2008 Year End Wrap Up, Part 1
We just taped the 2008 year end wrap up show on Central Mass Chronicles yesterday. We had an all-star cast (of course 
: Allen Fletcher of Worcester Publishing, Democrat Strategist Chris Condon, myself (representing the MassGOP), and host Ben Dobson. You can see the show starting next week on Channel 3.
In the meantime, I thought I’d share some of my thoughts. As I’m getting ready for the Christmas travel insanity, this may appear in multiple posts.
Biggest Winner
Holden-Princeton and the towns north of Worcester were definitely this year’s big winner as they took it upon themselves to fight their way out of the havoc left behind by the ice storm. Rep. Lew Evangelidis told me some great stories about residents who weren’t about to wait for National Grid or the public service crews to show up. They fired up their chainsaws first thing in the morning and started digging out of the mess. After all the bailout begging the last few months, it’s nice to see resourceful citizens pull together and make things happen. Kudos also to WTAG for their call-in coverage. This helped many of the people who were stranded know someone was listen and was taking names and locations (hey, kind of like Santa’s list!).
Biggest Loser
Downtown Worcester. The dual tax rate is scaring away businesses and killing our city. In fact, the rate just went up to $28.72 for businesses. Compare this with neighboring towns, like Shrewsbury’s $9.14 or Westborough’s 14.70. We haven’t had a new office building constructed since 1990 (just a few years after the city implemented the idiotic dual tax structure). On top of this, downtown business owners seem unwilling to work together to make a difference. City Manager Michael O’Brien has tried several times to bring these people together to brainstorm and make changes, but no one shows up. Kudos to the Mass School of Pharmacy, though. They are changing the face of downtown for the better, one brick at a time.
Most Unoriginal Idea
I got grief about this from Allen Fletcher, but a lot of people I talk to are not happy with the idea of resurrecting Blackstone Canal. We have to stop trying to be Providence and start being ourselves. The Worcester Common Outlets was a major disaster. Let’s not throw more good money after bad. Kudos to the Worcester Local First small business organization and Steve Jones D’Agostino for heading in the right direction.
Best Photo Op
Definitely the seniors’ rubber ducky prank at Tantasqua Regional High School.
