WORCESTER—The City of Worcester and the Worcester Regional Research Bureau (WRRB) presents a State of the City Address on Wednesday, May 22, at the Jean McDonough Arts Center.
The event will include an address from City Manager Eric D. Batista, a dance performance from the Boys & Girls Club Dance Team “In Da Zone,” and a reception.
“This is a great opportunity to come together to celebrate the exciting developments of the city and its growing cultural diversity, and lay the foundation for the city’s future,” said City Manager Batista. “The City of Worcester is at a pivotal point with a growing population, demand for more housing, and a changing economy. It is critical that we work together to meet and rise above the complex challenges facing our community today.”
Batista, a native of Puerto Rico and long-term Worcester resident, joined the city manager’s office in 2012 as chief of operations and project management, later becoming director of the Office of Urban Innovation in 2019. He was promoted to assistant city manager in the fall of 2021, assumed the role of acting city manager in spring 2022, and was formally appointed city manager by the Worcester City Council on Dec. 6, 2022.
Batista talked recently with Radio Worcester’s “Talk of the Commonwealth” hosted by Hank Stolz about the upcoming state of the city address, particularly how he has been working within the city’s “Plan E” form of government constructs.
“I’m also the chief Executive officer of the city and my job is to lay out a vision, lay out areas and the things that I want to accomplish, what I think is important for the community,” Batista told Stolz, “but that doesn’t happen in a silo,…that happens with community conversations….going to neighborhood meetings…”
“The Bureau is honored to continue our tradition of presenting a State of the City address by Worcester’s City Manager,” commented WRRB Executive Director and CEO Paul Matthews in a press release. “This is an important opportunity for the community to hear directly from Worcester’s chief executive officer about his policy priorities, budgetary initiatives, and vision for the city’s future.”
Doors open at 5 p.m. and the event begins at 6 p.m.
