Office Of The Mayor
Thomas M. McMahon


Mayor’s Report To City Council
January 9th, 2006

McMahon Plan for Reading

This administration will continue to address issues coming to the forefront of my attention in terms of the four major tenets of the McMahon Plan. The major elements of the plan are:

1. Crime and Public Safety issues
2. Economic Development
3. Building neighborhoods
4. City Finances

Crime and Public Safety

1) We met with students of Reading High School last week and discussed essays they had written on the reality and perception of crime in the city. While several students expressed their satisfaction with the condition in the city, others were concerned about the image of the city, cleanliness and the number of vacant buildings offering opportunities for criminal activity. We discussed initiatives that we are working on, as well as our continuing efforts to find adaptive reuse for buildings, especially in the outlet center.

2) Last week our monthly BCTV program was devoted to the upcoming Citizens Police Academy, the spring session which will start on March 20 of this year. This Academy is intended to give an overview to citizens of how the legal system works, to understand aspects of policing and to have the experience of working with officers on an actual ride along. It is free and open to the citizens of Reading 18 years and older, who must submit to a criminal background check. The course runs for 10 weeks, meeting one night per week for tow hours at the Reading Police Academy at Alvernia College. More information can be obtained from Sgt Spotts, our Director of Training at 610-655-6332. Or citizens can read the latest Mayors blog on the Reading Eagle web site. We also have copies in the back of Council Chambers for those attending tonight’s meeting. Our goal is to get a diverse number of applications to inform and educate all regions of the city.

Economic Development

1) We had a preliminary meeting today on Riverplace Drive to the Riverfront Commerce Center. Although I may have been optimistic in my projections as noted in a recent newspaper article, I am confident we can work with PennDOT and the Federal Transportation agencies, as well as the DEP to be sure we observe all the procedures, while at the same time expediting the process of design and construction. We are in touch with the offices of Senator Santorum, Congressman Gerlach and Congressman Pitts who have helped secure the funds.

2) Representatives of the Initiative for a Competitive Greater Reading and the Administration will be meeting with PennDOT next week to discuss implementation of a new lighting project for the Penn Street bridge and the Penn St corridor. Charlie Jones, our Director of Public Works will be joining me, along with Jerry Johnson of the ICGR, who I have asked to spearhead the project.

3) All the documents for the funding of the Goggle Works Arts Center and the Sovereign Plaza have been signed. Fund raising for a capital campaign for the Goggle Works is well underway with the intent to pay back the Section 108 loan to HUD at the earliest possible time so as to allow us to leverage more funds for development in the city.

Neighborhoods

1) Neighborhood groups have been using the winter months to plan projects for the spring. There are a number of block cleanups being organized, as well as locating areas for new community gardens. I encourage anyone interested in volunteering to contact Wayne Cockrell at the 11th and Pike playground.

2) We have a volunteer from the community, Barry Miller, who is helping to reform the Blighted Property Review Committee and to make suggestions of other housing initiatives by working with our Community Development staff to implement some of the programs that we announced last year.

3) You will soon see some activity in front of the Pagoda as we begin clearing out scrub trees to open the views in anticipation of opening a new coffee shop and gift shop in the spring. We have made arrangements with a local paper company to help remove the trees and recycle them, thereby lowering the cost to us of the clearing.

4) Our Shade Tree Commission is working on a plan to use the recently passed .1 mil to obtain leverage from state funding, and also will be concentrating on the trimming of tress that present a safety hazard, especially those areas of the city where street lighting is blocked by the trees. We have not had the resources to do this in the past, and it will not be done overnight, or even in one season, but you will begin to see some real progress in this area over the next few years.

5) Thanks to the Berks Business Executives Forum Fund of the Berks County Community Foundation for the recent check in the amount of $10,000 to support staff training. Often in hard fiscal times, resources like training are cut and I appreciate the recognition from our business partners that these resources are vital for the City’s organizational improvement.

6) Thanks to Pastor Opalinsky and his congregation for their use of Trinity Church for the swearing in ceremony on January 2, 2005. My thanks to former Councilpersons Angel Fiqueroa and Michael Schorn for their years of service to the City and I would like to personally welcome both Councilman Stephen Fuhs and Councilman Strattron Marmalou to this Council.