Re: FBI moving to Chelsea
I've copied a general update from Chelsea City Manager Jay Ash and invited him to post here. You may be interested in items 6 & 7 in his update below.
#6 -perhaps more hotels in the area.
#7 -plan from 1996 for a new Parkway Plaza that was "less a suburban shopping center and more an urban mixed used neighborhood." I've asked for this plan to post.
His update:
Here's the latest. For you new to the Inside Scoop, hope you enjoy some insight into what I've been up to lately. And, as always, please excuse the typoz!
1. I submitted a $1.5 grant request to the State for the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative. Program requirements are intervention services around education, employment, mental/behavioral health, physical safety, crime reduction and family strengthening for males age 14-24 who have a violent past or are victims likely to retaliate, or their families. Yes, that is a mouthful. Our proposal, crafted with the incredible assistance from Roca, proposed to hire a full-time police sgt as the intervention coordinator, street workers to interrupt violence and encourage the cohort to participate in a variety of programming, and counselors in the high school. It provides for employment training from Roca, CAPIC and LARE, mental health and family counseling from North Suffolk Mental Health and family outreach from Centro Latino, Chelsea Neighborhood Developers, and the Chelsea Collaborative. I am excited about the impact this could have on our community, and our young people. Please keep your fingers crossed!
2. Speaking of grants, Rep. O’Flaherty and I have been lobbying the Patrick Administration for a $1m grant for improvements to Everett Avenue, at the Mystic Mall, with the Demoulas people pledging to fill in any gap left over for improvements. The Gov included the amount in a bill he filed this past week, which is great news for us. We hope to do five phases of work in the area of the Mystic Mall, which will add capacity and allow us to address traffic needs regarding future redevelopment in the Mystic Mall and around the area. There is more work to be done, as the bill needs to pass both the House and Senate. Both Rep. Reinstein and Sen. DiDomenico have said they would be supportive if we could get this far, so I’m optimistic. This is a BIG deal, as $1m special appropriations aren't falling out of the trees these days. Good to have a great team at the State House working with us on our agenda!
3. Speaking of great teamwork, Rep. O’Flaherty and Chelsea’s own Roy Avellaneda hosted a meeting with me as we made our case for Mass DOT (Department of Transportation) to repave the Chelsea curves on Route 1. We have had two tragic deaths involving cars flipping over the guard rails and down to Sixth Street. While there may have been other circumstances causing that, the roadway above was very bumpy. We all speculated that the rough riding surface contributed to cars going out of control. To DOT’s credit, they were out in 48 hours and got it done, and have agreed to make even more repairs.
4. Addressing another State matter, the DCR pool’s last day will be the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Again, credit our legislative delegation. Rep. O’Flaherty championed the pool reconstruction several years ago, and the trio now continue to emphasize the need to keep our local pool open as one of the last to close every season. The DCR (Department of Conservation and Recreation) are terrific to work with here. Pool hours are every day from 11-7p.
5. For those of you who are regular readers…I’m disappointed in you. Not a single person got my last question right, which was: what does the latest restaurant to pull apply for a building permit and the starters for the Boston Celtics have in common? I’ll give you one more chance. The answer is below in #6.
6. Had an unbelievable week on economic development. Had not one but two hotel conversations. For those of you keeping score at home, that would be hotel number 3 and hotel 4. The Mystic Mall people have some other exciting things going on, including an even bigger splash than the Five Guys restaurant which is the answer to #5 (they both involve five guys). The residential project on Sixth Street is getting closer, as historically low interest rates are making the project more financeable. And I began the discussion about the next transformation of Chelsea Commons.
7. Regarding the latter, back in 1996, we first envisioned a new Parkway Plaza that was less a suburban shopping center and more an urban mixed used neighborhood. Instead of a sea of parking and single story retail buildings, we developed a plan which created city blocks out of the parking field and envisioned retail on the first floor of buildings, with residential, offices and structured parking added in. The market wasn’t ready for that in a Chelsea that hadn’t seen a major development in the previous 20 years (and the one that happened then, the Mystic Mall, was a huge failure). Fast forwarding to today, with all the development success we’ve had, we dusted off the 1996 plan to see what a developer might say, and have had the first of what will be scores of good conversations about the long term future of Chelsea Commons. Mind you, we are still years away from the market being ready. However, when we were able to get Parkside Commons, the residential building, developed, it was actually a test of those 1996 plans, and that project has been a tremendous success. So, I’m thinking about the future again, because in a land poor community like Chelsea, transforming the old to new, even if the old isn’t that old, is the way we need to go. My bet is that 10 years from now, you won’t recognize the Mystic Mall or Chelsea Commons. We may have another modest project in the ground at Chelsea Commons next year, and more grand plans to talk about from there.
8. It’s seemingly always fashionable to beat up public employees. With a disclaimer that none of us is perfect, we’ve got some tremendously talented and dedicated individuals and groups working for us. Today’s spotlight is on teachers. This past week, I visited a couple of hundred teachers who were in during their summer break to do training and team building to better prepare to be their very best for our kids this upcoming school year. That was terrific to see, and it was embraced and advanced by their union and our terrific new superintendent, Dr. Mary Bourque. And I had a great meeting with two teachers who are developing an internship program for Chelsea High students, which is absolutely needed (you’ll be hearing more about that). The dedication of so many of our teachers is a reason why we have so many kids who do so great in school and afterwards. When people ask me about the quality of education in our schools, I truly believe the answer is simple: if our kids are ready to learn, they get as good an education as you can find in any city’s school system. The difficulty, as you can tell from that qualifier, is if they are ready to learn. Too many of our kids have home lives that are challenging. As a community, we need to address that in order to give our kids a better chance at a great life.
9. So, to that end, you’ll be hearing more from me about our need to strengthen families in our community. If you are interested in reading more of my thoughts on this, see the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce newsletter on-line for August (which will be up this week) -
http://www.chelseachamberofcommerce.org/newsletters.htm. I hope you enjoy my thoughts on my “eureka” moment.
10. Hey, regarding the Chamber, they are having their annual “Pot of Gold” event in October. For those of you who are new to the concept, you buy a ticket, which entitles you to a great dinner at Spinelli’s in Lynnfield and a chance at their $10,000 drawing. As an added enticement, this year’s event is a Halloween theme. I heard a rumor, but I can’t confirm this just yet, that there is a prize for the best looking City Manager costume this year. Now George Clooney would win that contest easy, but lucky for you, he can’t make this year’s event. So, you might think of coming, and if you can’t come up with another costume, come dressed as me. (Keep those “clown shoe” jokes to yourself… it ain’t easy walking around in these size 15s, although I’m always grounded for wind storms like Hurricane Irene.) Call the Chamber for details, or check out more on the City Events email I sent you.
11. Thanks to all of you for making such a difference in our community. Spotlight this week on Hank Fay, proprietor of Venus Rising at 148 Broadway. He organized the “Rhythm of Chelsea” concerts on Saturdays this past month at City Hall. A great event that I hope will get better. Do me a favor and go by his store of eclectic stuff (I bought my son a funky second hand shirt that he is refusing to take off), and tell Hank I sent you in to say thanks.
12. Speaking of community, we had more than 20 of you at our winter holiday at Washington Park meeting. We’ve decided to decorate Washington Park for the holidays, and hold a one-day celebration there. There’s lots of work to be done, so let me know if you want to join us in the planning, or sponsor something. Thanks to the Chamber for adopting this project as well.
13. I get a kick out of you when you come up to me and tell me how good Fusion Foods is! Do you think I’d be recommending a restaurant that I wouldn’t eat in? Well, truth be told, Fusion has too many vegetables on the plate and not enough red sauce for me. (I’d eat pizza for every meal and as for vegetables, I don’t believe in harming things that grow out of the ground.) Melissa does make me her version of a meat and carbs meal, and I appreciate her for that. More importantly, though, what she makes for you is really, really good…at least that’s what more and more of you keep on telling me. If you haven’t been, try it out, at 11 Everett Avenue. Tell Melissa to give you all the vegetables that I’m not eating!
14. Two of my favorites, Larry J’s and Chelsea’s newest business, Mystic Brewery, are teaming up for a night to remember. Mystic will launch its first microbrew, Saijon, on Sept.14 6pm till 9pm at Larry J’s, 950 Broadway. Okay, truth time again, I don’t drink, so I’ll need some of you to tell me how the beer is. I have no idea where the name comes from, so we’ll have to find that out together that night. Bryan at Mystic is a master brewer, so I’m sure the results will please. I’ll be toasting his concoction with my usual drink of choice, Poland Springs, but, for the rest of you, feel free to toast responsibly. More info to follow, but mark your calendars.
15. Speaking of calendars, don’t forget our community meeting on Monday night, 6-8p at the Senior Center. At my Occasional Forum this time around, I’ll be looking for you to tell me what you do and don’t like about Chelsea and getting from you what I should focus more attention on in the coming year. (The first one of you who says: “We need a Starbucks” is going to be…) We sit at tables and talk about priorities. Your input is really important to me, and has been the basis for a lot of good work. So please try to come and contribute. We start right at 6. A light dinner will be served, so come on by.
16. Had enough? I’ll end it there, although there are so many good things going on that I could go on forever, like the Energizer Bunny. (Hey, there’s a winning costume for the Chamber event. Can’t find symbols and a drum, ladies? Well, just come dressed as a bunny ;-0!). Don’t forget to sign up for my inaugural tweet,@CMJayAsh, which should be happening sometime this week. Hope you enjoy better roadway surfaces on portions of Cherry, Clark and Chester, with more to come soon. Check out the Marriott construction that has begun next to the Wyndham, and be on the lookout for the first of two job fairs we’ll be having for the Marriott – this one for construction types. Wish the kids good luck on their way to school on Wednesday. Be thinking of a name for our holiday celebration in Washington Park. Did I mention that we’re almost ready to break ground on the new park in the Box District? I’m speaking on regionalism at Holy Cross this Thursday. I met Senate candidate Tom Conroy as he walked through Chelsea on his more than 600 mile walk through Massachusetts. I also met new Salvation Army head Captain Scott Peabody – welcome aboard! New trash plan will be implemented on October 1. Saw some of you while I was painting over graffiti and picking up big trash yesterday; there wasn’t much of either so thanks all for pitching in. Be on the look-out for another Mike MeKonnen tribute in September. Gov. Patrick must be trying to become an honorary Chelsea resident with all the time and grants he directs this way! All-Chelsea Awards is coming up so get ready to nominate someone. I can’t believe all the great work North Suffolk Mental Health does for us. MGH got a prestigious national award for their community work in places like Chelsea; no surprise and well deserved. The Back to School event was unbelievable, thanks all who contributed to it. Please pitch in and clear the catch basins and gutters of trash that could cause flooding. Help control the pet population; have your pets spayed or neutered. Chelsea Police will soon be doing traffic enforcement regarding stopping at crosswalks for pedestrians so spread the word. Donate to the Fire guys as they do their annual great work for the Jerry Lewis Telethon. Zonta has a guy who can impersonate 40 different singers; that should be worth the price of admission – hope he can do my favorites: Bono and Madonna (well, maybe not for her songs ;-0!). September 12th is 20 years since Chelsea went into Receivership – boy how things have changed!
Stay dry, Chelsea!
Jay Ash
City Manager, Chelsea
