This has been a very busy week – and it shows no sign of slowing.  Today I will be baking for Mrs. Chipman’s talent show at Golden Hill Elementary tomorrow evening.  Tickets and baked goods will be sold at the door to benefit her Maniac Mallets percussion group.

I will be setting the DVR for tonight’s School Committee Meeting and enjoying dinner at Kreuger’s with my family and many other Crowell families as tonight is our Family Fun Night for January.  From reading the article in the paper tonight will be another Paul Magliocchetti Dog and Pony Show on  subject matter he could have gotten from the School Department so that the meeting could be spent discussing his new ideas on how to deal with these issues instead of rehashing the worst of last year’s budget discussions.  Maybe he just doesn’t have any new ideas?  I especially love how he stresses the Attorney title on tonight’s agenda and on this little announcement of his office hours.  I don’t see Mayor Fiorentini asking people to address him as Attorney Mayor Fiorentini … and honestly you can have all the education in the world, Mr Magliocchetti, but I’m unimpressed until I see more than speeches and forcing the overworked people in the School Department to pander to your endless requests for presentations of information you can easily get in other ways.

After so many assertions at Monday night’s Possible Dreams event about the structural integrity of the Woolworth Building being intact – this morning’s article about metal falling from the building does not make me confident about the truth in those assertions!

I want to heartily thank the Parent Academy and the DPC for sponsoring the presentation last night at Bradford Elementary.  I was encouraged to see many new faces in the crowd!  We all learned much about the great things happening in our schools for enrichment.  As Mr Rossi told us, Enrichment Activities are a place for kids to explore their interests, learn new skills or new ways to develop existing skills, and to just have fun!  I think we forget how much pressures are heaped on kids today with all of the testing and rigorous curriculum requirements and day to day life stresses – kids need a social outlet where they can just have fun too!  If you missed the presentation but would like the take home packet of information from this – or any other parent academy – they are available at the central office in the bottom floor of City Hall.

I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from Team Haverhill’s “Possible Dreams 2010″ event.  How many people would brave the rain?  What would the conversations be like?  Who among our elected officials would attend?  How much participation would the audience be allowed vs how much would be presentation by Team Haverhill?  We got Grandma to watch the kids and set out for the Technology Center at Northern Essex Community College and answered all of those questions and more.

You can read the Eagle Tribune’s take on the night here.  I’d like to mention some of my more memorable moments.

We sat in tables of four or five and discussed different questions posed by Team Haverhill.  Then we left comments about our discussion as Graffiti on our table before moving on.  The first question was what good things happened last year, follows by what is possible for this year and finally what relationships have been started or should be started to make the goals for 2010 reality.  Then the night became a town meeting where people could stand up and speak to the group.

I appreciated that the Mayor and almost all of the City Council came out to join us.  I was disappointed that only one member of the School Committee decided to make the trek.  I was exceedingly pleased that Garin Veris, our new Athletic Director, came out and spoke about his plans for our kids and sports and his fund-raising and invited everyone to get involved and support our kids by attending Haverhill sporting events.  Every time I see him speak; I am heartened by his message.  He stresses education, community and personal responsibility among all our students first and foremost and athletics as an important venue for making that happen.

Some items I heard last night that I think bear looking into are – in no particular order:

• A Riverfest.
• A footbridge across the downtown and kiosks with footmaps and notes of interest at the train station and downtown.  The footmaps could have coupons/advertising for the local businesses of interest.
• Expanded Single Stream Recycling.  Lets get this to the rest of the city!
• I heard that the Woolworth Building and now the Kmart have been stymied so long because of contracts the bankrupt companies have with the property owners to pay money even though the building is vacant for a certain period of time – leaving the property owner zero incentive to sell/redevelop.  I really want to know where I could find more information on this!
• Better relationships between our various volunteer groups – we can do more together than we can apart!
• Earth Day Environmental Fair – an expanded Earth Day event at Winnekenni Castle.
• City Councilor Michael Young announced he has a committee whose sole purpose is to award his salary as City Councilor to 24 deserving entities around Haverhill.  Contact him for an application!
• Improve Haverhill’s image.
• Expand our Farmer’s Market.

All in all we had fun, good conversation and met lots of new people.  I look forward to seeing what this event spurs for 2010.  For anyone interested – Team Haverhill’s first “get things done” meeting is February 8th.

Tuesday night brought us the first City Council Meeting of 2010.  Two discussion topics dominated the agenda; the water main brought to Western Avenue and the crumbling facade of the old Woolworth Building.  I would like to address the issue of the Woolworth Building.

The Woolworth Building has been vacant for 4 decades.  This building has no real historical significance to our downtown.  The truly historic buildings were destroyed in the Urban Renewal of the 60′s, 70′s and 80′s.  The Real Estate Boom missed this building for a reason and the time came long ago to tear it down.

The building is again in the news because part of the facade has fallen off.  Now public safety is an issue and thus the matter was brought before the City Council.  What to do with this blight on our downtown?  According to the meeting Tuesday we wait for three to four weeks while the building is surveyed to see if there is a chance it can be redeemed or if it must be torn down.

While I disagree with more waiting I understand there are processes which need to be followed.  I need to question the legitimacy of placing Paul Bergman in charge of the report determining whether or not the building needs to be demolished.  The building is currently owned by the Greater Haverhill Foundation.  In looking at the officers and directors for this organization I cannot help but notice that Mr Bergman is listed as a director of the Greater Haverhill Foundation on their 2009 filing.

While evaluating this building for demolition or resuscitation I cannot believe that Mr Bergman is without a conflict of interest.  He is a Director for the Greater Haverhill Foundation – the very foundation which owns the property and which would have to pay demolition costs for this building should the report state that demolition is the only recourse.

If we truly want to revive Haverhill’s image then let us make an honest assessment of our downtown by allowing the city Building Inspector, Richard Osbourne, to do his job instead of waiting for yet another tainted report.  Show our citizens we mean revival and renaissance by tearing down the remains of the Woolworth building and beginning anew.