Office Of The Mayor
Thomas M. McMahon


Mayor’s Report To City Council
December 11th, 2006

Public Safety

I want to thank council for supporting our police officers by approving the legislation which will allow us to take advantage of the Governors grant for five new officers on the street. As I previously indicated, the ability to fund the ongoing cost of the officers with a ongoing revenue stream will give assurance to members of this community that council is doing what it needs to do to make the city safer.

I ask for your consideration tonight to give approval to the police contract that is on the agenda. The contract negotiations were long and intense, and I want to thank our Managing Director, the FOP under the leadership of Troy Heiser and the firms who assisted us in working out the details.

We in the administration think it is a fair contract, and allows the city to go forward aggressively with the crime fighting plan that Chief Heim put into place early this year. At the same time, there is ample incentive for our men and women on the force to be creative in their assignments and to benefit from an overall reduction in crime.

In two more areas we have made progress over the last several weeks, one is the issue of cameras and the other, the stolen vehicles.

A few of us visited the city of Lancaster about three weeks ago to review the operation of security cameras in the downtown area. We were impressed by the results that have come of that installation, and we continue to work with our peer cities on improving the security of our municipalities.

Over the next few weeks, we will be developing criteria for cameras in the downtown as an initial installation, as well as producing cost estimates for the capital investments and the ongoing operations and maintenance. Our goal is to produce a system that is flexible, that will not only in the prevention of crime and the apprehension of criminals, but also demonstrate in a meaningful way to the citizens of the area, that we are taking positive action to enhance the image of the city of Reading.

On the issue of stolen vehicles, as you know we have some of the worst statistics among our peer cities on a per capita basis. We have formed a stolen vehicle task force in the city to enhance the work of the regional stolen vehicle task force that law enforcement has participated in for many years.

Within the next few months, we will hold a VIN etching session for citizens who want to put their vehicle ID numbers permanently on their windows along with sticker IDs. We are also designing a decal program similar to the one used in Philadelphia which has driven auto thefts down a substantial amount over the past couple of years. I had the chance to talk to Mayor Street about it during this past weekend. We also talked about the effort needed to get illegal guns out of the hands of criminals and are looking for ways that the larger and smaller cities can work more closely together.

Public Works

This morning we held a press conference to tell the public about the progress at Angelica Park and the work that is going on for the environmental study area. I want to thank Charlie Jones and his staff for organizing the event, for the support of the community over this past five years and for their patience as we worked our way through the exhaustive process of getting permits from various environmental agencies, and at the same time getting a design done that is respectful of the environment. Design work was done by A.D. Marble and construction will be completed by E. Kuser, Inc.

I encourage our citizens to drive by Angelica and see the progress and to watch as the project unfolds over the next several months. If we are lucky enough to have a mild winter, we will see even more progress but at the very latest, the major portion of the work will be done in the spring.

As you know, this project coordinates very well with the work at Nolde Forest under the direction of Rachel Baur of DCNR, and has been helped immeasurably by much cooperation t between the city of Reading, Alvernia College, Albright College and the local business community. Mr. Serge Szortyka of Quaker Maid Meats, Dr. David Osgood of Albright College and Dr. Spence Stober of Alvernia College have provided valuable advice on the project and have already involved college students mentoring city elementary school students in the project.

I want to thank Council members Marcia Goodman Hinnerschitz and Dennis Sterner for attending and for offering positive remarks on the project.

Now that I have mentioned a mild winter, just in case we do not have one, we held a meeting today of our emergency committee today to review plans in case of major snowfalls this year. I want to thank Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Squibb who has shouldered this burden for the city for many years as our Emergency Management Coordinator. He has taken the assignment seriously and stays informed about the issues, and brings together the necessary parties to react to floods, snow storms and other emergencies.

Miscellaneous

We had the chance to meet at the new artists in residence projects on 908 N 8th street. This is a brainchild of Peg and Glen Spears who have taken two row homes, and worked with our codes department to create artists studios and artist in residence apartments for short stays for artists from outside the area. I thank them for their continuing involvement and support of the arts in Reading and wish them great success in their venture.

Thanks to all who helped make the Holiday Parade a big success again this year. Our Public Works crew provides assistance with the beautiful Christmas tree on Penn Square. Ms. Barbara Tarczynski did a great job as usual in chairing this annual event. We thank all who contribute as members of the committee to this great day in the City of Reading.

Lastly, on behalf of the City of Reading and our employees, I want to express our appreciation for being allowed to serve this great community. We certainly hope that everyone living and working in our City has a safe and joyful holiday season.