Worcester City Manager Ed Augustus Agrees to New Contract

Friday, October 03, 2014

GoLocalWorcester News Team

Ed Augustus has officially committed to becoming Worcester’s City Manager for the foreseeable future, agreeing to a three-year $193,212.24 contract on Tuesday night.

The contract was negotiated and approved by the Worcester City Council in a two-hour closed-door session. The contract will begin on Friday, October 5th at 5 pm, when his current contract expires.

“I think we came to a good fair agreement that works for me, for the council and for the city and now we can move on and get back to work and spend that time focused on the people of the city and business in the city,” Augustus said.

The contract carries the same salary that Augustus was paid during his temporary contract, but includes a two-percent salary increase at the beginning of each fiscal year. The contract is similar to previous city manager contracts.

Augustus has been serving as the interim city manager in Worcester since January 6th. After denying wanting to come back to the job and announcing that he would return to his position at Holy Cross, Augustus agreed to come back as city manager on September 18th.

The overwhelming amount of support in the 11th hour of the city manager search ultimately led to Augustus' return. Augustus also said that he wanted to stay out of the search process, refraining from being involved when the city looked for a candidate.

Related Slideshow: Top Challenges Currently Facing Worcester

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Economic Development

Paul Giorgio, Publisher of Pagio, Inc. and a GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

“One of the largest challenges is economic development and making sure that we are continuing to bring in new businesses. We also need to integrate neighborhoods into the larger city plan to make sure that no small businesses are being left behind.”

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Transportation

Tim McGourthy, Executive Director, Worcester Regional Research Bureau

“We need to expand our public transportation options as well as out commuter rail service. Additionally, we need to bring more flights into our airport.”

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Public Safety

Kate Toomey, Worcester City Councilor

“One challenge that our city is facing is working on public safety. We need to ensure that we stay on top of the drug and heroin addiction problems.”

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Prioritizing Education

John Monfredo, Worcester School Committee member and a GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

“The new city manager will have to understand what is happening with education. The city has maintained a minimum budget of education; will the city look to better fund education?”

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Community Involvement

Sarai Rivera, Worcester City Councilor

"Getting to know the different departments, neighrborhoods, and communities will be important for the next city manager. It's a lot to take in; it's a lot of learning and doing as you learn."

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City Accountability

Bill McCarthy, Worcester Representative, Massachusetts Republican Party

"The city manager needs to hold all city employees accountable. We want to make sure that money is being spent wisely and that departments are being run smoothly."

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City Infrastructure

Tim McGourthy, Executive Director, Worcester Regional Research Bureau

"Improving the city's infrastructure is just one of the many ways that Worcester can continue to drive our economic growth."

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Lowering the Tax Rate

Michael Gaffney, Worcester City Councilor

“We really have to work on our business tax rate. Many malls and businesses are on the outskirts of Worcester because other cities’ tax rates are half of what Worcester’s are.”

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Retaining Local Talent

Paul Giorgio, Publisher of Pagio, Inc. and a GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

“I think that one of the challenges that Worcester must work on for a better future is the retention of college students, which all goes back to economic development of the city.”

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Bring Taxable Business to Worcester

Bill McCarthy, Worcester Representative, Massachusetts Republican Party

“The city manager should work to bring more taxable businesses to Worcester, since there are so many hospitals and schools in Worcester that aren’t taxed. The city manager should also work to reward local businesses that have been in Worcester for a long time.”