The growth machine goes to war with WPI

Hello Worcester Suckers! I have a weird cold / allergies, maybe? What are the allergens in the air right now? Ragweed? Why am I like this? Why is the air poison? Why is my face leaking?

I made some air fryer elote tonight so that’s cool at least. 

I care about this newsletter awful lot but on fajita night cooking comes first posting comes second. So yes this is hitting your inbox just shy of 9 p.m.

On to business. For Sunday’s post, we’ll be taking a longer, deeper look at the EDCC and the growth machine, as well as the WPD and the civil service. For today, a bunch of short ones:

The EDCC vs WPI—No More Tim Murray—White orgs get the ARPA goods—Donna Colorio breaks her silence—Neal says goodby to the Patch—odds and ends

Local officials are big big big mad that Worcester Polytechnic Institute is taking over two hotels near its campus—the Hampton Inn and the Courtyard Marriott—and turning them into student housing. 

The political class is so upset about this they had to give up a certain bit of municipal kayfabe: They had to stop pretending that the Economic Development Coordinating Council (EDCC) isn’t functionally in charge of city government. 

In a joint statement, the five principal members of the EDCC issued a patronizing, condescending message to the leadership of WPI:

WPI’s lack of fidelity to the shared mission, vision, and history of the Gateway Park Project, which has existed for nearly 20 years, is disconcerting and will have severe reverberations that will make future partnerships with higher education institutions in Worcester much more difficult in the future. We urge you not to go forward with this proposal, and we stand ready to work with you in a spirit of full transparency to address any student housing needs that WPI may have. 

Those five members are Mayor Joseph Petty, City Manager Eric Batista, Chamber of Commerce President Tim Murray, Craig Blais of the Worcester Business Development Corporation, and Jon Weaver of Mass. Biomedical Initiatives. 

Dutifully, just about every press outlet in town has dubbed this a ‘big deal’ and accepted the EDCC’s framing as gospel. There was the Telegram, of course, with several articles, the latest including “mounting criticism” in the headline: 

Batista is expected to meet this week with WPI officials, according to Petty, who said he expects the city manager will try to talk WPI out of buying the hotels. Batista’s office declined an interview request and said the parties are in communication.

There was WGBH, the Patch (which did a great job of pointing out both hotel properties were recent acquisitions of the evil hedge fund Blackstone), Talk of the Commonwealth, the Worcester Business Journal. Former city council candidate Jose Rivera, ever one to hop on a reactionary controversy, got so fired up he proposed a 1 percent fee on out-of-state tuition via the blurriest press release screenshot I have ever seen.

Most garishly, the Worcester Guardian—a supposedly independent non-profit news organization that was founded by the Chamber of Commerce but stresses it doesn’t take any editorial direction from the organization—framed the issue this way: “Hotel purchases by WPI could paralyze tourism, events in the city.”

The story opens with dramatic flare: “In a surprising turn of events that sent shockwaves through the community, it was recently revealed that WPI apparently has plans to acquire two hotels in the Gateway Park area…”

It goes on to describe a disaster scenario for a booming tourism industry, with WPI positioned as the clear villain. Same framing as the Chamber of Commerce president. Hm!

Taken in total, the unified press framing of this issue leaves little room to really consider it. Hotels=good, WPI=bad.

The EDCC’s letter directed this entire media event. Without it, there’d be no story. Within the tight narrative confines that it lays out, there’s little room to talk about housing, despite the fact this is a housing story. 

I think everyone would agree that we’re in a housing crisis. But you’d be hard pressed to find many people outside Tim Murray’s inner circle that earnestly believe we’re in a hotel room crisis. And yet, the city’s hotel room capacity is the central focus. How much worse would it be if WPI decided instead to acquire several apartment buildings, reducing sorely needed rental housing inventory?

In fact, the EDCC called on WPI to do just that: 

Moreover, and even more perplexing is that WPI’s Board and former President had the opportunity to acquire with the closing of Becker College, adjacent to the WPI campus, residence halls that could house over 200 students as well as leases that Becker College held at the time that could have housed another 245 students. It is our understanding that WPI could have acquired these properties for approximately $3.8 million.

Why is that the preferable alternative? Why are lost hotel rooms more important to the EDCC than former dormitories which could easily be converted to general housing stock? Why isn’t the EDCC focused on brokering a deal to get those units converted?

It’s all a matter of priorities. The EDCC, which is capable of dictating the press narrative and is beholden solely to its own political will (as an unelected body with no public meetings) thinks hotel rooms are more important than housing units. And we are all stuck in the wake of it arguing about what we should do to reprimand the villainous university, taking for granted they deserve punishment. 

The way to look at it, really, is Worcester’s shadow government—the growth machine—rearing its ugly head when it’s most threatened. This proposal from WPI to take two downtown-ish hotels out of commission compromises all the grand designs this entity has un-democratically set in motion for the downtown. 

The EDCC is much more powerful than the city council and the decisions it makes are of much greater consequence than anything that happens on the council floor. And yet, the EDCC seems to barely exist within the context of local democracy. Why is that? On Sunday, we’ll dive further into that question. 

For now, suffice it to say the EDCC is mad at WPI because the EDCC is deeply invested in a game of “make-em-ups” about downtown Worcester and a loosely-defined tourism industry within. WPI was playing along with that game until they weren’t. That’s what the EDCC meant when they wrote, in their joint statement, about “WPI’s lack of fidelity to the shared mission, vision, and history of the Gateway Park Project.”

The way the EDCC sees it, WPI is hurting Worcester’s economy—but really, it’s only hurting the make-believe future economy the EDCC has been quietly, and disastrously, steering the city toward. 

Considerations about tax revenue aside (always conveniently invoked or downplayed depending on the situation), the real pain expressed by the EDCC is the loss of 25 percent of the city’s hotel room capacity: 

This would devastate the City and region’s ability to attract and host conventions, events, and tournaments, which would be detrimental to the DCU Center, Polar Park, and other travel and tourism-related venues in the city…

If your plan can be so upended by the closing of a few hotels, it’s not a good plan. 

The anxiety about “travel and tourism” might seem out of step with your conception of what Worcester is as a city, and who it’s for. And, if so, that’s because your definition and the EDCC’s are quite different. The success of its large urban renewal projects downtown, like Polar Park and the DCU Center, are contingent on a cityscape that was not designed to be lived in, but rather experienced, by an imaginary and necessarily transient class of people who drive in and spend money then drive out. The design is antithetical in its conception to a neighborhood that’s meant to be lived in and support itself. 

From the start, the Gateway Park Project was billed as a two-birds-stoned-at-once cleanup of an industrial site and foundation of a hub for “innovation.” It has always been about science and research, led by WPI with tax breaks and other support from the city and state. 

It’s hard, then, to swallow the basic argument that replacing hotels with student housing is at odds with the Gateway Park Project. How is a hotel more in line with the ‘research and innovation campus’ spirit of the project than housing for the students who research and innovate?

And it’s similarly hard to see the closing line of the statement as anything more than a threat from the EDCC. This decision, they wrote, “will have severe reverberations that will make future partnerships with higher education institutions in Worcester much more difficult in the future.”

What are you going to do? Forgo tax breaks for future developments? Fat chance. The political life of everyone on the EDCC is tied to the ability to sidle up to private capital, give the most generous tax break they can, and then slap their name on the end product. They have no other hand to play. 

This is the process of reaping what one sows. With the Gateway Park Project, they treated WPI like a developer, because colleges are developers, and that was all well and good while interests were momentarily aligned. Faced with the present unaligned interests, the developer is shown to be the one holding the cards. The one who always held the cards. And the architects of a ‘destination downtown’ that doesn’t exist and will never exist are left to kick and scream about it.

A silver lining to this silly story is the chance to openly discuss what it is the EDCC does—and doesn’t—do. Councilor Etel Haxhiaj has already called for such:

And that’s what we’ll do on Sunday as well!

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Apropos of nothing, Murray, the head of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, used said platform to come out in defense of the uhhhh MCAS test. 

In a post to the Chamber website headlined “Vote NO on Question 2” Murray made his case: 

The establishment and implementation of high standards for students and teachers has resulted in Massachusetts being ranked number one in the nation in many student achievement measures. As the President and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, the single biggest issue we hear from our 2,100 member businesses and organizations on a daily basis is the need for a skilled workforce.

So despite our being ranked number one due to the MCAS, as Murray alleges, member businesses complain on a daily basis about skilled workers and the lack thereof. The solution, Murray prognosticates, is keeping the MCAS test exactly as is. We must have the high standards that produce our workforce shortages. Hm. Weird argument. Here’s an idea: How about the Chamber of Commerce sticks to, you know, commerce. 

Reminds me the time the Chamber came out in defense of endless homeless encampment sweeps. 

I find it hard to believe the chambers of commerce in other cities operate the way ours does. Just, like, nakedly political. Between this section and the first section on the EDCC, something is clearly amiss. 

Wouldn’t you know it the ARPA funds meant to uplift disenfranchised communities in a post-COVID world have gone primarily to white-led and well-heeled organizations. 

In a release Tuesday, the city announced the recipients of ARPA funding via the city’s Cultural Organization Grant Program. In all, $2.95 million was divvied up among 42 groups. Of the 42, 14 groups get more than $100,000. Those are:

All, as far as I know, white-led and very established organizations. While there were some BIPOC-led organizations on the list, they tended to skew toward the bottom.

The allocations seem to directly contradict the methodology outlined in the release. Funding decisions were “based on established criteria centered on the negative and disproportionate impacts of the pandemic.” And yet, the groups getting the most are the most likely to be just fine without the money.

Since the release, there’s been blowback. Maydee Morales, a community organizer and former council candidate wrote on her Instagram, “Once again, white led organizations getting the funds meant for BIPOC folks, and they are not even welcoming to BIPOC folks. Can’t we get this right for once. SMH”

Guillermo Creamer, member of the Human Rights Commission, also had something to say on the matter. In a long post on X The Everything App, he blasted what he called an “allocation that failed to level the playing field.”

“I’m ashamed of this outcome. We had a chance to not just sustain but to elevate these vital cultural organizations that serve as lifelines in our communities, especially for those who have been historically marginalized. Instead, we’ve missed the mark.”

It’s not the first time the city’s been called out for this. Last March, WGBH wrote an extensive story headlined “A Huge Injustice” identifying the same problems. More on that as well in my post from the time, “Pure neglect of a community.”

Donna Colorio is finally on record about the 25 mph speed limit proposal she’s holding up on purpose, as we’ve detailed extensively. Not in a local outlet of course, but somehow, StreetsBlog got ahold of her: 

“The thing I pride myself on is that really, it’s safety first,” City Councilor Donna Colorio, the chair of the Worcester City Council’s Traffic and Parking committee, told StreetsblogMASS last week. “If it’s going to slow the cars down, then so be it, because we don’t want these tragedies to keep on occurring.”

StreetsBlog points out that this proposal has sat in Colorio’s committee for eight months. To which she responds: 

Colorio admitted to StreetsblogMASS that “it’s just horrific that these people are being hit” while her constituents wait for their elected officials to take action.

But she insists that extensive public outreach needs to come first.

“I’m concerned that we are constantly getting criticized because we don’t involve the public, because we’re not being transparent. I want more,” Colorio said.

Colorio, suddenly so concerned about transparency when faced with a proposal she doesn’t personally like, said the five public hearings weren’t enough and they need the results of an online survey back before she’ll consider acting. 

So, long story short, she’s going to wait until the Sept. 18 meeting. 

“I’m assuming the survey report will be ready by then,” Colorio told StreetsblogMASS. “Then we’ll discuss it and vote it out to the full Council – it’ll be on the agenda.”

Stephen Rolle, Worcester’s Commissioner of Transportation and Mobility, confirmed that his department had compiled the speed limit survey data, and that the city would publish a detailed summary before the end of this month.

It’s hard to accept any of the concern she expressed to StreetsBlog as honest. If she really cared, she’d have scheduled an emergency meeting. Children are getting killed and maimed in the streets of this city, and even to take her words at face value Colorio is more concerned about public input and transparency than the present crisis. 

This is a person engaged in deliberate and willful obstruction, simply because she has the power to do it.

Perhaps relatedly, DPW Director Jay Fink has said I am out of here. He handed in his resignation this week, after serving in the role for just a few years. He’s on to greener pastures—somewhere, perhaps, where city councilors do not take road safety improvements as personal affronts, and don’t turn their ambient resentment of change into embarrassing public spectacles. 

Yesterday, Neal McNamara wrote his last article for the Patch, I’m sad to say. It was about rail trails—a bit of self-professed self-indulgence—and the lede had the characteristic good humor that marked Neal’s career as a local reporter here: 

This is an article for rail trail freaks only. If you don’t daydream about little bike trips and walks along rail trails, you won’t like the rest of this article. 

Hard to imagine the Patch finding someone who can fill Neal’s shoes. One of the best. Though I hope they do! 

Local journalism is a tough nut to crack as evidenced by the fact I have to beg for money every single time I post on here. We were lucky to have a reporter as good as Neal at the Patch for as long as we did. It was sort of an anomaly, honestly. With any luck, this won’t be the last we hear from him on the local scene!

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The third edition of our newest column, Worcester Speaks, also came out today. It’s great! It’s an interview with Maria Ravelli of the Worcester Community Fridges and it’s all about mutual aid and the real inversion that the fridges represent. My favorite so far! 

There’s a sobriety checkpoint somewhere in Worcester County this weekend. These things are very shitty to go through and should be illegal. On my birthday there was one between my apartment and Ralph’s, which I take very personally. It was on Gold Star right by the Mass Lottery building, in case they do the same one. It’s annoying that they don’t tell you where these are going to be. 

Year three of running our own school bus system is off to a good start: 

A subsequent analysis conducted by the department revealed that the actual savings for fiscal 2023 were $5 million, and that email complaints from parents fell by 76%.

Really seems like this was a slam dunk move that Maureen Binienda is personally responsible for preventing us from doing for so long.    

The Deputy Police Chief situation is starting to get hot. The home rule petition to remove the post from civil service is stuck in the legislature with every other home rule petition in the state. Three deputy chiefs are complaining that the way Worcester is going about it is illegal. And now the head of the state civil service commission is asking for a “Plan B.” Will dig a little deeper on this for Sunday. 

Rare bit of good news out of the Worcester Housing Authority: They’ve done away with last month and security deposit requirements for getting a unit.

Channel 7 Investigates did a whole segment on one bus stop in Worcester which is weird but cool.  

Saw King Gizzard and Lizard Wizards at Thompson Point in Portland, Maine on Tuesday and it was so sick. Coolest part was when the main singer guy crowd surfed all the way to the back of the show and jumped in the bay and then crowd surfed back during the last song.  

Here’s an email I got from Thomas Maier, author of Mafia Spies and producer of the documentary, about my Holy Cross CIA story.  

Hi Bill I liked your article about Holy Cross alum Mahue and my book/show MAFIA SPIES.  Just wanted to mention Chris Matthews, who is also in the show, is a Holy Cross guy. And I’m personally a Fordham guy, but the paperback is dedicated to the memory of my old journalism teacher Ray Schroth SJ, who was a dean at Holy Cross in the 1980s. Keep up the good work! All best Thomas Maier

Neat! I asked him if he needed a research assistant and he didn’t respond to that part of the email but he was gracious otherwise. I’ll keep trying though, trust me.

You can see (but not hear) me do what I thought at the time was a very nice Trump impression in this Spectrum News story about the Hot Dog Safari. If anyone knows how to get the version with full audio please please please hit me up. 

Anyone wanna go halves on this?

Here’s a good song for the road: 

Ok see you all on Sunday!