District 3 Candidate: Susan Kiely

Dear Resident(s) of District 3,

Please allow me to introduce myself, my name is Susan Kiely and I am
a candidate for District 3 Councilor. I am aware, as I'm sure many of
you are, that running for the councilor seat in this District is a
formidable task to undertake. I am asking you now to please take a few
minutes to read through this letter so that my reasoning for seeking
a seat on Council is better understood.

Starting in 2004, until present, I have had cause to interact with the
City Council and a number of Committees. While the issues that
brought me to that interaction were important to me, they
are not the reason I chose to run for Council. It was the interaction
itself with both Council and Committees that brought me to this
candidacy. Residents in District 3 neighborhoods were frequently not
being notified and/or included in projects/decisions being made by
Council/Committees until those projects/decisions were at a point
where the inclusion of residents was merely to cover a legal
technicality. Frequently, there was an adversarial stance taken on the
part of City officials when information was requested by residents.
And, far too often, the information obtained was subject to change
without residents’ knowledge.

It is my belief that there needs to be a change of perspective on City
Council. District 3 voters are a major factor as to whether that
change occurs or not. I believe there are functional aspects in the
way that the present City Council works that need to be revised in
order for this City to develop in a productive, harmonious way. Some
of these aspects are:
Councilors accepting or voting on items based solely on a Committee's
recommendation without having any, or full, knowledge of the item
they are voting on, particularly when that item holds the potential
to have negative ramifications, be they financial or quality of
life, for residents of the City.

No restriction as to the length of time a Councilor may remain
Chairperson/Member of a particular committee. This lack of
restriction on appointed time allows for a Councilor to become
dictatorial in the area he/she is Chair/Member of. It disallows input
from fellow Councilors and limits the inclusion of residents. This is
particularly detrimental to the City when the Committee is one under
which a number of City departments with high priority and high cost
issues are covered.

A District Councilor is not required to recuse themselves from a
Committee when that Committee is addressing an issue of concern to
residents in the District that the Councilor represents. Residents
of that District lack representation on Council when the issue is one
that holds conflicting interests, i.e. positive for the City, negative
for the District neighborhood.

Discussion of item(s) at a Committee meeting when that item(s) is not
listed on the Committee agenda available to the Public and with no
notification given to residents affected by that item(s).
Insufficient documentation of what occurs at Committee meetings not
televised.

My stands on certain issues are as follows:

The "Vision" for the future of Worcester: In reading through hundreds
of City documents I found that the visions of City Officials were
often dictated by a Field of Dreams mentality, "Build and they will
come". Repeatedly "they" did not, or are not, coming to Worcester.
Projected revenue was/is lost. As was /is revenue from City fees for
construction permits and connections when decreased fee rates are
part of the bargaining factor. Visions need to be reality based in
order to succeed. The reality is that Worcester is neither an affluent
community nor a tourist mecca. Far too often, after following a paper
trail for a project, it was apparent that City officials
viewed "Worcester" as an entity independent of its residents. Yet we
are the ones that feel the financial/quality of life burden when
these visions fail. A project such as City Square looks admirable on
paper. Yet so did the Blackstone Valley National Heritage Corridor,
the Northern Gateway Visitor Center, the Quinsigamond Village
Revitalization and the Rte 146 Greenway projects in 2000. Seven years
and multi-million dollars later the 146 Greenway is overrun by weeds,
littered with trash and the fence along the roadway is falling down.
The proposed Blackstone Corridor Bikeway, the Gateway Visitor Center
and Quinsigamond Village will all be dwarfed by a Wal-Mart
Supercenter. I believe that residents should have the right to vote
on projects, such as City Square, when that project requires the City
to take on substantial debt.

Small Business: It is recognizable that large businesses are essential
to the City for their revenue and employment, yet so are
small businesses. In a city where public transportation is limited to
buses, small neighborhood businesses are an important asset to
residents for both the convenience of purchases and employment. Small
businesses should be encouraged to start-up by being afforded the same
financial incentives as large corporations. A case such as the Hilton
Hotel/Restaurant developer being charged $25,000 for sewer connection
fees while a local person looking to open a small business is told
their connection fees will amount to $117,000 is unacceptable. No one
can project with certainty the longevity of a business within
Worcester; therefore the size of a business should not be a
determining factor in what incentives are extended.

Section 18/Retiree's Health care: Worcester, as is true with many cities these days, is experiencing financial difficulties. While it is necessary to cut costs, it is not right to lose sight of prior commitments made when making those cuts. In regards to
Worcester's retirees’ health costs, I do not believe that the way in which Section 18 was adopted was the correct way.
Persons in retirement now, or due to retire within a certain length of time
after the adoption of Section 18, should not be required to assume
additional health care costs. The financial overburdening of the
elderly is becoming a national epidemic for which I believe we will pay a much higher price later for any savings realized now. I am not, nor is any member of my family, a City retiree or employee.

Low-income housing: Worcester exceeds the State mandate for required moderate to low income housing units. However, the low income population within Worcester exceeds the affordable housing available and this population continues to grow. In recent years, the City Council has approved restrictive zoning changes (includes part of District 3) and,
while there can be benefits to restrictive zoning such as encouraging a higher-income population to remain in or move into that City neighborhood, it tends to limit the building of affordable housing units in an already overbuilt and congested area.

Councilor's raise: The saga of the on again-off again pay raise
fiasco, how fortunate Councilors are that the Section 18 discussion
came up. Sarcasm aside, after dealing with numerous City Councilors for 3 years now, I am well aware that they put in far more hours than are required. While the raise was ill-timed and rather devious in nature, the raise itself would appear to be an appropriate wage for the job done. With that said, I am under the impression that the raise will be rescinded and am running for Council based on a compensation of $18,000. If elected, I would not accept more than that amount, but would not judge poorly those Councilors who do accept the raise.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I hope you now
have some idea of who I am and why I am running for Council. Please know I will not be fund raising nor will you will see signs with my name on them. I will go door-to-door to meet people and you are free to call or email me should you wish to know my stance on an issue of importance to you.

Thank you and take care,



Susan Kiely
25 Gibbs Street
508-579-1125
kjs72@juno.com
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We at Worcester Is MAJOR! appreciate Susan Kiely allowing us to publish her letter to the residents of District 3 and residents of this great city!