Educational Excerpts from
State of the City Address
Mayor David B. Cohen
10/15/01
President Lipsitt, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen, School Committee Chair Vance, Members of the School Committee, members of the state’s legislative delegation, friends family, members of the public, my fellow Newtonians, welcome. I also want to welcome and thank my staff for the great job that they do every day of the year for me and for the City: my Chief of Staff, Mike Rourke, the Chief Budget Officer Sandy Pooler, Maria Plati, Director of Policy and Communication, Maureen Grimaldi, the Citizens Assistance Officer, Mary Morgan, my extraordinary Executive Assistant, and Terry Caminiti the Mayor’s Office Assistant, who does a superb job.*****
Protecting your safety and that of your loved ones is my highest priority and the highest priority of all of the elected officials and staff in city government. To that end, I have established an inter-departmental team to implement a comprehensive safety plan and to respond to any emergency. Team members are working closely with state agencies, the Newton-Wellesley Hospital and the Red Cross to develop the best possible plan. We have also been able to call upon the expertise of many residents of our city, knowledgeable in a wide range of subjects relevant to this problem. We are all grateful to them for giving so freely of their time and energy and for caring so much about our community and our safety.
We have identified the most critical parts of our city’s infrastructure and are giving each increased protection and surveillance. We have tightened security in our schools and municipal buildings. We have increased police visibility. In conjunction with other cities and towns in Greater Boston, we have developed a regional plan for responding to the release of toxic and suspicious substances.
We have also placed on our website useful information about steps that you can take protect your safety.****
Our schools are top-notch and we vow to keep them that way. Our city services are first-rate and we vow to keep them that way. And our commitment to justice, diversity and a community that embraces everyone will never falter. Our challenge is to continue to provide the services that are Newton’s hallmark in the face of a slowing economy and financial dislocations brought about by the September 11th attacks.
While our financial picture is strong today, our budget this year is balanced, we received a triple A bond rating, and we ended last fiscal year with a healthy surplus, all indications are that the revenue picture for the fiscal year starting July 1, 2002 will not be good.
This year we are slated to receive about $2 million in new state aid. For next year the Governor’s office has indicated we can expect no more than a 3% increase in education aid. And lottery receipts are running below estimates. Most unsettling, as a result of the economic slow down, state revenues for the first three months of this fiscal year are one quarter of a billion dollars less than for the first three months of last year.****
If we are to continue to provide the services that are an indispensable part of our way of life, as we must, we will have to do it ourselves. In order to be able to provide those services, we must formulate a plan for next year’s budget that is responsive to our needs. And because hard choices may have to be made to provide for those needs, it is essential that we know where we stand at the earliest possible moment. To that end I have directed the Chief Budget Officer to develop preliminary revenue estimates for fiscal year 2003 no later than November 15th.
I will make an allocation of those revenues between the school and city side no later than December 1st. No later than January 15th I will provide a summary of the city’s budgetary needs. I ask that the School Department provide a similar summary of its needs by that date as well.
I know that the task before us appears a daunting one and the obstacles that confront us many. But we have faced great challenges before and always met them. We’ve done it with hard work, cooperation and an abiding confidence in the greatness of our City. I know that working together, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen, Ladies and Gentlemen of the School Committee we will meet this challenge.****
We will make our most cherished institution, our public schools, even better by moving ahead with the high school renovation project. The site preparation work for Newton South’s new classroom wing has been completed and work on the actual structure began on October 1st. Classrooms in the new wing are scheduled to be ready for the start of the 2002-2003 school year.
The plans for the renovation of the rest of Newton South are in the schematic design stage. We expect to go out to bid next February and begin actual work in April. We have also begun the planning process with the faculty and administration of Newton North High School as part of the renovations that will take place at that school. Thus far the project is on schedule and within budget.
A significant reason for this success thus far has been the extraordinary cooperation between the various arms of local government. We are all indebted to the work of Board President Lipsitt, Finance Chair Coletti, Public Facilities Chair Schnipper, and School Committee members Anne Borg and Anne Larner for their work on the High School Projects Coordinating Committee as well as the other members of that very important committee.
We will also complete the Memorial-Spaulding renovations, as we completed the Bowen and Williams renovations, on time and within budget.****
Also, this City is committed to building buildings that are environmentally sound. The high school renovation project will include collection points for the accumulation of rainwater for the irrigation of the playing fields or some other appropriate use, and the installation of photo-voltaic cells for the production of electricity. We are also using paints, sealants, carpet adhesives with low volatile organic compounds to minimize the introduction of harmful chemicals into the breathing air.
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My friends, this is a time of great uncertainty but I want to assure you it is also a time of great hope. The Greek word crisis had two meanings. It meant emergency but it also meant opportunity. The ancient Greeks understood that in times of uncertainty there was the danger of descending into great evil, but there was also the opportunity to create great good.
Let’s use this opportunity to create a school system that has never been better. Let’s use this opportunity to fashion city services that have never been more responsive. Let’s use this opportunity to build a community where the bonds of brotherhood have never been stronger. Let us, as elected officials, use all of our energy to achieve these ends. So that a generation from now people will look back and say the citizens of Newton at the turn of the millennium really did use this chance to build a better Newton, a stronger nation, a better world.