Pittsfield Mayor: New School, Science Center Are 2014 Priorities
 Mayor Daniel Bianchi touring the Pittsfield Common with Gov. Deval Patrick in November. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — By then end of 2014, Mayor Daniel Bianchi is hoping to be on the cusp of making a final decision on a new Taconic High School.
The city is choosing a designer for a new school in the coming weeks and, throughout 2014, Bianchi says he wants to have a citywide discussion on what that school will look like and how it will operate.
Building or renovating Taconic High is one of Bianchi's top priorities in 2014.
"I consider it to be an economic development initiative," Bianchi said in an interview on New Year's Eve about the priorities of this year. "I'd like to think we'd be close to making that decision."
It isn't just a question of to build or not but how the school functions. The city is looking at both a vocational and college preparation school — just like Taconic currently is — and Bianchi will be spending 2014 trying to forge partnerships with the school and the city's small businesses.
"Complementing that is continuing to work on vocational offerings," Bianchi said. "A great part of this is creating a strong relationship with our small businesses."
While creating the pathway for high schoolers to transition into jobs, Bianchi is also placing priority on growing the number of jobs. Bianchi said the city is just about wrapping up with the first phase of a study on a science and innovation center at the William Stanley Business Park, which included somewhat of a business plan. The hope is to reel in some $6 million to build the center.
"We will enter Phase 2 of the study which will be a more in depth business plan," he said.
However, he isn't sure when the state earmark will be released so he is looking at finding private dollars to strengthen the city's pitch for the money. By then end of the summer, he hopes to have a fully developed presentation to give the state on why the city should receive the earmark to build the center. The city has been pursuing life sciences as the backbone of a revitalized economy.
Those are the two largest infrastructure projects Bianchi is focusing on but there will also be others in 2014. The city's Department of Public Works garage burned down and Bianchi said the insurance reimbursement won't likely be enough to rebuild. He says he will be looking at getting the needed money to build it and break ground in 2014.
Meanwhile, the state has already granted the funds to finish the First Street Common, which will be ushered in during 2014 as well as the next phase of the downtown streetscape, which will be near Berkshire Medical Center. And, the city will begin construction on two pocket parks downtown.
"Its going to be an active year," Bianchi said.
Bianchi added that the Police Department is also entering a feasibility study for a new station, a "critical" project for the city.
Internally, he said he has pending negotiations with unions as the city enters the budget season. Bianchi believes there are ways to make departments operate more efficiently with the addition of certain elements or increased collaboration between departments.
"We've got to be conservative in our budget but we also have to make smart moves," Bianchi said, adding that the addition of the crime analyst position in the Police Department is an example of ways to become more efficient.
He said he's asked the department heads to start thinking of operational changes that can be made. While Bianchi will be responsible for crafting the budget, ultimately the City Council needs to make the final decision. The council will see three new members this year and Bianchi says he sees the new councilors as welcomed additions.
"I'm expecting that we will have a very good working City Council," Bianchi said.
He called new Ward 1 Councilor Lisa Tully "hard-working and compassionate," and Ward 3 Councilor Nicholas Caccamo a "shot of youth," who will "be terrific." He also had high praise for new Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso and cited her work on the School Committee (she was a former chairman) and her work on the School Building Needs Commission as examples of good work she's done for the city.
Many of the projects Bianchi is focused on for 2014 began in 2013. But, the mayor said the biggest accomplishment of 2013 was revising the city charter. He also raved about the successes of the Friday Arts Walk program and the farmers' market, both of which bring foot traffic to the downtown. He also said the addition of police foot patrols downtown have proven to be a good addition that he made in 2013.
"We finally completed the McKay Street garage reconstruction and that huge," Bianchi said, adding that the city still needs to continue developing a new parking plan for the downtown.
One disappointment for Bianchi was that the city didn't get as much road repairs as he would have liked nor did it implement a road management system using new technology to monitor and set schedules for road repairs.
"We did an awful lot of work on the our road system — more than the year before. I would have liked to see a road management system," Bianchi said.
Another success of 2013 was reaching a contract with the teachers, which ties the salaries to state aid. Bianchi said that since state funding has be uncertain in recent years, being able to reach a long-term deal with the teachers linked to that funding was a success.
"Overall [in 2013] we've tried to better engage the public on issues," Bianchi said, adding that he wants to continue that.
He also wants to continue bringing younger people into city government through work on boards and commissions. He says there are openings coming up.
"One of my goals right along have been to cultivate the leaders of tomorrow, today," he said.
The mayor will be sworn in to his second term on Monday, Jan. 6, along with the City Council and other city officials.
Tags: Bianchi, interview, mayor, new year,
