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More ‘good government’ needed to help Winona Street neighborhood residents

7 Jun

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

It’s been almost exactly four months since the city slapped a cease and desist order on the project owned by builder Richard Marchese near Route 1.  And today, the people who live on Winona, Anderson, Mouton, Cardigan and other affected streets, wait, worry and wonder how their properties and lives are going to be further affected as the remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea dump five inches of rain between now and Sunday morning.

Recently, while campaigning for Ward 5 Councilor, I had several conversations with residents living in this neighborhood where this irresponsible developer has operated with total disregard for peoples’ quality of life. They told me stories of flooded basements that had never previously flooded in 35 years of living there, and of their concerns over suspicious cases of cancer, which they feel might be the result of disturbing long-buried contaminants. I met Lou Maio, whose Winona Street property has been devastated by Marchese project runoff. A pool the Maio’s put in for their grandkids is now destroyed, and there is worry that their property will soon be worthless.

I live two miles from the project, yet even I now notice from my backyard how much louder the cars sound speeding down Route 1 since Marchese clear-cut that property of all of its trees. Make no mistake, this developer’s disregard for doing things right, has had a negative effect on a wide swath of West Peabody.

As I’ve written in this space before, good government means protecting the quality of life of residents above all else. But while the city has slapped a cease and desist on this developer, and the Peabody Planning Board continues to back that decision, the residents now need to know what else can be done.

They are waiting for the city and their elected officials to fight harder for them, and maybe even find a way to keep this developer from ever again conducting business in Peabody.  Currently, the cease and desist order only applies to the back part of the property, where residential homes were to be developed.  But work, for some reason continues on the commercial part of the property facing Route 1.

Meanwhile,  residents wait to see what comes next, and hold their breath in the wake of another torrential rain storm. Good government means standing up for people and against scoundrels intent on infringing upon their quality of life. So I ask you today, where is our good government?

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Peabody’s general obligation municipal purpose loan nets very low 2.042% interest rate

10 Apr

The following press release was sent to The Eye by Mayor Ted Bettencourt’s office.

From the Mayor’s Office

Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt, Jr., is pleased to announce that the City of Peabody received competitive bids from bond underwriters on Wednesday, April 3, 2013, for $10,533,000 General Obligation Bonds.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch was the winning bidder on the Bonds with an average interest rate of 2.042%.  Bond proceeds will be used to finance Library Building Improvements, Water Treatment Plant Upgrades, Flood Mitigation, as well as to refinance bonds of the City dated February 1, 2005.  The refinancing will generate total savings of $327,327.

Prior to the sale, Moody’s Investors Service, a municipal credit rating agency, affirmed the City’s “Aa1” long-term debt rating. The agency cited the City’s sizable and diverse tax base, unused levy capacity, and stable financial position as positive credit factors.

“We’re obviously very pleased with the results of this bond sale,” said Mayor Bettencourt.  “Peabody’s strong ‘Aa1’ credit rating and the continuing low interest rate market enable us to make critical infrastructure upgrades while saving taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in interest charges.”

The bids for the bonds were accepted at the office of the City’s financial advisor, First Southwest Company, at 54 Canal Street in Boston, Massachusetts.

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Companies putting up new, giant electronic billboards on Route 1 bear watching

9 Apr

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

What the Peabody City Council approved unanimously back in December,  could become a reality this week when Clear Channel Communications goes before the Mass. Office of  Outdoor Advertising (MOOA) to seek four electronic billboard permits on Route 1.

billboardThe new signs are at 71 Newbury (near Santarpio’s Pizza)  and 201 Newbury (a little South of Lowell Street).  It’s two polls, but Clear Channel needs four permits, since the signs have both South facing and North facing sides. At this point, we don’t have a true indication of what affect these billboards might have on this Ward 5 neighborhood.  But considering the battle we are in with another outdoor advertising company, Total Outdoor Corp, over a misplaced billboard on Lowell Street near Route 1, it’s important for the city to be vigilant on these new signs.

In any event,  we continue to have an issue in Ward 5, particularly on Route 1, when it comes to intrusive and excessive development, including the destruction of property on Winona Street due in part to a project by developer Richard Marchese.

The billboard issue needs watching. Although there is only so much we can do legally to stop these roadside eyesores from going up, we need to ensure that theses companies abide by the terms of their special permits.  In many cases, there are appropriate places for these billboards, and it’s a nice piece of revenue for the city coffers.  But none of these giant advertising vehicles should be erected in areas where it has a negative affect on resident quality of life.

The city did a great job of that in shutting down Total Outdoor Corp when they placed their 90-foot billboard poll close to Lowell Street, and not where it was supposed to go. Now, we need to keep an eye on Clear Channel, a company with a reputation for not exactly caring about how their giant signs affect quality of life of people who live in the affected neighborhoods.

Today, I was contacted by the environmental group Scenic Massachusetts, which lobbies to ensure that billboard companies do not violate state regulations.

Scenic Mass wanted to thank me for my stance on billboards as a Ward 5 Councilor candidate, and inform me that the MOOA would hold a hearing on these new electronic signs on Thursday, April 11, 11 a.m., at the Transportation Building (10 Park Plaza, Boston). The public is welcome to attend, but I’ll also try to update everyone where on what happens in regards to Clear Channel’s permit request.

Stay tuned.

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Destructive Ward 5 project remains shutdown thanks to Peabody Planning Board

10 Feb

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

Good government, which to me means protecting the quality of life of residents above all else, was on display again this past Thursday night.

The Peabody Planning Board remained on the side of the people living on the Winona Street side of Route 1 by backing a cease-and-desist order against a developer whose project is causing property damage and grief in this Ward 5 neighborhood.

The project, owned by builder Richard Marchese, has caused numerous resident complaints, and led Mayor Ted Bettencourt to obtain a cease-and-desist order from the city’s building inspector.

Thursday night, residents from the area told of how the clear-cutting the property of trees and other vegetation by the developer has caused flooding of property, and other destruction.

Winona Street resident Karen Anderson told the Planning Board that the destruction is “tearing the neighborhood apart.”

Others talked of water bursting into their basements, swimming pools filled with silt and mud, and one resident even told how 90% of her property had been destroyed and is now worthless.

The Planning Board listened, and kept the project shutdown. Marchese didn’t show for the hearing, allowing his attorney to be there to represent him, a fact that really bothered board member Joe Gagnon.  

“I’m very sympathetic with all the neighbors. You were harmed immensely. I’m emotional about it,” Gagnon said. “I’m very disappointed that Mr. Marchese is not here today. That really bothers me.”

Well said, Mr. Gagnon.

It’s good to see the city on the side of the residents. More to come here.

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Basking in the warm glow this morning, thanks to the PMLP

9 Feb

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

plmpJust sitting with some java this morning,  warm and comfortable, looking out the window at the winter wonderland, and feeling very grateful that Peabody’s power needs are NOT supplied by National Grid or one of these other gigantic power entities.

Once again, the lights are on, Peabody. And I can’t ever recall, in the 45-plus years I’ve lived in the city when I’ve awoken to a dark, cold house.  I can’t ever recall our lights going off for extended periods of time, like will be the case for some people in Southeastern Mass., who might not get power back for days following this latest super snowstorm.

Not during this storm. Not during the Blizzard of 2005, or hurricanes or other acts of nature. Not even during … drumroll please … the BLIZZARD OF ’78.

So, as we all electronically hold hands on this fine Saturday morning, let us all gaze upon Edison’s invention and say “THANK YOU” to the folks who run the Peabody Municipal Light Plant.

PLMP rocks, and it never lets us down. Why?  Because it is a government entity that is managed like a private business. Those who run the PLMP are hired for their qualifications and experience, and are not political appointees. They don’t report to city councilors or the Mayor. They are governed by an elected board of Light Commissioners, who simply oversee while allowing actual power plan professionals to run the business. It’s the ultimate example of how the private sector and the public sector cam can come together and make something work for the taxpayers.

If you live in the “sensible center” of the political spectrum, you quickly realize that too much goernment involvement usually leads to disaster, but not enough isn’t a great thing either. This is why PLMP works.

So, as you glow in the warmth this morning, be happy you live in Peabody, and as a taxpayer be proud that your city owns the PLMP.

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Will increase in state income tax really help Peabody when it comes to local aid?

28 Jan

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

Gov. Deval Patrick

Gov. Deval Patrick

It’s game on when it comes to putting a positive “spin” on the $1.9 billion of tax increases proposed in Governor Deval Patrick’s FY14 State Budget.

An article today in the Peabody Patch reveals that – according to the local aid documents on the state’s website –  Peabody is due to receive $524,000 more in local aid, should the governor get what he wants.

They also tell us that this bump in aid will be split between education and the city of Peabody’s general fund. It’s a 2% increase over FY13, but still $3.5 million shy of what Peabody received in local aid back in 2007.

So, here’s what you would have to pay for to get that extra $524K, and if the governor gets his way in raising the state income tax from 5.25% to 6.25%:

If you make the Peabody median household income of about $70K/year,  you’re going to lose about $700 out of your paycheck.  If you make a modest $100K in combined household income, it’s going to cost you $1,000.  But most of that increase isn’t really coming back to Peabody at all.  Divide the extra $524K in local aid by the 18,851 households in Peabody, and you realize that …

You pay between $700 and $1,000 more per year, and the state gives your city back just $28 per household.

When you combine it with the federal government’s 2% increase in the social security tax,  families making $100K combined annually are going to lose $58  a week from their paychecks.  Enjoying that meager 3% raise your boss just gave you?  Well, the Governor and the President are looking to take that from you. So much for looking out for the middle class, huh?

I know that taxes are necessary to support our society, and pay for important infrastructure and schools. But does raising the personal income tax an entire percentage point in exchange for this kind of return seem fair to you?

Let me know what you think in the comments section. Would also be interesting to hear from our four State Rep candidates on this issue.

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Mayor moves quickly to defend quality of life for residents in Peabody’s Ward 5

10 Jan

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

We talk all of the time in this blog about Peabody becoming more “business friendly,” and while we still need to approach it that way in an effort to find the money we need for infrastructure and schools, there’s one credo we still need to embrace:

Quality of life for our residents should always trump our goal to be “business friendly.”

We want more business in Peabody.  It’ll mean more tax revenue,  and allow us to eventually put less of the burden on residential payers.  But we also want businesses that will hold up their end and respect the needs and the rights of the residents.

So why am I on this soap box today?

Well, it appears that Mayor Ted Bettencourt is embracing the credo. Without hesitation yesterday,  and after hearing numerous complaints from neighbors in an around Winona Street, the Mayor placed an immediate cease and desist order on Marchese Properties on a project  it is developing on Route 1 South.

Why? Well, if you’ve been by there lately, especially during a big rain storm, you’ve observed rivers of mud flowing from the project, and into the backyards of neighbors, destroying pools and other property, and making life miserable for people who take pride in their properties and pay their taxes on time.

But don’t just take my word for it.  Watch this video from one of that neighborhood’s residents to see what grief this has caused homeowners. Watch this video, and then put yourself in the shoes of this homeowner.

There are a lot of reasons for the problem, but as a resident myself of Ward 5, I can tell you that the previous administration didn’t do enough to alleviate the problems here for theses affected neighbors.

Developer Richard Marchese has agreed to stop the work for now, which includes a commercial building and a small housing development. He’ll come before the Planning Board on Feb. 7 to determine if he is in violation of his permit.

Bettencourt ordered the cease and desist during an emergency meeting of the Planning Board. After meeting with residents, and having the building inspector go to the area to confirm what he was seeing in photos and videos, the mayor shut it down.

This mayor definitely gets it. The rights of the residents needs to always come first.

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Tune in tonight to first ‘You Make The Call’ show of 2013

9 Jan

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

You Make The Call co-host Dick Jarvis returns tonight for our first live show of 2013

Happy returns
You Make The Call co-host Dick Jarvis returns tonight for our first live show of 2013

Join us tonight, 8-9 p.m.,  on  Channel 99  as we welcome legendary co-host Dick Jarvis for our first live “You Make The Call” show of 2013.

There’s a lot to talk about tonight, including the special election for State Rep.  Dick and I will also discuss our impressions of Monday night’s State of the City address by Mayor Bettencourt.

Please tune in, and give us a call! Or send us a question through our Facebook page.

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High grades in Year 1 for Mayor Bettencourt

28 Dec

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

Among Mayor Bettencourt's accomplishments was the approval of a new middle school

Among Mayor Bettencourt’s accomplishments in his first year was the approval of a new middle school

There are challenges yet to come, but as we prepare for the ball to drop in Peabody Square in a few days (OK, not really), we pause to assess the rookie year for Mayor Ted Bettencourt.  

From where I sit as a taxpayer, I’d sum up the Mayor’s first year performance this way:

It hasn’t been perfect, but it has been very good.

Not an A-plus, but certainly a very high B, bordering on an A-minus. Look folks, even Ted, we feel, would appreciate it if we left in some room here for growth.

So here goes … a look at what just one taxpayer, this taxpayer thinks of Year 1 of the Bettencourt Administration. These are what I feel were his three best and biggest accomplishments:

1. Passing an early challenge on healthcare

With the city stuck in neutral when it comes to revenue growth, the Mayor gets an A-plus for his leadership when it came to reaching an agreement in June with the city’s unions to enter the state’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC). Going the GIC route could end up saving the city between $10 and $15 million over the next four years.

Just months into his first term, it took guts for this rookie mayor to first draw a line in the sand, and then bring all of the city’s unions to the table to work out a smart, commonsense solution. But some of the credit also goes to the unions too. In these days when stories abound about the greediness of some union leaders, Peabody’s unions proved that collective bargaining can be a wonderful thing when neither side acts exclusively in their own self interests.

2.  The Education Mayor

Bettencourt showed leadership again in the spring, getting unanimous support from both the city council and school committee on the construction of a new Higgins Middle School, as the city scraped its original plan for renovating the existing, dilapidated, sprawling facility.  The new school will cost Peabody taxpayers about $45 million after state reimbursement, but it’s definitely much-needed, and for Bettencourt—a young mayor with a young family—it shows that he is intent on becoming the Education Mayor.

Getting new schools built in Peabody the past 20 years has been a huge struggle, but somehow this one seemed easy, and it came with almost universal acceptance from taxpayers. I know it wasn’t all Ted’s doing, but he deserves a lot of the credit here.

 3. The Pro Business Mayor  

Understanding right from the start that Peabody has a revenue problem, Bettencourt made good on a campaign promise to make the city more business friendly in an effort to expand our commercial tax base. If we’re going to get the money we need to pay existing and upcoming bills, and also improve infrastructure and schools, the burden can’t keep landing on residential taxpayers. More businesses, mean more tax dollars. So, with that in mind, Bettencourt did the following in Year 1:

  • Made it known (and even cleaned house somewhat) that he wants those city departments that deal with businesses to make the process for setting up and maintaining shop a lot easier. In 2013 he is also establishing a business liaison position.  to assist businesses in this regard.
  • Established the Economic Development Council, which is looking at bringing business back to Peabody Square and Centennial Park.
  • Got city council approval on a 1.60 tax classification for businesses, meaning businesses will only pay 1.6 times higher than the residential tax rate. In many surrounding communities it’s 1.75.

As for Year 2 …

Not that he’s taking advice from me, but if I were Ted Bettencourt I’d start leveraging some of my “political capital” in 2013, something that I feel will make him unbeatable when it comes to re-election next fall.

What do I mean by that? Well, sometimes I get the impression that the Mayor doesn’t fully realize that there is power in his popularity. We saw this during the spring when he sat on the sidelines during the special election to replace Senator Fred Berry. Meanwhile, Mayor Kim Driscoll got every Salem elected official on board behind Joan Lovely, who is now our State Senator. Suddenly, when it comes to that very influential seat, the power has shifted to Salem.

Love him or not, you have to respect how former Mayor Peter Torigian would have anointed one of the two Peabody candidates, either John Slattery or Mary Ellen Manning, and strongly insisted that every city councilor, every school committee member, light commissioner and library trustee support that candidate to ensure we didn’t lose that seat to Salem.

Ted Bettencourt has earned some tremendous “juice” in Year 1. He is popular in Peabody, and has done the job. Now, will he use that “juice” to take it to the next level, and wield the type of regional clout we saw in the past from politically powerful Mayors Nick Mavroules and Peter Torigian?

Want to let us know how you feel Mayor Bettencourt has fared in his first year? Let us know by taking our poll.

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Being business friendly is the way forward for Peabody; way to improve quality of life

19 Dec

By Bob Croce, EOP Publisher

ted

Peabody’s business-friendly mayor

Those who follow this blog know how strongly I feel about the fact that Peabody can’t get the revenue it needs to rebuild infrastructure, schools, and improve overall quality of life, unless we adopt an aggressive plan to expaned our commercial tax base.

The one over-riding theme here is that Peabody needs to start openly embracing the concept of business friendliness. Although our city the past 10 years hasn’t exactly been hostile to business, we also haven’t gone out of our way to encourage businesses to “Make it in Peabody.”

Suddenly, though,  you can feel the attitude toward business changing.  That’s because there’s a new sheriff in town, and his name is Mayor Ted Bettencourt.

It’s the first time since the days of Peter Torigian that we have a mayor who is out front showing his cards, and making it known that expanding the commercial tax base will be a major focal point as long as he occupies the corner office at Peabody City Hall.

Mayor Bettencourt has shown in the first year of his first term that he gets it: Peabody just can’t pay all of its bills, and improve quality of life by putting more of the tax burden on residents. He’s showing too that he understands how business development can lead to major civic improvements. including a hopeful revitalization of Peabody Square.

The surge in business friendliness is seen in many of the moves the mayor has made in his first year, including getting the city council to recently approve a new position for a business liaison. The person in this new position will be charged with not only helping businesses navigate red tape, but will also be a cheerleader for the city when it comes to business development. Here’s hoping the person who takes this new position has some authority, some “juice” to truly make it easier or businesses to set up shop and operate in Peabody.

But this mayor’s positive attitude toward business hasn’t stopped there. Last week, the Mayor got the city council to go along with a 1.60 tax classification when it comes to the commercial tax rate. Essentially what that means is that businesses will be taxed at no more than 1.6 times what residents are taxed at. The 1.6 is down from where it had been at 1.61. In some of the surrounding communities that ratio is 1.75, making Peabody an attractive place to do business from a tax standpoint.

This Mayor is also open to additional tax incentives for certain businesses.

Then there’s the Economic Development Council, of which I’m member. Late today, we met at the Peabody Marriott to discuss strategies for revitalizing Centennial Park, which has lately struggled with vacancies, and a lack of competitiveness with other area business parks.

We are most definitely on the right track when it comes to all of this, and the Mayor deserves credit for getting it, and making this a priority.

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