A tale of two cities - Worcesters in crisis (From Worcester News)

A tale of two cities - Worcesters in crisis

10:23am Friday 6th February 2009

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STOP me if you've heard this one before...

A city council is hit by a big cut in its central funding. It is forced to slash its spending plans urgently. Fears grow over the the impact on the city's parks and other facilities.

Any of this sound familiar?

Yes, I'm talking about Worcester - but this particular story is set many thousands of miles away from the Guildhall.

Weird as it may sound, a quick glance at events over the pond at Worcester, Massachusetts, reveals a city council plunged into a situation unnervingly similar to our own.

The Worcester Telegram (not a bad little paper, though obviously not a patch on the Worcester News) reports this week that the American city of Worcester has lost more than $4.5 million of its state funding, due to less tax being collected than expected.

Worried-sounding 'city manager' Mike O'Brien said he will have to cut his in-year budget by 10 per cent.

And one Robert C. Antonelli, assistant commissioner of public parks, has just warned that such a cut “will wreak havoc on parks and recreation programs” across the city.

Spooky, eh?

I'm not sure what it all means, but there must be a message in there somewhere for our own 'city manager' Simon Geraghty, and his beleaguered Tory administration this week – you're not on your own, chaps...

HAVING said that, it's pretty clear that the public in Worcester, Massachusetts, have their own views on what the problem is.

This from a US blog called In City Times – Worcester's Alternative Newspaper.

“With all the hand-wringing going on about Worcester’s finances, it’s truly pathetic that city manager Mike O’Brien would slip through raises for his cabinet a few meetings ago,” writes one angry blogger.

“C’mon! The assistant city manager makes over $100,000, and so do lots of other folks who work closely with O’Brien. Why should they be getting $15,000 - $25,000 more a year?

“All this b******* about having to bribe Worcester city workers to stay in city government with fat pay checks must end.

“We don’t need hogs at the trough today - we need caring, intelligent public servants.

“Please rescind the fat raises for O’Brien’s cabinet - give the money to the parks department, so Worcester kids can swim this summer, play basketball and have fun.”

Yikes – those Americans certainly don't hold back.

Still, a few words of wisdom for Coun Geraghty and his team to consider as they ponder where to make savings over the coming months...