|
Intersections - Ash Street and Belmont, Spring, 2001; West and West Elm Street, Fall, 2001;
Sargent's Way, Fall, 2001. Several major intersections are slated for construction on West Chestnut St. in Summer, 2002. The intersections at Pearl and Oak, Rt. 27, and Rt. 123, and Oak at Reservoir have been completed.
City Hall - Over $1.2 million in restorations including
repainting and interior remodeling.
War Memorial Building - The symbol to our veterans has been renovated and restored with new heating systems, expanded veterans programs, painting and windows. Relocated veterans services to provide services on site.
Belmont
Ave - 70 year old flooding crisis solved with Federal and State grants.
Schools and Quality of Life
Education - The single most important selling feature of a good community is education, education, education. The City has committed itself to improving it's schools both in facility work and academic work. With a focus on early education, the city has embarked on a plan to reduce class size in K-4 to under 20. It has aligned it's curriculum and begun to emphasize composition at the earliest levels and the quality of student writing has improved dramatically, manifested by its steady consistent improvement in the National Iowa tests. The city was the first to open Saturday School to allow trailing students to catch up to grade. The after school programs have 9,000 students participating per week and increasingly more students are enrolling in the MCAS remediation programs. Over 1,700 students participated this summer in MCAS programs. The Brockton Hospital and the Brockton Enterprise have joined in sponsoring the "City that Reads Succeeds" program. In addition, the City has opened two alternative high schools with a mission to leave no student behind.
Along with the ongoing new school construction program, the city has committed
$27 million to school reconstruction projects insuring the students have a clean, healthy environment to learn in.
MCAS
Results - Massachusetts State Education Commissioner
David P. Driscoll announced the state-wide MCAS results at Brockton
High School on November 1st. Brockton was chosen as the site of the
announcement to highlight the city's dramatic improvements when
compared year over year. The total number of passing grades for Math
and English represented the greatest number of students in aggregate
than any other school in the state. The Mayor told the junior class,
"you proved to us you have the will, the desire and the effort
to succeed." More than 750 Brockton High School students attended
the afternoon press event that was given wide coverage in the greater Boston electronic and print media market.
Police - From 150 to 200 officers since 1996. The full implementation of community policing has reduced crime by 14% in each of the last two years - a higher reduction than the Massachusetts average. Programs such as 'weed and seed', Safe Neighborhood Initiative, Warrant Task Force and Local Federal Gun Collaborative have turned arrests into safer neighborhoods. Our Police Department's aggressive and extraordinary efforts in reducing crime have permitted us to shift our focus to quality of life issues including increased traffic enforcement.
Fire - The Brockton Fire Dept. is not only the busiest department in Massachusetts per capita, but the best and most modern equipped. The EMT and defibrillator-trained personnel save scores of lives annually.
From the Enterprise:
The Brockton Fire Department was recently upgraded to a Class 2 rating by the national Insurance Services Office Inc., an independent New Jersey based company that provides industry wide ratings for all insurance companies in the U.S. seeking detailed information on public safety capabilities of municipal fire fighting and prevention classification. Brockton's upgrade makes it one of the 10 best in the state of Massachusetts.
Under the leadership of Chief Ken Galligan with the support of Mayor John T. Yunits and Brockton's City Council, Brockton's Fire Department has achieved a distinguished rating which benefits all businesses in the community. Mayor Yunits, whose administration has helped the department acquire new fire trucks, engines, hoses and other ancillary equipment, said "This is where your taxpayers money kicks in."
"We have worked very hard here over the last several years to bring the department to where it should be, and its nice to know that an outside agency that comes in and looks at the Fire Department
acknowledges the fact that we've done what we're supposed to do," Chief Galligan
Fire Chief Ken Galligan said he is proud that Brockton is now rated one of the top ten fire departments in the state by ISO. Cambridge is the only Class 1 department in the state. Brockton joins nine other communities that are classified as Class 2. There are 360 departments in the state.
The Women's Commission and Diversity Task Force
- In September, 2001, we celebrate our first International Day, with a flag-raising at City Hall.
Department of Public Works - Brockton's exceptional Dept. of Public Works and Public Utilities has undertaken $12 Million dollars worth of water and sewer replacements to our 100 year old system in all kinds of weather, delivering us cleaner water and a more efficient waste water system. Likewise, the City's department of public property has provided much of the skilled labor on our city's building program. The dedicated efforts of these workers have saved the city many thousands of tax payers dollars.
Median Sale Price/Real Estate Values - The success of Brockton as a cleaner, safer, economically vibrant city with education at its center is best evidenced by the simple measure of its property values. Since
November of 1995, the median value of Brockton's homes has risen from
$82,000.00 to $215,000 as of November 2002, increasing the value of a person's real estate by almost
140%. Yet, the investments in the city have not increased its debt significantly. In fact, Brockton's debt per capita remains one of the lowest in the Commonwealth among its' cities and it's bond rating has risen from almost 'junk bond' status to an "A" rating. Throughout these last five years, the city's tax rate has fallen, and it's taxpayers have saved over $2.5 million in Prop. 2 ½ assessments held back by the City Council.
Rainy Day Fund - We have been cautiously aggressive all the while increasing our rainy day accounts. We've counted our pennies, but developed our horizons. We are poised to continue this growth.
|
program has earned the State's "Arbor City" Award for three consecutive years. Warren Ave. and Belmont Street, White Ave., and Snow Park refurbished - Fall, 2001. Father Kenney Way (Senior Center) - Spring, 2002
Desalinization plant -
A large crowd of people interested in the development of the Taunton River Basin Desalination Plant were on hand in late November for the Open House sponsored by Aquaria Water LLC of Brockton; a joint venture of Inima SA and Bluestone Energy Services of Braintree. 
Aquaria's water supply facility will employ a membrane type 'ultrafiltration' treatment process followed by the reverse osmosis and will provide up to 10 MGD when fully operational. The City of Brockton has agreed to purchase 2.5 MGD initially and can take up to 4 MGD in the future.
