Citizen Jack

Thoughts for a Better City

How well or poorly is your neighborhood doing at returning United States Census Forms for 2010?
Want to Know?

This is from the Census Bureau; It is updated daily.

The Census Bureau 2010 slogan is TAKE 10.

Check here; City Map

If you enter your zip code, a map will appear.
It is color coded and shows the return rate for Census Forms for Census Areas in your zip code.

Have you returned your form?

Make sure you count.
It means money to your local government and more importantly to the programs that help people most in need of asistance.

Census Bureau website. for more Information.

As the City begins looking at another bleak budget forecast and negotiations with it’s labor unions, let’s hope they keep these numbers in mind.
The State of Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Unemployment Assistance has released the latest data on unemployement for all of Massachusetts and the Cities and Towns therein.
The seasonally unadjusted numbers for Methuen are no better than anywhere else.
The unemployement rate for February 2009 was 9.8%. The rates for January and February 2010, respectively, are 12.7% and 12.4%. Percentages are great but what does that mean in human, person, terms?
Looking at the same dates as above 2,292 persons were unemployed in February 2009. In the period of January and February 2010, the number of persons unemployed was, resepctively, 3,068 and 2,963.
Though it shows a slight uptick,about 105 people found work, there are still large numbers of your friends and relatives who are looking for jobs that don’t exist. It is a difficult time for many of these people.

The unemployement rate for Municipal workers in Methuen is near zero(0). They receive pay increases, contractually, just for showing up. They cannot be rated by performance for raises and promotions. They effectively do not get laid off and we have seen that the weak Civil Service Commission assures that no one gets fired, no matter what the reason.

The elected officials made much of the rhetoric that ALL departments took a 10% pay cut last year. Don’t get me wrong, the unions did step up and make assurances that helped balance the budget. However they did not all take a 10% pay cut. They did give back some longevity, clothing allowances and other perks that may or may not have equalled 10% per union.

Wait until the overtime is calculated for last year. My guess is that you will not see that our government spent 10% less than it initially budgetted. I would be very suprised to see that the Government spent any % less than the original figures.

Did the City work on any grants to help the unemployed citizens get back to work? They got grants for municipal employees.
Did they renegotiate property taxes for unemployed persons to either waive or carry forward or reduce or make payment plans?
Did they state that they would not shut off water for unpaid bills to unemployed persons while they were receiving unemployement payments from the state? Not that I recall.

The City should hire all the unemployed people in it’s borders. Then with full employement all the revenues will go up. The amount of revenue generated should be sufficient to continue down the path we have been trodding. Hmmmmmm, isn’t that a kind of circular logic or illogic?

Kind of makes one think.

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian author/poet and an important Renaissance humanist. One quote from him is “Do as we say, and not as we do” .

Mayoral Car parked at Searles Building

BY HIS HONOR WILLIAM M. MANZI, III MAYOR
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 019-2009
ORDER REGARDING CITY OWNED VEHICLES
WHEREAS, The City of Methuen has been experiencing a worsening financial crisis and is expecting to face more cuts in State local aid and declining revenues; and
WHEREAS, immediate
measures must be taken to insure that Methuen remains on sound financial footing and is able to provide necessary services to all of its citizens;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, William M. Manzi, III, Mayor of The City of Methuen, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Chief Executive Officer hereby Order as follows:
1. With the exception of the Mayor, Police Chief, Fire Chief, Director of Public Works or his designee, no city employee is allowed to take a city owned vehicle to his or her residence overnight for any reason.
2. All employees who drive a city vehicle during the course of their employment must park that vehicle in a city lot at the end of their shift. Failure to do so will result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.
3. This order shall take effect on January 1, 2010 and shall remain in force indefinitely.
Given this 22th day of December 2009.

The above order is an addendum to a previous order quoted here;

BY HIS HONOR WILLIAM M. MANZI, III MAYOR
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 013-2008
ORDER ESTABLISHING A CITY-OWNED VEHICLE POLICY
WHEREAS, The City of Methuen is committed insuring that city-owned vehicles are used responsibility and efficiently;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, William M. Manzi, III, Mayor of The City of Methuen, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Chief Executive Officer hereby establish a city-owned vehicle policy and Order as follows:
1. City of Methuen personnel, approved by the Mayor, who are assigned take home city-owned vehicles may park their vehicles at their place of residence at the end of each work day, provided that their place of residence is within 10 miles of the City limits (NOTE: Contractual). All other vehicles will remain on designated City property after working hours. NOTE: see EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 019-2009 above
2. The Mayor shall receive monthly, an analysis of the total amount of gasoline used and the mileage used by each city-owned vehicle.
NOTE: Freedom of Information Requests for this data reveal that the Mayor receives phone calls on the status and not any formal report, as may be implied by the statement..
3. All vehicles owned by the City of Methuen shall be lettered with the City of Methuen seal, as well as having municipal plates. (NOTE: Unless you are the Mayor?) All undercover, unmarked and surveillance public safety vehicles are not required to be lettered and may have standard plates.

Mayoral Car:No Municipal Plate

Mayoral Car:No City of Methuen seal

4. City-owned vehicles assigned to approved personnel shall only use these vehicles while on official City business. Under no circumstances shall a city-owned vehicle be used for personal or private uses. No city-owned vehicle shall be taken on vacation by any employee. Only approved individuals shall operate said vehicles in carrying out their official City duties.
5. All assigned personnel shall show due diligence in regard to minimizing travel to and from job sites and shall not leave vehicles idling.
6. Misuse of a City-owned vehicle or any violation of this policy by any employee of the City of Methuen shall be just cause for discipline up to and including dismissal of said employee.
Given this ____ day of May, 2008.

Does a literal reading mean we can discipline the Mayor or terminate?

That was enlightening but sometimes if you read deeper into things you find;

THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF METHUEN, MASSACHUSETTS 2000
CHAPTER 6A – PERSONNEL ORDINANCE – MAYOR
Section 6A-6. Automobile Expense
The City of Methuen shall reimburse the Mayor for the expense of operating his/her own vehicle for City business in the sum of Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) per month, as a flat fee. Provided further, that no additional mileage shall be paid by the City for the use of his/her vehicle. If the Mayor’s car is out of commission for one month, he/she shall be allowed the use of a City vehicle for that period, but he/she shall not be paid the $200.00 allowance for that month.

I asked under freedom of Information, do we pay the Mayor for the use of his personal vehicle?
No per City Auditor.

My question becomes why aren’t the Councilors looking at items such as these and making corrections. How long does an Executive order last? The term of the Executive who places the order or forever? My take would be it is permanent, based on Federal and state precedent. This should be addressed in the Charter or in the Municipal Code.

I could suggest that the Municipal code be updated to state the Mayor gets no payment per the code if the City provides a vehicle that conforms to Charter, Code or Executive Order. The payment shall be at a rate similar to the Federal reimbursement rate and the Mayor must submit mileage reports to receive payment. (Do away with flat rate fees)

It actually is cost effectve to give the Mayor a vehicle based on numbers received from the City as to cost of Vehicle usage for the past 2 years. [That does not account for appropriation costs of the vehicle, only gas and mileage charges]

*All Photos taken March 9, 2010.*

I have been extremely remiss this month. Not one post. That does not mean that I have been neglectfull. Just busy.
Flooding is still on my mind. Another flood event has just come and gone in the past week. Many times I have been asked what can be done? Lot’s of people think the City should do more for flood victims. There is some truth to that but not in the way most people perceive the Cities role.
Here is my email to my councilors. I ask for two items to be considered.
Dear Councilors,

The flooding is ending, again. The Red Cross has moved through the neighborhood passing out cleanup kits.

The City will soon start to add up all the associated costs and make a determination of how close can we get to the Federal eight (8) million dollar mark to qualify for cleanup funds.

I live in a flood plain. Here are the Historical Crests for the Spicket River.
(1) 12.14 ft on 05/16/2006– Mothers Day Flood.
Major Flood Stage:12 ft
Moderate Flood Stage:10 ft
(2) 9.86 ft on 3/16/2010
(3) 9.07 ft on 03/24/2001
(4) 9.04 ft on 04/18/2007
National Weather Service Flood Stage:9 ft
(5) 8.83 ft on 04/03/2004
(6) 8.53 ft on 02/27/2010
United States Geological Survey (USGS) Flood Stage:8 ft
(7) 7.54 ft on 05/27/2005
(8) 7.52 ft on 10/16/2005
(9) 7.02 ft on 03/09/2008
(10) 6.53 ft on 03/23/2003
USGS Action Stage:6.5
(11) 5.70 ft on 05/18/2002

Why do I send this information? The answer is simple.

The data shows that every year since 2000, the Spicket has flooded our neighborhoods. The only exception is 2009. The response has always been to total up the City costs and apply for federal funds.

I ask that we become a bit more proactive.

I ask that the most flood prone roads n my area;

Canobieola Road, west of Venice Road for about 200 feet (to the mailbox in front of 45 Canobieola;

Cross Street at the Old pumping Station (where Harris Brook meets the Spicket) and

from Danielian Way ( about 60 Cross Street) to about Pelham Street (near 32/34 Cross Street)

be placed on the Capital Improvement Plan.

I would like these areas re-designed to avoid closure during flood stage. This would allow residents a means of ingress and regress during flood events and reduce the cost of police and fire services during flooding in the long term.
Basically raise the roads above the flood water and provide water flow under these raised roads. This would reduce the closures and use of DPW workers and Police in these areas, each year.

In the mean time, before we can afford to implement these improvements;
I recommend that the Emergency Management and Police and DPW get together and create a volunteer group ( or paid at costs less than patrol officers) of Flood Wardens. Their task would be to put out,under the direction of these departments, the closure saw horses and barrels and in place of police, monitor all flooded streets, allowing two benefits.
The first would be allowing the police and DPW to focus on their currently assigned jobs.
Secondly, it would reduce the costs to the City and not impact public safety adversely.
The concept is similar to flagmen at construction sites but in this instance these persons would be deputized to patrol flooded streets in place of more expensive police.

I thank you for your consideration of my proposals.

I am always available to further discuss these proposals.

So, dear reader, what do you think. Isn’t the role of the City to provide for the Commenweal of it’s populace?
Even understanding that the City, via its own zoning rules and zoning overrides, has had a hand in the flooding, I only ask that the City provide a means of escape from flood water for persons in these flood plains. The City should contain it’s costs by using lower paid personnel or volunteer persons to man the flood gates at streets that become impassable.
I do not ask for the impossible, only the expediant and, over time, most probable actions that the City can take.
These actions can be taken in any location of the City that suffers from annual flood events. I only list my area, as that is what I am most familiar with. Similar action should be contemplated across the City to mitigate the City cost while providing a means of escape for persons who live in these areas.

Again we have had rain. Lot’s of rain.
In fact the rain guage at the USGS station nearest to Methuen showed about 3.5 inches of rain in the past 4 days.
The Spicket River rose.
I have found, by watching the guages, for the last few years that a simple seat-of-the-pants rule can be derived.
For each inch of rain we will see a rise of one foot of water in the Spicket River at Methuen.
The river followed this rule this weekend.
Canobieola Road at Venice Road was washed over from one side to the other.
I have some observations.
There are two guages on the Spicket river. Both guages are in Salem New Hampshire. One is at the Hampshire Road bridge near the Methuen line. The other is in North Salem.
The North Salem guage did not show flood stage. The Methuen guage did show flood stage.
What happens between these guages that causes flooding in south Salem and no flooding in north Salem?
Water flow does not stop at State lines and neither should we. The City of Methuen is part of the macrocosm called the Spicket River watershed.
The other observation is contained in a small chart attached to one of the sites that I view.
It lists the top five high water dates. This weekend knocked the #5 event off that chart.
Here is the chart as it will appear after the website is updated sometime in the coming week.

Historical Crests
(1) 12.14 ft on 05/16/2006
Major Flood Stage:12
Moderate Flood Stage:10
(2) 9.07 ft on 03/24/2001
(3) 9.04 ft on 04/18/2007
(4) 8.83 ft on 04/03/2004
(5) 8.53 ft on 02/27/2010
Flood Stage:8
(6) 7.54 ft on 05/27/2005
(7) 7.52 ft on 10/16/2005
(8) 7.02 ft on 03/09/2008
(9) 6.53 ft on 03/23/2003
Action Stage:6.5
(10) 5.70 ft on 05/18/2002
A quick look at this chart shows that only 2009 did not have a historic crest in the past decade.
Is this caused by all the residential construction? I do not know.
The good news is that apparently the coordination set up between all the dam operators on the Spicket seems to still be working.
I would love to see guages at each dam site to show water height and streamflow.
With all the cutbacks in services it looks like these stream guages are not long for active service. Though I see that the City of Salem New Hampshire helps support the North Salem Guage there is no such support for the guage nearest to Methuen. The City of Methuen should step up, forget about State lines, and help support this important measuring station. For as little as $0.25 per home in Methuen they could create a fund that would help defray the costs of the upkeep of this station for many years to come.