Who Is Accountable for Worcester Jobs

No Affirmative Action for Worcester Jobs

Amidst Worcester’s anxiety optimism sometimes shines between the City downtown buildings. The building facades are not much different than before, but the character is new. There are now students downtown and more condos near the rail road station. Unfortunately the bus station has been moved from City Hall and the Commons creating something of a social desert on City Hall Plaza and the Commons that comes to life when events are held.

I am reminded of Jane Jacobs' first book “The Economy of Cities” in which she describes the successful and friendly public space known as Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. The reason it was successful was that it had a mixed use. Students, workers, families, and other people were in the park at all hours.  People were drawn to the park not only as a via elsewhere, but also as a pleasant place to have lunch or socialize. At one point the City Common and Plaza were the same way.

                            

With the new construction downtown, perhaps a sense of neighborhood will develop in the downtown. More condos and apartments are being constructed around Union Station making this part of downtown almost like a bedroom community, where people working in Metro West will live. Certainly it will not be the typical bedroom community. There will have to be built a pedestrian walk over Foster St. so people can get safely and easily from their homes to Union Station.

Where there is a neighbor hood, there are neighbor facilities such as food markets, retail stores, barber shops, etc. Presently these entities have been driven out of downtown, except possibly around the courthouse. The businesses near City Hall have suffered when the buses were moved. I think that the Dunkin Donuts in the Hub is doing a booming business.

When the old Court House was sold for development a group called the Worcester Community Labor Coalition advocated for a percentage of jobs at the old Court House go to Worcester residents. Their advocacy was noble, but it did not directly address the issue of high unemployment in the Black and Hispanic and other underemployed communities. We have learned that being color blind is no longer a viable method of racial justice.

There was a memorandum of understanding between the developers of the old Court House and the City about jobs.  It still not clear who is following up this Memo. I talked with the City Manager’s assistant in the Economic Development Department about the Memo and he added my name to the email newsletter that comes out quarterly. He said that there would be news about the development there. The newsletter was a disappointment, having almost no information. So who is keeping track of Worcester Development and jobs?

                               

Recently the City sent out a notice that there are nine opening on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. This is a new committee replacing the Affirmative Action Committee. Not having an Affirmative Action Committee as a City Advisory board is a bad sign of things to come for Affirmative Action.

The new Diversity and Inclusion Committee has the responsibilities of:

       1.  outreach to all residents, especially the underrepresented

        2.  attend local events

      3. assist with inclusion program

      4. make recommendations for inclusion program

      5. assist with inclusion trainings

      6. make an annual strategic plan for implement goals

       7. make recommendations for new programs

     8. others as directed

Nothing specifically about jobs is in the responsibilities.

The City is hiring a Chief Diversity Officer, who in all likelihood will be placed in charge of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. I wish all who work on this committee and the new Chief Officer good fortune.  However like the Department of Justice Hearings on Race, I can see the internal contradictions of failure.

The Chief Diversity officer position has tough hiring requirement, probably meant to winnow the candidates to those more liked by the City Manager and less likely to rock the boat.  There is nothing in the responsibilities of the position that specifically calls for the creation of memorandum of understandings or monitoring of compliance of job creations or set asides.

There is a glimmer of hope, there is also a slog that comes from the lack of tranparancy on the issue of the efforts being made to reduce the disparate unemployment of Black and Hispanic and other undeserved communities.