Tom Conroy for State Representative

“City Management:  We Need Resources”

Chelsea City Manager Jay Ash met us at Bella Isla and we discussed several topics, all related to funding needs.  Crime is a problem, and providing apprenticeship programs for youth, particularly young men, can help.  Youth need to have a vision of the future that includes a steady job, money, opportunity, instead of a life of crime or drugs with a gang.  But there’s not enough funding for these programs.  Jay also referenced the $6M road construction project in the middle of city, funded locally, but of course taking money away from other priorities.  He has crumbling bridges to repair in Chelsea too.  He has police and social workers to hire, in order to support families before the kids get into trouble, as a preventative effort.   He could use more funding for the school system in general.  Municipalities such as Chelsea are heavily dependent on the state for funding to make ends meet.  And the state doesn’t have the funds to help all the municipalities. 

Visited the Chelsea Soldiers Home, saw many of the 290 veterans who live there, in a long term care setting.  Too many, over 70%, were homeless before.  There are 129 soldiers’ homes around the country, at least one in each state.  They are the least we can do for our veterans who have served our country — all of us — by maintaining our safety and security.  I vowed to advocate for more federal funding for such facilities.

Quick lunch in Malden with a couple of supporters and then a good meeting with AFL-CIO Political Director Bob Bower.  Jobs, jobs, jobs.  He shared with me their priorities of job retention, job restoration, and job creation, and the list of legislative initiatives that the AFL-CIO supports.  I’ll review them.  And I shared with him my idea for giving employees at public companies a larger voice in company strategy, job retention, and compensation.  We agree that former Senator Kennedy is a good role model:  principled, yet pragmatic, practical.  Effective.  That’s what I’ve been as a state rep, and what I want to be as senator.

Mayor of Melrose Rob Dolan met with State Rep Paul Brodeur and me and discussed how the good guys feel like they are getting the raw end of the deal.  For example, Melrose was the first city to the join the state’s health insurance plan (the GIC) back in 2007 when it was first allowed, but now that the law was changed this year, Melrose can’t take advantage of the new law, which is more beneficial to municipalities than the old law.  It’s similar to the complaints I’ve heard on the walk from small business owners who have complied with the law for decades, but see the GE’s of the world, or the hedge fund managers, not pay their fair share of taxes. 

Mayor Dolan stated that the city could use more federal funds to pay for special education costs.  And large capital expenditures that the city can’t afford at present.  Building repairs, new school buildings, public transportation upgrades.  Despite these needs, Melrose has a wonderful main street filled with shops, and it sure seems to help that it has the commuter rail and the orange line T station to provide easy access for commuters to get in and out of Boston.

Cheers,

Tom

Miles:  4.8

Total Miles:  601.2

Encounters with Voters: 74

Total encounters with voters:  2,697