Worcester Headed for Bankruptcy?

Following on this comment to my earlier post regarding Worcester having to close schools due to financial difficulties, I was intrigued to see what the anonymous poster was referring to when s/he said that Worcester was headed towards bankruptcy if the firefighter contract is not settled. (BTW, have the cohones to ID yourself or at least give some name, even if you - like I - don't want to reveal your true identity).

I looked at the T&G website and have to correct the anonymous commenter: this assertion was NOT made by "the T&G" but rather was made by columnist Robert Nemeth in his column from Sunday, April 9th.

That said, even taking Nemeth's column for what it is - opinion and not news - it does not present the rosy picture of Worcester that has been emanating from that city's muncipal leaders.

In that column, Nemeth quotes from remarks made by MA Secretary of Administration and Finance Thomas Trimarco at a forum hosted by the Worcester Research Bureau. At the forum, Trimarco

delivered a stern warning: "You are on an unsustainable road. Unless you turn around, you’ll be Springfield-like. Your stability factor is zero."

If this is true and the City's finances are not in good shape, then this could have a huge impact on Mayor Murray's statewide aspirations. If Worcester is the Enron of Massachusetts municipal finance...

Now, Trimarco's comments must be taken with multiple gains of salt. For one, he is a Republican. He has served in the Malone (as Deputy Treasurer) and Romney administrations. 'Nuff said. Second, he has just come off of a stint on Springfield's Finance Control Board. While this would appear to give him credibility on the subject, it also clouds his judgment: he saw the worst of the worst over in Springfield. Unless Worcester's municipal leaders are papering over their problems, or unless they are oblivious to their problems, Trimarco's comments may not hold as much water as Nemeth would like them to.

That all being said, if Worcester's fiscal situation is as precarious as this column indicates, watch out - that thing falling on your head might be the Murray campaign's chances in September. If Murray can't repair his own ship's leaking holes, how can he be trusted to repair the damage inflicted by the Romney Healey nightmare? I'm sure we'll hear more about this in the coming months.