City knows to shut up and smile.Byline: Clive McFarlane COLUMN: CLIVE MCFARLANE Billerica Town Manager William F. Williams resigned from his position earlier this week, after a moment of political incorrectness politically incorrect adj. Disregarding or unconcerned with political correctness. political incorrectness n. Noun 1. in which he suggested that his town wasn't what it used to be. Speaking at the Greater Lowell Greater Lowell is the name given to the city of Lowell, Massachusetts and its suburbs, mostly in Northern Middlesex County, Massachusetts and the Merrimack Valley. The neighboring towns of Dracut, Tewksbury, Billerica, Chelmsford, and Tyngsborough, Massachusetts are invaribably Chamber of Commerce municipal breakfast a week ago, Mr. Williams - a former town manager in Northbridge - reportedly, among other things, said this about the town he has been running for less than a year: "I look at (Billerica) as a town that needs a lot of work. I look harshly at Billerica as a place that seems to be in distress. When I look at it that way, I'm not demeaning de·mean 1 tr.v. de·meaned, de·mean·ing, de·means To conduct or behave (oneself) in a particular manner: demeaned themselves well in class. you; I'm just saying that you don't photograph well. You don't have curb appeal." Town leaders and a number of residents took exception to Mr. Williams' comments. They needed a booster for the town, not a manager who tells the truth, so he resigned and apologized, noting that he was only referring to such things as "...the litter we don't pick up, the deteriorating roads, things not cleaned because there aren't enough services. I meant to talk about the need to pave roads and the poorly maintained parks, the vacant property, and the owners of them who need to do more." Sounds a bit like Worcester, doesn't it, except we don't have to worry about a lack of boosterism boost·er·ism n. The highly supportive attitudes and activities of boosters: "the civic pride and heady boosterism that often accompany rising property values" New York. here. It doesn't matter how bad things get, we have our smiley See emoticon. smiley - emoticon face. Just yesterday, we were told that some 23,000 trees have been taken down in the city as part of the Asian longhorned beetle Noun 1. Asian longhorned beetle - a beetle from China that has been found in the United States and is a threat to hardwood trees; lives inside the tree; no natural predators in the United States Anoplophora glabripennis eradication program, which began in the winter. (In contrast, 21,520 trees were cut down over three years to contain and eradicate the beetle's infestation infestation /in·fes·ta·tion/ (-fes-ta´shun) parasitic attack or subsistence on the skin and/or its appendages, as by insects, mites, or ticks; sometimes used to denote parasitic invasion of the organs and tissues, as by helminths. in central New Jersey). We were told the tree clearing operation might continue during the summer months, despite previous warnings that such an action runs the risk of spreading the infestation. We were told there are more infected trees than had been estimated and that the beetles beetles members of the insect order Coleoptera. They are common intermediate hosts for tapeworms. darkling beetles this and other mealworms are common inhabitants of poultry houses and are suspected of aiding in the transmission of have been here longer than had previously announced. If this were a city given to frank talk, we would be told that someone slept on the job, or that the whole operation has been mismanaged, or both. Instead, we are rapturously rap·tur·ous adj. Filled with great joy or rapture; ecstatic. rap  tur·ous·ly adv. wrapped in boosterism.
We sing our little ditty dit·ty n. pl. dit·ties A simple song. [Middle English dite, a literary composition, from Old French dite, from Latin dict , "Worcester. Right Place. Right Time." "You'll find our civic pride Out beaming wide On neighborhood streets." Pay no attention to the wasteland created by the Asian beetle eradication program, or the lingering ice storm debris. Worcester photographs well, we are told. We have curb appeal, and we have committed more than $250,000 on our marketing arm - Destination Worcester - to sell this bright side of the city. Of course, as local activist Kevin Ksen pointed out, the $250,000-a-year sales pitch is not directed to residents, but to outsiders. "We are putting up billboards in Boston, so people can come and buy houses in Worcester," Mr. Ksen said. "We think that bringing people from Boston This is a list of people who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with the city of Boston, Massachusetts and its surrounding metropolitan statistical area.
Hey Kevin, get with the program. Smile. You are in Worcester. Remember the Donna Byrnes scandal, in which a former central administration office manager was given a classroom assignment without being certified for the position? Well, we were told that it began when Interim Superintendent Deidre Loughlin found Mrs. Byrnes' $78,000 a year salary as office manager objectionable, especially at a time when Mayor Konnie Lukes wanted to trim at least $500,000 from the central administration's budget. We were told a regular secretary, making $25,000 to $30,000 less, could do the job. The office manager's position has indeed been replaced by a "regular secretary" position in next year's budget. Instead of one office manager, one administrative clerk and a part-time administrative clerk serving the superintendent, we have two full-time clerks and one part-time position. The savings? Just under $3,000. That's right. It appears that while the name of the position has been changed, the compensation has remained relatively the same. |
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