Council Candidate Emmershy makes his case.
As election day fast approaches, there are many things to keep in mind. When I decided to run, I did not take it lightly. As a Husband, father of two young boys, and a small business owner, I understand the struggles we are all facing. The core issues I see effecting our city are taxes, schools, infrastructure, and transparency. In my time knocking on doors, I have visited thousands of households. There isn’t a corner of the city that I haven’t visited. In doing so I have come across people from all walks of life, many willing to share their views on the short comings in our city. Interestingly it has also allowed me to meet with our city employees from almost every department.
I’ll identify the areas that are of greatest importance and greatest contrast. Our water has been a hot topic. What I found interesting is that Monday night at the Forum, Councilors and Candidates buckled down that our water is “safe”. I was asked my position on the matter and I stated the we should be doing more. If you look back, you’ll find that PFOA and PFOS pollutants didn’t just appear. The EPA lowered the allowable levels. At that time wells 7 & 8 were taken offline in December ’15 and January ’16 respectively, with private well owners being notified in excess of one year later.
The bond for this project was only authorized about a month ago, and they have yet to break ground. This has led to wells 1 & 2 drawing excessive water from the same aquifer. These wells are also contaminated, to a lesser extent and will require filtration in the future. It is my belief that our water is something that cannot be left to chance. Our city has a duty to all residents to resolve this issue ASAP and to seek reimbursement after the fact. We are only on step 2 of a 4 step process for federal and state aid. We simply continue to put our water in jeopardy while we wait for resolution.
The next issue we face is the ever increasing property taxes. While other will lead you to believe that these excessive increases are necessary, I disagree. Presently our commercial tax rate is 7th in the entire state. Our businesses make up 16% of the property valuation in the city, yet they pay 28% of the total tax revenue. The bulk of these properties are our local businesses. If we are going to control our tax burden long term, we need to become more business friendly. Home owners are also struggling. From the single parent households to the elderly on fixed incomes, the tax issue is not isolated to one segment of the residents. Westfield continues to spend far more than it takes in. On average we have been spending $3-4 million more every year than we take in. This is not sustainable and is reflective in your tax bills. This is why we have seen these increases and it must stop.
We are currently less than 12% away from the Prop 2 ½ Levy. The Mayor proposed a budget that would have brought us less than 6% from the Levy. There’s now political wrangling to try and protect Councilors who have passed these irresponsible budgets. While I agree we need to do everything possible to lessen the tax burden. I want to point out the fact that not $1 of the $1.57 million proposed reduction in the tax increase is through actual cuts. Nothing is being done to control even a single dollar of spending. This is simply a band aid political move that until the spending is addressed, will rear its ugly head head and continue us on our tax and spend ways.
If we continue down this path, we will be hitting the Levy in a few years. Granted after they increase our property taxes almost 12% they’ll be cut off from increasing them any further. This would put us in a situation like Holyoke, where they are laying off Police and Fire Fighters, along with browning out fire trucks. One thing that stands out in my mind is the New Years day fire. Do we want to tax residents to the max and then start cutting services because of irresponsible spending?
Even worse, if we hit the Levy some Councilors point out they could get an over-ride. They could, if (and it’s a big if) the voters approved that. Quite frankly I do not see that happening. Even if it was to happen, there is only $4-5 million between the Levy and the Ceiling. This is to be use for large expenses like building schools and fire trucks, it cannot be used for daily operating expenses like utilities and payroll. In the case of Pittsfield this year, they hit their Levy ceiling. This resulted in the loss of 73 teachers and paras. The Berkshire Eagle covered this extensively and provides some great insight as to what happens when you hit the Levy and the Ceiling.
I have been calling for fiscal control for years at City Council and School Committee Meetings. At this point WEA President (Teachers union) Lori Lyncosky has engaged in a troubling miss information campaign. I have attempted to meet with her executive board to address the issues, only to be denied the right to correct the record and defend myself. What I find most troubling is that my focus is on the Administrative side of our schools, quite simply I want the money out of the Westwood building and put back in to our schools. Most recently Ms. Lyncosky has made it a point to change her statements yet again. In doing so she has made it a point to highlight her support for Councilor Dondley, who I couldn’t have any further views from. Attempting to sway an election on a stack of un-truths is disgraceful, at best. I have spoken with many teachers while knocking on doors, they truly know where I stand on these issues. Why is it leadership under Ms. Lyncosky continues to press this? If you tell un-truths long enough they still do not become the truth. Even more troubling is the desire to continue with the status quo until we are in the likes of Holyoke and Pittsfield.
I would like to restore fiscal control, accountability and transparence to our City government. If you have any questions feel free to give me a call at 413-250-5818, or email at [email protected]
I ask for your vote and support this coming Tuesday November 7th.
Matt Emmershy
