Video: Candidates for Worcester at-large City Council seats debate in Mechanics Hall
WORCESTER — Most candidates running for at-large City Council seats met at Mechanics Hall Wednesday to discuss political compromise, evaluating the city manager, housing and police accountability, among other topics.
The candidates included incumbents Kathleen Toomey, Donna Colorio, Mayor Joseph M. Petty, Morris A. Bergman and Khrystian King; and candidates Guillermo Creamer Jr., Maydeé Morales, William Coleman, Domenica F. Perrone and Johanna Hampton-Dance.
Councilor-at-Large Thu Nguyen did not attend.
Five of the at-large candidates are running for mayor: Petty, King, Colorio, Coleman and Creamer. A separate mayoral debate is set for Oct. 25.
Voters must select six out of the field of 11 to become at-large city councilors.
Ability to compromise
All candidates were asked if the City Council is performing effectively and whether there is room for compromise on the council.
Coleman said he has seen councilors so divided that the issue at hand gets lost. He said the city needs to work to move forward together. Coleman promised to compromise, but said he would "reflect the voice of people of this community."
Petty said he has been successful at "the art of compromise" as mayor. He cited the city's inclusionary zoning policy as an example of him working with multiple parties to reach a policy.
Colorio said a city councilor must listen to both constituents and their fellow colleagues to come up with the best solution. She said compromise is important because councilors, especially at-large councilors, must represent widely different communities in the city.
The City Council currently has "activist ideas" that may be important, but do not lead to councilors acting as the best public servants, Bergman said. He pointed to the installation of temporary speed humps as a moment he compromised.
"I think we can compromise and I think we can do a better job doing it," Bergman said. "But we have to act more as public servants."
Perrone said she experienced municipal compromise during her time at the city's Department of Health and Human Services when the city established emergency homeless shelters during the COVID-19 pandemic. Perrone said the city is facing crises that require both "fierce advocacy" and diplomacy.
King said diversity of thought in government is important for democracy and "groupthink" would not work, particularly on issues about people's rights and values.
"There's certain matters in my government where I will not waiver. My equity lens does not blur as an elected official of color," King said.
Hampton-Dance said the City Council was ineffective and fails to compromise, saying that there is "groupthink mentality" on important issues.
Creamer agreed that the City Council is not effective and said new leadership is needed to ensure collaboration. He said he was able to advocate for bipartisan workforce diversity funding in Washington, D.C., during a divisive time.
"One of the reasons why I'm running for mayor is because new leadership is needed to ensure that we can actually work together and not just elect folks who are leading a certain bloc," Creamer said.
Morales said she preferred the term "collaboration" to compromise, as compromise implied a side would be unhappy. She said collaboration leaves room for innovative ideas.
Toomey said the elements of compromise and honest communication may sometimes be difficult, but are important for elected officials. Councilors also learn that they may not always get their preferred outcome, she added. She said she always tries to reach a compromise about the city's tax code.
Evaluating the city manager next year
All candidates were asked about what measures they would use to evaluate City Manager Eric D. Batista and of whether Batista was performing effectively.
Petty said Batista has performed very effectively and meets with the councilors on a regular basis. The City Council will continue to evaluate Batista every year based on a rubric that includes finances, public safety and economic development, Petty said.
"I think he's a wonderful city manager who understands the issues that the council needs to address to move the city forward," Petty said.
Bergman, Colorio and Toomey agreed that Batista was performing effectively.
Perrone said Batista is performing to the best of his abilities given the nature of his appointment and role. She said the City Council should have had an open search. In order to evaluate Batista, Perrone said she would look at whether the city manager is taking part in a participatory process to inform the public.
"I believe in democracy. I think the model of our municipal government is not exactly reflective of that, and that is no fault of (Batista)," Perrone said.
Hampton-Dance said the process to select Batista, a former assistant city manager, seemed "nepotism-like." However, she said Batista came to clean up a mess, she respects his efforts to implement his own plans and he is easy to approach.
King said Batista is doing the best he can. However, he believes the administration of former City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. did not have a good transition plan. King added that a better selection process would have helped establish goals. The city manager will be evaluated on carrying out the will of the council on budget matters, King said.
Morales said the most important consideration is how people in Worcester think about Batista's performance. The current evaluation process is not an adequate tool and effective performance also involves meaningful diversity, equity and inclusion work, she added.
Creamer got to know Batista in his role as chair of the Human Rights Commission and is excited for Batista's vision. However, he said most residents do not even know the city has a council-manager system and the evaluations focus on the positives while they should challenge the city administration to do better.
Colorio said the yearly evaluation is a good tool. Regular meetings also help councilors establish goals with the manager, Colorio said.
"My expectations are better roads, safety and steady economic growth," Colorio said.
Bergman said there is a learning curve for any city manager. He said the evaluation should be done twice a year or quarterly, but that may require a change to the city charter.
Coleman said the evaluation should happen every two years.
"That would give a really good opportunity for us to evaluate long-term planning," Coleman said.
Toomey said one of the most important factors to determine the manager's performance is the bond rating and economic health of the city.
Police accountability
King, Perrone, Creamer and Hampton-Dance answered a question about police accountability.
King said Worcester police had dated policies on issues such as responding to youth. King said the City Council's Standing Committee on Public Safety has failed to conduct oversight and that he led on the city adopting body cameras and pairing social workers with certain police calls.
Perrone said Worcester should have a civilian review board for the police and the police budget is greater than the combined budgets of several other city departments. She said the city needs to take a preventative approach to several matters where police are involved
"We have an imbalanced budget in Worcester and that shows up in many different ways in terms of how we rely on policing for a mental health crisis, for a housing crisis, for youth violence or youth prevention," Perrone said.
Creamer said the Human Rights Commission has an intimate relationship with the police department and pushes the police on diversity matters. He lamented that the department is under a Department of Justice investigation.
Hampton-Dance said she will always push for reform for both police practices and how they handle internal operations and hiring.
"Just to say a few bad apples is OK doesn't sit well with me," Hampton-Dance said.
Affordable housing
Perrone, King, Petty and Morales answered a question on how the city should address housing affordability.
Perrone said the city is in a housing crisis and needs a stronger inclusionary zoning policy than the one the city approved. She added the city needed to partner with community organizations to fight gentrification.
Petty said affordable housing has been a focus of his. He pointed to the city establishing the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, sending the Community Preservation Act to the voters, downpayers and rental assistance and inclusionary zoning as examples of the city's housing policy.
King said he supported stronger affordability requirements during the inclusionary zoning process. He said the city should lead with research, not anecdotes from developers. The city also needs to ask developers to do more for residents with the tax breaks that they are given, he said.
Morales said City Council needs members who work with people who have been most affected by the housing crisis. She also supports the city's homeownership initiative program.
"The housing crisis will not be resolved by one means, it will be resolved through a multi-faceted approach," she said.
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This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Video: Candidates for Worcester at-large City Council seats debate
