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Weekly Update—September 5
By admin | September 5, 2009
After 20 months in office, I am up for re-election so in the spirit of fairness, the Gloucester Times has decided to suspend The Mayor’s Desk and instead allow me to express myself through a “My View” periodically. In some ways, a “My View” column gives me more freedom than the Mayor’s Desk column where I always tried to maintain the point of view as Mayor and keep it as non-political as possible.
I probably will not write a weekly My View for newspaper publication, but I will write a Weekly Update for my website. Keep checking www.kirkformayor.com every Saturday for my Weekly Update.
So here I am – a candidate for Mayor, and the sitting Mayor overseeing the response to the water crisis that has gripped the city. As the pressure and criticism mounts on me as the days of the boil water order drag on, there is a temptation to have the candidate in me take over.
The candidate in me wants to personally call every single Gloucester business impacted by this crisis. The Mayor in me knows that the calls I need to make right now are the ones to top management of United Water (our contract operators) and demand they pull in the resources the city needs. I need to make the calls to Camp Dresser & McKee and personally ask them to have their chemists, biochemists, engineers, licensed plant operators, and consultants drop everything and get to Gloucester.
The Mayor in me knows that the calls I need to make are to the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). It is imperative that the city work cooperatively with the DEP, and I can tell you that what I first came in to office that was not the case.
The candidate in me wants to pass out water to every resident. The Mayor in me knows that in Milford, when they had e-coli in their water that was making people sick, they spent about $300,000 on water and had to terminate the program. The Mayor in me, knowing that we do not have e-coli, wants to put that expenditure towards paying for the outside consultants who are now here in the city day and night.
The candidate in me wants to respond to the posturing politicians who are quick to point fingers and lay blame, and then claim they did something to help solve the problem. The Mayor in me says, “whatever.” I need to stay focused on providing the leadership necessary to get through this problem. Leadership means exercising good judgment and decision-making every step of the way as we deal with the public, our health department, our Department of Public Works, the School Department, the business community, the contract operator, the outside experts, the state and federal regulators.
The candidate in me wants to be the face and voice of this entire event. I want to be the comforting person that calms fears and tells everyone that it is going to be all right. The Mayor in me knows that in a crisis event such as this, a Public Information Officer (PIO) is essential. Official, accurate and timely information is critical and it is a full-time job for the duration of this event. The Mayor in me knows that I cannot devote myself full-time to communication. I have an entire city to run, and as the chief executive, I need qualified people such as the PIO in place to get the job done.
This was especially true as this week two bond rating agencies were in the city (this is the kind of luck I have). Our financial team, led by me, had to be 100% prepared for our bond rating review, and we were. This past week, we also had the public hearing with state officials on the Harbor Plan which has been in the works for 5 years. It was imperative that I prepare testimony for that public hearing, and I did.
I understand that frustration levels are through the roof. No one wants the boil water order lifted more than me. But I won’t give in to the “I’m running for re-election” trap and start telling people what they want to hear, or move faster than is safe. Until this is behind us, it’s all Mayor all the time.
Topics: Columns
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