Madame Mayor

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Transcript of Mayor Carolyn Comitta

Happy New Year, Borough of West Chester! We can be happy and proud today. West Chester is the envy of towns all across America! We are a county seat; we host one of the nations premier state universities; our school district is tops and our citizens are caring and capable. Our diverse communities are closely interconnected. Our challenges affect us all. And our successes benefit us all.As your Mayor, I will focus on three key initiatives to support my campaign pledge of a West Chester that is “Safe, clean and green”:

My first priority will be safety and economics:

The goal is to keep West Chester a safe place. People love to live, work, learn and visit West Chester because they feel comfortable and safe.

The Mayor’s primary role is to oversee the administration of the West Chester Police Department. The mission of the West Chester Police Department, a law enforcement agency dedicated to the highest standards of professionalism and integrity, is to protect and serve our diverse communities by forging collaborative relationships.

West Chester is extremely fortunate to have one of the most professional, capable and caring police departments in the nation.

The Mayor has a unique opportunity to strengthen and build those collaborative relationships that are key to creating a West Chester that is a great place to live, work, learn and visit.

One of my first initiatives will be to introduce myself in my new role and to listen to members of our diverse communities… our citizens, our University and school district our businesses and non profits, our County and our neighboring municipalities. Listen to better understand the issues of concern and ideas for the future.

“Safety and Economics”… A prosperous community supports a safe community.

It’s a tough economy - even though West Chester has fared much better than many towns, it’s still tough times for locally owned businesses.

**With an eye to prosperity for all in 2010, I am launching the “West Chester 3/50 project”, which will take place in West Chester this year.**

The idea behind the “3/50″ project is to support locally owned businesses: retail, restaurants and services.

Here’s how it works: For example, I choose 3 locally owned West Chester businesses that I would really miss if they were gone. I stop in and say “hello”and pick up a little something - maybe spend $50 or so a month in these 3 shops.

“WC 3/50″ will help our shops and is also a great way to support the health of the entire community. Did you know that for every $100 spent in locally owned stores, $68 returns directly to the community! And most of our businesses give back to the community through donations, in-kind services and volunteer hours that support community programs. After all, West Chester is their home!

Second, I will focus on Transparency:

The goal is that all of West Chester’s people will have all the information they need to make well-informed decisions that will improve our community.

This is the time to have everyone connected: from the President of the United States down, the focus today is on open communication - transparency.

Communication allows transparency … and good government needs transparency!

The only way to not repeat mistakes is to understand them. I would like to see this for West Chester.

**In 2010 I will form a Mayor’s Communications Committee. The committee will review what is working and recommend ways to enhance communication in our community. **

A special focus of the Mayor’s Communications Committee will be to implement the recommendations of the “Communications Task Force” of our Police Department’s Strategic Plan - to implement the plan the people of West Chester created.

**I am very excited to announce that the new West Chester Police Department website is almost ready to go live and will be launched in early 2010. **

**Another exciting project I would like to see for West Chester is the creation of local “Public Educational and Government TV”. PEG TV would be a great tool to involve people.

Maybe we will start small with educational TV first, then build on our successes and add government and public access over time. I hope West Chester will be able to focus on the best practices of PEG TV already in place in other communities and will urge West Chester’s Borough Council and educational leaders to work together to explore the reasibility of PEG access.

My third focus will be on Knowledge and Learning:
The goal is to educate ourselves individually and as a community - to understand the issues and to create effective, sustainable solutions.

I will support ongoing education and training for the officers of the West Chester Police Department, and will continue to participate personally in leadership and best practices programs.

I will work with the Mayor’s Communications Committee to consider such initiatives as an annual town meeting, and forums on timely topics.
Conclusion:

By focusing on safety and economics, transparency and knowledge and learning, our citizens will be empowered to come together and develop effective initiatives that will lead to a West Chester that is safe, clean and green.

Each of us has a responsibility to leave something to posterity - to improve things for our children’s future.

I look forward to working together with all West Chester citizens and neighbors to protect and improve the lives of our residents. And to make West Chester an even better place to live, work, learn, and visit.

I wish everyone a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year!
Thank you very much!
(toast)

“Happy New Year to the people of West Chester… who are the reason West Chester has been called ‘one of the world’s most perfect small towns.’”

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Notable Accomplishments 2006 - 2007

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008
  • As Planning, Zoning, Business & Industrial Development (PZBID) Chair, organized and convened West Chester Workshop #1:
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    • April 1, 2006 “Prioritizing Borough Initiatives for 2006-2007″ creating a list of initiatives that has been a useful reference to Council and the public over the past two years. (At no cost to the Borough) Over 100 in attendance including Borough elected and appointed officials, heads of all Borough Departments, Borough Manager, Borough Solicitor, WCU, business and community leaders, residents.
      • Environmental issues were identified unanimously as the number one issue of concern. This led to the formation of the BLUER (Borough Leaders United for Emissions Reduction) Committee in 2007. BLUER’s mission is to help our entire community-including our municipal and county government operations, residents, businesses, and nonprofits-reduce greenhouse gas pollution 10% over 2005 levels by the year 2015. www.wcbluer.org

      • The ENERGY STAR program all but ensures that these buildings will be among the most energy efficient in the country. To earn the ENERGY STAR label, a building must be in the top 25% of similar buildings nationwide in terms of overall energy efficiency. “Borough Council’s unanimous vote demonstrates our commitment to a greener, more sustainable West Chester through a common-sense program that conserves energy. There are no drawbacks to anyone, only positive actions for our economy and our environment,” says Councilwoman Carolyn Comitta, who was instrumental in ‘greening’ West Chester’s conditional use criteria.

        WC Energy Star Press Release
  • As PZBID Chair, organized and convened West Chester Workshop #2:
    • Sept 2006, “Building Heights in the Borough” as well as several follow-up ad hoc meetings leading to successfully amending the Borough height ordinance with a unanimous vote by Council, June 2007. (At no cost to the Borough
  • Chaired the University Area Neighborhood Task Force
    • March 2006 through Sept 2007 leading 12 community representatives in the successful process of developing practical, actionable recommendations for improving the quality of life in our university area neighborhood and the Borough’s downtown. (At no cost to the Borough)
  • Convened Ad Hoc Committee
    • Residents who volunteered their time to review and improve the Standards & Criteria for the Height Overlay District, Summer/Fall 2007, passed unanimously by Council, December 2007. (At no cost to the Borough)
  • Facilitated meetings between Borough representatives and West Chester Area Housing Association resulting in a compromise agreement on a rental fee formula.
  • Was awarded a position on the NLC’s Leadership Training Council 2007 and 2008.
  • Member of the steering committee of the NLC’s University Communities Council, 2007 and 2008.
  • Convened meetings between WCU officials and area residents to attempt to resolve the conflict over a proposed university parking garage in a residential neighborhood. The meetings resulted in WCU instituting annual informational town meetings held each July for the purpose of presenting university campus plans and to encourage timely dialogue between the university and its neighbors.

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