Yuku free message boards

There was no real breaking news.

On the plus side, Mayor Kirk has been a decent student during her first quarter. There were some gaps in her knowledge, but it's better than it was just a few months ago. She has negotiated down two DEP fines from $35,000 down to $2,000 (each). The Unifund system is finally starting to work.

If you were expecting a plan with solutions and a measurable time frame that she is ready to execute, you'd be disappointed.

If you wanted a LOT of data (twice she had to ask if people had fallen asleep), then you'd be happy.

There was a lot of bad news (not her fault) about the City's situation. Our Bond rating is expected to drop for a while, there's $1 million that is unaccounted for from last year, she's bringing in an outside firm to do the auditing which is not budgeted for yet, the Department of Revenue is not happy with Gloucester and may withhold funds to the City until we get our act together, there's a ton of infrastructure needs that are will likely hit in the next few years and 40 lawsuits against the City.

Her line that got the most reaction, "The good news is, it can't get any worse". (though she probably doesn't remember the early 1990's and may naive to ignore all of the pundits who say a recession is on the way). Mayor Kirk believes that she has "found the bottom".

She's got her work cut out for her. I'm not certain she is aware of all of the obstacles yet and her projection that 2010-2011 is the first year we might see the light at the end of the tunnel is optimistic if the City doesn't pick up the pace.

There was a lot of wishing and hoping going on (casinos, increased state aid, pothole money, DEP backing off, harbor consensus, unions willing to settle contracts that include reducing staffing, etc.). Without all of those things happening, we might be wishing that 2008 was the bottom.

I would venture to say that it is more of a status report than a concrete plan. There was a lot of "whats" some "whys" and a couple of "hows" as in how to get us out of the mess.

After only sitting through the quick power point presentation, until her whole report is read, I can't say that there is anything in her "report" that most people didn't already know.

leftwingnut wrote:

---

I don't remember Kaptain Kirk ever saying the hundred-day report would include any kind of plan. I believe she has always said it would be a status report on the condition of the city.

"Within 100 days of my administration,every resident of Gloucester will hold in their hands a comprehensive plan" that includes an assessment, immediate steps to be taken, long-term term economic development strategies and a promise of accountability."
--Gloucester Daily Times June 20, 2007

Shortly after taking office:

She reiterated her campaign promise to spend her first 100 days in office preparing a state-of-the-city report that will include a long-term plan to pull the city out of its chronic deficits.

"We'll have to do many, many things to address (the problems)," Kirk said.--Gloucester Daily Times, January, 2008