Before I get into the budget information I wanted to take a minute to let the residents of Ward 2 and the city know about the events planned over the next week. Many of these events will be taking place throughout the new Ward 2 as we have extended the ward across the new Great River Bridge along North Elm Street and up to Notre Dame Street on the lower side. The events start Thursday with a Farmer’s Market that will open at 1:30 p.m. and go until 5:30 p.m., located outside on the lawn of the Church of the Atonement at 36 Court Street. The celebration continues starting at noon on Friday in the North Side Bridge parking lot across from the Pilgrim Candle, where free hot dogs will be grilled and served by North Elm Butcher Block; while Nick from Elm Pizza will be selling pizza and beer; the Fruit Palace will be selling fresh fruit; and Gilte Phyls will be offering cookies, snacks & confections for sale. Maple Brook Alpacas will be selling gifts, Mama Cakes will be selling cupcakes, and Miss Sweets will be selling homemade fudge, ice cream sandwiches and beverages. Other vendors and groups with information will include Noble Hospital, Westfield Business Improvement District (BID), Westfield on Weekends, Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail, Children’s Learning World, Amelia Park Children’s Museum, Westfield Food Pantry seeking canned good donations, Westfield State University, Whip City Candle and Westfield Whip, selling bottled water. From 2:30 – 3:30 on Friday, Governor Deval Patrick will commence the dedication of the bridge project from the south side park area where musical performances are scheduled by Katherine Kalill and the Westfield State University Faculty Jazz Quartet, while cake will be served compliments of Gilte Phyls. From 3:30 to 6:30 the Boot Hill Band will be performing on the north side of the bridges in the park, while the merchants will again be open for business, as described above. After the dedication, many of our downtown businesses will join in the celebration from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. with an open house and scavenger hunt. The merchants will include Ezra’s Mercantile, Flowers by Webster, Gaslight Gallery, George’s Jewelers, Glitz, Glamour & Elegance, Mina’s Wine & Spirits, My Favorite Place, Seat Weaver, Vivid Hair Salon and World Peace Beads. In addition, many of our area restaurants have joined in and will be offering meals and drinks with the celebration theme. They include, Emma’s Everyday Gourmet, Paddy’s Irish Pub, Santiago’s, School Street Bistro and the Tavern Restaurant. As you can see, we will be celebrating the completion of the bridge project and soon we will be celebrating the completion of the new Park Square and the Broad Street, Elm Street and Main Street projects as well. Ward 2 is the host of an awesome new downtown area for both the merchants and our residents.
On to the budget, as it is that time of the year. Here is the message that we have to get out to the taxpayers: every year the Finance Subcommittee of the Council meets and puts in many hours with a line by line review of the Mayor’s proposed budget during the month of June. These meetings are attended by the individual department heads and their board/commission members, along with some councilors and very few citizens. It is during this process that the citizens should be involved in letting the councilors know how they feel, what projects they support, what cuts in services they would like to see or could live with, and what other concerns they have. It is important to understand that the system of setting the budget is in actuality setting the tax rate. Many of the city’s hardworking homeowners wait until November, when the tax rates are set, to complain about increases, when they should be talking about that this month, as we finalize the budget. There are some things that we can do between June and November, which include reviewing our free cash, after the state certifies it, and asking that the Mayor consider returning some of it to the taxpayers as a form of tax relief, which has happened in the past. This, depending on the amount of free cash, will reduce the tax increase but make no mistake about it, the current budget being reviewed by the Council takes the full increase allowed under the provisions of Proposition 2 ½ and includes the growth that occurred in the city tax base over the last year.
At this past Thursday night’s regular Council meeting we also received a motion from Councilor Dave Flaherty to consider a 2 ½ override vote this November that would authorize an additional $2.5 million dollars to be raised and directed to the Westfield Public School System, in addition to their current budget request of just over $55 million. As Chairman of the Legislative & Ordinance Committee, we now have the motion in our hands to review and determine the mechanism that would make this possible to place before the voters in November.
The Council Finance Subcommittee will be meeting Monday night at 6:30 p.m. in Room 206 of City Hall to debate their proposed cuts to the budget, which will be followed by the Council as a Committee of the Whole conducting a review of the budget for potential cuts on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and will conclude with the final budget review and vote by the Council in a formal session on Wednesday starting at 6:30 p.m.. This is when you should reach out to your councilor by ward, or any of the At-large councilor, and let them know how you feel about the budget.
Please try to join us for the celebrations at the bridge parks and downtown areas. Support our downtown merchants, so that they know the investment they have made is appreciated and that we support them.
Thank you,
Jim Brown
Ward 2 City Councilor
