Is Worcester Mayor Just a Figurehead?

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As Worcester gets closer to its Mayoral elections the debates are heating up.  The telegram recently wrote about a mayoral forum where the “gloves came off”.  There is no arguing that Worcester is in for challenging times.  This isn’t just the case for Worcester but most cities and towns across the Commonwealth will need to make hard choices about what will benefit their citizens the most.

I am not making judgment calls on any single individual since what got most of my attention in the article was the reference to changing Worcester’s form of government to provide for a stronger mayor (which most of the candidates disagreed with).

Worcester sits at a crossroads where it needs to capitalize on the visibility that has been increasing for the city.  Whether you look at the Forbes Most Livable Cities designation or Chronicle’s recent show spotlighting Worcester you can sense that Worcester is on the road toward better things. Besides hard decisions about cost cutting there has to be as much or even more focus on getting revenue higher.  That will only happen with attracting business and job growth.

A strong Mayor with a clear vision could probably move the ball forward more than a divided City Council with a variety of goals.  It is hard not to look at Boston as an example but the City of Boston is currently a bad example of the strong mayor model since Menino has been office so long it appears he has a kingdom.

I found a job description for Mayor on EHow interesting.  It describes the difference between the strong mayor/weak mayor models.  If you think that the Mayor is truly just a figurehead then the focus should be on the City Council since they are the ones making the decisions including appointing the City Manager which runs the day to day operations of Worcester.

Get informed and vote!  The Telegram has put together a great page with information relevant to the Worcester 2009 elections.