On city finances and planning

 At the April 9 meeting of the City Council: 

Toomey makes request under suspension for a five point plan on school building finances needs and renovations.

— Marco Cartolano (@marco_cartolano) April 10, 2024

While it appears to be deleted, Councilor Toomey later clarified on Twitter that she was speaking of amending the city's five point financial plan. 

About that transfer from free cash...

...reported over the weekend: we're all remembering that the transfer to the Worcester Public Schools was in fact $172,000, not the $200,000 the City Manager is requesting Tuesday...right?

Also, from not being sure there will be any free cash to there being $9.1 million is, shall we say, a big difference.

Council comments on transfer

O'Brien, thanks the Mayor, the Manager, Councilor Eddy "real support for public education"
First time "in four years, it may be five"
"important moment for me as we're making a real strong commitment to public education"
this is operational but "important investments in technology and school facilities, in partnership with our friends in state government...very important investments"

Eddy, echo O'Brien "this doesn't happen...happy to make this motion..working together with the superintendent"
"certainly not where we want to end"
talking to people "on the west side and on the southwest side of the city...safety, service, and schools"
middle class

Economou thanks Mayor, Manager
"the number one thing I hear going door to door"
strong education base "everything else will follow"
look forward to working further in the years to come

Rushton "this is the starting point to increase the funding of our schools"
national award winning schools
"over 500 new children came in...people are opting in not opting out of our school system"

Palmieri: "echoing my colleagues is one thing; the results are another"
"what a great education means to each  child...not only for better students, but...prime mover for economic development"
continue to help and assist schools, school department, teachers, and students
"can't think of a better place to invest at this time"

Lukes: "wonder what kind of a message we are sending...only so many dollars to go around...are we robbing Peter to pay Paul?"
free cash "very low this year"
runs numbers which appear to miss that Chapter 70 funds come through the city from the state...
"how much had you originally set aside in your plan to pay for these fixed costs?"
CM O'Brien "I'm not sure I understand the question..."thanks Mayor and Superintendent
NSS "a goal, symbolic"
move money from the contingency "one time money" to school salaries to lower class sizes
$40,000 delta that we had to achieve to get to net school spending
"stuck to that commitment to get to $172,000 'though the need was $40,000"
"we are going to have to begin to make some difficult decisions"
lists schools then public safety, parks
"a step, a symbolic step...we've got work ahead"
"I'm not being optimistic"
"had planned to put $5 million aside for OPEB..and we didn't get to a conclusion on the schools contribution and if it would count towards net school spending"
"defying the statistics across the country"
"long term strategic move now instead of in ten years"
deposits into OPEB
Lukes "likely that we're going in the same direction as other cities and not funding our OPEB and our pension liabilities, then?"
O'Brien: "just the opposite"
Lukes "when we keep taking money out and there's only so much money to go around"

Toomey "incredibly important in a community like ours to fund education"
"came from the bright side over there, in the Worcester Public Schools"
leadership, careful accounting
"incredibly important that folks don't look at this in a negative way, but as an economic vehicle"

O'Brien (for a second time): "it's a good thing (not a bad thing) that we've worked together to close that deficit"
"making smart investments in school infrastructure"

Petty: report on for Thursday night for exactly how the money is being expended

Roll call: unanimously passes

Regarding the City Manager's evaluation

There have been several mentions of schools in City Manager O'Brien's annual evaluation by the Worcester City Council.
Among them, Councilor Rivera spoke of the contribution towards net school spending, mentioning it as one of her priorities from last year.
Councilor O'Brien closed with (as "most important") urging a better working relationship with the Worcester Public Schools, commenting that he understood that there was a natural tension, but that schools were the way forward, and that all options should be considered in creating a better working relationship.
Councilor Economou speaks of "meeting those goals on our schools."
Councilor Toomey says that it's "about adequate funding."

One Library press conference

And Finz is here. posting as we go
Petty: "another great announcement for the city of Worcester"
Thanks everyone for being here today
"very positive impact on Worcester's youth...One City, One Library...little collaboration, working to get things done"
"things don't happen by accident...really amazes me how things get started...a couple of people have an idea, get talking...happened almost by accident"
"having library open during the day and also by night for the neighborhood"
Patty Eppinger: "all of our show"
"exciting time for Worcester...lots of positive energy, heading in a great direction"
"when we see a need, we don't just walk away, we try to get things done"
"critical to have our children have access to books, technology and professionals"
score higher on standardized achievement tests in reading
third grade
"many needs in our community..pulled in many directions...think creatively...how to benefit everyone"
several months: "a group of very dedicated, very hard working volunteers...libraries back to schools and neighborhood"
worldwide system of resources, librarians, library staff
"all have a stake in helping our children and our neighborhood"
not exactly as accidentally as the Mayor referenced
....WPL Foundation, WEDF, WPL, WPS, UMass-Med, CM, WEC
MCAS scores on
"two reasons: to thank volunteers...to build and maintain the libraries that exist in our libraries today"
"four school-based children services branches opening in the fall, one per quadrant"
"update existing" technology...books, facilities,
"offer new programs that will make reading fun"
open to neighboring public when schools are not in session
"we all believe this will be a win-win situation"
sites chosen for "a variety of" neighborhoods, access from an outside entrance, parking
Plus a second Libby solely for children's services
asking principals to come forward
Principals of Tatnuck Magnet, Roosevelt, Burncoat Prep, and Goddard
"have graciously opened their schools to us"
cites O'Brien
CM O'Brien: "wonderful to be here"
"not looking forward to ice and snow"
"amazing work in our public schools"
volunteers are "a foundation that we hope to build upon"
improve access to all that our library has to offer to all of our citizens
"uniquely positioned to go forward...new and innovative way"
"children achieving their grade level reading ability"
Private/public partnership like no other
schools and libraries are "working together" to how they work on hours, staffing, access
current PILOT from WPI, Clark,
UMass-Med for $700,000 in materials
private support from WPL Foundation "going forward"
thanks subcommittee that "analyzed statistics on grade level reading
"pleased to announce the city...fund designated solely for library services...additional $250,000 towards this goal"
$1.25 million for year one
"some things take time, and age like fine wine"
Leary from UMass-Med
kids growing up in Worcester and staying here
used to be to work in the mills
45% of employment is higher ed and health care
STEM fields: early literacy
"very happy to participate, happy for you to have me hear today"
"would not happen without the 100% support of our superintendent"
Boone: share in the excitement of all on this stage here today
on my mind since I've been here, "I know was on the agenda of the School Committee prior to that"
"libraries not just places where we house books and we check them in and out"
"where lifelong learning really takes hold"
sister of an elementary librarian
rolling up sleeves
"when you have a vision, you have to bring something of substance to the table"
front-loading success...moving away from remediation
proactive stance
initial sites for this intiative
"every school has its unique personality...how do we use that to create the best for the schools and the community"
principals: hours, role of librarian in schools
still going to take a great deal to close the gap on hours and services
volunteers cited and thanks
"sibling of Libby"
"large school system and going to take a lot of effort to get where we need"
reading levels of 3rd and 4th grade boys used to calculate the number of prison beds are needed
"great and exciting day for the city of Worcester" and the Worcester Public Schools
Susan Gately: (president of WPL board)
proud to be part of the city of Worcester
"loveable, liveable city that we have"
"work together on the board with these big ideas"
cites library director for her "big ideas"
"really great ideas, resourceful, creative, responsive, impactful, bold"
four branches
"more reach with little Libby"
well-spent city resources: "I hope that we'll see more of all of you as we work to see this really great idea come together"
Leslie Fish (president of WPL Foundation)
"when the City Manager came and presented this idea to the WPL Foundation, not only did the Board immediately vote on it, a member wanted it to go down on this as 'enthusiastically'"
sent children to WPS, access to libraries
"superior resources of the Worcester Public Library...seems to be no other"
"going to raise the matching funds to complete infrastructure needs for this year"
working with WEDF to get the funds for the "little Libby"
comments that One City, One Library is up online (it's not...yet)
Rebecca Alt, library organizer from Tatnuck Magnet: parent volunteers at our school that is "an amazing group of people ever"
"to see our kids day in and day out enjoying it...such a highlight of being a parent at this school"
"this is incredible..makes what we did this year worth it, let's us breathe a little"

In closing, Patty Eppinger notes that this will cost $2 M for the first year, and thus far they have $1.25 M

Reports requested

O'Brien: $92 million comes from local aid: 33% of school budget comes from city
new positions created by WPS, new positions created by city (including police and fire)
Lukes: retirements
report: how those state and federal grants are expended (READ THE BUDGET!)
how many private/parochial students transported by WPS?

Councilor O'Brien

"there's good news: we've made real progress"
"work collaborative with the schools"
"for cities to grow and prosper: safety, services, and schools"
runs through investments in public safety, in public services
progress in schools: reduce the deficit in net school spending number
"I'm hoping to hear...capital budget... infrastructure in our schools"
challenges in our operational budget
"not quite there yet in meeting our minimal obligation in net school spending"
surrounding communities spending 14% more on average; losing families
"make a case that we need to make a little bit more investment"
"Hope we can find opportunities to get to" that minimum
make necessary investment to stay competitive

Questions: administrative spending compared to internal administrative spending: comparison across the Gateway cities: is there some understanding of why there is such a big differential?
Zidelis: can speak to which cityside services go into the calculation?
Zidelis says they can research the difference and come back with a report

O'Brien asks about the percentage of the school budget as compared with Gateway cities
Boone: costs directly incurred by the school district, then city costs charged to the schools
if you look at WPS, we have maintained that line over last several years.Dropping an administration this year
administration is 1.5% of total WPS budget

O'Brien: offset in increase within increase charter school tuition
loss of state and local grants, as well
Boone: $1.68 million we are being underfunded in charter reimbursement
Allen: chapter 70 funds are allocated to charter schools as well; 9% of allocation in education goes to charter schools
O'Brien: increase in chapter 70, plus state and federal grant drops: report?
O'Brien: ASKS TO HOLD BUDGET

Tonight Council hears the budget

DPW starts at 4; the schools are second.

Councilor O'Brien has just posted on his Facebook page his intent to make a motion to fully fund the Worcester Public Schools at 100% of net school spending. 

He will need backup, though, so please be there if you can!

Questions on FY14

O'Brien: do we think the Senate will do more for education than the House?
Allen: did not appear that either side will support Governor's proposal; House will likely be final amount
O'Brien: do we know what the city number is? where does that leave us under $800,000?
city increase is about $4 million
city over $500,000 for this (not counting the carry forward) year
city will be about $500,000 above for this year; $800,000 under net
reduces the city gap to $430,000 below Net School Spending for FY14
O'Brien: suggestions from Council on meeting school need; sharing of new growth
historically city and schools split new growth 50/50; that stopped and city kept new growth
might have some discussion about setting aside a small portion of that new growth revenue, maybe 10% to reduce that fiscal deficit
rather than meeting our minimum spending, being a bit above
Economou: goal was to eliminate conversation year-in, year-out
not just meet the goal, go beyond it
set up a plan, a percentage
could even set a cap, "so as not to burden the city side"
maybe anything above the cap could go towards school maintenance
Colorio: something that is measurable
something that is visible to the taxpayers
O'Brien: good idea, meeting capital needs, physical needs
Foley: certainly be talking about some of those issues
how can we parcel those dollars out to have the greatest rigor?
work done in the schools has been tremendous
foundation budget: if we can put this behind us and move forward, that would be great
operating level, reduce previous years
move beyond foundation level
compete with surrounding towns
ELL and special ed going up
Allen: largest increase in budget is probably in special education (partly due to bringing services in-house)
$600,000 losing to charter school assessment in addition to
tuition for FY14 $26.8...entire increase is supposed to be cover in that year
should be at least a million more than what it is in the state budget
Novick: 10% of the new growth (it was 4.9% last year) works out to about $500,000 on $300 million; that's .5%
need to also look at capital spending; an entirely other budget; out of proportion with percentages spent on city/schools operation budgets, relative sizes of employees or those served
Rivera: at what point are we looking at schools that were closed? Can we have a new (reopened) school?
Allen: a process that needs to start now; longer term solution, short term problem
Foley comments that we may need to reopen schools that we closed
Economou: are there other schools that are overcrowded besides Chandler Elementary?
Allen: Union Hill, a lot are getting near capacity
Economou suggests looking at universities and Worcester Academy for space
Economou asks if our state legislators aware of this
Allen comments that the superintendent has been speaking state senators regarding
Allen: vision bringing back magnet schools, replicate successful magnets to balance out enrollments

Let's check those allocation powers again

From today's T&G article on the UMass donation:

The programs (Worcester Public Library and biotech and bioscience programs at Worcester Technical High School) selected by the city manager to receive that money are things that are consistent with the medical school's mission, Dr. Collins said

...which is great, except it's actually North that's the Med school pipeline.

Plus, the City Manager doesn't actually get to allocate funds within the Worcester Public Schools.

(And, no, this wasn't cleared with anyone, elected or appointed, in WPS.)

Transportation

...which is here. And posting as we go...

Transporting nearly 11,000 students daily
Covering approximately 10,000 miles per day
1.8 million miles per school year

WPS School Committee Policy:
“Free transportation is granted to pupils in grades kindergarten through 12 who
reside two (2) miles or more from the school which they are entitled to attend. The
legal obligation of the School Committee in this respect is limited to provision for
transportation for elementary school children and the School Committee does have
the right, if necessary, to charge for transportation or not provide transportation at
the secondary level regardless of where the student may live.”

I'm not going to copy down all of the numbers here of buses or of how much we're spending on them...go check it out!


If we can use the midday service, it's cheaper for it to be done in house (not true of wheelchair service, which is contracted out); if there is not midday service to be used, it's cheaper for it to be contracted out.

We will need another large bus (WEMS adding 6th grade)
and adding 6 special ed buses

Economou asks why we are busing non-public ed students; Allen: various regs requiring us to do that
"The only way to get some transportation savings is to reduce transportation."
"...the only way to get transportation savings is to make very bad decisions"
Economou wants to know how to make those changes; Allen, would need to change the state law to provide those services.
O'Brien: motion to get legal clarification on what our obligations are, and is there any flexibility there?
...if we bus secondary, we have to bus all secondary (private and parochial students, as well as public students)
Rivera: "they don't conribute to the cost at all for transportation?"
Allen: and transportation doesn't count towards net school spending...could reduce transportation costs by $750,000 if we could cut those buses
Rivera comments that she's floored by this
Fuel costs? About $50,000 for price of fuel

O'Brien asks how much is fuel costs and how much is special ed increases?
Rivera asks why it goes up over the course of the year? Sometimes it's students being processed through a team through the year, but sometimes we're getting new students. Boone adds that the special ed process is a 12 month process; part of that is determining whether that requires transportation (as part of an IEP)...looked at like speech therapy, occupational therapy...

Colorio: who do parents call if they have an issue?
Hennessey: three numbers, depending on the type of transportation
508-757-1463 is Durham's dispatch for the big buses
508-755-3495 is Durham dispatch for special ed
508-799-3242 (or 3241) for special ed run by WPS 
Buses can be called directly from dispatch; Durham buses have a GPS system to determine if the bus had been where and when.

Hennessey notes that there is some leeway given to drivers as to if they can safely negotiate particular streets on slippery days.

Colorio asks if parents could pay to get on buses that are within the two miles (ugh)
Allen: fees are approved by School Committee; cautions that it's a very difficult conversation to have as well (due to free and reduced lunch-eligible students)
Boone: 73% students eligible for free and reduced lunch; we have not added fees, "create a system of the haves and the have-nots"
Colorio: there are other private schools that don't "take advantage of transportation"..why do some take advantage and some do not?

O'Brien here is referring this report to City Auditor DelSignore for review (and possible outside review); Novick says she will vote against, if it is a joint referral. Consultation with the clerk says that this is a Education subcommittee referral, so the F&O committee is not voting on this. Referral to Auditor by City Council.

About that $16.4 million...

So, remember the $16.5 (it's .5, not .4) million that I couldn't figure out from the City Manager's budget presentation last night?

The city passed along the presentation to the School Committee tonight, and it's cleared up where the number came from.

And it's wrong.

It takes the $10.6 that has been cited in the past--spent on needed transportation that does not count towards net school spending--and adds to it the cityside administration expenses that "count" towards the Worcester Public Schools, which is $5.9 million.

But here's the thing: THAT IS ALREADY INCLUDED IN NET SCHOOL SPENDING.

When we calculate city contribution, part of what is in the list of things that get subtracted--that are essentially "in kind" contributions--is the cityside administrative piece. You might remember that the number is calculated based on the percentage of the budget that goes to each part (schools and city), so 54%* of those departments counts toward net school spending.
So it's already in.
So that's a double count.


As an aside, what's odd about this is that the city finance department knows this. They're a part of calculating the numbers each year. So I'm not sure where this came from...

*setting aside the usual caveat that those departments don't actually spend anything like 54% of their manpower or time on schools.

Councilor O'Brien: Joint committee on education

Four goals of the joint committee:

1. increase communication
2. capital and technology needs of schools
3. review operational needs of schools
4. identify additional opportunities to work together

Cites progress in capital work: completed, underway, the four year capital plan, and the 10 year plan

NOTE: the F&O committee will vote the Statements of Interest at our meeting on Monday!

The City Council has to authorize and oversee capital projects for the schools (aka: THE WPS DOES NOT BUILD SCHOOLS!)

Technology needs

"Need to have a clear target for where we want to be above foundation"

"recognizing that we won't get there all in one year"

"some have talked about 2, some have talked about 3, it'd be nice to go higher than that...have a clear goal"

"that would be matched with a list of the additional services and programs they can expect" in return for more money

"so they understand what they're buying"

"we want to establish what that benchmark should be before budget"

need parents to "be advocates for that conversation"

monthly meetings of the joint committee: invite people to attend: next meeting is Monday at Nelson Place at 6:30 pm

Questions on the presentation

publishing as we go
Dawn Johnson: Councilor Germain asked for an audit; the city council approved...do you know what the status is of this audit?
Councilor O'Brien: Germain wanted answers to some broader questions on if we're using money effectively; asked city auditor to evaluate bottom line...despite what the city council had been told by the city administration the city was not meeting its obligations. Identified some other areas we'd like to look at: transporation, administrative expenses, grant fees.Decision was made not to hire an outside group, "work closely with our auditor as sort of a neutral party..." hope to have all of that done late spring
Dawn Johnson: Seems as though the City Council is saying that the school department is wasting money: "It's kind of offensive to me as a person who has been following this for so many years...well, we don't want THAT big of a light on the issue...but there's no acknowledgement that the school department isn't wasting money the way that we've been getting the impression that they were"
O'Brien: so many groups looking our books, seems like not a very good use of public resources...been trying out the critical issues...very positive step, very enlightening for people...credits the Mayor
Allen: "we all got on the same page...we are now speaking the same language...the city isn't fully meeting" obligations. Positive first step, starting point.
crediting the Mayor who has just come in
Monfredo: people forget it's the minimum amount required for education
Allen: "let's have a recognition that the foundation budget is not adequate...that's $2.1 billion that the foundation budget is understating" statewide...and state is only funding $4.4 billion in chapter 70 statewide...addressing the foundation budget. Longterm problem.
Rob Cohane: third party to come in for a long term plan?
Allen: almost exactly the same..."I see a lot of that work"; cites joint meetings of education/finance and operation as a place where that can happen
Deb Steigman: how many students are we losing to school choice? 427 students
can we increase number of students in preschool?
having the funding might allow us to increase getting those kids in school earlier

This was followed by some comments from Mayor Petty on the good work of CPPAC and the hopes he has of Council and School Committee working together, moving forward.

Tonight at Council: FY14 budget presentation from the City Manager

The City Council tonight got an update on the FY14 budget, and (not surprisingly) the Worcester Public Schools' budget came up.
The City Manager for the first time that I've ever heard explained how the foundation budget works. The only part he misses--and this matters later--is the bit about the state using a standard formula for calculating the city's ability to contribute.
I seriously have no idea where some of the numbers flying around last night came from. "City Contributes $16.5M above State's Min Contribution Formula" appeared on one slide.
There is nothing called the "state's min(imum) contribution formula," so I suppose it is possible that the city is above it. The state's actual foundation formula, however, is something that the city continues to fund at just under a million dollars UNDER the state minimum--a minimum, I remind you, which is regarded by just about everyone as being badly outdated, leading to a state average of funding schools at 15% ABOVE foundation.
(And I really have no idea where the $16.5 million comes from. At all.)

Transportation: to give the manager a bit of credit; he does manage to acknowledge that transportation in many cases is required by state and federal mandates...though comparing the increase to the gross national product is sort of weird. I'm going to say this again: READ THE WPS BUDGET. The increases are very straightforward, and our budget doesn't cite an increase without giving a reason.
Also, the WPS contract with Durham (there are two, actually; one for special ed and one for regular ed) are ones that are directly voted by the School Committee. So let's not pretend here: if you question our transportation costs, you aren't just questioning our transportation costs. You are questioning the competency of the Worcester School Committee.

While the bar graph comparing percent of tax levy going to schools is clever, this is a function of state calculation of ABILITY TO CONTRIBUTE. The state actually figures out what the city is ABLE to contribute. That is, naturally, going to vary by community, but it is based on a standard formula, which bases the calculation on the income of residents and the property values within the town.This chart thus is meaningless.

OPEB, again, is not recognized as net school spending. Is the Manager therefore saying that we should take an additional $3 million out of the classroom and put it into something which does not count towards net school spending?
Of course, we could take the $3 million a year the city gets from the work of the Worcester Public Schools in Medicaid reimbursement and put that into OPEB...

And just a reminder here that there will be a presentation on the (actual) Worcester Public Schools FY14 budget tomorrow (Wednesday) night at 7 pm at Worcester Technical High School.

Sunday evening update from City Manager O'Brien

Can be found here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3sbjtz82xgx3hq4/Feb%20Storm%20Response%20Update%20_5.pdf

No school tomorrow, plow operations ongoing citywide. Please get your sidewalks clear but STAY SAFE! Hospitals are reporting increased numbers of injuries from shoveling.

Saturday afternoon update from City Manager O'Brien

You can find the full update here. Of note:

City crews have been working around the clock to keep area roads and intersections safe, open and passable. The Department of Public Works and Parks will cease snow removal operations tonight in order to allow City and private company personnel to rest after nearly 36-hours of effort.  Full scale snow removal “clean-up” operations will re-commence first thing Sunday, February 10, 2013. This will include scraping, widening, and clearing corners of all roads and intersections.  Sanding and salting operations will commence upon completion of snow removal. It is highly likely that private driveways and parking lot entrances opened and cleared today could have snow pushed back into these areas as our clean-up efforts continue. This is a multi-phased operation which will likely take well into the new week to complete. The public is asked for its patience.

Early Friday afternoon update from City Manager

We've just received an email from City Manager O'Brien, which includes the following information:

City Hall is closed as of 12:00 PM today due to the predicted severity of storm throughout the afternoon and early evening.  Per my advisory, our Emergency Operations Center is open, fully staffed and operational and will be throughout the storm and through until tomorrow.  As also noted in advisory, the City's Customer Service Center is open and will be throughout the storm and through until tomorrow 508-929-1300. WRTA has decided to cease operations as of 1:00 PM today - Friday, February 8, 2013 through tomorrow, Saturday, February 9, 2013.  It will resume normal service on Sunday, February 10, 2013We have taken the steps to establish an emergency shelter and to engage our shelter-provision partners such as the Red Cross.  Additional details to follow on the status and location of this operation.

Informational on net school spending: here's the discussion

Here's the discussion on the recommended allocation of the $500,000 transfer
O'Brien: leadership working with the manager and the school department, to address the capital needs of our schools
Thanks the Manager "to leverage out a few more dollars"
Councilors, textbooks and instructional materials,
"making progress towards that gap...a little behind but we're catching up"
"continue to work towards...an operational plan that we all can get behind"
Economou: echo same sentiments, Say thank you
"step in the right direction"
Eddy: "indeed a step in the right direction"
Manager "has worked tirelessly with the superintendent"
parking lot lease in Webster Square (murmurs from Lukes)
Long been aware of the issue on Holland Road, Monticello, Wentworth, "held hostage in their homes"
"at some point...thank Tom Zidelis...far too many man hours working with Brian Allen in the school department for a solution on this...expensive bandaid...speaks to...public schools have to take... responsibilities of the public schools fall beyond the walls of the schools...being a good neighbor...cannot build schools that do not have parking"
(I should perhaps point out that the City, not the schools, build schools)
Urges Mayor to bring back to schools...going on far too long
look at field behind school (which is a park)
held it waiting for a permanent solution
motion to no parking on Holland Road during school days: need to have a public hearing, says mayor
O'Brien thinks there has been a hearing
Eddy pulls motion, sends to committee
Toomey: look back at orders not completed on this, all addressed at same time
Russell: question to administration
annual salary or half the year?
The answer is half the year, but no one knows. 

sorry, no idea what Palmieri said
CM O'Brien: amazing learning environment
buffered against our fiscal condition
that's why the move was conservative to put those dollars into contingency
Mayor has a style that I respect greatly
how we can structure these dollars
wasn't a week that went by when it wasn't an agenda item

Lukes: going back to parking lot lease
and then to initial reference to the item
"if parking lots qualify for net school spending, I'd be shocked"
how many schools are going to want the same?
footprint larger for same number of students, losing parking as a result
"this issue is one that's going to plague us with any new school"
people in that neighborhood want the school built in the same location
"for that half hour at each end of the day, it's like the end of the world"
"I would suggest that we find other solutions to this problem"

O'Brien: sure that this does not set a precedent, as there are others

Economou: in light of tonight's discussion: February 25 at 5 pm, Holland Road before Traffic and Parking

Petty: no real short term solution to parking problem
thanks Allen and Zidelis for working to fix the problem

at Council

Here at City Council to see the finance items go through. This reminds me that I have not yet officially welcomed to blogging Worcester City Councilor Joe O'Brien. Thrilled to no longer be the only blogging elected official in Worcester!