This opinion piece appeared in The Standard-Times on Aug. 10th, 2005.

YOUR VIEW
New Bedford can do better ~ John Miller

Mr. Miller works as the director of operations for the UMass Dartmouth Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Center. He is a resident of Marion.

I am proud to consider myself a resident of the SouthCoast. I believe that the region must have cities as cultural and economic hubs, and one of those should be New Bedford. However, I think the city is failing in many ways and it deserves better leadership.

New Bedford is certainly a center for culture. UMass, the Whaling Museum, ArtWorks, and many others are doing wonderful things to make the downtown a destination for citizens of the region and tourists from other areas. Mayor Kalisz's administration has supported many of these efforts and he deserves part of the credit for the success. However, the city is failing economically and the mayor must take responsibility for that as well.

The economic challenges to any city are great, but one only has to look to Fall River to see a city that is making progress. My friends who live in the two cities are quick to point out their differences, but as someone from outside the region, I see two cities that share a rich cultural diversity, proud histories and many challenges. However, while New Bedford has lost population and employment, Fall River has gained (Census data not opinion). On a personal level, I know of two technology-based startups that were founded in New Bedford, wanted to stay in New Bedford, but felt they had to move to Fall River. Two other New Bedford companies are moving or expanding to Fall River. New Bedford's failure is worse when one considers that it is in spite of the success of the Industrial Foundation. It is also important to note that the rise in violent crime that has plagued New Bedford has not happened in Fall River. I believe the progress in Fall River is due to thoughtful and strong leadership from Mayor Edward Lambert. A comparison of Mr. Lambert to Mr. Kalisz is enlightening.

How do these two address a problem? When a liquefied natural gas terminal was proposed for Fall River, Mayor Lambert pulled people together, studied the problem and decided there were good reasons to oppose it. Many experts opposed LNG, but Mayor Lambert still took time to study it. When wind power was proposed for New Bedford, Mayor Kalisz rejected it without consideration. Most thoughtful people see the tremendous advantages of renewable energy, but the Kalisz administration rejected it without any study. I don't know what all the reasons for their actions were, but I do know that one mayor took a thoughtful and inclusive course, while the other's was divisive and uncompromising.

A second example: when Mayor Lambert decided that Fall River had enough low-income housing he made a very unpopular but courageous decision. He refused money from the state for more public housing. As hard as it is to believe that a politician would refuse money, he did.

The SouthCoast is a destination for people on public assistance as the costs for the state are lower here than in Boston. The one area of infrastructure in our region that the governor seems always ready to fund is more low-income housing and this appears to be the one area where Mayor Kalisz agrees with the governor. You can argue the merits on both sides of this issue, but you must agree that it was a courageous decision for Mayor Lambert. We see no such courage in New Bedford.

The Kalisz campaign's recent attack on Matt Morrissey's startup business experience is another example of “old style” politics at its worst. I suppose that a campaign with few accomplishments must resort to mud slinging, but this attack shows a lack of knowledge that probably explains much of the failure of the administration's economic policy. A fairer reading would say:

1) That Matt Morrissey had the courage to leave a good job and become part of a startup company is a sign of courage and should be celebrated, not demeaned. The Kalisz campaign shows its ignorance of startups and business in general when it criticizes such an effort.

2) That Mr. Morrissey's startup received venture capital funding shows that it had a good management team and a promising idea; venture capital firms are very selective and fund far less than 1 percent of companies they review.

3) That the product they made is still in use shows that the company was making a good product.

4) That the company was the victim of the “Dot Com” collapse merely tells us that it was caught, like many other companies, in a disastrous market.

Mayor Kalisz has done some good things for New Bedford and this summer we will hear many new promises, but a comparison to Fall River shows he could have done much more. I believe it is time for new thoughtful and courageous leadership, and that leadership is Matt Morrissey. I have worked with Matt and find him always interested in understanding both sides of problems and pulling people together to solve them. Certainly, Matt has shown courage when he gave up a good job to found a startup company and today as he is taking on the vested powers in New Bedford. New Bedford can do much better and with Matt Morrissey's leadership it will.

This opinion piece appeared in The Standard-Times on Aug. 10th, 2005.