WORCESTER – As the Worcester municipal election day creeps closer, the Worcester Guardian reached out to candidates in contested races. Asking each a set of questions, the Guardian will publish these responses through election day (Nov. 7).
Donna Colorio is running for councilor-at-large/mayor as an independent.
The following are Colorio’s responses to the Guardian’s questionnaire:
What inspired you to run, and what makes you the right person for the job?
I am running because I have represented Worcester residents for many years in capacities as vice chair, city councilor, chair of traffic and parking as well as a school committee member and I have a great sense of what the residents and businesses of Worcester needs and wants. Worcester needs a mayor and city councilor who understands the needs within Worcester.
As a small business owner and former adjunct professor for over 30 years, I bring experience, common sense, and fiscal responsibility to the city council. I desire to ensure the stability of Worcester’s future – our small businesses and residents. As I travel throughout Worcester door knocking and addressing constituent services, I listen to the small business owners and residents. One of the biggest concerns is their continued affordability to live and work in the city they love. As a business owner and lifelong resident of Worcester, I understand their concerns and continue to seek ways to help reduce costs and business expenses.
My vision for Worcester is to be a city where those who work in the city can live in the city. To accomplish this, we need the taxes to remain reasonable. I will vote accordingly. I am a candidate for the people of Worcester, not for any special interest group. I support small businesses. I vote for common sense.
What are, or should be, the city council/mayor’s top priorities?
I believe the city council and mayor’s priorities should be multifaceted. We need to ensure that Worcester remains affordable and continue our economic development within the city. We must support small businesses within our city. And, as always, a top priority needs to be the safety of our businesses and residents. This includes supporting our police and fire services.
Ensuring that Worcester remains affordable to businesses and residents is of top importance to me. Nearly every person I talk with is concerned with skyrocketing prices. As a business woman and business owner, I understand budgeting and will continue to seek fiscal responsibility within the city.
We need to continue our progress of economic development and supporting small businesses while we seek increased housing investment, both affordable and market rate, within Worcester. In order to move Worcester forward, these must be top priorities.
The safety of our residents and businesses is of paramount importance to me. I have been a vote of common sense – I will never vote to defund our police or fire services. In my opinion, one of the biggest reasons for city government is to keep residents and businesses safe. I also am an advocate (and voted accordingly) to have police in our schools. I would like to return to this policy – our children and teachers need to be safe within the schools. We also need to address homelessness and mental health concerns. This is an ongoing issue that we need to prioritize higher.
What’s the most negative impression of Worcester (whether real or imagined), and how do you think this can be remedied?
My children went to public schools. I support the public schools. A negative, imagined impression is that our schools are not good. I believe we have many fabulous public school teachers. My children and many others have become very successful as a result of the great work of so many of these teachers. Maybe we could launch a campaign of our public school success stories as one way to help remedy this negative perception.
Do you think the city is responding appropriately to immigration to Worcester? Is the city meeting the needs of the influx of refugees?
I don’t know of any negative issues within the city regarding immigration into Worcester. We have services set up in various agencies to support their needs, which I believe are working well. We, at city council, have not been involved in the discussion or housing response regarding the refugees and therefore I am not aware of the needs or services.I am concerned at the potential loss of hotel space within the city. Reading about what happened near Gillette Stadium concerns me. I know this is worrisome to our businesses also. Will this happen to Worcester? I hope not.
Now that we’re several seasons in, what are your thoughts on the city’s investment in Polar Park? Good or bad for the city?
Polar Park has brought a lot of interest to the city. Investors have developed and continue to develop housing and businesses around the area. We took a failing area and have improved it. That being said, I also hear from many locals that parking remains a significant issue and it needs to be addressed.
What are, or should be, the top priorities at this time for the city council/mayor?
I believe the city council and mayor’s priorities should be multifaceted. We need to ensure that Worcester remains affordable and continue our economic development within the city. We must support small businesses within our city. And, as always, a top priority needs to be the safety of our businesses and residents. This includes supporting our police and fire services.
Ensuring that Worcester remains affordable to businesses and residents is of top importance to me. Almost every person I talk with is concerned with skyrocketing prices. As a business woman and business owner, I understand budgeting and will continue to seek fiscal responsibility within the city.
We need to continue our progress of economic development and supporting small businesses while we seek increased housing investment, both affordable and market rate, within Worcester. In order to move Worcester forward, these must be top priorities.
The safety of our residents and businesses is of paramount importance to me. I have been a vote of common sense – I will never vote to defund our police or fire services. In my opinion, one of the biggest reasons for city government is to keep residents and businesses safe. I also am an advocate (and voted accordingly) to have police in our schools. I would like to return to this policy – our children and teachers need to be safe within the schools.
We also need to address homelessness and mental health concerns. This is an ongoing issue that we need to prioritize higher.
Where do you think the city council has been failing, or coming up short?
I believe we need to have a very lean budget. Like our residents, we need to cut out the fat. We need to ensure that our resources are spread out to support the priorities.
What’s the best place for breakfast or lunch in the city?
BirchTree Bread Company
What’s the last concert you attended?
Barney (LOL)
Charlene Arsenault can be reached at carsenault@theworcesterguardian.org
