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Leominster Mayors Office
Inauguration Speech 2008
Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella

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Good Evening.

As I begin my comments this evening I’d like for all of us to remember all of the men and women from Leominster and in every city and town in our country who served or currently serve in our military.

I would also like to note the efforts of each and every citizen of our community who collectively gave thousands and thousands of hours of their time volunteering and for truly helping to make a difference in our city.

As we look back at 2007 we can all see that it was a busy year. We saw high profile projects like the opening of our new and renovated library, the opening of the Mechanic Street Bridge, the implementation of full-day kindergarten and the naming of new streets after local veterans. We also saw lower profile projects such as fixing a pot hole in front of a retired custodian’s home, planting a tree or sending out an anniversary card and everything in between.

What I’ve learned is that everything is important.

Our agenda and plans for 2008 are as aggressive as ever and I’d like to share with you some of what you should expect.

I am pleased with the results of our police and the work that they’ve done with citizen volunteer groups such as our auxiliary police and community crime watch patrols so I feel confident that the partnerships we’ve cultivated have prepared us for the next steps. This year we will introduce the national Crimestoppers program, led by a number of volunteers from the community who have banned together to engage members of our community of all ages. Crimestoppers is a program where anyone can provide information about a crime confidentially. I believe that everyone wants to assist in any way possible when it comes to reducing crime in every neighborhood. Crimestoppers will allow confidential tips to be placed using ones phone, computer or texting device and will ultimately provide a cash reward all without ever requiring the informant’s personal information.

My administration has long focused on improving the traffic flow through our city. We are a very desirable community and the influx of new residents, shoppers and diners, has clearly brought additional cars to our streets. In the past few months we saw the completion of the signalization along the Rt. 117 corridor, which has tremendously improved the safety of those navigating several intersections along that street.

In 2008 we will see continued traffic upgrades, including signalization of the intersections of Lancaster Street and Central Street and the widening and improvements to Route 12.

We know from our negotiations with the State and with successful completion of our work on Route 12, we can be guaranteed of support for improvements to Route 13, which is something that we can all look forward to.

Additionally, our commuter rail parking area on Nashua Street has been such a tremendous success that we are at full-capacity every day. Therefore, we have retained the services of an architect who will be designing the facility to create additional spaces.

My administration has also worked since day one to enhance our water and sewer systems. We will continue our efforts to bring Leominster residents the highest and best quality of drinking water. When our test results showed that the levels of TTHM’s exceeded the allowable limit in our distributing reservoir, our team of experts immediately went to work on resolving that issue and in a short amount of time had cut those numbers by 75%, bringing the TTHM levels well into compliance.

Our team also worked to put together a list of recommendations to improve the entire water system, not just the problem areas. We will be constructing a new water filtration facility, which will ensure that everyone’s water is treated before it leaves the facility and heads to your home. It is our intent to make Leominster the gold standard in drinking water by which every other community is measured.

One of our greatest strengths as a community is the longevity of our residents. We have so many residents who have lived in Leominster all of their lives and this enriches the fabric of our community. However, it also means that we must be prepared to deal with an aging population to make certain that they are able to comfortably remain in their homes and be active participants in the community.

To that end, we have worked to do simple things, such as enlarge our street signs to make them easier to read, and televise city meetings so that they can view them from the comfort of their homes.

However, we are currently seeking bids for a program that will allow us to work with elderly residents to make their homes more accessible to them by adding handicapped entrances, grab-bars throughout the home and other assistive measures.

We are also partnering with our Fire Department where Firefighter Lance Mason, who travels around the state teaching an autism awareness class for first responders is spearheading a program called Project Lifesaver. Project Lifesaver will enable our fire department to utilize a radio frequency tracking device to locate wandering victims of alzheimer’s disease, autism, down syndrome and related dementia type disorders. This device has a 100% recovery rate and all persons where found alive and returned home. Working with Firefighter Mason and the fire department, we will help raise $30,000.00 in private funds to launch this much needed safety program so we ask that each of you become partners and contribute if you possibly can.

This coming year we as a community will continue our focus on the environment. I know that each of us wants to do whatever we can to do our part and I think we can. We’ve had a successful recycling program and the residents who recycle are committed and have done an excellent job. However as I travel the neighborhoods I see that many do not participate so we must create the interest and education to engage those who for what ever reason do not participate.

In Fiscal Year ‘07, we picked up 1,480 tons of recycled material from our curbside collection service. In the first four months of data we have collected thus far in FY ’08, in comparison to last year at the same time, the number has already increased by 13 tons. While we are pleased with the increase, the reality is, that there is at least three times as much that could be collected and our goal is to double the amount picked up last year. With some planning, resources and education I know that we can meet that goal.

Another area we would like to focus on is in building a healthier community, beginning with our youngest population. One can’t miss seeing children flock to the sledding hill at Southeast School seconds after it begins snowing. No rope tow, no electronics or technology just old fashion pull the sliding object up the hill for an exciting ride downhill and this is repeated until spring.

It is important that we as a community use this experience to find other activities which provide the same sort of excitement that will engage our youth and encourage them to find other exercise opportunities.

The improvements to Doyle field have provided us with a magnificent facility that we can all be proud of. This year we will construct new tennis courts which will be available to all age groups.

During the planning stages for improving the facilities at Doyle Field we learned the challenges that students taking part in athletic programs faced when managing transportation to Doyle Field from the High School. For the most part all students must juggle practices and games by shuffling back and forth from the high school to Doyle Field. All parties involved agreed that a new facility located at the high school would be a huge incentive towards increasing the number of students who participate in school sports. I’m sure many of you have seen the track built over three decades ago at Doyle Field. The high school track team can no longer host home events on that track because of its aged condition.

Working with representatives of the community, our city council, school committee, superintendant and staff and using existing financial resources, our city could build a new all purpose field at the high school, complete with regulation size track, fencing, lighting and artificial turf. That process will begin immediately with a survey of the property and a detailed plan for the site.

This past year many changes have been made in our school system. Those changes came only after great research and debate by our school committee, superintendent, staff members and parents. While it is still early, the results are promising and I applaud all those who have worked so hard to make it happen. I have great confidence and respect for the members of the school committee because I know that they will settle for nothing less that what is best for our children.

My administration has structured a new Economic Development team for carrying out our plans and agenda for retaining and attracting new businesses to our city. We’ve secured the services of a professional company who is assisting us with rewriting our existing zoning. When the final product is complete we will have the necessary tools to provide small and medium sized business with the resources they need in a timely fashion.

Each day I speak with businesses who want to expand or relocate their operation. However the process to do so is long and complicated. Several weeks ago I met with a business owner who was interested in a moving his business to an industrial building built here in Leominster within the past ten years. When the building was constructed the land it was on was zoned industrial but sometime after construction, the land was re-zoned to residential, which now makes it extremely difficult for anyone to expand or re-use the building.

While we must first protect our existing residential neighborhoods we also must define areas throughout the city where businesses can be directed without confusion and delay.

Our success in the area of economic development will be determined by the actions our city government takes. We have a great opportunity during this rezoning process to put our own egos and personal agendas aside and, in a very deliberate and organized fashion, make Leominster the business friendly community that we all want it to be.

As always we have a busy year ahead, and we look forward to facing the upcoming challenges. The needs and desires of the City and its residents are constantly changing and evolving and we are eager to meet those needs. Tonight, I touched on a few items that may seem small in the grand scheme of things and they are stories that may never be on the front page, but they are things that strengthen the fabric of our community and make Leominster a great place to live and raise a family.

I was recently reading a message board on-line and a family was going to be moving to Massachusetts and were trying to decide what City they would move to and Leominster was one of their choices. A Leominster resident wrote back and said that if they chose Leominster, they would not be disappointed. That is a great feeling to have about the City you live in and it’s a feeling that I want each and every member of the community to share.

I look forward to continuing to work with my department heads and staff, the members of the City Council and School Committee, the Superintendent of Schools and her staff.

Most importantly, I want to thank the citizens of our City for their continued faith and trust in me and for allowing me to continue to represent this great community. It is an honor and a privilege.
 
Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella