What 2015 City Council Candidates Will Not Discuss

 But Should

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 Oversight of the Police.

 

 Oversight of the police does not mean that the cops are doing anything bad. It does mean that what the cops do should be transparent to the residents of Worcester. Right now not even the cops can say that their efforts are successful or effective or not. It is unlikely that the City will set up such over sight, given Councillor Luke’s petition of support for the police department.  It should be overseen, if for no other reason than for  Council to fulfill its duty to set policy.  How can policy be set if no one can say for certain what is going on. Perhaps with Ferguson demonstrations of 2014, a non governmental agency will find the political strength to oversee the cops’ policy.

 

  The Start of the School to Jobs Pipeline.

 

There has been a lot of talk about a school to prison pipeline that has a disparately negative impact on the dark skin and poor children of Worcester Public Schools. It is certainly true that more school discipline is being resolved by police arrests,  adversely affecting many students. It is a certainty that no candidate will talk about the school to prison pipeline; it is time to talk about the school to jobs pipeline.

 

There are many groups in the City helping children and providing mentoring and other help such as the United Way, CAC, YWCA, and others.  It might be time to coordinate these efforts and have the different agencies work in a more coordinated manner to make sure every child gets what she needs to graduate high school, become gainfully employed and lead a successful life. Every child at risk should have a mentor and every child should have something worthwhile to do after school.

 

 

 

  Green Energy Jobs

 

Manager Augustus has proposed sustainable energy for Worcester utilizing solar and other technologies on top of the public garages and at the Greenwood Dump. I hope that the City Councillor candidates discuss who gets these jobs and how the realized savings are  distributed and whether additional programs are doable.

 

 

The Franchise for Worcester Residents

 

Many Worcester Residents are not citizens of the United States. Neither Massachusetts nor Worcester has citizens; the people who live here are residents. Which means that some residents of Worcester cannot vote in Worcester only elections such as  the City Council and School Committee races.   A large proportion of the City’s residents is not represented by the City Council, although Councillors will say they listen to everyone.  Residents of Worcester who cannot vote send their children to Public Schools and have their streets plowed, and pay taxes, just like citizens. This seems to violate the principle of the American Revolution, “No taxation without representation”. Although unlikely to be taken up by any candidate, I look forward to this discussion.