A message from the mayor

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By Mayor Robert J. Dolan

As the Massachusetts Legislature looks for alternatives to balance the state budget, talk of government reform permeates discussion at local coffee shops, soccer fields, and PTO meetings across the Commonwealth. The proposals presented by the governor and the legislature are important first steps. As a mayor, I deal with these issues first-hand every day, and I feel Beacon Hill must take additional measures in order to preserve our communities.

The first step must be health insurance reform. For many cities and towns, annual increases in health insurance costs swallow up any increase in revenue we can generate. I believe that communities whose health insurance costs exceed the cost of the state Group Insurance Commission (GIC) must move their insurance over to the GIC. This is one of the premiere health insurance programs in the nation, and Melrose saved $1.2 million this year alone by making this move.

Any community that does not enter the GIC must be awarded “Plan Design.” Plan design allows the chief executive of the community, with the approval of the selectmen or city council, to implement measures (like increased co-payments) that will keep costs in line with revenue growth. This is the exact same power the legislature has over state employees and the standard practice in the private and not for profit sectors.

The next step is pension reform. When the pension bubble pops, today’s cuts will look pleasant by comparison. First, exorbitant pension amounts need to be capped (exceeding $100,000).

To offset recent investment loss, the legislature needs to increase current employee contributions to the pension system from 11% to 13%. This is a small price for the unparalleled guarantees of this system.

Moving forward, a date must be set in the future after which all newly hired municipal and state employees will be offered a self-funded 401K plan instead of the current pension plan. This new self funded plan should include a government match that recognizes that most municipal and state employees do not qualify for Social Security. The Commonwealth, like companies in the private sector and nonprofits, must wean itself off this totally unsustainable pension system before it is too late. In addition, we must consolidate the state’s 146 pension boards under the state pension board. The teachers have one pension board that works well—why can’t the rest of us?

Finally, we must start regionalizing services rather than maintaining many small fiefdoms. The first priority must be the state wide regionalization of 911 dispatch operations. California has six regional 911 dispatch centers while Massachusetts has over 200. These regionalization efforts must be exempt from collective bargaining. There is simply no other way to accomplish it on the scale that is necessary. The Governor has begun this effort, with great initial success. I envision regional health departments, assessors, fire departments, animal control, veteran’s services, and information technology departments, to name a few. Melrose will save over $30,000 just by regionalizing our health department.

Those who oppose these or any reforms will call them anti-labor, draconian, and anti-worker. I would argue that organizations that promote and defend the status quo are the ones that truly deserve those slings and arrows. As a Democrat, I believe in the party’s commitment to building the middle class with good jobs, good wages, and secure benefits. The status quo has eliminated the good jobs with fair wages that supported my grandfather as a school custodian and my grandmother, a widowed mother of two, as a high school secretary. Those jobs, and thousands like them are gone, and they are never coming back. We must bring about fundamental change, starting now, to protect the jobs that remain today and the services that we cherish. The system is not only unsustainable for the long term, it is unsustainable today, and the citizens that are beholden to pay for it can not pay any more.

I believe only Democrats can successfully lead this pro-jobs reform platform. I have heard it said that only Nixon could open up China to the world, only Reagan could end the Cold War, only Clinton could reform welfare. Each brought a history to the issue they faced that allowed them more credibility to get the job done.

The Massachusetts Democratic Party’s long and storied commitment to working families gives it the opportunity to make these necessary changes. We are clearly at a crossroads for those who believe, like me, that government can work efficiently and solve problems; help those in need, and build a better tomorrow. The time to make these real reforms is now.

Melrose Mayor Robert J. Dolan is president of the Massachusetts Mayors' Association