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Weekly Update—September 12
By admin | September 12, 2009
Remarks to 300 North Shore Business Leaders
North Shore Chamber of Commerce Annual State of the Region Address,
given Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Good Morning. My name is Carolyn Kirk, and I am the Mayor of the city of Gloucester. I would like you all to know that I have only been the Mayor for 20 months, and 9 days. I am the rookie of the group but I have some lessons from the battlefield that I would like to share with you today.
Gloucester is going on Day 20 of a Boil Water order. Every single business operator in this room should take stock of the status of your city’s infrastructure, and take stock of your contingency plans should it fail. You should also consider business interruption insurance.
A Boil Water order suddenly makes infrastructure challenges very real, and you don’t want to be scrambling. For example:
The DEP issued the order retroactively so rather than going into effect on the day the order was issued, it was backdated 6 days. As a result, some of our businesses had to issue product recalls.
Some businesses who are hard wired into the city water system could not adapt fast enough and shut their doors for many days. Five Dunkin’ Donuts were closed for almost a week.
Other businesses were able to maintain operations but at a much greater cost. Gorton’s of Gloucester trucked in water to the tune of $7,000 per day. Some restaurants went to paper plates to avoid dishwashing, and many had to use the more expensive bottled water and soda.
There are also many examples of ingenuity and generosity from the business community as well. A local beer brewer boiled water in their vats for the community to draw from. Shaw’s and Stop and Shop delivered 17,000 bottles of water=2 0to our school children. Comcast delivered water to our food pantry and senior center.
Over the Labor Day weekend, we had record crowds in the city for the 25th Annual Schooner Festival. Reports are that every room was booked. I attribute the fact that the crowds still came to the aggressive communication effort the city made.
We instituted incident command a few days in to the crisis, and immediately assigned a trained Public Information Officer (or PIO) to the event for its duration. Communication about this event was a full-time job. We updated the city website twice a day, and used the Chamber of Commerce e-mail database to blast out the daily messages. The PIO carefully monitored news coverage, and when Fox news incorrectly r eported that the city had e-coli, the PIO immediately called for a correction.
The Chamber of Commerce leadership under the direction of Bob Hastings also got way out front of the story, and emphasized the resilience of the business community, and that Gloucester was still open for business despite the Boil Order. They are now mobilizing to advocate at the state and federal level for relief on infrastructure costs and business impacts.
Regarding contingency planning, I held an information meeting with our largest commercial water users, but could not tell them with any certainty whatsoever when the system would return to normal. I used the example of how we were 11 days away from the start of school and none of us ever thought the order would still be in place, but we devised a contingency plan, and ended up executing it. ; And school started on time. I them all to make sure they had their contingency plans in place.
I had the great misfortune of having a bond rating review of the city during this time, and I expressed to the rating agencies, that it is not so much that it happened – it will happen in these old cities and towns – but rather how we dealt with it, how we managed the risk, and how we prevented it from being even worse. I’ll find out today if that strategy worked.
Speaking of Gloucester’s bond rating, we were able to report some terrific news to them as well. Next week we will cut the ribbon at Gloucester Crossing which will be home to Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Marshall’s, and Market Basket.
Projects up and down the east coast are being delayed or canceled outright. Gloucester Crossing is one of the few that has gone on despite the credit collapse and economic recession. It is a testament to the resilience of the Gloucester economy.
Our Municipal Harbor Plan has been submitted to the State for approval after 5 contentious years of local debate. Gloucester’s future is bright, and will only become more attractive for development.
A 2-acre waterfront property that was in foreclosure was just bought by a local developer, and is primed for a mixed use development.
Dr. Burton, you and the North Shore Chamber of Commerce have provided everyone in this room with an extraordinary chance to really listen and learn about the challenges and opportunities facing the cities and towns on the North Shore. I thank you for the opportunity to share my perspective from Gloucester, I’ve learned more than I ever imagined in these 20 months as Mayor of Gloucester. Hopefully, the hardest lessons are behind me.
Thank you.
Co-panelists at the Address were:
Mayor Driscoll – Salem
Mayor Scanlon – Beverly
Mayor Keezer – Amesbury
Mayor Clancy – Lynn
Mayor Moak – Newburyport
Town Manager Wayne Marquis – Danvers
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