By AARON NICODEMUS, Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD -- Candidate Matthew A. Morrissey has proposed completing a master plan for the entire city in 160 days if he is elected mayor.

"We have been waiting for eight years for a master plan," he said, referring to the number of years that Mayor Frederick M. Kalisz Jr. has been mayor. "We don't have any more time to waste."

He said the plan will focus on "a clear and measurable citywide vision implemented through individual 'neighborhood development plans,' generated from input from citizens and property owners."

Mr. Morrissey said the lack of a master plan leaves neighborhoods vulnerable to "misguided development." He cites the Home Depot/Fairhaven Mills project as one example.

"In this case, the question should not have been, 'Home Depot or not?' but rather, 'How should this space be developed?' and 'In relation to what?'" he wrote. "Neighborhood residents should not be forced to react to surprise proposals where they are pitted against a national corporate identity, hoping that what's being proposed can fit in and be a good neighbor. The developer should be reacting to, and working within, the framework of the 'neighborhood development plan.'"

He said every development in the city should have to answer a basic question: "Does this fit in with what we envision and what we have planned for?"

As part of a plan to "restore neighborhoods and address fundamental challenges," Mr. Morrissey has proposed more aggressively taking tax-delinquent properties and selling them to people who want to buy a house.

He criticized Mayor Kalisz for creating a "bottleneck" in which City Solicitor Matthew J. Thomas is performing the "functional roles of city solicitor, chief of staff, chief of economic and community development, and primary land court attorney."

He has proposed re-establishing a tax title attorney for the city, and setting up an internship program for third-year law students who would help push tax title properties through land court. Once the properties were successfully seized for back taxes, the city would then "strive to put them in the hands of new homeowners."

Mr. Morrissey also proposed a program in which residents on fixed or low incomes could qualify for an abatement on their tax bills in return for volunteer service. "Volunteers could provide a range of services in our neighborhoods, such as serving as captains of neighborhood watch groups, staffing city-run events and festivals, and serving as crossing guards," he wrote.

Another proposal is to open public schools from 2:30 to 8 p.m. several days a week.

He wants to "encourage and offer incentives" for vibrant neighborhood groups by "tying increased neighborhood association membership to neighborhood association funding." The money would be a combination of city and private nonprofit grants.

This story appeared in The Standard Times on August 17th, 2005