Shape Up Or Ship Out

Last night the Waterbury Board of Education took a very important step in the fight to improve the city's reputation. They reminded everyone that the most important word in the phrase "student-athlete" is student. While this is not a revolutionary viewpoint in the world of High-School sports, it is about time that the city got on board with the colleges and the rest of America and forced our students to change.

To bring about this change the board last night instituted a new rule for the 2007-08 academic year. This rule requires students to have a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA) when they enter a sport. In Waterbury a 1.0 is any grade between a 60 and 69, and a 2.0 is defined as any grade between a 70 and 79. Furthermore, grades of 80 to 89 are worth a 3.0, while grades of 90 to 100 earn you a 4.0. Therefore a student must be doing C work or better in nearly all of their classes to participate in sports.

While the coach of the Crosby Boy's Basketball team was vocally opposed to this measure I feel that it provides our students with many more benefits then people realize. Right now the school system is fighting to change the reputation of Waterbury athletes from both within and without. Within the school system the athletes can develop a reputation that they are superior to their school mates. They can feel that because they can run, jump, or shoot a ball, that they don't need to study. Despite the recent 15 game suspension of Carmello Anthony after this past weekend's Knicks-Nuggets fight, students can act as if their ability on the field is all that matters.

This has led to a diminishing of our reputation outside of the city. Many of our student-athletes leave the school system unprepared for college. They have spent so much time on the field or court instead of in their books, that they do not understand the basic skills to survive beyond athletics. By forcing the students to focus on both books and balls, we can avoid the further embarrassment of seeing our students sent off to a year of prep-school before they have any chance of going to college. As an example, can anyone name me two players in the past ten years that have left Waterbury and made a name for themselves in college?

The student-athletes of Waterbury need to adjust their priorities, and this is just how to do it. The young men and women who where Crosby blue or Wilby green need to remember that how they work their brains is as important as how they work their bodies. Then, even if they never play in the NBA or NFL, they will have the opportunity for a better life.

Half-Measures are NOT an option.

This speech was delivered before the Waterbury Board of Aldermen on December 11, 2006

Members of the Board of Aldermen, Mr. Mayor, my fellow citizens, tonight is a night of great importance here in Waterbury. Tonight the members of this board will vote to either approve or reject a short list of improvements to City Hall that will allow the building to remain open. As much as I love this grand building, I am urging the board to soundly reject these stopgap measures.

The measures being presented tonight are nothing more then a quick fix that looks cheap on paper, but will cost the city a lot of money in the long run. The fact that these improvements are necessary is not in dispute. What is in dispute, I feel, is whether or not these are the only improvements that should be undertaken.

City Hall is in bad shape, on this we can all agree. Years of neglect by mayors from both parties have left this majestic building a shambles. If Cass Gilbert and Henry Chase could see what has become of the city center that they envisioned almost ninety years ago, they would surely be spinning in their graves. We cannot, however, simply blame the mistakes of the past for the situation of the present, regardless of how easy it is to pass the buck backwards in time. What is needed now is action, decisive and sweeping action, to completely, and conclusively, correct the years of neglect that City Hall has suffered.

That need for conclusive action is exactly why I urge the board to reject tonight’s measures. They are nothing more then a band-aid in place of a much-needed tourniquet. Fixing these few critical fire code violations will certainly make the fire department happy, and the citizens happy, but only for a time. Eventually we will all have to revisit the problems on the second, third and fourth floors, only now they will have a larger price tag due to further weathering and inflation. And while the city waits, we waste money on renting space from private landlords to keep the government of Waterbury functional. This is not the way to run a city.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board, I know that you appreciate the weight of the situation before us. It is evident in the informational meeting you had on Thursday, and in the repeated articles in the Republican-American where members of this board have shown their displeasure at any quick fixes. As we all know, however, the question of City Hall does not end tonight. If the board acts as I hope it will, and votes down this plan, Waterbury will need to consider what should be done to this building next. The newspaper has reported several options that have been put before the board, ranging from complete renovation, to the sale of the building to a private owner. Though you are not voting on these options tonight, I feel that it is important for you to know what the citizens of Waterbury expect of you, our elected Aldermen.

I feel that City Hall must be restored completely and properly. There is no room in such a historic building for half-measures and cutting corners. This is a building that deserves the grandeur that history has endowed it with. This is a building that should inspire wonder and reverence for future generations. This is a building to be treasured and cherished.

This is not a building that should be torn down. This is not a building that should be sold off and converted into something else. This is our City Hall. Not just for the city of Waterbury, but for the people of Waterbury. After all, the city is just lines on a map. What gives Waterbury its character, its essence, its very life are the people who make it up. The people who have the right to see their entire city government housed in one complex, not scattered throughout downtown. The people who have the right to see this building kept in the hands of the city and restored to glory.

Others here tonight will appeal to your sense of history, will provide you with facts and anecdotes regarding why this building should be properly restored. I offer no such numbers, or lessons. Members of the board, all I offer you tonight is an appeal to your sense of what is right for the city of Waterbury, and what this city deserves. This city, these people deserve the complete restoration of their building to the grandeur and status it once held in history. Nothing less will do.

A Call To Arms (sort of)

Now is the time for the citizens of Waterbury who care about what happens to City Hall and the downtown area to step forward and be counted. Now is the time for words to give power to meaning, and people to give power to their words. Now is the time for people to show just how much power a building has in the city of Waterbury.

This week is of vital importance to the future of City Hall, and with it the entire Grand Street corridor. On Thursday night, December 7th, the Board of Aldermen will hold an informational meeting to discuss just what should happen now that the original bonding package has been defeated in referendum. In this package four options are being discussed as potential paths of action. These packages are:

1. Tear down City Hall and rebuild.
2. Sell City Hall to the highest bidder with the best plan.
3. Provide the building with a quick fix to prevent closure by the Fire Marshall.
4. Completely repair and restore the building.

Once these plans have been discussed fully, the Board will meet again on Monday the 11th to vote on which package to accept. Each plan has already gotten some ink in the local paper, and the meeting on the 7th will give the citizens of Waterbury figure out just what each plan will cost. This cost has to be considered not only as an issue of dollars and cents, but also in terms of reputation and history.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I have made no secret just what my opinions are. I feel, however, that I can no longer be a lone voice in the wilderness of negativity and misinformation. Those of you who support City Hall must stand with me next Monday night. We must stand together and show the Board of Aldermen, the city, and the detractors of these renovation plans just where we stand. We must show everyone that City Hall is to important to us to ignore. That we will not be brushed off by people who refuse to defend their ideas. That we will be heard and we will stand for what is right for the city of Waterbury and the beautiful building on Grand Street.

Now is the time to speak. Now is the time to be heard. Now is the time to act.