Here is a small batch of Springfield-related items that have emerged over the wires this week.
The front page of my copy of this week’s Reminder features a crazy-enlarged image of a hand firmly grasping an evidently cold, plucked chicken by the neck. The headline grimly reads, "Board kills the chicken," leading a story by G. Michael Dobbs about the controversial-yet-nearly-united front that brought the Main Street Kennedy Fried Chicken to its knees last week at a License Commission hearing. Denied a common victualler’s license 4-1, the establishment’s lawyer said he’ll appeal.
Also of note in the Reminder is a lengthier and more in-depth article about the January 22, tri-city homelessness symposium than I have seen elsewhere, written by by Dan Cooper, a new intern at the paper.
Also in the same paper is a brief article about City Council President Kateri Walsh and State Senator Stephen Buoniconti‘s announcement about recently-filed legislation to require the Springfield Finance Control Board to allow 30 minutes of public speak-out prior to their meetings, and in a separate piece of legislation, to lengthen the amount of time the city has to repay the state’s $52 million loan, currently due in 2012.
No dead chickens in that piece, but Mayor Charles Ryan is quoted saying he wished he’d been asked to chime in on the efforts, because a) "the FCB has already approved a time for residents to speak, but has not yet determined its format," and b) "the loan repayment schedule was one of the ‘on-going conversations’ [Ryan] had had with the Romney Administration."
In an article by Azell Murphy Cavaan in the Republican about the matter, the legislative filing appears to take a backseat to some of the behind-the-scenes drama. From the article:
Ryan said he spoke with [FCB executive director Philip] Puccia who told him he had met with Walsh recently to brief her as she joins the control board. Puccia told Walsh that he was agreeable to such a comment period and that the matter will be discussed at the next control board meeting on Feb. 12, Ryan said.
And back to the Reminder article about it:
When told the of FCB decision, Walsh said she had read through recent minutes and didn’t see any formal announcement about the speak-out decision. When told what Ryan had said about the speak-out, she replied, "I think it’s great whatever way it works."
Walsh told the Republican:
"They are shutting out the very people who know this city the best," Walsh said yesterday.
Walsh said residents, especially those employed by the city, should have an opportunity to discuss their views on such issues as health care, salaries and retirement with members of the control board.
Amherst-based blogger Tom Devine wrote a January 29 piece about the loan repayment pondering whether Springfield’s debt should be rescheduled:
[A]s always, even as one problem nears a possible solution, new challenges appear. But by putting one foot in front of the other, Springfield is moving in the right direction, slow and painful as the process may be.
Maybe the upcoming February 12, 11:00 am control board meeting will address one or both of these matters of filed legislation. But what a splash this made. Meanwhile, City Councilor Jose Tosado bowed out of the running for the fall 2007 mayoral candidacy in favor of running again for the council, giving a nod to Mayor Ryan’s efforts as a control board member. Taking note…
In other control board news, the January 23 quarterly report (PDF) was evidently released, the first to be addressed to Leslie Kirwan, new Secretary for Administration and Finance. The report says that for the first half of fiscal year 2007, the board spent a grand total of $831,041.35. It also announces that upcoming management and operational studies are planned for city departments "including Personnel, Retirement and Veterans’ Services."
The report states, "The City’s financial problems are firmly rooted in a structural inability to manage its own operations. Historically, key financial and operating documents have not been staffed by capable managers, or have had staffs too small to appropriately exercise their responsibilities. The City and Control Board have made significant changes to address this, but the culture of the City must change to ensure that these changes are not temporary ‘start and stop’ projects [that] end when the Control Board expires."
Elsewhere, CBS3 reports on Springfield Police Commissioner Edward Flynn‘s challenges in hiring those 23 new police officers: signing bonuses are apparently being considered to lure laid off police back to the city force. The hires are not happening as fast as was originally hoped. Ideally, officers with experience would return to the city they already know well, but Flynn told CBS3 cadets are next in line for the jobs if things continue to progress this slowly.
Associated Press writer Adam Gorlick’s piece about the newly-announced River’s Landing complex on the riverfront has reached various regional papers; the headline in Worcester’s Telegram & Gazette reads, "Rebounding Springfield expects to go Hollywood with downtown complex." (Technically, it’s not downtown; it’s in the South End, but hey.) Gorlick quotes Mayor Ryan, "We had to lick corruption, and now a bunch of those guys are on their way to jail. We had to balance our budget, and we did that. Now, we’re starting to look like a legitimate city again and people want to do business with us."
Springfield blogger and Rogue Journal writer Bill Dusty, who lives in the South End himself, put together a great video today featuring the city’s undersung and much-littered Mill River (PDF). The video captures scenes from the river at Walnut and Rifle Streets, below Allen Street, along Locust, and right down to the newly-reopened Tavern Restaurant on Mill Street.
The February issue of MassPublishing‘s Local Buzz features a nice one-page piece by editor, musician and Easthampton resident Greg Saulmon on "Six signs of hope" in Springfield. While these have a feel of being skimmed from headlines (gee, like this post?), the number one item, Main Street’s new Common Ground Diner, is really useful (and hopeful) news to me. The place appears to have opened last month and offers "comfort food," with the Web site announcing on a cheerful yellow background, "Always serving breakfast!"
If these folks are oriented toward customer service, what a blessing, and a fitting antidote to what went on at Kennedy Fried Chicken just down the street.
