Giorgio: Has Worcester stagnated and declined because of Plan E?

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

Paul Giorgio, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Change is needed at City Hall, argues Paul Giorgio.

World War II was ending, Worcester was undergoing significant changes at home. In 1946, World War II had just ended and Worcester was a very different City. 70 years ago, Democrat Harold Donahue had just defeated Republican Pehr Holmes for Congress, and ethnic Democrats were beginning to wrest control of the city government from the Yankee Industrialists and their Swedish American allies. In 1940 we had a population of 193,000 and we were the 44^th largest city in America, by 1950 the population climbed to 203,000. But then we changed the city charter and we began to decline.

By most accounts, Worcester was booming, Veterans returning from the war were fueling the economic growth and creating a vibrant city. Downtown was lively, with stores galore.

But the Yankee Industrialists who had controlled the city for so long saw the power they had built slipping from their fingers and slipping to a bunch of Irish Catholics to boot. This would just not do. Democracy was now working against them. They were not only afraid of the urban ethnics, they were afraid of labor unions.

So what did they do 70 years ago? They convinced the people of Worcester that the city government was corrupt and we needed to change the city charter and appoint a leader, a leader that they could control.

Charter Change was built on half truths

The new “Reform” charter did away with the mayor, who was directly elected by the people, as head of government. They replaced him with a City Manager. So the Irish Democratic Mayor was replaced by Everett Merrill, a Yankee Industrialist. Andrew Holstrom, a Swede, was elected as the new weak mayor.

How did this charter change come about? The change was put forth by a group known as the Greenbrier Lane Society, founded on Worcester’s West Side. The change was supported by the Yankee Industrialists, some college presidents and more importantly, by the ownership of the Telegram and the Gazette, the city’s newspapers.

The T&G was owned by Wyman Gordon chief Robert Stoddard. Among other things, Stoddard was a founding member of the John Birch Society and held negative feelings toward ethnic Catholics and immigrants. So the Newspaper, which was the major source of news (except for WTAG radio, which Stoddard also owned) began the drumbeat for change. According to the Westsiders, we needed change because there were rumors of corruption at city hall. Nothing was ever proven. What was this corruption? According to news reports, there was gambling going on in Worcester. There were “Bookie Joints.” There is still gambling going on, both legal and illegal.

Today, we have Beano in church basements, the Massachusetts lottery is flourishing and we have several soon to be opened Casinos in the state.

Marijuana is now almost legal.

No proof was ever presented that there was, in fact, corruption. Much like William Randolph Hearst, who started the First World War, the Worcester paper began convincing people that government was corrupt. Half-truths and innuendo filled the pages.

Worcester has changed

Times have changed. We have a city of multimedia, with daily and weekly and monthly papers, we have several radio stations, and we have the internet. We live in the world of the 24 hour news cycle. We have a much more educated and diverse population.

In the past 70 years, Worcester has declined and seen its influence decline in the state. The MassPike passed us by. We have lost industrial jobs. The Yankee Industrialists have all sold off their factories, some to foreign ownership. Downtown is a wasteland, the result of Plan E Urban Renewal of the 1960’s.

Today’s City Government is not reflective of the city. We don’t have one minority cabinet member in City Hall. The minority community is not represented in the numbers it should be on the council. All but one of the at- large councilors live on the west side.

When the Plan E charter was adopted, over 80,000 people voted. Today we are lucky if we can get 10,000 voters at a city election. The city is decaying from the inside out.

We need to reinvigorate the political process. It is time to change the city charter. It is time for a real strong mayor, who will focus on neighborhoods. It is time for a city government that reflects the makeup of our city.

We need to begin this debate and discussion now.

Paul Giorgio is a longtime Democratic Party Activist who has worked on numerous campaigns. He was a Lead Advance Person for President Clinton & Vice President Gore. He was Deputy Director of Special Events for President Clinton’s first Inauguration. He has been elected a delegate to numerous Democratic National Conventions and recently served as one of President Obama’s representatives on the Platform Committee. In 2013 he was chosen as a Presidential Elector. He is the President of Pagio, Inc., publishers of Pulse Magazine, Vitality Magazine and Worcester Medicine.