digitalized information to create a

better understanding of the state of our city. Every call to customer service,
every building permit, every suspension of a student should be quantified and

shown – transparency is essential.

To assist in this endeavor, I will ask the City Manager to implement a 24-hour

Customer Service Center to be more responsive to residents and businesses.

We must demonstrate our work to the larger community, to researchers and

to the residents of Worcester so we can provide a better understanding of the

tactics and strategies that are implemented. We must be held accountable.

I hear the rising chorus of gentrification, of rising rents that come with rising

home prices, and we should address them. As part of the Housing Now

Initiative that we announced a month ago, we called for the formation of the

Advisory Committee on Housing. We will examine housing options for all of

our residents, renters, and home owners in neighborhoods.

We will examine our housing stock for patterns of neglect, foreclosures and

code violations, and focus our city’s resources on those neighborhoods and

properties most in need. We will work together to address issues and work

with our State Legislature to develop tools and secure resources that

currently do not exist.

Moving forward, we need to create a city that will embrace the challenges of

the 21st century.

We will continue to review our public health policies within the community to

address issues such as the opioid crisis, mental health issues, sexual education

deficiencies and homelessness.

When we talk about a cleaner city and cleaner neighborhoods, a more eco-

friendly city, this extends into many areas. We have seen the success our City

has experienced through investments in green technologies and renewable

energies. We have one of the largest municipal solar arrays of any city in

Massachusetts. These investments bring successes and I want the City

Manager to bring to the council a sustainability program that makes

Worcester the greenest city in America. I have created a new city council

subcommittee to deal with the concerns of environmental issues. For

example, at the last City Council session, we banned single use plastic bags

which are a good starting point for this coming decade.

Sustainability and environmental resilience relates to the way our population

moves around the city and the state of the WRTA. We must better utilize the

WRTA system to determine how we will encourage more public

transportation use in our city and safer bike and pedestrian travel. This will

help reduce our carbon footprint.

We also need to address and enforce issues like code violation and illegal

dumping. We are investing in our city, our parks and our street-scapes so we

must also invest in improving our trash and recycling programs to keep our

neighborhoods clean. I will be asking the City Manager to reintroduce his plan

to clean up our city and increase the monitoring and enforcement of illegal

dumping.

As Worcester has become a cultural destination for many, we still need to do

more. The city has embarked on ambitious programs to create urban art. The

most notable of these is the murals created by Pow Wow.

What our city has in murals, we lack in public sculpture. Art in the Park at Elm

Park is a great addition to the cityscape, but we need something more

permanent such as an ART PARK and public sculptures and I’d like to see that

project move forward in one of our parks or open spaces.

When we reexamine our city facilities as part of a larger community use, we

need to examine how we are utilizing them at the city, state, and federal level.

Even as we are building two new high schools, we need to examine other

public facilities and spaces to see if they are being utilized to the highest and

best levels.

Parks like Foley Stadium and Duffy Field need to be renovated and improved

not just for the use of our schools but for outside organizations like the

Worcester World Cup or the Worcester Rugby Club. These events build

community and enrich our entire city.

For myself, I see the DPW yard in the heart of Shrewsbury Street as a key

opportunity to continue the economic development in that commercial

corridor in the coming years. I will be convening a committee of business and

neighborhood leaders to work with the city administration to identify a new

location for our Public Works offices and facilities. This will give our city a

chance to modernize operations, serve our constituents and free up the

Albany Street garage space and East Worcester Street DPW buildings for

future development.

One of my goals since I started public office was to invest in the Worcester

school system, infrastructure, and public education of our children. Much

of the future of our city’s successes begins in the classroom. Currently,

we are in the process of building two new high schools and I expect that they

will come in on-time and under-budget just as Nelson Place Elementary

School did. This is not a process where we can stand still. With forty-four

school facilities we must always be investing and looking towards the future

needs of our children, our city and our economy as a whole. Going forward I

will continue to advocate for a new Burncoat High School and Worcester East

Middle School in the coming years.

As we start this new term, I am particularly proud of the part Worcester

played in getting the new Student Opportunity Act passed and signed into law.

As the Worcester School Committee begins work on next year’s budget, the

additional funding planned by the Act will allow us to do more to meet the

needs of all of Worcester’s students. This additional funding will be

instrumental in addressing all our students’ diverse backgrounds and educate

the whole child.

Whatever their needs are, whatever language they speak at home, whatever

race or ethnicity or gender or identity our students are, they are OUR

students. As the mayor of the city and the chair of the Worcester School

Committee, I commit to the Worcester Public Schools being fair and equitable

in supporting every one of our students. It is critical that the spending of new

funding reflect all the needs of our students, our schools, and our community.

I call upon the elected officials, School administrators, Community Leaders

and Worcester residents to work together to set strategic goals, and provide

clear metrics for our schools. As chair of the Worcester School Committee, I

will be working with our state association to organize a retreat with the

School Committee to identify strategies and approaches for handling the

continuous changing social economic environment of the urban cities and

public education. I will also be appointing a School Committee task force to

assist in the review of the School Committee rules and agenda format. Prior to

the Worcester Public Schools’ administration proposing a budget this spring,

the Finance and Operations subcommittee will hold multiple budget hearings
across the city to ensure that all of Worcester’s voices are heard. We will

incorporate tools and resources to closely track and monitor progress and use

of these funds to ensure positive and effective outcomes in our educational

process.

Another important part of education is health awareness. In this term we will

enact a comprehensive, age-appropriate sex education curriculum. I will also

propose that we use the additional funding to create additional health

educators in the Worcester public schools.

In closing, I have stood on this stage every two years since 1998 and sworn an

oath to uphold the Constitution and to serve the people of Worcester. Just as

in 1998 the work before us is great and it remains an honor to serve.

I am proud to be the Mayor of the City of Worcester and I would be remiss, if I

did not mention those who make my job easier and our city better. These are

the fine men and women who work for our city. Our city workers have

experienced great highs and great sorrow this year. From the DPW workers

who saved a child’s life, Peter Lamoureaux and Daniel Patenaude are here

tonight, to Fire Lieutenant Jason Menard who lost his life.

Fire Chief Michael Lavoie is here tonight. He has persevered and has shown

great leadership. RECOGNIZE CHIEF LAVOIE. I also want to recognize the

countless unnamed police officers who keep us safe, the DPW workers who

keep our city clean and the teachers and principals in the schools who educate

our children and the city employees.

We honor and thank you, though your talents many sometime go

unrecognized. We need to study the City’s human capital, focus on retaining

talented staff and review our work culture and benefits so we do not lose you

to our private counterparts.

Though our city has changed, I still feel the same way I did the first time I took

the oath of office: a lucky kid from Worcester.

I am still that same kid from Webster Square, the fry cook from Big Boy’s

restaurant, your kid’s little league coach, your city councilor, your mayor, and

most importantly the husband to an amazing woman and the father to three

beautiful children.
I am still ready to do the work of the people that I have been honored to do for

twenty-two years and I am humbled to have you stand this council and school

committee, and with me.