The Next Mayor : First Things First and What To Watch For

Well, the voters of Fall River have spoken and the final push for the office of Mayor of Fall River speeds to its conclusion. Most residents of the City want change, profound change, from the decisions and methods of governance of the last two (2) years.

But even with a new Mayor in office no citizen of the City should live under any illusions. While the candidates will speak of the usual flotsam and jetsam of Fall River political campaigns (Bring in new jobs, development of the waterfront, un- earth the Quequechan River, restore all personnel reductions), the single most important objective immediately facing the new Mayor will be to “stop the bleeding” of the City’s finances, determine with public specificity the current and likely future financial outlook of the City, and engage in an ongoing education effort for City’s residents on the way City finances are managed and calculated so all residents may come to believe its managers when financial information is declared and discussed.

This must occur before all the other more “sexy” projects can get off the ground, or, in fact, even seriously discussed. The public trust in the City’s officials is required for progress. Unlike the Mayor’s phony 10% pay cut, this will truly be a shared circumstance. This will take more than the two years of the new Mayor’s first term. It must be time well spent as long as it is a concentrated effort.

The residents of the City of Fall River must be patient, because it took far more than two years to become a fiscally hamstrung community. And it will take political courage. If either candidate cannot discuss the specifics of this objective, the need for it or how they, at least in broad brushstrokes, but exhibiting sufficient detail to indicate hands-on expertise on a day to day basis, can reach it, this will be an exercise in futility for all. The new Mayor must have the ability to understand the City’s balance sheet, the correct way to build the Health Insurance Trust Fund, how to set a tax rate, the difference between incremental and program budgets, the tie between a long range Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and the City's Operating Budget, to include the School Department, the establishment of a formal and structured public budgeting process that is a year round endeavor, and exactly how FREE CASH is determined and why it is NOT a renewable resource on which you can base ongoing operating budget appropriations.

Yes, this will be essential to the new Mayor. The candidate that has a better command of these issues will be better positioned to accomplish all the more lofty goals that will bring this City forward to its long term survival. In order to hire back Fire and Police and DPW and Education workers, restore unnecessary cuts in pay and ensure our children have a chance at making a difference in their own lives, the City’s Financial Operations must be brought into the light of day and must be understood by every person in the City. Then we can move forward as one….and not until then!

Tomorrow I will start a review of the questions and items the next Mayor needs immediately to put Fall River’s financial house in order. If anyone reading these pages has anything to add to or challenge in any way to what I propose, please be prepared to be SPECIFIC, or your comments will be expunged. That’s a trick I learned from Sea Hag Strattan.