Council Cuts

I read a few online posts this morning about proposed cuts that the City Council is discussing and actively pushing.
Knowing that Worcester's economic future continues to look bleak, this is a precarious tact to take: offer early-retirement packages with the hopes of saving money.
Whenever talks turn to saving money to pay for "general services", there is typically a group of people that are all for it.
The old adage of, "robbing Peter to pay Paul" always makes me laugh because inevitably, it's a scenario that causes more issues down the road that we aren't able to forecast or know what impact those decisions might have on other municipal services and the people that call Worcester their home.
Besides prayer and putting our trust in the Councilors, what else are we left to do? I can think of a few choice words, but I'm trying very hard not to curse.

WPS: Don't Go There Homie!

I didn't catch the Education Committee meeting last might, but I did
hear that folks got "froggy", saying that Worcester Public Schools
have had to deal with budget cuts and layoffs. How dare the City
Council say otherwise?

Things are going to get more interesting when the new " Boss Lady"
takes over and bodies the ship. I just hope she is given the time to
get some work done, and not sucked into the vacuum that is known as
Worcester politics. We all know how much it sucks!

Also, as more folks are filing paperwork to run for City Council, I
wonder where Bill Coleman is in all of this?[Calling Bill right now to
find out.]

No Meeting!

Well, it looks as if Mayor Lukes put the kabash on the meeting (08/07/07), which was being pushed for by Frederick Rushton. Word is that Mayor Lukes in chilling on vacation in Cape Cod and said there won't be a meeting until August 28th- the same day Worcester Public Schools begin a new school year.

With City Manager, Michael O'Brien's proposed budget hanging in the wind, it's going to be interesting, because if cuts are made in education, and particularly if teachers positions are cut at the August 28th meeting, I can envision a hail storm of upset residents and teachers.

Vibe with me for a second. Say you're a teacher that has been vacationing with your family outside of the United States for the past month, but you've kept your eyes on the political scene at home. You've been a teacher for say, 10 years, and you take pride in teaching the future generation and even being a role model to these children. You report to school on August 20th to begin working on your classroom and getting the lesson plan in place for the school-year. All is good in the 'hood. That is until school starts. School starts on August 28th and the students, in their newly bought clothes, sneakers, flats, and bedazzled t-shirts and backpacks, enter school happy and optimistic to learn and catch-up with friends who they haven't seen in 2 months.

The school year is off to a good start. You, the teacher, set the tone for the school year and the expectations that each student will try their best, work hard, ask questions and use their manners at all times. Again, all is good in the 'hood. That is until you arrive at school on the morning of Wednesday, August 29, 2007, and you find out that 3 teacher positions have been eliminated at the City Council meeting the previous evening. One of the positions, is your position! What do you do? What do you feel? You feel as though you've been drop-kicked by Jackie Chan in Rush Hour 3.

You first reaction might be to question, "How can this be happening to me?" the ensuing questions may go something like this, "What am I going to do for work? How am I going to live? How am I going to support my family?" All the emotions and FEAR kick in and you feel as though you're going to faint, but you can't. You can't give up because that would be conceding defeat, and defeat is something that you were taught a very young age is not in the equation. You call on your FAITH and ask GOD to help you "get through this".

This is a fictional scenario, but we all can identify with it and know that it is possible for all of the above to take place.

I encourage Mayor Lukes, City Manager O'Brien and the entire City Council to not allow this fictional story to become a reality, because just as the retirees have spouted, "We'll remember in September", the City's leadership may find themselves on the outside looking in.