Worcester County this week - (Oct. 11 - Oct. 17)

October 18, 3:22 PMWorcester County Progressive ExaminerThomas Deusser

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 Downtown Worcester, MA from Franklin St. (PD)

There are only a couple of political tidbits in Worcester County this week, so if I can see my screen through this blizzard, we'll get right to them.

Actually, let's start with this:

October 16 and 18, 2009 – Snow. Are you kidding me?

October 13, 2009 - The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority’s board of directors held its final meeting today, the first step for the Mass Pike coming under the jurisdiction of the rest of the Commonwealth's highway system by Nov. 1.

Unfortunately, tolls are expected to continue on the Pike for now, but the meeting marks the end of the MTA which was created in 1952. It was supposed to disband as an agency after its first construction bonds were paid off in the mid-1980s.

Instead, more bonds were floated as the 138-mile toll way was extended and repaired. The MTA has also been part of the Big Dig’s $15 billion price tag (including the fatal collapse of a tunnel ceiling), and reports of waste like an office penthouse for the board’s chairman.

The panel’s five members are Transportation Secretary James Aloisi, who serves as chairman; Mary Connaughton of Framingham; Worcester lawyer Michael Angelini; Natick insurance man John Jenkins; and former Fidelity Investments executive Judy Pagliuca, wife of Boston Celtics co-owner and current U.S. Senate candidate Stephen Pagliuca.

Also attending the meeting will be Pike executive director Jeffrey Mullan. He is replacing Aloisi as transportation secretary when six state entities are consolidated into a new Massachusetts Department of Transportation Nov. 1. Mullan says drivers and riders won't see any immediate effect.

Eventually, Mullan would like a unified bureaucracy that has a single Web site, one customer service telephone number, and creating the ability to use all Massachusetts transportation products in every aspect of their jurisdiction; for example, the ability to use the MBTA Charlie Card on the Massachusetts Turnpike to pay for tolls.

In the meantime, Mullan pledges that there will be “no new revenues”. He said Thursday that he doesn't expect any increases in the state's gasoline tax, Massachusetts Turnpike tolls or MBTA fares in the foreseeable future.

"Let me be abundantly clear: There are no revenue options on the table right now. I see no prospects for increases in revenues on the horizon," he said.

Mullan said his focus is solely on the transportation merger. Six agencies will be consolidated into a single entity: the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

MassDOT, in turn, will be split into four divisions: Highways, Mass Transit, Aeronautics and Registry of Motor Vehicles. MassDOT will be overseen by a single board, while Mullan will be in charge of daily operations as secretary and CEO.

State officials hope to save money by consolidating back-office functions such as legal and accounting services, and by forcing employee health insurance, pension and other benefit changes.

Gov. Deval Patrick chose Mullan, a lawyer and Worcester native, now living in Milton, to take the job earlier this year. He was detailed to oversee the closing of the MTA, which of course, is scheduled to occur Nov. 1.

Mullan said his primary challenge today is soothing state employees who are anxious over the merger. Approximately 10,000 workers will be brought under the MassDOT, and 300 layoffs, mostly in management, are expected.

October 15, 2009- The City Council has asked the city administration to look into changing the way the city sells surplus real estate.

In most instances, the city uses a public auction process. But Councilor-at-Large Michael Germain said at a City Council meeting this past Tuesday night the city could be losing money by not offering those properties for public sale through a program employed successfully in other cities that use real estate professionals and conventional marketing efforts.

Germain said the program, known as SCOPE (Selling City-Owned Property Efficiently), has been very successful in cities nationwide, including Philadelphia and Baltimore, which brought in about $22 million through the program last year.

He went on to say that Worcester is not maximizing the potential revenue it could be receiving for surplus real estate through the public auction process. He mentioned one instance when a bidder purchased surplus property from the city at auction for $97,000, then turned around and sold it two weeks later for $167,000.

“My question is, why didn’t the city sell that property for $167,000?” Germain said. “This bidder made a $70,000 profit on this property and that’s money that could have gone to the city.”

He said the SCOPE program would enable the city to use local real estate infrastructure such as the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to market these properties. He continued by saying this would allow the market to establish prices for surplus real estate; while minimizing the city’s costs of disposing them. He also mentioned that it would make the city safer by eliminating blight caused by vacant properties, while turning a profit for the city.

“We should be aggressive in pursuing this,” Germain said. “This could give us the opportunity to put more money in our city coffers. You can’t lose here; we’re leaving money on the table during this budget crisis.”

Germain said the state Legislature is already considering a bill that mirrors the program in Baltimore. He intends to ask the City Council next week to vote on a resolution in support of the bill.

Councilor-at-Large Frederick Rushton said he shared that same concern that the city may not be getting the “biggest bang for its buck” when it comes to disposing surplus real estate. He said the key is to put deed restrictions on the property; that way, if the developer fails to meet those conditions, it could revert back to the city.

District 2 Councilor Philip Palmieri raised questions about program, including liability and maintenance issues the city might incur. He asked Germain for specifics about the former city-owned property that was “flipped” for $70,000 profit. Germain said he was told the story by a local real estate agent.