A (Craddock) Bridge Too Far

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be."  Polonius to his son, Laertes.  Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3. 

Medford will soon begin refurbishing the Craddock Bridge near Carroll's Restaurant leading to and from Medford Square causing, what could be, significant problems for traffic and the small business community in the immediate area.  At last nights Medford City Council meeting, a resolution was made to send a request to Pat Jehlen, State Senator of the 2nd Middlesex District, to bond (borrow) $2.5 Million dollars from the State Transporation Department to pay for the repairs to the Craddock bridge. 

I attended last night's meeting and spoke on the issue at the podium before the City Council and respectfully, but adamantly, urged them not to put the burden of the costs of Medford's Craddock bridge repair on the backs of all citizens of the Commonwealth. 

I reminded the City Council of two facts: 1) Medford has a surplus of nearly $6 Million dollars in our water account.  (Many believe the water account is in excess due to the cracked water pipes under Medford city streets.  This causes the MWRA to charge Medford a higher sewage rate. Medford, in turn, charges an excess water tax to homes and businesses thereby creating this surplus.)  2) Massachusetts is 4th highest in debt in the United States.  

I made it known that I am a candidate for State Senate in the 2nd Middlesex District to which The Honorable Adam Knight, City Councilor, made a point of information to the President of the City Council, The Honorable Paul Camuso to state and then ask me, "Since you are a candidate for State Senate, would you be against bonding for transporation projects?"  To which I replied to him, "No, I would not be.  However, when a local project can be paid for by the city itself when in fact that city has a large surplus of funds of bogus collections it would be the better part of wisdom to not add to our State debt since it's so high. 

A representative from the Medford Chamber of Commerce did make a good point after I spoke stating that many folks from around the state would also benefit from Craddock Bridge repairs and should share in the cost of repair through borrowing.  I asked him, after he spoke, "How many people from Pittsfield will be using the Craddock Bridge in Medford over the next year?"  
His response to me was, "None but people from Malden, Somerville, Cambridge and many other adjacent communities do."  I took his point well but if we in Medford thought outside the box and incurred a cost that would require no further burden of a higher tax or more borrowing we could then advertise what we saved Medford and all citizens by taking care of our own problem and then advocated this as reason to come to Medford Square and other parts of Medford to shop at our local stores, attend a play at the Chevalier Theatre, then enjoy a fine meal at Carroll's Restaurant or Bocelli's just a bit further up the street, over the Craddock Bridge.  A member of the Chamber of Commerce should welcome this idea.

I also had further discussion with Medford Budget director, Stephanie Burke, who told me, "We are probably paying for infrastructure in Pittsfield, as well.  It happens all the time."  This, my friends, is why Massachusetts is 4th highest in debt in the United States.  A tax, spend, borrow mentality from a State House and State Senate that has been dominated by one party for many decades and screaming for balance of power on Beacon Hill. 

I am a former teacher, veteran of the Army Reserves, and I currently work in the medical device technology industry.  At my place of employment, OmniGuide Surgical of Kendall Sq. in Cambridge, we operate under what is known as Lean Manufacturing.  This is a process that reduces waste, cuts spending, itemizes resources, labels every working part, calibrates systems, and creates peak maximum efficiency producing the best possible product at the lowest possible cost, in a stream lined and standardized mode of operation.  These kinds of ideas can be applied to State Government which will lead to less borrowing, and fewer taxes, and the service to fellow Massachusetts constituents to not have to bear the burdens of others and decrease overall Massachusetts state debt.   

In an unrelated story, also last night, by a vote of 4-3, the City Council voted themsleves a pay raise and a raise for the Mayor of Medford, Michael J. McGlynn who last night became the 2nd highest paid Mayor in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts making nearly $150,000 per year.  The City Councilors who voted against this raise were Breanna Lungo-Koehn, Mike Marks, and Bob Penta.