FINANCE CONTROL BOARD PUBLIC SPEAK-OUT, March 7, 2005
Present: Alan LeBovidge, Mayor Charles V. Ryan
Mayor Ryan: ...appreciate seeing all of you here. I think we should start the meeting off as we do on many of our public hearings with a pledge of allegiance. Will you all please stand? [All say Pledge of Allegiance.]
We’re very pleased to see such an excellent group of people here this morning. We’re here for two hours. We want to hear what you have to say. With anything like this, I’m sure you appreciate the need for some sort of rules; we’ve tried to make them as common sense as possible. I think you’re reasonably aware of them, and that is that we’re going to ask anybody who speaks to fill out a card. I’m told I have 28 cards here, and we’ll take them in the order in which they are. I’m going to ask the speakers to keep themselves within a three minute time frame . Obviously, the more that that is adhered to, the more we’ll be able to hear as many voices as we possibly can.
I would hope that this would be a constructive dialogue, that Chairman LeBovidge and I would learn from you. I know I was at a meeting of the teachers this past Monday at Central High School which I thought was a...and I congratulated Tim Collins and others on what I thought was...a very, very effective presentation.
We all know we’re going through difficult times. There are no easy solutions, but it is vitally important that you have a forum in which you can convey first-hand your views, in this case to the Chairman and to the Mayor, and we certainly will share them with our colleagues on the board.
Looking at this pile of cards, the first card I have is Ken Pooler of 61 Grandview Street, Springfield. Ken, would you come forward? And, I suppose, with me having the cards with the information, I can just read them off, and it saves you—to the extent that you want to—then, reintroducing yourself.
Ken Pooler, public employees union leader
Ken Pooler: Just a question, Mr. Mayor, where is the rest of the control board?
CVR: Uh....
KP: I mean, I see two members. We pay for three out of Boston and two from Springfield. I’d like to know where the rest of the control board is. Everyone in here wants to know.
[Crowd expresses agreement with KP.]
Alan LeBovidge: Uh... the, one member happens to be working with the school committee right now at a school committee related function, you know, a meeting to talk about issues on the school committee, uh...
KP: Well, they weren’t at the last one, the last school committee meeting, so are they like one step behind the rest of the city?
AL: Look at, they’re all on their own assignments. They’re doing things. We’re here representing them, so why don’t you just go on from there?
KP: Not acceptable answer.
AL: Duly noted.
KP: I’d first like to start off by saying that $3million in salary for three years is much too much, and three minutes to express my opinion about what’s going on in the city is not enough time. I’m here today both as a homeowner, a city employee, and a lifelong resident of the city of Springfield. First, I’d like to talk to you as a city employee. Mitt Romney and Eric Cross [sic] and his pawns were sent to Springfield have done nothing for the hard working employee but bring down morale, stop us from making an honest and comparable wage and provided us with less than adequate insurance that you call the same as what we had. You say that you saved the city $16million by changing insurance providers. I say you are preying on hard working men and women to balance the budget, and, as all great Republicans, you don’t care.
During the time of a wage freeze, you have given out raises to certain people, stating that they have taken on more responsibility. Well, so hasn’t every other city employee. Through lay-offs, retirements and through wage freezes, we have picked up the slack for understaffed fire stations, understaffed police cars, understaffed classrooms and understaffed divisions at the DPW such as trash pick-up and snow removal.
As a homeowner and a taxpayer: you say that you have collected $10million to $15million in owed taxes. I say you didn’t collect that the previously elected mayor and city elected officials of this city should have done on their own. There must be something creative in the minds of this control board that could help this city, such as fair share of state and local aid, fair share of lottery revenue, or maybe just an audit of the city 8 years ago when our mayor then was saying that he was balancing every budget. The real problem with the city is that no one sees what dictator Mitt is trying to do. He’s trying to turn everyone against each other, and break apart a great city, and give it back to us in nothing but pieces.
As a lifelong resident, I am partially to blame for where we are at. I voted for certain city councilors and mayors that have failed both me and this city and have voted for state reps and senators that have forgotten who got them there. Not all of them have failed, but all of them must remember who put them there and that’s me and the other voters. They’re supposed to work for us, not for Mitt.
In closing, the Big Dig was a way of putting money in politically-connected friends’ pockets, and it turned out to have more leaks than a roofless house. The control board being here has also put money in the pockets of friends of Mitt’s, and, in my opinion, you’re not working to fix any leaks, you’re just here to remove the roof. Thank-you.
[Applause]
CVR: Thank you very much. The next person, it looks like Daniel Clifford, UFCW Local 1459, of Eastland Street in Springfield.
[Applause]
School Bus Drivers
Daniel Clifford: Good Morning, Mr. Mayor, Mr. LeBovidge. I have a group of school bus drivers with me. Local 1459 has proudly represented these drivers for about 15 years now. They kind of work in anonymity in that no one knows much about them until they have a struggle or a problem. These folks have an extremely difficult job, and they have to go in every day and deal with them in less than ideal conditions. Right now we have union contracts with two of their employers: First Student (which has the regular bus transportation contract), and we also have a special ed employer in Durham School Services, both good fine employers. We have labor peace, good labor/management relations, haven’t had any problems with them. Now, unfortunately, because of the bidding process, and the control board just plucking us from the bid specifications, the level playing field we once established many years ago, through the fair-minded school committee at that point, is now tilted. You open up now for unfair prospective bidders who can come in and say, “We’ll bid the prevailing wage, we’ll take away your health insurance, we’ll take away your life insurance. There’ll be no more paid holidays. There’ll be no more paid bonuses. And that’s it.” That’s completely wrong, it’s unfair.
The other measure that we’re very concerned about is that by taking us out of the bid specs, we assured you labor peace. Every time there was a change in contractor or school bus contractors, there was a seamless transition. No one knew what the name of the owner on the side of the bus was, it was always the same drivers, always the same people, those that cared for the kids in Springfield. And now, by taking that out, not only have you given us the right back to strike, because of the control board’s actions, you’re encouraging us to strike. And with all due respect I’ve decided that we don’t want to strike, but we certainly will.
[Applause]
Mr. Mayor, we have Rose Faulkner and June Daiken and [inaudible]
CVR: OK. Is Rose here? Come on up, Rose.
Rose Faulkner: Thank you very much. My name is Rose Faulkner, and I have been driving a school bus driver for over 43 years, 25 years in the city of Springfield. The reason I stayed with the city of Springfield all these years is because we have a union contract that makes sure that companies who contract with the city provide us with good health insurance. The Springfield control board has jeopardized our health insurance and other benefits that are provided to us through our union contract by removing the Springfield transportation revenue contract bid specifications that require bus bidding companies to recognize our collective bargaining agreement. With the requirements removed, the only part that the companies would be forced to honor are our prevailing wage rates, but not our health insurance benefits, the costs being shared by the current contractor, First Student, Inc. Our lives depend upon these benefits, and we cannot afford to be without them. Could you?
I assume each member of the Springfield control board has health insurance coverage for themselves and their families as would each member of the school committee and the school department. Yet those same people have jeopardized our health insurance benefits by removing our protection for coverage. Health insurance coverage is one of life’s necessities. The cost of medical care, hospitals, prescription drugs, etc. is astronomical and beyond anything anybody can pay for out-of-pocket. Drivers and their families cannot afford to lose these benefits.
Sometimes it is beyond me, and I cannot comprehend how some individuals who are in authority, who are in a position to control other people’s lives end up making decisions that hurt rather than help, that bring down rather than build up, that keep us down while they themselves grow. And it is done without feeling, without compassion, without conscience.
Drivers are the core in the business of transporting children. It cannot be done without us. Many of us have given years and years of dedicated service driving for the city of Springfield. We have been parents, mentors, caregivers, peacemakers, baby-sitters, and friends. We have been able to take care of others and were given the opportunity to take care of ourselves. The school committee and the school department certainly are not ever in the risk of losing their health insurance for themselves or their families. How could they, in good conscience, have made a decision that would effect so many Springfield area families and leave them without coverage? I certainly hope that the health insurance issue is resolved before September for everybody’s benefit.
And this came to me just before I left the garage this morning: a mechanic came rushing up to me, and said “Rose, Rose, please, you have to tell them something. We’re going to lose our insurance. My wife has cancer. You tell them that they’re going to make my wife die.” And he said this with tears in his eyes. And I’ll be glad to furnish you with his name; I’m not telling a story. I thank you so much for the opportunity.
[Applause and cheers]
CVR: Are you June, June Daiken? Go ahead, June.
June Daiken: I’ve been driving Springfield large school buses for 29 years.
While thousands of parents are preparing their children for school, their school bus drivers are already at work. The driver first clocks in and checks with the dispatcher for route changes and special directives. A stroll in the darkness is necessary to find one of 200 buses. After urging a stubborn bus engine to turn over, frost and snow must be scraped from mirrors and windshields. Trudging around the bus is necessary for complete circle check: All lights working? Stop arm out? Mud flaps in place? Gas cap tight? No engine leaks? Finally, back in the bus, out of the wind, a walk down the aisle will find loose seats. A moderate karate kick frees the frozen emergency door. Now to check air brake pressure, mirror placement, a dozen gauges and switches. It’s too soon to leave the heaters on (mechanics recommend 15 to 20 minutes, and, even then, the air will only feel one degree warmer than that it is outside). After completing the paperwork, it’s time to squeeze out of a tight parking place. With the help of another driver, you’re on the way to the garage (the windshield wash needs to be refilled).
After a glance at a wrist watch, the driver pulls out into the street where his or her skill is challenged by overgrown tree branches, pot holes, ice slicks, and narrow streets, but he or she arrives at the first stop on time. (Mine is at 6:40.) There your driver must accept the roles of several other professionals: a social worker to care for the problems caused by bullies, drugs and alcohol; a police officer to deal with thieves, assaults and weapons; a nurse to care for the ill or injured; and a mentor to encourage the good manners, thoughtfulness and respect which are necessary for a pleasant trip.
If you had to pay a chauffeur, a social worker, a body guard, a nurse, and a mentor for one hour, what would it cost? I earn $17.00 per hour. Fully loaded, my bus carries 77 grammar school children. This means that I am paid only $.22 per hour for each child. Compare that to what you may pay your babysitter. This is extremely reasonable. After all, we are the ones who make your contracts work. Would you want our job?
[Applause]
Cliff Nurse: Good morning. I’m Cliff Nurse. I’ve been driving school buses from 1987. Our school bus drivers, every one of them, in meetings we have with administrators, they tell us we provide a vital service for the community, that we carry the precious cargo, that we carry the future of America. The Commonwealth considered that the cargo that we carry is very special: they mandate a complete inspection of the vehicles every three months. The companies provide mechanics that service our vehicles constantly.
As drivers, we’re subjected to background checks, we must pass a physical examination. We are licensed to drive a school bus only if we pass an examination once a year. Also is necessary a good driving record. We have excellent trainers, the service is adequate, but one thing is lacking. It’s lacking because the school board and the control board decided to remove our health insurance, the coverage that is provided for thanks to the existence of a union contract.
None of us in the room ever think about flying an airliner that its pilots do not have health insurance coverage. It is unthinkable. The same danger exists with drivers and school buses. Most school buses carry more passengers than a commuter plane, small commuter plane. We are in the same chapter of law, Chapter 90. We are people that give our lives to the transportation of the children of this city.
Most other localities consider us, our drivers, excellent drivers. Our company, First Student, anytime they have a new contract, anywhere in this country, they ask for the drivers of Springfield to transport their kids, to train the new drivers that they encounter, that they hire in those locations.
We have an excellent work force in Springfield, but yet still, the health care that’s a vital part of our conditions is being removed, for purely, merely economic reasons. Not only because it’s necessary to make the bid competitive, but just to save a few dollars. I’m saying to you right now that the lives and safety of the children of Springfield is worth more than a couple dollars per driver. The control board...we have a vested interest in the city of Springfield, we care about our kids. Most of us, with our license, could work in other jobs that would probably be more lucrative, but we dedicate ourselves and our lives to service. We hope, and we pray that you will consider the children of Springfield and the people that dedicate their lives to serve them.
[Applause]
CVR: Thank you very much. The next speaker is Rev. Cordella Brown, 741 State Street, representing Concerned Citizens [Network]. Rev. Brown?
Reverend Cordella Brown of Concerned Citizens Network
Rev. Cordella Brown: Good Morning. We thank you for allowing us to appear before you today. We will keep our presentation brief.
We are here because of the 3 to 2 split vote of the Police Commission of the City of Springfield in the matter of Mr. Douglas Greer vs. the Springfield city police department. This demonstrates how differently the members interpreted the evidence presented and testimony heard from witnesses and others involved in the incident. The truth surrounding this incident still eludes us. We believe incidents like this will continue to happen as long as more credible evidence-gathering methods are not put in place, and that distrust will continue unless and until the integrity of the Springfield police department is reestablished in the community.
The members of Concerned Citizens Network have arrived at five measures which we think are crucial in improving policing and the relationship between the police department and residents of the city. Ultimately, these measures will help save the city tens and thousands of dollars of billable assistance from attorneys for the city and the filing of frivolous law suits.
The measures are as follows:
Number one, badges with the first initial and last name of every police officer should be worn.
Two, video cameras need to be installed in all police cruisers with a digital feed to a central location. And, inasmuch as the city is now going to be installing video cameras in trouble spots in the city, we also believe the police cannot police the community without policing itself.
The mandate of the city residency requirement needs to be enforced, primarily because we have police officers policing the city as non-residents, not paying taxes from the salaries that we pay them. If they’re going to work here, then they need to help make this community their community and better for everybody.
Number four, obtaining global positioning systems for the cruisers. Increased accountability is needed in order for officers on patrol to be faster deployed to hot spots and to see if the city is being covered as thoroughly as possible with the police staff and cruisers available on any given shift. It will also help administration and officers keep a more credible account of the deployment of the officers. Further, it will stop people from sleeping behind my church.
The reactivation of a civilian review board. During this process, what we have found is that it is crucial for members of the community to have an alternative, an objective place where they can retreat to and file complaints of police brutality. We understand that a provision for this board already exists, but it is not activated for many reasons. We ask that the civilian review board be reactivated so that there is an interested, yet dispassionate place where the stories of those who are being victimized can be heard.
As a group, we understand that the immediate lay-out of this proposal will cost the city money. However, the benefits far outweigh the initial financial lay out, but will reduce frivolous law suits as well as effect justice in a manner that does not offend the sensibilities of citizens of Springfield. These measures will go far to ensure that the police officers and the department when policing is done fairly, with safety, and a sense of justice for everyone is concerned. We are appealing to you as the financial controllers of the city to, and ask that funds be allocated to help in the implementation of the above five measures within the Springfield city police department. I’d like to call on Louis Hackman.
CVR: Thank you very much. I’m going to call on Louis Hackman.
Voice from the back of the hall: Where’s the rest of the control board?
Louis Hackman: I just want to quickly say that the last meeting that was at city hall, a couple weeks ago in reference to the strategies of the police department handling security in the neighborhoods, I mentioned to the, uh, to Paula Meara, the police chief, at that particular time when they was talking about monies, I believe $900,000 that was available. And $450,000 of that was going to be used for this year right here to add more police officers on the streets, and the other $450,000 would be used next year. She also said that, between the days of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday between the hours of 4 and 12, that that’s when these monies that are available would help to put more officers on the streets.
I said to her, at that particular time, that it would help, seeing that she was talking about a relationship between the black community and the officers, if police cameras was installed in cars so that the community can also see what’s going on, and so that incidents like that’s been happening in Springfield when individuals are beat up, the community will also be able to see exactly what happened at that particular time vs. just hearing the side of the story of the officers. She felt that wasn’t a good...well, she said she was for the cameras being installed in cars, but she said it would be up to the policemen’s union as well as the police officers to make that decision. And I’m just as a concerned citizen to establish a relationship if we were also able to see what’s going on out there on the streets when the officers do come upon incidents such as that might result in police brutality that me, as a citizen, I can also see what happened at that particular time. Thank you.
CVR: Thank you. I’m going to call two or three names so that maybe we can save a little bit of time if we have the speaker, and then people know who’s right after that, and so the next speaker will be Melvin Brown of Roy Street in Chicopee, followed by Bob Brown of Maybeth Street in Springfield, and Don Silverman of Brittany Road in Indian Orchard.
Melvin Brown of Chicopee
Melvin Brown: My name is Melvin Brown, as you mentioned, and I live in Chicopee, but what happens in Springfield effects all us and all over the state. And I would like to say this control board was created illegally, illegally. It says Chapter 169, the Acts of 2004, it also says down in the first page, Number 11, “The governor is recommend to the General Court pursuant to Section 8 of the Article L, three X’s, one and a X, of the members of the constitution the legislation should be enacted to resolve the financial emergency in the city, to restore financial stability in the city.”
And this is why the control board is illegal, it’s in violation, because the constitution states, in Section 8, “the powers of the General Court” and it cites the...but the whole thing is, all what the legislature did, it very simply says “subject to the foregoing requirement, the General Court may provide optional plans of the city or town organization governed under which an optional plan may be adopted or abandoned by a majority vote of the voters of the city.” This has not been before the city. So how can you create a board? It’s not in compliant with the constitution?
And, further, the acts say it was approved July 9, 2004, and on page 10, page 4, of the committee, it says, “Within 30 days after the appointment of the board, but no longer than September 1, 2004,” creating your...You haven’t had a vote of the people. The people haven’t spoken, and this is a country that’s supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people. And, when you take our rights away from us, it’s a violation of the constitution, and I believe, the lawyers, you see.... I’m a simple person...
CVR: Thank you.
MB: I read what it says, and, like I say, how can we be before you, with a control board, that’s not even legal? Thank you very much.
CVR: Thank you. Robert Brown? The next speaker is Bob Brown.
Voices from back of the hall: Where’s the rest of the control board? We’re paying $135,000 a year for only one year? It’s a no-show job. [unintelligible] Take the half a million dollars, send them back to Boston.
Robert Brown representing retired public employees
Robert Brown: OK. Here we are; we’re all set. I have to go along with the bus drivers and their plight, and I hope that it’s all taken into consideration, and I’m hoping that this forum of concerns and suggestions is an exercise in courteous respect for other’s opinions and wishes. It is important that this panel listens to the citizens of the city, the real losers in this economic struggle in Springfield. As each day passes, we are no closer to a solution on how to bring us out of this fiscal state placed upon us by those we trusted and elected. Now we are made to tolerate and struggle with this calamity without being able to share in the opportunity to restore fiscal sanity to Springfield.
The citizens pay taxes to support this government, yet we have no voice in the negotiations of the city’s, of Springfield’s difficulties. “Taxation without representation:” our forefathers fought a war to rid us of this kind of cruel authority, and being just a farm boy, I ask myself “ What kind of governmental ruling advocates an unjust doctrine such as this?” The actions taken by the control board have done little in reducing our financial woes, achievements we could have done without the control board. Bringing in high-priced consultants and ignoring suitable, credible and capable local individuals is a slap in our face.
There’s not one person here that doesn’t perceive the difficult assignment accorded this panel. But when your task is completed, is it what the citizens of Springfield would want, or does that matter?
The concern of the retirees, which I represent about 4000 here in the city...We were told there would be no change in our health insurance, but after we signed on to a cost-saving health plan and for the city, this panel is trying to shove down our throat a policy that would devastate the retirees. In researching your April plan, health plan, revealed that wherever this form of health insurance was installed, retirees were driven into severe poverty, insolvency, and will render those of us who are the cornerstone of the city destitute.
We were told by the Mayor that they had three options that would solve the city’s dilemma, and “all will share the pain,” but we find this is not true. The first option was to cut 300 city jobs (not politically healthy). The second option was you could cut salaries 3% to 5% (not politically economical). And the third, which you elected to decree (totally and politically insane), is that of the health insurance, the only area, the only area in which money has been saved for the city. And now we’re, it is being covertly ravaged and hung out to dry at the expense of those who can least afford it. That doesn’t look like everybody is sharing the pain.
The suggestion is—and I know, this is tough, and I may get hung out to dry on this thing, but—but this sounds harsh, I know this sounds harsh, and we feel sorry for anyone who loses a job, but if just 100 people were laid off and wages were cut 3%, wouldn’t it seem that this would be not only to ease the financial situation, but then the pain would be shared by all, and not just target and punish the unprotected health insurance individuals. Over the years, the retirement I and some 4000 retirees have had our taxes balloon along with many other fees and assessments without any increase in our pensions, and now we are asked to sacrifice the one morsel we have left for human dignity, our health insurance. I say to you and our fellow bureaucrats, “Adjust your thinking and be impartial, and let’s all share the pain.” I don’t think we’re quite ready for T.P. Sampson’s or Dickinson Streeter or Curran Jones just yet. Thank you.
[Applause]
CVR: The next speaker is Donald Silverman of Brittany Road in Indian Orchard.
Donald Silverman of the Indian Orchard Main Street Partnership
Donald Silverman: Thank you, Mr. LeBovidge, thank you, Mayor Ryan, for allowing me to speak.
I’m a homeowner, resident homeowner, business man, president of the Indian Orchard Main Street Partnership, and the issue I come to you today with is blight, blight in the city of Springfield and, today, specifically, in Indian Orchard. I prepared, with the assistance of my school children who are very civic-minded and proud of doing it, a brief report of three examples in Indian Orchard, and what we’ve included is a picture of the location, of course, with the address, the tax situation on the building (that’s taken from the city’s files) and some of the problems that exist there that include.... See, to me, it’s a win-win situation when we eliminate blight in Springfield. It’s a win situation in that it improves the quality of life for our citizens, and it’s a win situation for the city because in some cases, these are not taxable plots right now. One of the plots that’s...two are privately owned: one’s owned by a realty company in Everett, one’s owned by a Springfield resident, and the other property is city-owned. There is private-sector interest in that city-owned property to develop it, which would be a great win-win situation for the city in that it would become taxable. It’s a quality of life issue. As I said, I have prepared this report, and I would like to submit it to, to the finance board. Thank you very much.
CVR: OK. Thank you. The next three speakers are Tim Collins, Mary Chamberlain, and Donald Flannery of Wilbraham.
Tim Collins, president of the Springfield Teacher’s Association
Tim Collins: Good morning. It’s quite obvious there’s a lot of anger and frustration in this room right now. Some of the previous speakers actually talked about part of that. We all have friends, neighbors--some of us have relatives—who are in the Middle East fighting to install democracy. And here in the city of Springfield, we’ve got a governor and a legislature that has taken it away from us.
[Applause]
Those of us who work for the city have heard that we all need “to share the pain.” However, there are people who work for the city who are new hires who aren’t “sharing the pain” that we share. And there are people who have received raises during this wage freeze time. Everyone is not “sharing the pain.” Of course, the justification has been, “Well, they’ve had added responsibility.” Every single teacher that I represent over the last three years with the loss of 330+ teaching positions, with class sizes increasing, with President Bush’s No Child Left Behind demanding more and more paperwork that has nothing to do with teaching the children have had added responsibilities, and, for three years, no pay increases, no contract....
I’m very concerned about our future. I’m disappointed, Mr. Chairman, that you weren’t there with Mayor Ryan and that your colleagues from Boston weren’t there last week when we had our speak-out. We are losing highly qualified, talented teachers to surrounding school districts—over 170 thus far—have resigned and taken jobs in surrounding communities in Massachusetts, making anywhere between $4,000 and $12,000 more. This school system is on the precipice of a disaster. We have in our budget—you were quoted in the newspaper a couple of months back saying there’s $6.5million for our frozen wages. Last month, you were quoted saying there’s only $4million. Raises another issue (and I know you can’t always trust the newspaper), but it raises another issue for myself and other union leaders: we have sent in requests for data. We want to know what the actual figures are in the school department, in the city so we can make informed decisions. Request after request have come in, and the law firm that you’ve hired from Boston hasn’t responded. It’s not fair; it’s not right. How can we have a real discussion that can be fruitful when information is held back? It just can’t happen.
Mayor Ryan, you started this by saying “It would be good to have a dialogue.” This is not a dialogue. When the city council meets or the school committee meets, they have sub-committee meetings. And when I have attended a sub-committee meeting and have been afforded the opportunity to speak, it actually is a dialogue, and exchange of ideas. This is the first time the control board has even given us the opportunity to speak. I’m a life-long resident of this city. I know the governor (and your bosses) have [sic] said the problem of the city of Springfield is not the budget cuts that we’ve faced the last three years, it’s that the unions are making wages that are too high. Springfield public school teachers are, have gone from some of the best paid teachers in Hampden County to the lowest paid teachers in Hampden County. And I’ll tell you what, I’d like to see, I’d like to invite any one of the members of the control board to ride a middle school bus for one week.
[Applause]
As a union person, what you’ve done with their contract really concerns me, because these people do have the right to strike even though those of us who are public employees do not. But if they go out on strike, it’s going to effect every single employee in the school department...
[Applause]
...not to mention the children in the school, time lost before the one-size–fit-all test that very school district is being measured will be critically damaging.
I grew up in this city. I love this city. I spent my whole life as a teacher and now the president of this union. We have always been willing to view negotiations as a chance to solve problems and to mutually agree on how we’ll behave. We’ve had three meetings with your Boston lawyers, and there’s been no discussion whatsoever. Those billable hours, while I’ve got teachers going out and spending their own money on books and paper and pencils, make me sick.
I, you need to free whatever money is in our budget up to bring hope to these teachers. Over the last 12 years, we took education reform money from ‘93 and created the best professional development system in the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Surrounding principals, superintendents are drooling to get our teachers. I have, they’re in our schools recruiting right now. This will be the death of this school system.
You talk to—and even the governor himself at a meeting in Boston was asked, “what are the two most important things?” He said, “Education and infrastructure.” Well, look at the infrastructure here, and look at what’s going on with the education here. You know what? Mayor Ryan has said this, and you need to come to the same conclusion and quickly. Even if we collect all our back taxes, even if we implement efficiencies across the board in every department, the city of Springfield does not have enough revenue or the ability to raise enough revenue to get us out of this financial crisis.
I call on you to do two things: Free up whatever money is in the school department, and pay whatever portion of those back wages you can so we stop the bleeding off of our talented teachers, and join us in going to Boston to ask Governor Romney and the legislature for our fair and equitable share of revenue so we can stop the deterioration of the quality of our life here in Springfield...
[Applause]
...and so that we can protect our children’s future. I have here a survey that we just completed of our teachers. I want to leave you copies of the survey, both electronically and print. Thank you for your time, and I am willing to have a dialogue with you or a sub-committee any time, anywhere, any place, and, please, come to the bargaining table with a proposal that can bring... if they can get us out of the situation where the light of this dark tunnel of despair we find ourselves in is no longer the headlight of an on-coming train, but the light of a brand new day for the city of Springfield.
[Applause]
AL and CVR: Thank you.
CVR: The next speaker is Mary Chamberlain, Nassau Drive.
Mary Chamberlain: Good Morning, I’m a little dry mouth , because I was ten minutes in the elevator, waiting for the fire department to come, so they’re my heroes for today. So anyway, my name is Mary Chamberlain. I’m a Springfield resident. I have taught in Springfield for 34 years. My testimony today is through a personal and professional lenses.
My first lens is personal. Truthfully, I have to say that I am suspect of the make-up of the control board. Quite frankly, I would prefer the make-up of the control board to be people who are making 80% of a frozen salary for the rest of their lives, a frozen wage that is comparable to mine. I’m a retiree. I’m getting older and therefore have more aches and pains. I’m a cancer survivor. This means that I go to the doctor’s more often to check out those aches and pains; that means I see specialists. As of April 1, co-pays for specialists will increase four times. I feel that I’m being punished because I’m aging and because I’ve had cancer. In truth, I’m being punished because I chose to teach in Springfield.
The next lens is professional. In 1965 when I entered college to pursue a career in education, I clearly understood I would not become wealthy being a teacher. I chose the teaching profession because I believed I could make a difference. I feel that I’m being punished because I chose to be a teacher and because I chose to make a difference in the world. In truth, I’m being punished because I chose to teach in Springfield.
As vice-president of the Springfield Teachers Association, this year I’ve had the opportunity to visit many schools and talk to entire faculties, small groups of teachers and individuals. ( Perhaps this lens is the scariest, because I care. I care about Springfield, about the public schools and about our students.) And it’s the scariest because I hear the despair, the anger, and the frustration of teachers, upon teachers, upon teachers. It’s the scariest, because our school system is hemorrhaging. Springfield teachers are leaving, over 170 since last June. It is scary, because over 80% of our survey teachers are looking to leave, and 40% are already sent out resumes. It is scary, because the resume parties have become the new phenomena in the Springfield school system. Teachers who chose to make a difference in an urban school system with all of its challenges are leaving. Each teacher who is leaving is saying, “I am not going to be punished because I chose to be a teacher, because I chose to make a difference in the world, because I chose to teach in Springfield. I’m looking for respect, and therefore, I’m leaving.” Teachers who have been trained in one of the best professional development programs in any Massachusetts school system are leaving and taking their learned expertise with them to other districts. We know that educational administrators in surrounding towns and cities are laughing up their sleeves at us. “Sure,” they say to the Springfield teacher, “we’ll hire you.” Why wouldn’t they want to hire some of the best teachers that are licensed and deemed highly qualified and who have excellent training provided by the Springfield public school system? If we continue on this path, our school system is going to go past the tipping point, and we may never recover to be the best school system we deserve to be. And we all know, so goes the school system, so goes the so goes the property values.
My last lens is as the citizen of Springfield and a taxpayer. The control board is attempting to save the city of Springfield on the backs of city workers. Let’s think about how smart that is. People have options to move to another community (it’s already happening) and to get a new job (it’s already happening). So, let’s think about how smart that is: we lose taxpayers and qualified city workers. What will be the tipping point for the city workers, for the city taxpayers? What will be the tipping point for the Springfield public schools? What will be the tipping point for the city of Springfield? And I say to you, help us stop this. Thaw the wage freeze immediately. Leave the money in the school budget, and then help us get money to make the Springfield public school’s salary competitive with surrounding districts. Help us stop the hemorrhaging. Thank you.
[Applause]
CVR: The next speaker is Donald Flannery.
Donald Flannery of Wilbraham
Donald Flannery: Thank you, Mayor Ryan. I’ve got some positive ideas of ways to increase the revenue. I grew up in Springfield. I went to Springfield schools, and the Springfield school system was one of the two best school systems in the whole country at that time, in the whole country. We didn’t have kids being bused from, from Hungry Hill to Forest Park, and from Forest Park to Hungry Hill. We had neighborhood schools that kids could walk to, and even after we had the mandate of racial balancing the schools, we didn’t bus the kids from one neighborhood that they lived in out to another neighborhood, but we did bus kids from the McKnight section into an area where the schools need to be balanced. We, we didn’t need to spend all that money on fuel and drivers and buses that could have been spent on the schools like we do today. So that’s a, that’s a big waste of money, and we have to get back to neighborhood schools.
I’m not a city employee, but I’m a city taxpayer. I’ve never had these fringe benefits. If I needed health insurance, I paid for it myself, and if I didn’t afford to pay for it myself, I went without it. Today, ....
[From the back of the hall boos and calls to “Sit down.”]
...I’m on Medicare Part A and B, and I’ve also got Prescription Advantage, and soon, I’ll be getting Blue Cross Bronze. Now enough for the...I know I’m not very popular with the school bus drivers, because I’m trying to..., but that’s OK, because as a, as a taxpayer, I can have my say about how my taxes should be paid, hopefully.
Now, let me say this about ways to increase revenue. I think the city, possibly, could do like banks do. Before a bank forecloses on a piece of income property, they are able to become “a debtor in possession,” and they are able to collect on the rents from the income property, even before they foreclose on it. And I’m wondering if maybe the City could do that until properties, arrears are brought up to date.
Another thing that always perplexes me is a city like Springfield or Holyoke or Boston, for that fact: they have a lot of tax-exempt properties, colleges and hospitals especially, colleges and hospitals who serve people who don’t live in that city. Now, I’m wondering why they can’t pay something in lieu of taxes, or pay some taxes. Or if they have to go up on the tuition or on the hospital costs to these out-of-the city people who are using these facilities, let them off-set the taxes that they pay by doing that, rather than put it on the burden of the taxpayers of the city.
OK, another thing is, of course, something that everybody says is there was a city right down next to Boston that was in a lot of trouble, and as I remembered, they had a lot of state grants, not loans, to help them get out of trouble, and I think that this city should have equal treatment with that city. I mean, we, we’re the third largest city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (formerly the second largest). We shouldn’t be treated like a step-child. We should be treated equally with the other cities in the Commonwealth.
I already talked about neighborhood schools. I talked about the fact that I’m a taxpayer.
CVR: I think that’s about it, Mr. Flannery. OK?
DF: I don’t think that I took as much time as some, but I appreciate the time that I got. I’d like to say one more thing. It won’t take long. This needle exchange program that the city has, that the state has for Cambridge, Provincetown, and Amherst [sic], and that some people are trying to get put into Springfield is a big waste of money. Let me tell you why.
CVR: Well, wait a minute. No, hold it. That’s not a control board issue.
DF: Well...
CVR: You’ve gone over your time, Mr. Flannery. The next three speakers are Christopher Pratt of Treetop Lane in Southwick, School Committeewoman Antonette Pepe and Peter DuPuy of Woodlawn Street in Springfield. Mr. Pratt?
Christopher Pratt: I am not a resident of Springfield, but I am a city employee. I am a teacher in the city of Springfield. I’ve been teaching here for 19 years.
Today, I’m not here to speak for the teachers, I’m here to speak for the children of the city of Springfield. The children of the city of Springfield are losing out. As Tim has said, teachers are leaving, replacements are not happening, the class sizes are increasing astronomically. I have an inclusion classroom. In my inclusion classroom, I have a part-time substitute special ed teacher. I have 24 students in my classroom; we are not keeping up with the regulations of the state. I’m wondering what we are going to be doing to replace teachers in the city so that we are having less of an effect on our students. Our students are paying the price.
Is there incentive for teachers to stay? Will there be incentive for teachers to stay? Will there be incentive for teachers to come to replace teachers we’ve already left? I was at the breakfast yesterday when you received your safety award, and I congratulate you for that. I want just to say and remind you that education is the key to awareness and safety. I would like you to keep that in mind in your future decisions when we come to education in the city. I’d like to say thank-you very much for listening.
CVR: Thank you.
[Applause]
CVR: School committeewoman Antonette Pepe.
Antonette Pepe, school committeeperson
Antonette Pepe: Good morning. I’m speaking as a taxpayer and a school committeeperson this morning. Mr. LeBovidge, if the school committee is meeting this morning with members of the control board, why wasn’t I invited?
AL: It’s not a committee meeting. They’re just doing some staff meeting.
AP: Well, I wasn’t invited, sir, and I am part of the school committee, and maybe that’s part of the problem in the city of Springfield. [Applause] Because I’m very vocal, I’m left out of a lot of conversations with the superintendent, and I don’t appreciate it, and this is one of them, and I’ve spoken about many of them in the past.
Why I don’t blame...first, let me say one thing. I have to apologize to the bus drivers. I have to apologize to all of you. I allowed the control board to think for me. If you know, you say no, you say no, you say no, everybody says I’m negative. I knew we were fighting a losing battle the other night, and I did ask, and I asked the questions. My main concern was your health insurance, and I do know what it is. I earn $8500 a year, and I have to pay for my own health insurance on the city, and it’s a lot of money, so I know what it is to go through that. And I apologize, because I knew we were fighting a losing battle. They [indicates control board] make the decision, and if said no it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. If you say yes, then I’m not negative all the time, but my apologies, and I will stand with you, no matter what. [Applause]
I do not fault the control board for the financial mismanagement, crime and corruption of this city. You didn’t create our problems. You were assigned here to help us, our present mayor, clean up a mess that our previous administrators, the state department of revenue and the state auditor allowed to go on unchecked for many years. However, I must fault you for not having this meeting at a more appropriate time so that people who work can voice their concerns and ask questions regarding their future and their finances. The employees of the city of Springfield should be treated with respect. They deserve to be heard.
While some top administrators receive substantial raises, the rank and file have taken furloughs and have worked without raises and without a contract for up to three years. While the rank and file go without, the top administrators seem to find ways to fill their pockets with more money than they deserve. Who is holding them accountable and watching the store? The superintendent and the assistant superintendents receive 22 vacation days, and they were added an additional 14 days by going to somebody else’s contract, and I find that ridiculous. This type of business is what put the city where the city it is now and the place it’s in, and because I’m so outspoken, I’m blackballed by the school department, and I don’t appreciate it. I think a politician has the right to speak up, and I think the politicians and the people have a right to speak to the control board. And, sir, I have spoken to Mr. Puccia and the mayor about this.
I have walked through the school buildings. I spend a lot of time walking through our classrooms. We have classrooms are so large—30 to 35 students—and, let me tell you something, when I walk in, they’re not even distracted. They continue to be educated. The teachers continue talking. Those children are not even distracted. That shows me that our teachers and our paraprofessionals and our principals are doing the job they were assigned to do. [Applause]
It’s a...and I feel that when you sit here and you tell me other people deserve raises? Well, sir, let me tell you something. The paraprofessional diapers, toilets, and toilet trains students. They change sanitary pads—isn’t that a political word to use?--of students that are in wheelchairs, sir, and $5.00 a day, and they’re asked to do it for free because you don’t have enough money, well I don’t find this very nice, and I don’t find it very fair when superintendents can earn the money, and assistant superintendents that they do, and they wouldn’t dare even think of changing a diaper. [Applause]
CVR: The next speaker is Peter DuPuy.
Peter Dupuy: Thank you Antonette. That’s a tough act to follow. My name is Peter DuPuy. I own a home in Springfield, and I’m registered to vote in Springfield. Until two years ago, I was a classroom teacher in Springfield. I’m currently employed by the Springfield Education Association. You heard our president, Mr. Collins, and our vice-president, Mary Chamberlain, speak. Last week, when it was announced that there was going to be an open forum for a speak-out to the control board, we at the SEA office received a number of calls: “How can I come down and speak and still be in the classroom serving my students?” President Collins responded to these calls by saying “Do this. Write an email letter. Send it to us. We’ll bring it to the control board, to the speak-out.” As these letters came in over time, I realized that what these teachers were saying stated the case far more eloquently than I could. So, I’m going to use this opportunity to speak for those teachers. I want to read you a couple of these statements, and then I’d like to give them to you.
[Reads] “Dear Mr. LeBovidge: For the last three years, I have worked in all middle schools in Springfield. I have witnessed a steady exodus of good teachers, because they can make so much money elsewhere. Recently, a high-ranking West Springfield school official told a friend of mine that he loved getting Springfield teachers, because they’re so well-trained. Do the right thing. Please release the funds that would begin to bring Springfield teacher pay scales to a competitive level. Our kids need these teachers. We invite you to meet with us. Please be man enough to show up or courteous enough to R.s.v.p. We have difficult jobs to do. We can’t do them if we don’t listen to each other.”
“Dear Members of the Control Board: I am currently in my fourth year of teaching English at Central High School in Springfield, Massachusetts. I graduated from Smith College in 2000 and completed a masters program there, as well, in 2001. At the beginning of this school year, while distributing free and reduced school lunch applications to my homeroom, it occurred to me that, under my present salary, my school-age daughters are eligible for free or reduced lunch. The salary listed on the reduced lunch application indicates that a family of four earning less than $34,873 annually is eligible to apply for free or reduced lunch. My income, after retirement contributions is $30,379. How ironic that teachers who are committed to teaching in low-income areas are reduced to living in low-income status! Like many other new teachers, I must repay my student loans. My student loan payments increase each year under the assumption that my salary will increase due to the contractual step raises. Without the step raises for the last two years, I have, in fact, experienced a reduction in pay. In addition to student loan payment increases, there have been increases in health insurance, union dues, and even gasoline prices for me to travel to and from work. If the city of Springfield cannot commit in good faith to its contractual promises and deliver the step raises so sorely needed, many of the new teachers will have no choice but to seek employment elsewhere. Without our step-raises, it is becoming financially unsound to remain in the school system. I am appealing to you to act in good faith, reinstate our step-raises so that new teachers in Springfield can have some incentive to remain and serve this deserving student population. The teachers I have met here in Springfield are extremely hard-working, dedicated, and committed to the students they teach, and we deserve to be given that which has been contractually promised to us when we first signed to teach in the Springfield schools.”
I have one short one, and I’ll be done. Thank you.
“Dear Mr. LeBovidge: I’m a sixth year teacher in Springfield, and I love to teach. I’m still earning about $30,000 with a newly completed masters degree, and I had to pay for this degree and did not get any help by a contract pay increase. I have many college bills. My dilemma is this: I have one child in pre-school and another due in June. In September, their combined day care cost will leave me with $125 a week take-home pay check, and that is expected to cover all the other household bills? Mr. LeBovidge, I love to teach, and I want to continue to teach in Springfield, but I won’t be able to afford to teach here. As crazy as that sounds, it’s the truth, so please help us get what is due to us. I am not the only one in this situation.”
[Applause]
[Voices from the back of the hall: “Where’s the rest of the control board; they haven’t shown up yet?” “No-show job.” “$135,000 a year?” “Where are they?” “Guy sitting next to Mr. Ryan looks like he’s bored.” [unintelligible] “What’s going on with that?”
CVR: The next three speakers are Lieutenant David Wells, president of the firefighters union, Joe Dailey a retired teacher, and Drew Piemonte. Lieutenant Wells?
David Wells, president of firefighters union
David Wells: Good morning, Your Honor, Mr. Chairman. Couple things: I’m a little disappointed, first and foremost, the rest of the control board’s not here. One is the location. Once again, the city of Springfield has 150,000 residents. This room probably holds—what?—a hundred people? And, sadly, I don’t see too many notes being taken.
First and foremost, you are correct. You did not cause the problems in this city, but we didn’t either, OK? The solution to the problems in Springfield lays with the employees and the citizens, OK? Not on the backs of them, but hand-in-hand with them. Sadly, the city of Springfield has the lowest-manned fire department per capita in the country. Right now, I have about 32 firefighters here today. That’s how many guys are on shift any given day. For a residence of 150 plus 35 sq. miles at any given night, I have anywhere from two stations to five companies tapped out of service. We went from four guys on a engine company (ladder trucks and rescue) to three guys on engine rescue. We need, public safety has to be the number one priority. The question to you is “What can we do to help to solve this problem without taking anything more from us than you have? Wage freeze? Manning? You asked us to increase our health insurance, you want to take, you know, closing additional companies? What can we do to solve this problem?” We want to walk hand-in-hand with you.
The city of Springfield has the highest fire load outside the city of Boston and Worcester. That’s kind of spooky. Last year, we laid off 53 firefighters. 90% of that was haz-mat techs. OK? We have 300 chemical facilities in this city, and we don’t have a haz mat team. Just in closing, I just want to the solution is not on the backs of the employees or on the citizens, but it’s hand-in-hand with them. All I ask you is you honor the law, come to the negotiating table in good faith, and obey the laws of the Commonwealth 150E, Collective Bargaining. That’s all I’m asking. Thank-you.
[Applause]
CVR: Joe Dailey.
Joe Dailey: Joe Dailey, retired teacher after 35 years. Excuse the tremor in my voice; it’s not antagonism, it’s just nerves.
Back in July, Mr. Mayor and Mr. Control Board Chairman, the retirees of this city were promised in four meetings at Central High School, (fire department, all the departments) that, when we switched our insurance to save the city of Springfield, all our co-pays, all our coverages would be exactly the same as the policy vis a vis the policy with the new company. Let me tell you, after my wife being in the hospital twice since New Years, the coverages are not the same. Cigna is squeezing us and squeezing the physicians, and we are being dunned by them. In those four meetings, we were told everything would be the same: co-pays, no mention was made of deductibles.
Now, the control board—and excuse me for being personal and anti-Republican here—Mitt Romney has a history, starting with the Olympics, of being a union buster. The first thing that your control board, you, sir, did when you came into Springfield was to try and null and void all contracts which were negotiated in good faith. That was your first step. I hope that this meeting is a meeting for you to learn and to listen and to come up with some alternatives and not just a sham to let us vent our anger like we’re being thrown some pop-corn. The senior citizens of this city all across the land are being squeezed by medical costs and insurance costs, real estate taxes. We are being squeezed, and the first thing you want to do is to add co-pays and a $250 deductible per person on to our costs. That, sir, is a promise broken. And, unfortunately, Mr. Collin’s brother, Chris, our insurance commissioner who did an outstanding job for the employees of this city, was left hanging in the wind.
I’ve known Mr. Ryan since the 1940s when I shot hoops in his back yard on Oxford Street. Those were pleasant times. Those were nice times. You’re a good man, Charlie. My only complaint is, since this thing started, in terms of our benefits, our insurance, etc. etc., you have been mum.
[Applause]
CVR: The next speaker is Drew Piemonte of Covelle Street in Springfield.
Drew Piemonte: [wears firefighter tee-shirt] I have two questions: When do you anticipate lifting the wage freeze so we can get our raises? and What strategies do you have in place to do that?
AL: We’re not here to answer questions. We’re here to listen, so...
DP: You’re just here to...everybody’s got to come up here and yell at you? I mean, I believe we’re beyond that. I want some facts and some answers. You people work for us. We pay your salaries and we can’t even [unintelligible] Reiterate what our union president said: public safety should be a priority, education should be a priority, police should be a priority, and you people do not make it a priority by cutting us and cutting us and cutting us. It doesn’t make any sense. Give us our raises.
[Unintelligible shouts from back of the hall]
CVR: The next three speakers are Frank Buntin, Steve Albin, and Kathleen Murphy.
Frank Buntin: Good Morning, Mr. Mayor and the one member of the control board. My name is Frank Buntin, and I came in the hopes of being able to speak to the control board, and I was going to say to them, “Welcome to Western Mass.”
I happen to have grown up and have my family back in Andover, Mass (that’s where Jay Leno [unintelligible] and so fourth), and somehow, in Eastern Mass., they think that the commonwealth ends on Worcester. I have been in Springfield over forty-something years, and Mr. Dailey, here, and I taught school 45 years ago when Springfield used to say “the great school system,” and it was. My first two children went through the Springfield school system and graduated from Brown and Tufts universities, and they were taught and trained by the teachers of Springfield. I am fortunate (or unfortunate in a way): I have a new family now, and those two youngsters (one’s a junior and one’s in seventh grade), and I expect for them to get the same type of education that their big brother and sister got.
But there are some things I’d like to say to you this morning, and that is: Springfield, the third largest city in Massachusetts, 152,000 people. And when I left the restaurant this morning, the people that was at Family Kitchen, they said, “Oh, don’t forget to send our hellos to the white big five.” That is the way they refer to the control board, and the reason for that is in Springfield, the third largest city, blacks, Spanish and Asians make up over 52% of the population, but the governor didn’t see fit to appoint a person of color that looks like them or a female to the board. And I would like to say to you and to the audience that old saying, “Apples don’t fall to far from the tree?” Well, I worked for Mitt Romney’s dad, George, and George Romney would have never have appointed a committee to look over Springfield like what we have here today. So [turning to the audience] therefore, I say that apples do not necessarily have to fall too far from the tree, but Mitt Romney evidently didn’t learn from his dad.
The Springfield school district—27,000 students, the third largest, the second largest school system in Massachusetts and New England with a racial make-up of blacks, Spanish and Asians that says 83%. Then you take a look at the poverty:18,000 students in the Springfield school system are eligible for the free lunch. Now, Springfield is not going to fly any higher than its school system is going to take it. And I want to point out to you, too, that in Springfield this is the third poorest community in Massachusetts.
Do you realize in Springfield there are 78,000 jobs, but then you take a second look at those jobs and see that 60% of those jobs are held by the white suburbia. Now, let me give you some figures on...about four years ago, a survey was made by the federal government of cities in the Northeast of over 150,000, and Springfield had the tightest white noose of any city in the Northeast. For example, Longmeadow: 97% of white; Wilbraham: the same; East Longmeadow and Ludlow: the same.
Then you look at the incomes in Springfield. My two children were the plaintiffs for Springfield in the Hancock-Driscoll court case. I’m sorry to say they lost it, and it was a sad day, but the attorney general said, he said that we are reaching the point in our school systems in Massachusetts where there is the haves and the have-nots. We have already reached that when you compare Springfield with the Longmeadows and so fourth.
In regard to the teachers, I, forty years ago when they used to talk about that great school system, I was teaching in it. I went to the federal government; I hear the other older Americans talk about their health insurance. Well, I spent 22 years on the senior level of the United States Department of HUD and United States Department of Education and, many times, we looked at communities were having the same problems. I served on task forces out of the White House and so forth, but the federal offices were fair when they looked at a city like Springfield, and I don’t see that happening here.
In regard to...I don’t have to worry about my health insurance because with regard to the federal government makes sure that their retirees have the best. I have my Blue Cross Blue Shield. In addition to that, I worked when they were paying teachers very poorly, which they’re now doing, and I hustled enough to be eligible for Social Security, so I can have Plan B if I wanted to.
But I want to say to you: it’s time for you to really look at some of the things that are going on in Springfield: the 60,000 peoples that are going to suburbia are things that inner city could be in the city helped to help pay the teachers, because if our children are not learning and the academic gap is there, what company is going to come to Springfield to put their plant up when our kids cannot read and write getting out of the high schools?
CVR: Frank? [Signals “time is up” with his hands.] One more point.
FB: I wrote a letter representing the parents and the children of the school system, and I held it back, but I will send it forward to you, and it will have all the data in it, but take into consideration that we are not that poor community and let’s be fair in how we judge Springfield.
[Applause]
CVR: The next speaker is Steve Alban. Is Steve here? If not, we’ll go to Kathleen Murphy.
Kathleen Murphy: Good morning, Mayor. Thank you for giving us an opportunity to vent our concerns. This morning I want to thank you for not dismantling the Department of Elder Affairs. You pleased the seniors very well. I know that having, you had no choice in bringing in the control board to Springfield, and the seniors that I associate with and meet and break bread with consider them a necessary evil, and in a couple years, with God’s help, they’ll be out of Springfield.
But they have a concern: you do have a choice when you appoint members to boards and you hire people, and they’re not Springfield residents. That is, upsets them. Personally, I am a taxpayer, worked for the city of Springfield for ten years running a senior center. I don’t get a pension from my job nor my insurance; I didn’t put enough time in there, although I worked 20 hours a week for ten years. We are the people who comfort our seniors when they lose a child or a grandchild, which is worse and wish they were the ones. We comfort them when they lose their lifelong partners, and they feel they should have city residents speaking for them. They feel we have many qualified people in Springfield who would speak for them. They feel that when you do this, you send a wrong message to Springfield residents: that we don’t have qualified people to speak for us or work for us. And we would hope that that would not be a habit with you in the future. I thank you for listening to me, and I thank you for the job you’re doing.
CVR: Thank you. The next three speakers are Orlando Santiago, Melinda Phelps, and Regina Franks. Mr. Santiago?
Orlando Santiago of Fairfield Street
Orlando Santiago: Mr. Chairman, Mr. Mayor, thank you so much. I know a lot’s been said. I’m sorry, as a taxpayer, I really know that you’re doing your best. And, Mayor, I know that this has been very hard for you to let go of your power to Mitt Romney, and I know you did it because you love the city, and it was the only way to clean up the city.
I’m going to talk to you as a parent. As a parent, I’m not happy with the control board, because of our kids and of the future of our children. When I was a young man, many years ago, Ted Kennedy said to me “We make changes for you, for you, little man, for your future.” Well, here’s my future, and it’s pretty shitty, and what am I going to leave my kids?
So, I’m going to talk to you [looking at AL] like Dad, and Mayor, I’m going to talk to you like you’re my grandpa (with all due respect). If I came to you as your son, because I fell and hurt myself, wouldn’t you pick me up? Wouldn’t you ask me questions? Wouldn’t you come up to me and say “Are you OK?” Kiss the boo-boo? You would.
Dad, Grandpa, your grandkids have fallen. Pick them up. Ask them what’s wrong. It’s the education; our education are failing our children. I’m not here because I just want to come up to you and yell at you—because I really do, and I really want to go over there and shake you—but the truth of the fact is that we’ve fallen. [Applause] Don’t kick us when we’re down. We’re decent people here in this community. 95% of us pay our taxes on time. Don’t hold us accountable because of our elected officials were sleeping on the job. Don’t hold us accountable for that. Hold them accountable.
Reach out to us—you will see how nice this community really is. When you’re gone, and you went to your next job, Dad, I’ll invite you back, and I personally will take you around Springfield to our Basketball Hall of Fame to our libraries, to our schools, walk you down the streets (even the North End where people think it’s not a nice place, and it is a nice place).
I’m a Latino, straight up Puerto Rican, but I am an American, and today the Mayor stood us up and we faced that flag, we faced it, and we pledged our allegiance—beautiful words, those words are just beautiful, but they’re hollow if they’re don’t mean nothing if you don’t follow them up. They’re hollow.
So, I ask you, Dad, Grandpa, pledge to us that you will do the right thing for our children and the future of the city. Thank you.
[Applause]
CVR: Next speaker is Melinda Phelps.
Melinda Phelps: Thanks you. Good morning, Mayor Ryan, Mr. Chairman and my fellow citizens from the city of Springfield. I am a 27-year resident of the city of Springfield, and I am an attorney who works in the city of Springfield. I believe in order for this city to thrive, not merely survive, we need to maintain a strong middle and upper middle class. And I believe that’s done through strong public schools, effective public safety, and economic development.
And, if I may, just for a few minutes, address the issue of economic development. From my perspective, from the outside looking in, it appears that the control board has tried to bring fiscal integrity to this city by going after taxes and back taxes and also on the backs of our public employees, my friends and my neighbors. I would ask that the control board and the Romney administration make a similar commitment as the public employees of this city have done, and that is to find economic development for this city. To go out and have Springfield be a first look not a last look by people who are willing to invest in this commonwealth. Ands I ask the control board to pursue a parallel track, not merely cutting and becoming fiscally lean, but looking for increased revenue bases and that means economic development, finding people who want to invest in the city to create jobs and create an increased tax base, so that we have additional money to honor the contracts with our public employees and maintain a quality of life in this city. Thank you very much.
CVR: Regina Franks?
Regina Franks: OK. I have heard at least five people say today that Springfield is the third largest city in the state. In 1983 when I worked for civil service and I wrote the scheduling for the police officers and the fire department for the city of Springfield, even when you were the mayor of this city of Springfield, Mayor Ryan, this was the second largest city...in the state. Now I hear from the teachers, the fire department, it’s like the whole place is just crumbling. What I want to know from the control board: Is this planned? Are you closing Springfield and moving on to greener pastures?
Because I didn’t even come here to talk about that. I came to talk about a personal issue which is my housing, but my housing seems to be the same thing that’s happening to everybody in this city: it’s decaying. (But so many people are getting paid so much money. ) I’m living in a building where the fire alarm has been disabled since November 4, because of electrical shortages in the wiring because of flooding and leaking toilets that are rotting wiring. That’s, like, four months? There are over 20 different units in my building? There is no fire alarm? The fire department, they just said they’re real, real busy, they’re very shorthanded, so if something happens at my house, I don’t even think they’re going to come. And every time I hear about a fire in the in the newspaper, on the tv, the whole place is gone; everybody loses everything, but I don’t see anybody getting rescued, because the buildings are that unsafe.
And I think if you’re going to build this city up, and I would think that you [gesturing toward the mayor] would have a more vested interest since you was here before. You was here when it was better. And it doesn’t seem like anybody’s working on bringing anyone together, working as a team. We have people that come from Boston, stay a couple of hours, stay out of Dodge, we’re still here with a decaying city. And you can walk through this city on any given day, but those guys, they get in a limo so you can’t smell the stench...but it’s still here. That everybody who works here, that lives here, that teaches school here, that goes into a building to save somebody. The conditions still exist.
There is no treatment for mold exposure, but yet and still, half the buildings in this city are decaying. They don’t have a roof, they don’t have windows and they’re just crumbling down. Nobody’s doing anything; that effects everybody that comes through this community. And building a nice spot up is not going to help anyone survive. It just won’t. That’s all I have to say. Thank you.
I covered everything that I wanted to talk about, but I also want to mention that the control board, from what I understand, you’re very well paid. You do not volunteer for this job. If you’re going to talk to our community, you should at least extend us the courtesy of making a personal appearance. You can’t be that too busy. You’re getting paid to much money. OK. Thank you very much.
CVR: Thank you. The next three speakers are Bob Tynan, Donna Simoneau, and George Pelopolis.
Bob Tynan of Oxford Street
Bob Tynan: Thank you for the opportunity to allow me to speak today. I am currently a retired teacher from the Springfield school system. I didn’t expect to do so this year. Just a little bit of qualifier and background: I moved to Springfield in 1981 from the suburbs. I lived in an affluent community, and my spare time as a businessman (I owned a chain of auto parts stores) was given to city kids, because I knew that education was that’s where most of the need was. And I moved to Springfield and took up a career as a teacher in the city of Springfield. And, what happened was, last year, the school department had invested several thousand dollars in my training to institute a program at Putnam High School to change the way that teachers teach and students learn. Unfortunately, due to union cuts, and I was not a senior teacher, having only nine years employment, I was cut. I asked for the superintendent to intercede for me, and he did. And I could have had a job in Springfield, but when I found out that the classrooms in Springfield High are 35-43 students, I knew my health could not sustain what these kids needed. My concern, and I think it’s fair for me to say that my colleagues and students considered me one of the most dedicated teachers in the system.
And, what happened before I retired is I took a grant with the National Park Service. Part of this grant said that I had to do research and enlist the aid of other teachers to teach kids about the value of our national parks. And, what happened was, I needed to call to enlist the aid of another teacher in Springfield, because I needed a classroom to present a pilot project, because I was retired. I called up seven of the colleagues I knew; they were the best teachers in the system. I’m talking people who had their master’s degree, who had dedicated their lives like me, putting children first. It took me seven phone calls to get one teacher. And, of these seven teachers who were our best, all of them said they felt in so many words “assaulted” by the requirement of teaching from 35 to 43 kids. Every single one of them. Was the administration picking on the best teachers to have them have the largest classrooms? I don’t think so. I think it’s all through the high school right now. But what it felt was these people were in shock that instead of putting in an average of 6 to 8 hours a week-end, like I did every week-end, correcting papers to bring these kids to MCAS standards, I would have had to, with 35 to 40 kids, put in two days every week-end to keep up with the requirement of that class size. I knew I couldn’t sustain that kind of effort; my health wouldn’t allow it. But, what we’ve done with the fiscal cuts in Springfield, with the teachers, has assaulted the best of our teachers and all of our teachers.
And, Mr. LeBovidge, I have to address the control board in the sense of asking you: “Isn’t your job, rather than just counting dollars? Isn’t that meta-economic, isn’t it higher than economics?” The Supreme Court recognized that in the Board of Education case in 1954 when they said the most important function of local government is education. And we are assaulting a city system. We are assaulting the best of our teachers and all of our teachers with what the control board has in their hand to change. You should be going to the governor and saying, “These people, these workers, these employees in the city of Springfield need help because we’re below standard in our payment.” Please help us out, because I don’t want to see these kids I love to teach be cheated out of a future. Thank you.
CVR: The next speaker is Donna Simoneau.
Donna Simoneau: Good Morning. I wrote my, my what I have to say to day, because I’m very nervous. I was born in the city of Springfield; I’ve lived here for almost 50 years. I’ve been a special ed school bus driver for over 18 years. I also had the honor of driving your grandchildren, Mayor Ryan, to school for three years; they were wonderful. This job gave me the training and the opportunity to get off welfare and become self-sufficient. How that happened was through seniority by the union; I worked my way up as a van driver to a wheel chair driver to a Class 2 driver, to this day. I’m also self-sufficient now. It also provided health insurance and dental. Through this job, I gained a strong sense of self-confidence that I previously lacked.
It is a tough job. You deal with students who require much more than a person behind the steering wheel. Let’s also not forget the various illnesses we’re exposed to, the variorum changes of weather, of temperatures and road conditions. There is no pension nor sick nor paid snow cancellation days. Yet, we still drive your children to school every day. I’ve watch the quality of life and treatment of city employees decline in this city over the years, yet crime increases, teachers are leaving, families are moving out, and our children are dropping out.
I am a firm believer in “you get what you pay for.” I can attest to that today by just where I am standing now. As a taxpayer of Springfield, I believe the people who bring life to the city through their jobs every morning and every night deserve for the better. I say this in behalf of all school bus drivers and single mothers who are trying to make ends meet. Thank you.
[Applause]
CVR: George Pelopolis? Did he leave? All right, fine. Rick Brown, president of AFL-CIO. Rick?
Rick Brown, president of AFL-CIO
Rick Brown: Good Morning, Mayor Ryan and those of you here from the control board. We would have a lot more people here, but some of the people actually went to their jobs, and we would have suspected that all of your folks would have go to their jobs here, as well, but, apparently, that’s not the case. The first thing that you do in an attempt to dismantle a democracy is to eliminate free trade unions. And let me tell you something, this is Springfield; this is not Stalingrad. And we need the cooperation of the control board, the legislature, and all to make this work.
We had a—actually, you [indicates Donald Flannery] made a good comment, one good comment, regarding Chelsea--the amount of energy and effort and economic development, the combined focus from so many different organizations on Chelsea made a tremendous difference, and as a result of that combined effort, there was ownership. There is no ownership here. There are three people from the other end of the state coming down and dictating policy to the city of Springfield. And, can you imagine in Chelsea, back in the 90s, if three people from Western Mass went up to Chelsea and dictated policy to them. It just wouldn’t happen. No way.
We need to feel a part of this, and we don’t. We feel like we are being bowled over, bowled over by a very large bulldozer borrowed from the Big Dig, and we’re just getting flattened here. And, I’m telling you, it’s not going to happen. You’ve seen another group come out, the bus drivers...I’ll tell you what, my kid is on a bus a lot more than a plane. I want good quality bus drivers that know what they’re doing, that have health insurance, that are maintained through the contract year after year, and that’s not going to happen if you pull the plug on them and don’t maintain the specs that require unionization.
The teachers--and not just the teachers--I personally represent the nurses in the city of Springfield school district. What’s happening, our school nurses who’d been around for years are frozen at a low step, and they hire people off the street, when that person leaves out of frustration, at a higher step. So you get rid of a quality teacher [sic] at Step 3 and hire somebody who doesn’t have doesn’t have the qualifications, doesn’t have the bachelor’s degree, doesn’t have any of the qualifications off the street at a Step 4. You’re losing money. Get out a calculator; put a pencil to it. It makes no sense; it’s insanity. I mean, we’re like looking through the looking glass here, and everything is upside down. We need to make some changes; we need to feel a part of this. We need to not just be given draconian proposals, and we need to put together real packages that’ll put this thing behind us. Let these folks have a decent contract, move this city forward. I can tell you 1997, I sat here, stood here in front of the same group, and I said we need to say that this is a union city, and we did that. And let me tell you, it is now one of the largest non-union cities in the country and getting worse. We need to fix it; it’s broken. Thank you.
[Applause]
CVR: We’re running into a little problem. I have about 8 more cards. Several, as you can see, have been handed in while the meeting’s been on. I’m game, Mr. LeBovidge, until a quarter past or so?
AL: Yes. That’s fine.
CVR: OK. All right. The next three speakers are Deb Newell, Edith Ardis, and Stennet Smith. Deb Newell? [Silence] OK. Edith Ardis? [Silence] Stennet Smith.
Stennet Smith(?) I want to thank you gentlemen for offering this opportunity to today. I appreciate your candor. I realize, it’s a difficult situation, come in from Boston and be afflicted with this type of onslaught. What you’re hearing, sir, is our voices, quite simply, the people of the county are recognizing a pattern of progressive politics here, call them triads. We call them as misappropriated and misallocated special interests. I say that respectfully, based upon my experience.
My father was chairman of the county commissioners for thirty years, and he had a unique term he developed; it was called “under budget.” He used his skills in real estate to contract fair and appropriate contracts, not catering to special interests and our friends, which is normal because it develops as a relationship over the years, because you know these people. I understand, the people understand what’s gone on. What we’re trying to do is appeal to a sense of reason to look at the change and the decay in our city where our homicide rate is at a record this year, police officers are forced to enact laws which require them to wear bullet-proof vests. It’s just silly; there’s a civil war going on, a war and there’s an urban society, it’s called a war on the political front, and the people who mandate and authoritate to you what to do are sticking you between your job and what we’re asking to be done. We just want to open a dialogue, and try to speak more realistically about a situation which seems to be getting very perilous, and I thank you for coming in and considering what we have to talk about.
CVR: Thank you. Thank you. I see that George Pelopolis has returned. Mr. Pelopolis, would you speak now?
George Pelopolis: First of all, I want to thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to speak here. As you know, two months ago, when I tried to speak here, I was shut off, and I think that’s the reason we’re having the speak-out today. Another thing, I’m very disappointed. It’s a five-member board; the five members should be here if we’re going to have a speak-out. Also, I think the speak-out should consist of the day that you’re going to have an issue brought up, like next month when you bring up the issue, the speak-out in front of the five member board should be at least a half-hour before the meeting, so the people can speak out against the issue or for the issue, whatever it is. Usually what happens here is the secretary comes in, sits down, makes the presentation, and that’s the end of it. Nobody has the right to speak against it or for it.
For the health insurance, like we said before, the last three or four months constantly all I hear from Chris Collins, Marilyn Montego [sic], the mayor, everybody: “There’ll be no change in your health insurance, the name change only. The benefits will stay the same any times and then, all of a sudden, on November 19, the final date when all the insurance papers had to be in for the change-over, after telling 1000 people or better “There’ll be no change in the benefits.” On November 20, it comes out that there’s going to be a change, the benefits are going to change.
What kind of faith do we have in our city fathers? And when I brought it to you, Mayor, and I told you about it, you keep telling me (or at that time), I think you change your ways now, that it’s the control board doing it. Every time I talk to a city employee about our health insurance, “It’s not me; it’s the control board.” Well, who the heck is the control board? Just five of yous on the board. Mayor, you’re a member of the control board. You were elected by the people. At least speak up for the people, and listen to the people. That’s all I’m asking.
And I don’t think, I think what we should do with the insurance, my advice, is table it for a year. See how it works out. Then come back for a year and say it didn’t work out. then add the deductions at that time. Don’t do it now. We did a lot: we got Plan B going in, we got our prescriptions going in; we’re doing good. Just because the city got $62million in the hole, and the $62million, it was $52million, but when they found out that $10million was missing from the school fund, and they can’t locate it, why should the retirees, 4000 retirees be punished because we got to make up $21million and part of that is that $10million which was taken out of the school fund building fun?. That’s all I got to say. Please, listen to the people.
CVR: OK. We’re down to the last three speakers. They are Jerold Duquette, Lorenzo Gaines, and Brian Corridan. Mr. Duquette? [AL indicates another speaker has come forward] Oh, I’m sorry. Had I called your name?
Unknown Man: Yes, you did. Good day to both of you. I’m speaking on behalf of my kids and the public school system in Springfield. I’m a resident of Springfield, and I’m speaking on behalf of friends of mine who are municipal employees of the city of Springfield. I migrated here from Jamaica in 1982, and I was into the Springfield school systems. I think Springfield school systems is one of the best school systems after experiencing speaking to people of different cities. I had a teacher called Ted Duckowitz at Technical High School. Ted Duckowitz, Mr. Snow, Mr. Grimaldi: teachers like those: they don’t make them no more. My kids inside the school system right now. The teachers that are going to school systems (West Springfield, Agawam, East Longmeadow)...Mr. Mayor, we can’t afford that, because if for teachers going elsewhere and the younger teachers don’t want to come in, then who’s going to be teaching our kids?
I have friends who I went to school with who are firemen and cops here. If those people being encouraged to go to other cities to work, and the people supposed to be replacing them are going elsewhere, then what are we left with? We’re not left with anybody. Now we have everybody leaving the city of Springfield. What’s going to happen? We’re not going to go up. We’re going to go down.
I see fingers pointing at you, and I think you’re doing a great job. It’s unfortunate that I didn’t vote for you—not because I didn’t like you, but I wasn’t aware of who you really were—but I say if I knew what I know now, I would have voted for you. However, your hands are tied, because you’re taking over from an administration that didn’t do some of the things that needed to be done.
People have made a point: there’s a control board that was assigned here. Where are they? They need to be here; they need to be here so they can hear what the people of Springfield are speaking about, what our concerns are state what our concerns are and the other gentlemen state what our concerns are. they’re getting second-hand statements; they’re getting second-hand understanding of what people really voicing. They’re not hearing you screaming at them when other people screaming at you guys. They only hear what you take as notes. You could take only but so much notes. You won’t be able to voice all of what people are saying, you know? And I think they have a responsibility for the pay that they’re getting to be here. If they have other appointments, cancel them. There’s people who supposed to be teaching school, people who are supposed to be doing other things that are here, because they want to voice their opinion. And it’s their responsibility to stand up and hear the opinions that are being voiced. Thank you.
[Applause]
Jerold Duquette of Longmeadow
Jerold Duquette: Good Morning, Mr. Mayor, Mr. LeBovidge. Jerold Duquette. A quick note of process. Obviously, lots of people have mentioned that folks aren’t here who ought to be here, and, of course, that’s true. It’s more than just a symbolic problem, however. As diligent as you two gentlemen are, it isn’t really feasible that you’re going to be able to take enough notes to understand the comments and questions that are coming at you. I don’t see anyone...
[Videotape interrupted here]
Lorenzo Gaines
Lorenzo Gaines: [in progress] ...part of those two things is being educated and literate, and we live in a global economy and a global society where the internet is paramount and tantamount to a healthy community. Our libraries are closed; how is it going to happen? Teachers are disenfranchised; our fire [sic] is disenfranchised; police officers are disenfranchised. Community policing is a good thing.
I think enforcing the residency rule would be a good thing. I don’t think immediately; there’s probably some people that won’t be happy with that, but in the long run it would be a great thing, because I think if you live here, you’re going to care. If you can take a paycheck out of here, you can pay taxes here. I think that, you know, we need more support for programs and functions that showcase the best and brightest Springfield has to offer.
Today, I was on my way down here, and this young man slipped this under my door, and I’m going to leave it with you. And he wanted me to qualify it, and it’s sad that I really have to qualify his work, but he gave me this.
It’s Fenwick Neighborhood Council, and it’s three major plans. This is his initiative: to adopt and beautify the island on Roosevelt Avenue, to dialogue with our corporate neighbors, including MassMutual and Springfield College, create a safe neighborhood by meeting with the Springfield police department and have an assessment of what we can do as citizens to make their job easier and make our lives safer.
So this young man—again, I have to qualify this, because he said to me that he didn’t have enough time at the library to get the type-os out. I was so hurt by that—you know what I mean?—first, he showed initiative and chutzpa and gumption, and there’s other people in this community that need to do the same thing.
We have people from outside out community who don’t know—let’s say—the nuances of the community and seem to have a bad perception. We’re great people. We want to work. We want to make a change. We’re not supporting the violence in our community. We’re going to make a difference—some of us.
I believe that there are elected officials that, you know, should be held accountable for their taxes (they should be paid on time; they should be held to a higher standard). And I hope that citizens will not support someone who can’t pay their taxes on time, who wants to blame their accountant. And he should tell us who that accountant is, because I don’t want to do business with him. We need more people making noise, and I’m going to make noise, so let it be known. Fredrick Douglass said, “Agitate, agitate, agitate.” I’m here to agitate.
And I have one last thing in closing: “If you don’t stand up for something, you’ll fall for anything.” Let’s wake up, people.
[Applause]
Brian Corridan
Brian Corridan: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Chairman LeBovidge. I had not intended to speak this morning, so my remarks will be brief. I have a little different frame of reference than many of your previous speakers. I was not born and raised in Springfield. I chose Springfield for all the right reasons. My background is finance, 26 years of Wall Street, and I have a working knowledge of municipal finance and corporate finance.
My concern is about messages. The message that you [indicates AL] received when you took your charge to be here, the messages you are receiving from the people of Springfield, and the message you will bring back to Mr. Kriss and to the governor of the commonwealth.
My great fear is that the message is that you received when you came here was that “Springfield was a mess. Go in and clean it up.” I cannot entirely—I think that’s harsh, but I cannot entirely disagree with that. I don’t think anybody does. But since you have been here, many changes have occurred within the structure of government, and frankly and honestly, a lot of them probably would not have changed or occurred had you not been here and had Mayor Ryan not exhibited the honesty that he has exhibited in challenging people in Springfield, in government and out of government to face up to our financial crisis.
I am concerned about the message you’re receiving. Not you, Mr. LeBovidge; we won’t beat you about the head and shoulders; you’re here. And I thank you for being here. I have grave concerns about your two colleagues who have not had the benefit of hearing what you have heard this morning. I am hopeful that you are not simply here to be punitive, but here to learn about Springfield.
I want to dove-tail on what Mr. Collins said that, financially, the message should be....I won’t get ahead of myself. I’m not naive enough to ask you what your message is going to be, but I’m forward enough to suggest to you what your message ought to be. At the end of the day, despite the best efforts of everyone involved, the numbers do not add up. [Applause] Despite the cuts, despite the reorganizations, the numbers do not add up. We as citizens of Springfield must take our share of responsibility for that for some decades and generations of recycling politicians and not demanding enough accountability. We have taken that responsibility, I assure you.
The thing I have concerns about most is your message back. I suggest to you this morning that your message ought to be “Governor, we have done everything we can do. The punitive stage is over. The numbers don’t add up. This city needs assistance. Governor, you have a city whose school system is challenged and tenuous. The numbers don’t add up; they need your help. Governor, you have a city where public safety is of paramount concern to the degree that half the street lights in downtown have been off. turn the lights back on. This city needs the assistance.” That, Mr. Chairman, among other things, and I will spare you the litany of the other things that we could fit right into that scenario. The message you received troubled me. My perception of the message you probably received when you got here troubles me. The fact that your colleagues are not here troubles me. But I have confidence after this, that, at least, you will come to the right conclusion: “Mr. Governor, the numbers don’t add up. This is a great city; it will be great again. We need your assistance.” Thank you.
[Applause]
CVR: Thank you very much, Mr. Corridan, and, frankly, I want to thank all of the men and women who, not only came here this morning, but more particularly, everyone who spoke. My own feeling as mayor is that you did an outstanding job, a splendid job, and I’m very proud of you as representatives of the city of Springfield. This is an unfinished scenario. This is something where we keep moving on. Frankly, I think that this was an excellent session and can only help the difficult challenge that we have.
As I said Monday at the teacher’s meeting, the control board, while it was given enormous power, not only by Governor Romney, but by unanimous vote of both the House and the Senate, was really not given any money. I don’t count the $52million which we can borrow from as really substantively changing the equation. But, by the same token, it is up to the control board to chart this course.
And so, in spite of the fact that it wasn’t given any grants of money, it’s doing its level best to do so. But it is a bumpy ride. We know that and, frankly, I’m indebted to Bob Brown and George Pelopolis who, as George reminded us, two months ago....and because this was not a personal decision, there was no precedent for it, the control board, the three members from Eastern Mass are doing their level best. They’re men of decency and courage, really, to take on this job, and they’re doing the very best they can, but it’s an evolving situation. I think we’ll do better as we go along, but in the last analysis, and several of you have said it very eloquently, the most recent of which was Mr. Corridan, that when we get all through the numbers are not going to add up, so we do have to go back. And it’s not only to Governor Romney, it’s to your representatives in the legislature, both the House and the Senate.
We are making significant progress, not progress enough so we can say “Oh boy, we’ve balanced the books and now it’s full speed ahead,” but we’re making significant progress, and when we go back, it will be with a record and with an image that is going to be far better and far different than what I was dealing with last May and June when in my unsuccessful attempts there at Beacon Hill, but we’ll go on...I certainly would be delighted if Mr. LeBovidge wants to make any remarks before we suspend this meeting.
AL: Just quickly, I, too, share...I’m glad I came...The..when you think about it, I do have the message, I do understand the issues, and I think I can accurately portray it to the other members of the finance control board and to the other members of the administration and the legislators in Boston.
A lot of work is done behind the scenes. I’ve had some of the meetings that you have referred to that we should have; they’ve already taken place, actually. And, you know, as the Mayor said, you didn’t get there in a day, and you’re not going to get out of this in a day. And we’ll keep working at it and, you know, if you don’t have a good track record, I guess the last speaker talked about in terms about investment banking. You know, you have to have a track record before people will invest in you, and if they don’t see that you’re doing your share to help the problem, then there’s no reason for them to take any action. So, we’re all, I think, on the same boat, I think we’re all on the same page trying to solve the problem that got created by a lot of people who aren’t in this room, and we’ll take it one day at a time. So I appreciate your coming, and I guess it’s time for adjournment.
CVR: OK, fine. Thank you all very much.