Editoral: O'Brien Will Be A Tough Act To Follow
The professionals who manage municipal governments have a primary responsibility to oversee the day-to-day operations of public services, hold down costs, get the most you can out of your budget and stay close to your board of selectmen or city council, the people whose hands hold their fate.
During his nearly 10 years as Worcester's top appointed official, Michael O'Brien did more than just manage his staff and his governing body of elected officials. He was a tireless leader, out front advocating for economic development, whether it was sitting down with potential developers for the CitySquare project, helping to recruiting JetBlue or re-launching Destination Worcester. He also lined up business interests when he launched "Buy Worcester Now," which helps generate demand for available housing options and assist qualified buyers to purchase homes.
O'Brien has been a proactive, engaged booster of development in the city, and his personal energy, commitment and enthusiasm will be hard to replace after he leaves City Hall next month.
Certainly, O'Brien, who is moving on to become executive vice president of Winn Companies, a Boston-based real estate development and property management firm, is leaving his city role on an upbeat, certainly in the eyes of the business leaders we talked with for our story that appears on Page One of this issue. Along with pursuing firms that considered moving to Worcester, he has earned high marks for some of the more basic blocking and tackling, such as streamlining the permitting process and rehabbing roads and sidewalks.
Here are some of the notable accomplishments on O'Brien's watch:
• The city's tax base nearly doubled in value from 2001 to 2011, better than Boston's and Springfield's.
• The $563 million downtown CitySquare project is now in its second phase, recently aided by a promise of $11 million in state help.
• The DCU Center recently completed a $23-million renovation and upgrade.
• The city sold Worcester Regional Airport to the Massachusetts Port Authority, getting out from its annual deficit and putting the site in more expert hands that helped bring JetBlue to Central Massachusetts.
• The downtown landscape has also changed with the opening of the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, the new MCPHS University campus, the development of the transportation hub at Union Station and the debut of Gateway Park — all projects in which O'Brien played a positive role in helping move forward.
O'Brien's presence will be missed, as will that of the city's chief development officer, Timothy McGourthy, who will be leaving city government to become the executive director at the Worcester Regional Research Bureau in February. But the work of both men has set Worcester — and by extension, its surrounding communities — on a course that can lift their economic fortunes for years — even decades — to come. The temporary assignment of the city manager's duties to former state senator and Worcester School Committee member Ed Augustus gives the city time to recruit and hire a suitable replacement. Certainly, O'Brien's permanent successor will have big shoes to fill.
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