Regarding the Noel Dalton piece: I live in Tatnuck, a few blocks from his shop. In addition to being a gross neo-Nazi, I can tell you first-hand that Noel doesn't pick up after his dog. A real piece of shit who won't pick up literal pieces of shit. Not sure if this is irony or just a general state of America right now.
I would love to see (or be part of) folks organizing to upend / disrupt / significantly reform our system of government. I don't believe that getting a few good counselors is enough. I am scared that people like Petty and Bergman will still be clinging to power for my kids' entire childhoods.
With a potentially oppressive federal government coming back into power, local government is a way of reflecting and codifying the values of our community.
Is there any group of folks in Worcester exploring ideas to improve City Hall? Or even putting pressure on the 'good ones' to start pushing for serious change? Getting into office and hoping to "change the system from within" by going along to get along is not enough.
The City Manager has an almost unchecked level of power.
Our city counselors do not represent most of us or understand us.
There are many things we can do, but a few ideas I've seen bandied about:
- A 'strong mayor' model
- Increased staff support for City Council
- Encouraging new candidates from outside the entrenched power structure (I would love to see more people who aren't obvious Democrat-Republican lackeys, and folks with backgrounds from 3rd parties)
- Improving voter turnout (e.g., more accessible polling locations, etc.)
- Ranked Choice Voting at local and state level
I understand there are many disparate groups working on related causes. Maybe creating a PAC to unite people and funnel money and people resources toward specific shared goals would be useful. A Worcester version of 'Project 2025' focused on dismantling the power structure and rebuilding it better.
I do like the idea of putting a comprehensive if purely hypothetical 'plan for leadership' together! I think that the low pay and lack of support for the council is a big reason why it's been more or less a hobby for townie retirees for so long. If we want a serious council it's worth looking at. The city manager right now is just an appointed mayor with a fake mayor running cover for him, which is... literally any system would be better than that
I don't see it as hypothetical. I see it as a massive, 5-10 year project to be managed, almost like building a 'movement' or a coalition with a catchy name and a core set of values and specific goals to accomplish.
We would start by having something like a 'mission statement', something like: "Foster a collaborative network of community organizations, office holders, and community members with an aim of championing policies that address systemic inequities, and promote a more just and equitable city for all.".
From the mission statement and values, we come up with specific goals, like:
- Build a majority of 'progressive' (or whatever term we want to use) candidates on city council by 2027
- Raise awareness about the strong mayor model and get it done by 2030',
- Raise awareness about lowering the voting age and get it done by 2028',
- Etc.... There are at least 5-10 big things like this that we could work toward
For each of the objectives, we can work with the existing friendly counselors to understand the process for getting these things done and start building specific action items that counselors could work on in parallel to raising community awareness about the issues that support the cause.
In parallel to the counselors doing whatever they can with the small amount of power they have, we build out a network of orgs and individuals with expertise or interest in each of the goals. Maybe someone like a Clark professor is an expert on ranked choice voting. Maybe one of the counselors is a champion for lowering the voting age, and so on. Maybe faith-based organizations with social justice mindsets can spread the word. Maybe someone is identified as a 'student ambassador' or something at each of the colleges. Basically build a network of people with a similar desire to trash this current system.
Things feel so scattershot in the current environment and it feels like there's a need for something for people to rally behind.
I am all in to make them pay. I wrote heartfelt Thank You notes to King, Nguyen and Haxhiaj, and another to Pacillo, who I knocked doors for here in D1. I am ready to work for Bilotta and whoever runs against any of the other cranks. The wind is still knocked out of me after the utterly shameful refusal of the mayor and half the council to just be decent. Not heroic. Not courageous. Just a little bit human. But that was a bridge too far.
I love the Last Lights reference (and like yourself, unfortunately never saw them live before Dom’s tragic passing). Dom wrote some incredibly powerful lyrics that still hit hard almost 20 years later.
One of the few things I’m actually proud of Worcester for (the incredible bands that have started here).
Regarding the Noel Dalton piece: I live in Tatnuck, a few blocks from his shop. In addition to being a gross neo-Nazi, I can tell you first-hand that Noel doesn't pick up after his dog. A real piece of shit who won't pick up literal pieces of shit. Not sure if this is irony or just a general state of America right now.
electric chair for that behavior for real
I would love to see (or be part of) folks organizing to upend / disrupt / significantly reform our system of government. I don't believe that getting a few good counselors is enough. I am scared that people like Petty and Bergman will still be clinging to power for my kids' entire childhoods.
With a potentially oppressive federal government coming back into power, local government is a way of reflecting and codifying the values of our community.
Is there any group of folks in Worcester exploring ideas to improve City Hall? Or even putting pressure on the 'good ones' to start pushing for serious change? Getting into office and hoping to "change the system from within" by going along to get along is not enough.
The City Manager has an almost unchecked level of power.
Our city counselors do not represent most of us or understand us.
There are many things we can do, but a few ideas I've seen bandied about:
- A 'strong mayor' model
- Increased staff support for City Council
- Encouraging new candidates from outside the entrenched power structure (I would love to see more people who aren't obvious Democrat-Republican lackeys, and folks with backgrounds from 3rd parties)
- Improving voter turnout (e.g., more accessible polling locations, etc.)
- Ranked Choice Voting at local and state level
I understand there are many disparate groups working on related causes. Maybe creating a PAC to unite people and funnel money and people resources toward specific shared goals would be useful. A Worcester version of 'Project 2025' focused on dismantling the power structure and rebuilding it better.
I do like the idea of putting a comprehensive if purely hypothetical 'plan for leadership' together! I think that the low pay and lack of support for the council is a big reason why it's been more or less a hobby for townie retirees for so long. If we want a serious council it's worth looking at. The city manager right now is just an appointed mayor with a fake mayor running cover for him, which is... literally any system would be better than that
I don't see it as hypothetical. I see it as a massive, 5-10 year project to be managed, almost like building a 'movement' or a coalition with a catchy name and a core set of values and specific goals to accomplish.
We would start by having something like a 'mission statement', something like: "Foster a collaborative network of community organizations, office holders, and community members with an aim of championing policies that address systemic inequities, and promote a more just and equitable city for all.".
From the mission statement and values, we come up with specific goals, like:
- Build a majority of 'progressive' (or whatever term we want to use) candidates on city council by 2027
- Raise awareness about the strong mayor model and get it done by 2030',
- Raise awareness about lowering the voting age and get it done by 2028',
- Etc.... There are at least 5-10 big things like this that we could work toward
For each of the objectives, we can work with the existing friendly counselors to understand the process for getting these things done and start building specific action items that counselors could work on in parallel to raising community awareness about the issues that support the cause.
In parallel to the counselors doing whatever they can with the small amount of power they have, we build out a network of orgs and individuals with expertise or interest in each of the goals. Maybe someone like a Clark professor is an expert on ranked choice voting. Maybe one of the counselors is a champion for lowering the voting age, and so on. Maybe faith-based organizations with social justice mindsets can spread the word. Maybe someone is identified as a 'student ambassador' or something at each of the colleges. Basically build a network of people with a similar desire to trash this current system.
Things feel so scattershot in the current environment and it feels like there's a need for something for people to rally behind.
I am all in to make them pay. I wrote heartfelt Thank You notes to King, Nguyen and Haxhiaj, and another to Pacillo, who I knocked doors for here in D1. I am ready to work for Bilotta and whoever runs against any of the other cranks. The wind is still knocked out of me after the utterly shameful refusal of the mayor and half the council to just be decent. Not heroic. Not courageous. Just a little bit human. But that was a bridge too far.
Just a little bit human. Such a good way of putting it Bill. I’m so disappointed
I love the Last Lights reference (and like yourself, unfortunately never saw them live before Dom’s tragic passing). Dom wrote some incredibly powerful lyrics that still hit hard almost 20 years later.
One of the few things I’m actually proud of Worcester for (the incredible bands that have started here).