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Apprehensive-Mode-45 t1_iwmitdl wrote

I was incredibly disappointed in how this all played out and it really puts a cloud over Eric. No shade to him, he seems nice, but we really don’t know much about him and what his vision is.

The City Council should be ashamed that they didn’t do their job to look for a new manager the standard way. It would have been so valuable to see Eric and others with experience in city management show their fresh ideas for managing Worcester. I realize this is now the third time they’ve abandoned one of their major duties, instead pushing a guy through from the inside. It feels so icky.

I certainly hope the best for Eric in this role, and absolutely hope he might be able to make good recommendations for progress. But I also think if you live in the district of a councilor who chose to not do their job, you should start looking elsewhere for a representative who actually cares and is fully committed to the job of being a city councilor.

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neilkelly t1_iwmqhb1 wrote

And just to be explicit, the 6 who voted to not do their job were: Joe Petty, Candy Mero-Carlson, Donna Colorio, Kate Toomey, George Russell and Moe Bergman.

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aKaake t1_iwo327c wrote

I loathe Mero-Carlson and Russel especially, but they are all terrible. I wish I had more experience or knowledge because I would run against Candy in a heartbeat. They are stuck in their ways and it's doing nothing but harm to the city and everyone that lives here.

FYI- their salaries are public knowledge, and it's A LOT of money for what they get paid to NOT do. Because, you know, they don't do anything.

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legalpretzel t1_iwmzhk8 wrote

Go figure it’s the councilors who are most likely to roll over and do things the way they’ve always been done because they need the voters in the 60+ bracket.

It is concerning though, because anyone who Colorio, Toomey and Mero-Carlson like should get strong side eye.

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legalpretzel t1_iwmyskz wrote

This is yet another reason why a strong mayor system is a better form of government for a city the size of Worcester. The electorate should get the deciding vote on who runs the city, not the city council. Sure, at the end of their terms we can vote them out for not even trying, but it doesn’t revolve the fact that the city manager is untouchable via public mandate.

And Batista may very well be the best person for the job, but he also might not be.

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Apprehensive-Mode-45 t1_iwn0mo8 wrote

Totally agree here. This form of government is just not working well for Worcester.

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guybehindawall OP t1_iwn8rat wrote

Well it's not working because too many of the entrenched councilors aren't willing to do anything approaching "leadership". This might be an unpopular opinion, but I'm not sure that would necessarily change with a strong mayor system. We need better councilors before anything else!

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Apprehensive-Mode-45 t1_iwnooxh wrote

That is a very good point! Would love to continue to see new faces on the city council that are smart and take the job seriously.

Also in favor of time limits for councilors speaking as well. If you can’t make your point clearly in 2 minutes - your mic gets cut. 😂 The usual suspects blather on forever with no direction. It’s exhausting to listen to.

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