Waterfront....again and again

The most depressing thing about being a candidate is that you find ample evidence of the old canard "The more things change, the more they stay the same." I came across this headline in the Daily News: "Design of Park Plan is Shown".....October 15, 1999. Cecil Group was involved then too.

Maybe it can happen now: we can create and maintain a waterfront public resource.

As reported in today's Daily News which you can find on your porch this morning or online at www.newburyportnews.com, the Newburyport Redevelopment Authority will be hosting a forum at 6PM, Wednesday October 24th at City Hall. This is an opportunity for the public to give its input into the 'what' question: What do we want to do on the waterfront park?

If you see me slipping out early, it will be because I'm on my way to the Newburyport Mothers Club Candidate Forum.

Here's one of my votes for the waterfront: a skating rink. Call me crazy but I think it would be a way to draw people down there during the winter. If you've been to Boston Common anytime in the past 5 years and seen the year-round Frog Pond and skating rink, you'll see what I mean. At a 'coffee' the other night, a Ward 4 voter talked about a public skating rink she had seen in Newport, RI. Not to take away from the outdoor skating at the Bartlett Mall, but I think it would be great if you had a little cafe for hot drinks and a place to rent skates.

Tom Salemi has an interesting post today about the waterfront and Mary Baker has many many great commentaries on her blog. A great resource for 'public spaces' is here.

Bring your ideas. Remember we need to pay for all this, which I think is eminently doable without breaking City finances.

Or we can all meet in 2015 and hash this out yet again.

Ed Cameron

Newburyport to Wealth is like Red Sox to Offense

I went to the educational funding forum at the Nock Middle School on last Wednesday night, sponsored by the task force which is looking at ways to fund our public schools.

Featuring an excellent presentation by Dr. Ralph Orlando which really helped to de-mystify the State's educational funding formula AKA Chapter 70 and active facilitation by Dick Sullivan Jr, the bottom line is that the City should not expect the State and Federal government to solve our educational funding crisis anytime soon.

You can find Dr. Orlando's presentation here and the Newburyport Current article here.

I believe all School Committee candidates were there. Current member and candidate Bruce Menin's thoughts on the forum are here.

"Wealth" (ie property values and income) in Newburyport was a point of discussion. And when you look at all the relevant state statistics (ie the State pulls all the property assessment data and they strip the numbers off our State income tax forms, so it's pretty accurate), it is true we are a wealthy community on AVERAGE and by MEDIAN.

But if I stuck my left foot in a bucket of ice water and I stuck my right foot in boiling hot water, on average I'd be feeling pretty good.

Look at it another way. The Red Sox were 3rd in the American League in runs scored in 2007, a very good offensive team. However, we still had our Julio Lugos and JD Drews bringing up the rear in the regular season.

So yes, we're a wealthy community when you look at the average and the median compared to the rest of Massachusetts. But when you ask those on the lower end of that average wealth to pay more in taxes when they're already tapped, you will hear them scream like they stuck a foot in boiling water.

I don't blame them. Elected officials (and those hoping to be elected officials) ought to take these constituents' needs into account and find ways for tax fairness while at the same time we try to prevent our schools from being decimated again next fiscal year.

Ed Cameron

Stephen Karp, Norman Leventhal, and Development

Please check out an excellent post at the blog of my neighbor (full disclosure: friend and fellow Red Sox nut) Tom Salemi at www.tomsalemi.blogspot.com. Tom has found a video of a recent interview done with Mr. Karp on Nantucket. Although Mr. Karp was referencing Nantucket, the phrase "high-end consumer" stuck out for me.

And although I'm not a journalist like Tom, I did a little digging of my own at the Sec of State's database of the Corporations Division.

When you get to the search page, check Search by an Individual, then punch in "Stephen" for first name and "Karp" for last name.

You'll either be really impressed or really scared or maybe both. The man's been busy and not just in Nantucket and Newburyport....

All this talk of developers made me recall an interview in the Boston Globe Magazine with 90 year old Norman Leventhal, a man who created many outstanding Boston landmarks including Post Office Square which is a tremendous example of a successful public-private partnership.

Thinking of our own park/parking squabbles over our waterfront, I particularly loved this from the interview:

Q: Should the New England Patriots stadium have gone down on the waterfront, as was once proposed?

Leventhal: Idiotic! You don’t do that with the waterfront. The waterfront is too valuable.

One last comment about the waterfront: I recently stumbled upon a great website for the Project for Public Spaces. In particular, they have a great writeup on How to Turn Waterfronts Around.

You will find it interesting, I'm sure!

Respectfully,

Ed Cameron

Signs, Signs, Signs...

With activists like this... Newburyport's future is very bright!!!!

Left to Right: Future 2021 Mayoral Candidates Kelly Kane, 'Baby' (lower middle), Anna Cameron

Senior Center---Why, Where, and How

The most important and interesting aspect of campaigning door-to-door is simply asking voters what’s on their minds. Sometimes the answers are not what you expect.

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 -- I also have courageous stands on other controversial topics such as the Red Sox, the American flag, and Mom's apple pie -- a question I often get asked back is “How are we going to pay for it?” In fact, this is the best response a voter can give to any promises by a politician or candidate.

At the risk of touching another one of Newburyport’s third rails, I offer these thoughts.

Why Do We Need One and Where?

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, Amesbury is building one as part of a transportation center (good idea!), and Newbury is looking to incorporate a new senior center into the Little River Transit Village.

Newburyport has been talking about this for years with sites ranging from the Armory on Low Street, the waterfront, and Cushing Park which has emerged as the preferred site under Mayors Clancy and Moak.

I think Cushing Park, while not perfect, is a viable site:

1) it is centrally located, some seniors will be able to walk there. While it is not close to senior housing located downtown, it is closer to senior housing located at Horton Terrace.

2) the City owns the land, lowering overall cost. Site control is key to any development project.

3) it can fit into the neighborhood and I would say this if I lived right there on Kent Street. It will look better than what is there now—a dilapidated parking lot. Snow emergency parking needs can be met by allowing parking on a designated side of a street.

How Do We Pay For It?

The cost of construction will be $5 million. On going operating costs will be similar to what is spent now, since many of these services are already delivered in multiple sites. I think we could also generate revenue by renting out conference space in a way that doesn't impact senior activities or the neighborhood.

Obviously, the City doesn't have $5 million tucked under the mattress. Cost of construction will need to be covered by a mix of fundraising, City and State funds (House Speaker Sal Dimasi pledged $600,000 in October 2004 according to the Octobe 8, 2004 Daily News), and we should also work with our U.S Senators and Congressman Tierney for assistance.

The excerpt below spells it out. According to the Daily News article “Moak begins process for senior center in Cushing Park” (March 8, 2007):

The mayor said once Cushing Park is set as the place for the senior center , the design process can continue, which will allow estimates and concept designs to be finished.

And with those documents in hand, Moak said, he can start a fundraising campaign to help pay for the center, which will decrease the direct cost to the city's taxpayers.

"It may be down the road a while before we ever get to this. But I have to find a location, because we can't do a design of the building until we have a location," Moak said. "And we can't begin to look for money through state or federal grants or local fundraising until we get a design."

The mayor has pushed for months to make Cushing Park the location of the senior center, which is estimated to cost $5 million. At the park now is a small playground and a large parking lot, used mostly by residents during snow emergencies. A senior center would eliminate some of that parking but preserve the playground.

Moak said there should be no concern about this project taking money away from this year's budget process. He said this represents the first step in a long process.

"I'm just getting it in line," he said. "This is not a competition of any money this year or even next fall."

The mayor said he is keeping the center on his horizon because during the last 12 years serving as mayor and city clerk, the need of a senior center has yet to be met. Doing this now, he said, is a way to keep the process moving.

The entire article can be found in the Daily News online archives at www.newburyportnews.com.

I share the Mayor’s position on the Senior Center as do many current Councillors and candidates and many many seniors. Let’s keep the process moving. I’m 45 years old and I’d like to see it built while I’m still around.

Development--Tourists, Visit Us and Leave Your Car Behind

Why can't we do this in Newburyport? The blurb below (with a beautiful beach photo which I can't seem to import) is rotating on the homepage of www.mbta.com:

Escape to the beach with your bike through Columbus Day Weekend!

Our special Summer Weekend commuter rail has been so popular, we're extending service through October 8th, 2007. This handy short cut to the shore takes you and your bike from North Station to North Shore beaches for only $15.50 round trip. Our specially equipped Rockport Line Bike Coach accommodates 39 bikes and 42 passengers!

View Rockport Line Bike Coach schedule.

Read additional information about taking your bike on the T.

Personally, there are two types of people in the world I don't like: Yankee fans and tourists.

In both dislikes, I feel somewhat conflicted. As to the Yankees, I had the great fortune to marry a wonderful woman from Connecticut, who like her 4 grandparents, is a very devout Red Sox fan. Unfortunately, her parents (my in-laws) and her brothers (my brothers-in-law) pray to the pinstripes. Up until the 2004 World Series, this was a problem, but now we're doing okay.

As to tourists, I confess to being one myself. I've set foot in 41 of the 50 states, I've biked from San Francisco to LA, I've been to Scotland, England, France, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Denmark, Czech Republic, Belgium, Holland, China, Japan, Guatemala, Mexico, and Canada. I traveled so widely that my father, a Navy vet with politics somewhat to the right of Archie Bunker, was sure that I must be working for the CIA. Nope, I just like seeing places old and new.

I personally like being a tourist here in my own hometown, especially when there are few other tourists around.

I like what tourists' money can do for our local businesses. So I say, dear tourist, visit Newburyport, leave the car at home, use our bike paths which have caused so much local distress, go to our beloved Plum Island, spend your money, and keep our economy going.

Rockport? Let's talk to the MBTA and get our own promotion next year!

Development

My guiding principle on development is that the public interest needs to be valued both short and long term. Public interest requires a vital, sustainable local economy both downtown and in our industrial areas that strengthens our tax base and provides jobs to local residents.

On the 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.

Parking 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.

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.

The Waterfront includes further up the river into Ward 4. We need a City Councillor who will monitor the upcoming Towle Riverwalk Condominiums project and who will push for more public access along the river.

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.'

In the Neighborhoods…
I am in favor of the ‘infill’ ordinance passed by the City Council 10-1 in December of 2006 which balanced neighbors’ concerns with individual property rights. That ordinance did not prevent all future 'infill' nor am I in favor of banning 'infill' altogether. As many citizens have stated, "There is good infill and bad infill." That ordinance was rigorously discussed at the time, the community bought into it, and struck a good balance.

Senior Center…
It’s long overdue, every other local community has one, and we need to move ahead. Mayor Moak has proposed a site which needs to be considered carefully by the Council. Any more delay is not acceptable.

Each of these topics is obviously lots more complicated! I'd welcome your comments.

Transparency and Communication

Now that the preliminary election for Mayor is over, we've reached the end of the beginning of this election cycle. As we ponder the meaning of low turnout --is it contentment? is it apathy?-- I wonder why we can't do a better job of notifying the voters that the election is coming up.

Yes, I know the signs and the enthusiastic signholders were a dead giveaway. I know there was a debate. I know the Daily News and the Current have been writing about it. I know Newburyport blogger Mary Baker at www.marybakerart.com/newburyport has been performing yeowoman's work encouraging participation.

But I also know that many voters I've talked to as I walk around Ward 4 weren't quite sure when the preliminary was being held.

Maybe they saw the names on the signs but figured it was a ways away. Maybe they were part of the crowd that was turned away from the debate at the Firehouse after the capacity of 195 was reached; maybe they were Comcast customers who found the taped version of the debate incredibly hard to hear with garbled audio. Maybe they don't get the Daily News or choose to leave the free Current on their doorsteps for weeks. Maybe they don't have access to the internet to look these things up.

Many local governments in Massachusetts publicize the date of upcoming elections with signs in crosswalks and banners proudly displayed. Why can't we do that? Maybe we'd get a few more voters.

With those post-preliminary thoughts behind me, I offer a few modest suggestions.

Transparency and Communication

Many citizens are 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.

For example, if you want to look up the Fiscal Year 2007 budget, I invite you to look at the City’s website at www.cityofnewburyport.com where you won’t find it (although several months ago I did find the FY 04 budget) or you may go to the Newburyport Public Library where you will find one copy in the 2^nd floor reference section. Or you can go to City Hall if you can remember which night it's open late (that would be Thursday.)

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 important and not necessarily more expensive than what we’re paying already. In fact it might save us money while providing a better customer/citizen experience through on-line transactions. In fact, earlier 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/

- Tolland: http://tolland-ma.gov

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.

We also need better communication, back and forth between the public and elected officials. If am elected to represent the people of Ward 4 on the City Council, I pledge to hold at least one community meeting each month in places that are accessible to everyone in the Ward especially seniors. I also pledge to communicate with all residents in Ward 4 on a monthly basis either through email, my website, or through regular mail if a voter doesn’t have internet access. If elected, you’ll have my cell phone number and my email address and you will be encouraged to communicate with me on all matters great and small.

Education and Daniel Webster

And now, dear reader, today’s history lesson is from one of Massachusetts’ greatest citizens. 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.

In public school and later at college, I had always been interested in data about countries, states, and cities. I had always read in encyclopedias that the United States had a literacy rate of 99%, right up there with Switzerland, Japan, and the Soviet Union. When I became an adult working at the Pine Street Inn shelter in Boston, I was shocked to find the reality. Filling out forms and applications with people who couldn’t read them was more telling than a statistic in an encyclopedia. And later in other jobs with other clients, I found the same illiteracy and the same correlation: a poor education means no future.

Now I’m not taking the leap that Newburyport students are going to live in homeless shelters if classes sizes continue to rise, if teaching positions continue to be cut, if foreign language instruction continues to be foreign to elementary and middle school classrooms, and if sports, arts, music, and transportation are only available to those whose parents can afford them.

What I am saying is that right now – in this era of globalization, of rapid technological change, of economic and climactic uncertainty – in our little corner of the world we need to come together to find ways to support education. And we need to do that in ways that are not injurious to those taxpayers living on fixed income or little income.

During the campaign, I’ll be talking about my ideas for how we get there as a community and I would very much like to learn your ideas.

Candidate with Junior and Senior Advisors

HANGING BY A THREAD--WAGES IN MASSACHUSETTS STILL BELOW 2003 LEVEL

A new report by the nonpartisan Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MBPC) reconfirms the obvious -- incomes have not kept up with increases in housing expense, utilities expense and property taxes. Although there was an increase in the Massachusetts median wage in 2006, we still lag behind the wage level from 2003. Besides less money in our pockets, the consequences of the flat incomes of this decade have been less State revenue, hence less local aid and, yep you guessed it, higher property taxes.

As I've been knocking on doors of Ward 4 this summer, I've talked to more than a few families who, in their own words, are 'hanging by a thread' to stay in Newburyport. In some cases, folks are talking about the increases over the last several years in property taxes. In other cases, folks are talking about the quality of the public schools.

Over Labor Day weekend, I met two households on Howard Street whose situations illustrate the pressures. For a retired couple with a fixed income, property taxes are the main issue in this campaign. For a younger couple at the other end of the street, schools are the most important issue and at the same time they too are feeling the pinch (or perhaps vise-grip is a better analogy) of local property taxes.

To me, lowering reliance on the property tax and providing for an excellent public education experience are not mutually exclusive. Every municipality in Massachusetts is dealing with these problems. Each community needs to find its own path and that path needs to include finding efficiencies and reducing expenses in all areas of municipal governance, making the property tax less burdensome to households on fixed incomes by increasing utilization of certain exemptions, and a common plea from all 351 cities and towns for more State assistance, particularly for education where locally controlled school districts struggle under well-intended yet under-funded State and Federal mandates.

Oh, if you're thinking of moving/escaping to New Hampshire, remember they have local AND State property taxes---the 3rd highest property taxes in the Nation. Massachusetts 'only' ranks 9th. Their meals tax is 8% instead of our 5%. The grass isn't always greener...

The wage report and other informative publications are available on MBPC's web site, www.massbudget.org.