Agawam City Council
BOB ROSSI
Bob Rossi
Constable
Investigative & Security Consulting Services
Real Leadership, Real Results
Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.
"Warren buffet"
There are endless number of issues that our community faces. And, how we decide to tackle them as a community is incredibly important.
Education, Public Safety, and the ecomony are certainly on top of the list; however, there are many of other issues that families and neighborhoods face daily that need to be addressed that the City Council can help solve.
I pride myself on strategic thinking, integrity and a belief in a true partnership with you, the community; making a difference by contributing tangible and predictable results to our future.
"Lets do it together"
LIST OF ISSUES
Budget Reform
There is a need to incorporate Performance-Based/ Line Item Budgeting:
Performance budgets uses statements of missions, goals and objectives to explain why the money is being spent, which focuses on results. It is a more accountable and cost effective use of tax dollars than the present budgeting practices. Taxpayers will pay for results, not guess work. In the ideal, this budget system requires measurement of results, outcomes, and impacts on the community, allowing for transparency and clarity, thus creating better communication between the Mayor's office and the City council.
S.W. Sewer Project
This project is a key element to the future of Agawam's financial stability. It will not only bring relief to those in desperate need of sewer services, but it will also increase property values and open endless opportunities for new growth and expand our tax base. Once completed, this project will give Agawam a clear road to financial independence and less reliant of diminishing state and federal aid. Although temporarily stalled, I still remain hopeful to it’s completion.
While the Administrative Committee is presently in favor of sewers, we respect the fact that some homeowners, for whatever their reasons, will not want sewers. Our goal in making this information available is simply to provide you with clear and accurate information you can use as you decide which option is right for you.
Please contact me directly or through this web-site for more information. Do not allow yourself to be held hostage in you own home through Title (5) five restrictions.
Education
.A priority for Agawam is the need for a new Early Childhood Center. The present center no longer has the necessary space to adequately provide for the necessary programs and services. The long range school committee has been studing this for quite some time now. This should be one of the districts top prorities.
The benefits are very clear:
The government spends on education: about 5.5 percent of the nation’s economic output in total, from preschool through college.
The debate over how to improve the nation’s mediocre education —has fallen short— they’re missing the most important element: infants and toddlers. Early education is an essential piece if we are going to have a better education system.
Investments in the early education of children pay extremely high returns down the road. It improves not only their cognitive abilities but also crucial behavioral traits like sociability, motivation and self-esteem.
The studies that have followed children through their adult lives confirm enormous payoffs, whether measured in improved success in college, higher income or even lower incarceration rates.
The costs of not making these investments are clear, if children keep arriving in school with deficits such as, math, reading or behavioral skills needed to start kindergarten, no amount of money or teacher evaluations may be enough to improve their lot later in life.
Children educated at an early age by and large benefit in: improved social skills, less or no need for special education instruction during later school years, better grades. They usually graduate from high school, attend college, have fewer behavioral problems, and do not become involved with crime in their adolescent and young adult years.
Enviornment/Energy conservation
A present member of the Agawam Energy Conservation Commission, we address issues of conserving energy in Agawam’s public buildings, as well as in the daily operations of providing city services. We need to continue to provide viable recommendations which focuses on ideas on creating a “Greener” and more “Efficient” Agawam. In April of 2011, I sponsored a Resolution to make Agawam by proclamation a Energy Efficient Community to be known as a "GREEN COMMUNITY". In addition, In recognition of our natural resources and state parks I sponsored "Robinson Park Day in Agawam honoring the friends of "ROBINSON STATE PARK", with special events and field and Bio-tech studies on the first Saturday in June every year; both of which were approved by the City Council and the state legislature.
At present there is much controversy over the use of large scale solar projects here in Agawam. There are those that believe that we should weaken our zoning laws to allow a less restrictive land use to accommodate the private developers; a view I vehemently oppose. When this city adopted the Green Communities Act, it agreed to set aside a zone that would allow for such large scale projects over one acre in size as a condition for achieving this status. Agawam agreed to set aside Industrial Zone as a by- right- zone for such use where any unreasonable regulation would be prohibited within that zone. Currently, there are no other zones in Agawam that would allow large scale use of solar installations, Agriculture, Residential and Business zones are all allowed use zones; large scale solar use is not one of them and any attempt to change that would be a detriment to our neighborhoods and the community
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