total time: 5.03 minutes
total words: 202
[John Petrella]: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Method Happenings, a show for and about the city of Medford. The purpose of this program is to give Medford citizens facts and information to help you make informed decisions. Today, we welcome a candidate, a good candidate for the Medford City Council, Patrick Clark, into the show. Good evening, Patrick. How are you?
[Patrick Clerkin]: Thanks for having me back again, John. It's good to be back.
[John Petrella]: Good to have you, good to have you. We're going to get right into this, Patrick. You know, we all know what the number one biggest issue in Method is right now. The talk continues, it's back and forth, and I'm just going to come out. What's your opinion on the zoning? What do you feel about it? What do you think needs to be done or what's your approach? to this zoning issue that's it's all for the benefit. So I'll let you take it.
[Patrick Clerkin]: Yeah, this does really seem to be the linchpin issue in the city right now. And I think it's a really unfortunate that it's come to a grinding halt. Well, I first and foremost agree that there does need to be a comprehensive look at the city zoning, you don't just want it to be a patchwork or a Frankenstein's monster of different zoning proposals. But I also think you have to offset that with considering the needs of the neighborhoods, and I've said that before, and I'll continue to say it. I think that the biggest oversight was not doing neighborhood impact studies with the neighborhoods that were going to be affected so that you would understand things like traffic flow patterns and parking situation and the utilities, what the effect was going to be on as you connect these large buildings up to the utilities and the sound studies that affect what are the different neighborhoods going to hear from the traffic changes, and also light studies, what are the shadow effects going to be like. And because that wasn't done in a, I would say, sophisticated way that kept people abreast of what was going on, people felt like they were just being excluded from the process or that they were being railroaded. So here we are right now. Things have come to a grinding halt. And I think that clearly the city's budget needs this commercial revenue and this mutual revenue. I don't think it's a good idea to try to operate off of overrides and debt exclusions. I think that is, as I've mentioned before, a form of financial duct tape. But if we're to do this properly and it's to be balanced, I think one of the steps that is really going to help us move in that direction is this new charter that's on the ballot in November. Some people might not know about it, but basically what it does is it balances the city overall, the representation with word-based representation. Right now, we have seven at-large city council candidates, and the proposal is that we would be moving to 11 overall candidates with three of them being at-large and eight of them being word-based. That really creates the balance. It sets the stage for really what was missing, I feel, in this. in this rezoning process. We have to really set the stage for neighborhood leadership and neighborhood participation. I think that charter that's on the ballot will be a huge step in that direction. If it is voted in, it doesn't take over immediately, but we have two years to lay the groundwork for it. And I think if we do that, then that sets the stage for other things, like the high school is another big thing that's on people's minds right now. And with the high school, it's okay. Do we lean towards strategic renovation? Do we lean towards an entirely new building? And whatever your feelings are on that, we have to learn from the mistakes that were made in the rezoning process. And we have to properly include the residents throughout the process. And we have to say the pros and cons. And we have to not lean prickly on overrides and de-exclusions to make it happen. So all of those things tie together in one big package.
[John Petrella]: No, they certainly do. And it's, geez, let's see. You hit on the charter. You know, the zoning, you touched on the school, and I think the school is going to be a huge part of, you know, the next election cycle, so to speak. Once whoever's going to be on the council and how the city is going to move forward with that, it's going to be interesting. You know, that was a lot of good points you put out there. And you basically answered all my questions, Patrick. I mean, you know.
[Patrick Clerkin]: Let's get one quick tip.
[John Petrella]: Yeah, no. But yeah, that's really. I mean, so I will ask you this, though. I mean, it sounds like I know I'm voting yes on the charter. I'm not afraid. I mean, what are you going to do with this charter as it is? You feel it's a good thing to pass? You want to comment on it?
[Patrick Clerkin]: I do. I do feel it's a good thing to pass. You know, a couple years ago when I first ran, I was really not familiar with the charter process that was occurring. And I was concerned that there was going to be ideology and partisanship baked into the cake. But after seeing what they did for the last two years, where it wasn't just the public. It wasn't just a diverse team of 11 resident voices led by Melvin McDonald, who just ran for council. And they consulted with people who have made many different charters across the Commonwealth. So I think that was an important piece of it. But I read the entire, I don't know, 35, 37 pages or whatever it is. And I was impressed by it. And it wasn't just that it was the ward based representation. It was also that we now have a regular charter review. The last time we had that was 40 years ago. We now have a budget meeting that's mandatory between the mayor and the city council and the school committee that has to happen annually earlier in the year so that the budget doesn't get kicked down the road. So there's a bunch of things that I like about it. And I encourage people to look at it in total rather than just some little piece of it.
[John Petrella]: I agree. You know, that's it, Patrick. That's all we have for you. You know, good answers. Really, you are a great candidate. And I hope the city comes out and votes for you. We need good people. We need thinkers. And we need young people. And we need independent people. And you're all of that in one package. And I mean that. So thank you for coming on the show, Patrick. As always, it's been a pleasure.
[Patrick Clerkin]: And- Thank you, John. And thank you for the Medford Happenings team for putting this together. It's really sorely needed.
[John Petrella]: You guys, you're all welcome. Thank you, Patrick. Have a good night. So please check out this program on methodhappenings.com. If you haven't checked out methodhappenings.com, really, you got to check it out. We're getting More and more views, it is a great website, 100%, the city of Medford, Massachusetts, everything, government, politics, restaurants, you know, sports, everything on it that has to do with Method. So check it out, it's a great website. You can also view us on Method Happenings on YouTube, And you can also see this show on your local cable access. And that's it. As usual, I want to thank everyone for joining us. And please, please stay informed. Thanks, everyone.
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total time: 5.03 minutes total words: 202 |
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