In honor of Sunshine Week, The Research Bureau offers a brief overview of public access to government in Massachusetts and considerations for improvement.

The City of Worcester is home to a significant number of public parklands, but available funding has not kept pace with park expansion and needed maintenance. This brief reviews the potential of park conservancies – private non-profit entities that assume management and maintenance of public parklands – to improve Worcester’s signature parks and create new opportunities for public engagement.

The City of Worcester, as established by the City Charter, is known as a modified Plan E form of government which is a Council-Manager form of government with a popularly elected Mayor. The Worcester Public Schools is a quasi-independent department of the City.

Over the years, Worcester has been home to many foreign-born residents. Since 1980, the City has experienced a renewal in the arrival of immigrants and refugees.

The City of Worcester, like most municipalities, has struggled with outstanding pension and other post-employment benefit (OPEB) liabilities. While the City is engaged on a plan to fund its pension obligations by 2032, there is no plan in place to address the more than $727 million owed for OPEB, which mainly consists of retiree health care costs.

Non-profit organizations are recognized as important elements in a community’s social, cultural, educational, and civic framework. As such, they are given unique rights under both Federal and State law. These rights exempt them from certain municipal regulations and obligations. Our latest Bureau Brief - Non-Profits and Municipal Authority reviews a non-profit’s exceptional status when it comes to local control.

Unable to attend our 2014 Annual Meeting? Read our Bureau Notes to learn what you missed.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 7:45-9:15 a.m. Worcester City Hall, Levi Lincoln Room

This report addresses a crisis local governments are facing across the nation: how to pay for OPEB – "other post-employment benefits" that were promised to retirees in better fiscal times.

October 23, 2012 Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences