“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…” Those are the words of Charles Dickens from his wonderful novel “A Tale of Two Cities”. For some reason they popped into my head as I was preparing to write this city councilor update article.
This week, the city council voted 11-2 to give Prolamina a tax cut incentive worth over $600,000. I voted against it, and spoke out and wrote articles explaining my concerns. Prolamina is a great local company that employs a lot of people. They are a leader in their field, and a business we should all be proud to have in town. My vote was not against the company, or their employees, or their future employees. I voted the way I did because I don’t think the city can afford it. I was rather long-winded in my discussion during the council meeting, but I’d like to credit Councilor Keefe with his direct and very clear statement about what this really is – a tax transfer from Prolamina to everyone else in town. The levy limit and taxes won’t be “cut” with this vote, it’s just that Prolamina will pay less, and everyone else will pay more. Even with that very clear statement, the majority of councilors voted to approve the measure in order to save the threatened 256 jobs. I understand their concerns, but I’m also concerned about all of the other taxpayers in town, and the tough financial shape the city is in. I hope when we vote to set the tax shift and rates in the coming months that we have everyone’s support to lower the tax burden for all of the businesses and homeowners. I wish we’d get more support in figuring out how to reduce the spending and take care of our long-term obligations.
We also learned this week that Mrs. Wielgus can keep her farm. I talked with her several times over the last two years, and during those conversations she made it very clear to me that she didn’t want the city to “take” her land. I think she may have liked to sell it for the “right” price, but not via a forced sale. I’m glad that several councilors stood up and said that they would not approve a forced taking. I’m glad it all worked out for her, and hope that in the future she can use, or sell, the land in whatever way she and her family see fit – without the threat of an eminent domain taking.
That ties in with the school news… The Cross & Ashley Street school project is in limbo again. The mayor has proposed using another piece of land (instead of the Wielgus Farm) to make-up for the protected park & playground space that was demolished on Ashley Street. The process of approving another property will take at least several months – if it ever gets approved. I’m not sure why yet, but the Attorney General’s Office has also ordered the city to re-bid the new school contract. This too will take months. The Cross Street neighbor’s group is still fighting this, and they still have some very good legal arguments for not building this school on Cross Street. They’ll be in court again next week. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for this school to be built on that site.
Meanwhile, Juniper Park School is still scheduled to close at the end of this school year. The School Committee has created an ad-hoc sub-committee to review potential sites, and make recommendations, for a temporary school. I attended their second meeting Thursday evening and was quite pleased with the way they were openly dealing with the issues, the options, and the concerns of the Juniper Park community. School Committee Members: Ray Diaz, Kevin Sullivan, Cindy Sullivan; Director Ron Rix; and Superintendent Scallion should be commended. If such an open-minded, inclusive, fair process was used when reviewing options and planning for the new school, I think we might have had it built by now.
In closing, I’d like to give big thanks to Westfield Bank for once again making a very generous donation to this community. They donated $100,000 to the Senior Center! Thank you very much.
Dave Flaherty
City Councilor
[email protected]
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not the staff, editor, or publisher of this publication.
