Ray Mariano: Race for Worcester mayor weighs heavily for city's future

The city’s next mayor will have some important assignments. Worcester has a new city manager and a new superintendent, both of whom need support and guidance. Beyond that, the City Council is becoming more and more divided. The man or woman in the mayor’s chair needs to keep those divisions from getting in the way of the council’s work.

Donna Colorio

At-large councilor Donna Colorio has served as a member of the School Committee and now as vice-chair of the City Council. She is one of the owners of a small manufacturing company in North Grafton that employs about 100 people.

Much of Colorio’s campaign message focuses on affordability. She supports providing programs to help first-time homebuyers and sees a need for the city to do more to promote existing affordability programs. She also wants the city to keep taxes as low as reasonably possible.

Colorio thinks the city can do more to help small businesses by looking at the fees that it charges and also supports reducing administrative red tape. Colorio is also a strong supporter of the police and believes that we should have school resource officers in our secondary schools.

I believe that the City Council is well served with Colorio as one of its members. She provides balance on a council that is leaning more and more progressive. But she is not the best candidate for mayor.

Guillermo Creamer Jr.

Former chair and current member of the Human Rights Commission, Guillermo Creamer Jr. is an interesting candidate. At 29, he sees himself as part of a new generation of leadership.

Bursting with energy, Creamer’s put together a clear list of his priorities. He wants the new affordable apartments that will be created to go to Worcester residents. He supports a fare-free WRTA, more development focused on neglected neighborhoods and a public school system that provides more vocational classes and things like financial literacy. Creamer also wants the city to be more of a regional leader and forge stronger ties with Beacon Hill and Capitol Hill.

I think that Creamer deserves a vote for City Council. He’s smart, open-minded and willing to consider new ideas. However, he doesn’t have the experience to lead either the City Council or School Committee.

Bill Coleman

Bill Coleman has been running for public office nearly nonstop since 1979. A happy warrior with a passion for helping people, Coleman wants to engage more citizens in city government. He also wants to see a more aggressive effort marketing Worcester as an economic center for the state. He would work to clean up neighborhoods and puts a priority on public safety.

One of the nicest people you’ll ever encounter on the streets of Worcester, Coleman has tried more often and put in more effort to serve the city in elective office then anyone I have ever met. If effort counts, Coleman deserves some consideration.

Khrystian King

At-large councilor Khrystian King has broad support with progressive voters. From what I can tell, he’s looking to lead a block of progressive city councilors who will dramatically change the direction of the city. For his part, King says “we can’t maintain the status quo.”

A portion of King’s message focuses on diversity. He wants the city’s workforce to better reflect the community. He said that he was instrumental in the city conducting equity audits in various departments, as well as the hiring of the city’s equity officer.

Relative to the public schools, he said that he is confident in the system’s school safety plan, he generally supports the new administrative positions added by the superintendent and he wants to see more school psychologists and adjustment counselors added.

Unlike the incumbent, he says he always supports the lowest residential tax rate. He criticizes the city for being too focused on downtown and wants to see more long-term planning. King wants a feasibility study to better determine what affordable housing means and he wants to add money to the affordable housing trust fund.

King is a formidable challenger. But having spoken to many of his colleagues, I’ve seen no evidence of his inclination to build consensus on a divided council. An effective councilor, he’s not the best choice for mayor.

Joe Petty

Every mayor has a different style. Mayor Joe Petty is a quiet consensus builder. With his low-key style, Petty doesn’t always get the credit that he deserves. But his list of accomplishments is considerable.

Petty led the council in the selection of Ed Augustus Jr., one of Worcester’s more accomplished city managers, as well as the selection of current city manager Eric Batista.

His accomplishments in the area of development are considerable. He was the first person to contact the Pawtucket Red Sox about moving their franchise to Worcester and was a driving force behind their coming to the city. Petty’s leadership and support have led to dozens of new buildings, thousands of new apartments and scores of new commercial spaces being built in the city. More recently, he helped initiate a task force that will ultimately lead to moving DPW facilities off of Shrewsbury Street, creating space for commercial and residential development.

Petty’s relationships and advocacy have led to new schools being constructed at Nelson Place, Doherty and South High schools. He was also a leading advocate for the Student Opportunity Act, which is pumping an additional $100 million over six years into supporting Worcester’s schools.

Along with things that people can readily see, Petty has been hard at work behind the scenes creating a Youth Violence Prevention Initiative that has helped reach out to at-risk youth and help them before they get into serious trouble. He’s also spearheaded a group focusing on mental health challenges.

Going forward, he wants the city to issue a bond to fix Worcester’s crumbling streets and sidewalks. He is focused on continuing to advocate for the construction of a new Burncoat High School and Worcester East Middle School. Petty also plans to advocate for additional police and fire recruits, and he intends to continue his work and expand efforts to help young people at risk and also expand the work and partnerships of his Mental Health Task Force.

Joe Petty has a laudable list of accomplishments and he’s not afraid to tell people what he hopes to do if reelected. Perhaps more importantly, at this critical time, Worcester needs a mayor who can provide a bridge on a City Council that is becoming more and more divided. Petty’s low-key style and experience developing consensus make him a solid choice to serve as mayor of Worcester.

Email Raymond V. Mariano at rmariano.telegram@gmail.com. He served four terms as mayor of Worcester and previously served on the City Council and School Committee. He grew up in Great Brook Valley and holds degrees from Worcester State College and Clark University. He was most recently executive director of the Worcester Housing Authority. His column appears weekly in the Sunday Telegram. His endorsements do not necessarily reflect the position of the Telegram & Gazette.

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This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Ray Mariano column on candidates for mayor of Worcester