Just a week after he returned from Washington, D.C. where his colleagues and he met in emergency session to adopt a $26 billion jobs bill to save an estimated 300,000 teachers, police officers and others from layoffs, Congressman Michael Capuano was in Chelsea to inspect the fruits of his earlier labors to help municipalities endure through tough financial times.
“Cities and towns across this country have been particularly hard-hit by the worst period of municipal finance since the Great Depression. We’ve seen in our districts and across the country what the impacts are: layoffs resulting in larger class sizes for our students, less manpower on the streets to protect our residents and crumbling infrastructure. I’m proud to join with the President and my colleagues in Washington in providing vital relief so that places like Chelsea can continue to meet and exceed the service expectations of its citizenry,” explained Cong. Capuano.
At this week’s visit, Capuano inspected one of two new pieces of fire apparatus the City recently purchased with the help of a federal stimulus grant. Capuano’s support for public safety assistance dollars is also responsible for another federal stimulus grant to help the City rehab the Mill Hill Fire Station. As if those two items were not enough to make local officials smile, Capuano also confirmed that the City is in line to receive a federal grant to fill 5 vacant fire positions and save another 6 from elimination.
“One of the many great things about Cong. Capuano is that he is a former mayor and understands the limitations and pressures we face on the local level. He’s a big part of what we’re being able to save and accomplish here,” boasted City Manager Jay Ash.
The City will receive $750,000 towards the $1.4m it will cost to place a new fire engine and new tower truck into service, $1.5m towards the $2m rehabilitation of the circa 1887 fire house, and $1.8m over the next two years to assure that fire staffing levels remain at their desired level of 91 firefighters. In total, $4.1m has been secured from various federal grants over the last year to support fire department capital and operational needs.
“To say this is huge is a giant understatement,” expressed Chelsea Fire Chief Chuck Fothergill. “We have a history of needing our fire service here in Chelsea but we were coming dangerously close to not being able to provide the protection dictated by today’s challenges. Cong. Capuano’s initiatives on these various programs could literally be life-savers.”
Capuano congratulated Ash, Fothergill and the City Council for putting together successful grant applications
“We make the funds available and then are pleased to support local applications to access them. Chelsea’s lucky to have the local leadership that, given the opportunity, will always shine,” emphasized Capuano.
City Council President Leo Robinson said that the City is now focused on being competitive for the $26 billion in new funding Capuano and his colleagues will soon direct to cities and towns.
“We’re grateful for that which Cong. Capuano has been able to deliver, but we won’t be shy about asking for more. We need more police, not less, on our streets and we’re all particularly concerned about what the reductions in staffing levels in the school department might mean about our ability to deliver the best possible education we can to our kids.
“Cong. Capuano has given us a path to pursue additional funding and a good chance at reaching our service delivery goals. In this economy, there isn’t much more you to ask for than having a great partner like Mike in Washington looking out for all of us,” reasoned Robinson.
Ash reports that municipal government is down 32 positions and the schools are down 44 positions over the last 2 years. Without federal support, the City could lose as many as 8 police positions this fall.
“We’ve been tightening and tightening our belts, but we can’t go any further without impacting policing operations. That is, unless we’re successful in competing for the new round of funding the feds will soon make available. We’ll do our best and we remain grateful that Washington isn’t turning its back on our local needs,” concluded Ash.
August 17, 2010
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