In today’s T&G, Nick K notices that not everyone has been taken in by pretty words.  But unless voters insist that their councilors give the City Manager firm direction — including directions to NOT accept certain dodgy deals — we may as well resign ourselves to bending over whenever some new entity wants to enjoy some of our charms.  We have no equivalent of a kindly uncle trying to marry us off, only would-be pimps.

The CSX deal was unfortunately a “done deal” long before the public heard of it, because the city council lacks the intestinal fortitude to oppose most of the City Manager’s deals.  In fact, they usually rubber-stamp the deals, then pat the CM on the back.

The Council lacks any sort of coherent vision for Worcester, so, by default, the City Manager has been imposing his “vision”.  It’s unclear whether he envisions Worcester as a freight hub, but that is clearly a worry for the residents.  The only thing missing from that vision now is an access road to Worcester Airport, to get even more freight conveniently in & out of Worcester.  The sacrifice of Putnam Lane was small potatoes; wait ’til they go after Hadwen Park and Deadmeat Ave.

Once in a while the citizens have risen up and given Mike O’Brien pause — for instance, when he attempted to site the SMOC Triage Center at the former Anna Maria Nursing Home.  The anti-CSX folks weren’t as successful — they accepted some pretty promises and allowed the “done deal” to happen.  Now neighbors of the CSX Freight Wonderland in downtown & eastern Worcester, like those who made up the sign shown above, are rightly angry that none of the promises have thus far been kept.

Have we been tricked?  Yes & no.  The City Manager wanted the CSX deal to happen, and when some opposition materialized, he helped dream up a few bones to throw us, and which we’re still waiting for.  Set aside the ruin of a big swath of downtown & the loss of a street.  Shortly after this done deal, a big chunk of Franklin Street was undermined by CSX activity in the rail-yard below, limiting travel on that street to one lane.  For the past month, the focus has been on whether or not the MBTA made a promise about additional commuter rail trains (and whether or not they can commit to those trains in the face of major budget shortfalls).  Today’s T&G piece is instead all about another unfulfilled promise — spray parks and/or a pool.

In addition, the promises — real or perceived — from CSX were made to different constituencies, and the inconveniences (past, present and future) that come out of this project also affect different constituencies.  The closure of Putnam Lane was not a great impact to the city as a whole, but a rather significant one to those who need to cut between Franklin Street and Shrewsbury Street.  A spray park or pool in East Park would be a boon to many on the East Side — including those on Bell Hill who might not feel the immediate negatives of the CSX project.  Fewer commuter trains than expected might affect people across Worcester (and surrounding towns).

We’re so easily distracted by these sorts of bait & switch maneuvers — and we all tend to be stuck in our own silos — that it’s no wonder we can’t form a united front against a “vision” of Worcester that’s really anti-Worcester.

If we were “tricked”, maybe we just weren’t paying attention . . . or maybe we’re too trusting.

I’m tired of Worcester being the urban equivalent of Lady Edith Crawley.  Sure, our city is no looker, and we tend to throw ourselves at every unromantic chinless guy our older, prettier sister casts off — but that doesn’t mean we’re worthless.

When will Worcester rise up and say, “I’m tired that the only romantic moments in my life come with the married farmer I drove a tractor for and some guy with half a face who’s pretending to be my cousin!  Don’t I deserve to be happy, too?!?”

Worcester’s a nice gal who deserves a City Council who is willing to grill her suitors in the way any protective parent would.  We don’t need to be hooked up with every chancer who happens down the pike with a gleam in his eye and empty promises in his pocket — we need a good match.  And probably a better matchmaker.

The initial reporting of forcible rape to the FBI was delayed because of a backlog of cases. The Worcester Police Department had a large number of cases last year that required a supervisory review before submitting the data to the FBI. The department needed to insure, through thorough evaluations that these cases fit the UCR definition of forcible rape. Therefore, there was a slight delay in the initial submission of statistical data to the FBI and the data was incomplete at the time required for UCR publication.

The forcible rape statistics recently released to the public for the calendar year 2011 are accurate and complete. Furthermore, the Worcester Police investigative report conforms to FBI classifications of forcible rape as defined in the UCR.

The WPD says there were 41 forcible rapes in 2011.  Depending on your source, there were either 19 forcible rapes in 2010 (from the Telegram) or 51 forcible rapes in 2010 (from MA UCR).

So, either we’re up 100% or down 20%.

The last time we had a press release about a rape was in November 2010.  In the meantime, we’ve had a press release about a car accident in which no one went to the hospital and screeds against judges and various members of the media.  And more than 40 rapes without a word on the WPD website.

Perception vs. reality, people.

…

The Chief will be on WCRN’s The RAVE – The Rosen and Vecchio Experience (which one hopes will be temporarily renamed The GRAVE – The Gemme, Rosen, and Vecchio Experience) at 4:00PM this Saturday.

Feel free to call (508-438-0965) and ask him about his relationship with the media, why he asks for a new class of recruits while refusing to hold various police officers accountable for their actions, and predictive policing.

But going around reminding everyone about that after a few high-profile violent incidents doesn’t reassure people.

How about this for reality: We have no domestic violence unit and the FBI said our rape statistics were underreported.  But we always find time for the all-important prostitution stings!

How about this for reality: When was the last time you ever heard the Chief answer callers’ questions on a radio show?

How about this for reality: While the Chief mentions a (public) summit between the police and the media on Cape Cod, the WPD has been trying to negotiate with media — behind the scenes — to ensure that they are always portrayed in perfect light.  (One can only wonder how that is an improvement on the previous silent treatment the media outlets previously enjoyed.)

And if any of us have the perception that the Chief is more interested in creating more and more personal vendettas, well, we only have to look at the reality of his Twitter feed.

(I am going to try to write a more positive post very soon about ways the WPD could improve their online public relations, beyond learning what an ellipsis is.  Let me know if you have any suggestions!)

What we’ve proposed for the Worcester line, and all lines, are elimination of weekend service and elimination of service after 10 p.m. Juxtapose that with the commitment that we have to add more service to the Worcester line as a result of the CSX deal. We will still honor that commitment to add trains this fall, probably late fall.

(I read this and thought the part of the quote that was missing was “…but those trains won’t go anywhere.”)

Speaking as a former commuter to Boston, the trains (I think) they’re proposing to add (because there aren’t a lot of details) would be extensions of the local trains to and from Framingham.  I don’t see them adding any express trains — and those of us who remember a time when there were no station stops between Framingham and Worcester know that “express” is a relative term!

One and a half hours to and from Boston in the middle of the day is not an ideal situation.  And while it is better than nothing, it doesn’t help those who have reason to travel to Boston on a weekend.  Including those who have to work.

Friday February 17/7:30 PM
Seven Hills Symphony
Concerto Competition Winner(s)
Special Guests – Wauchusett Regional High School Orchestra
Mussorgsky, orch. Simpson: Pictures at an Exhibition
Wachusett Regional High School, Main St., Holden, Massachusetts

Saturday February 18/3:00 PM
WPI Concert band presents its annual Theme Concert, directed by Douglas Weeks.
Alden Memorial, WPI

Sunday February 19/3:00 PM
Karen Driscoll: “Women on Edge”
Acclaimed soprano Karen Driscoll joins forces with celebrated Worcester pianist Sima Kustanovich to present their inspiring concert of vocal music, including a variety of classical to contemporary repertoire from Haydn to Menotti based on women on the brink of love, madness and desperation
Traina Center for the Arts, Razzo Hall, Clark University

Tuesday February 21/8:00 PM
Matthew Jaskot, Piano
Eight Études and Some Fantasies
Brooks Concert Hall, Holy Cross
 

This morning I was shocked & pleased to see that the Upland St. folks have a new hydrant.

That they installed a “Kennedy” brand hydrant should be worth a few Brownie points around here.

I suppose there could have been legions of neighbor complaints on file and that DPW just happened to have gotten ’round to replacing the hydrant this week.

I’d prefer to give the Public Works folks the benefit of the doubt — that they heard of an imminent public safety concern and addressed it quickly and effectively.

Thanks, DPW, for putting a smile on my face this morning, and helping the residents of Upland St. sleep soundly at night knowing that the fire department can now get their hoses on the hydrant in time to save a house . . . or a life.

Since there’s now a big square cut into Upland St., here’s a peek at the stratigraphy of the road surface:

Perhaps not as thick as I’d have imagined, given the position of the old hydrant.

I wondered in passing how long the road would have a hole in it, but less than two hours after these photos were taken, a first layer of asphalt patch had been applied, both in the hole and around the hydrant base.  I expect it’ll look pretty good by later this week.

Kudos, DPW!  I hope while you were there someone radioed back to the signage design wizards on Albany St. that right next to the new hydrant is a street name sign that dates from the 1960s and has the retroreflectivity of a brick:

Not nearly as pressing an issue as the sunken hydrant . . . but when we’re wasting taxpayer dollars replacing legible 21st century signs elsewhere in Worcester for the sake of hearts & serifs, seeing one of these golden oldies still in place makes me rather grumpy.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but please email your Councilors (and copy the City Manager) and ask why it is so difficult for the Chief to keep his personal feelings to himself.

Because those kinds of remarks mar this kind of work:

(screenprints via kwout)

I heard on Jordan Levy yesterday that the WPD is going to start using crimereports.com.

If you got to crimereports now and look at your neighborhood in Worcester, you’ll only see register sex offenders — no incidents.

The rumor is that crime reports will be loaded once a week onto the website, so I recommend checking frequently to see if/when they appear.