Mayor's race heating up
By Doug Grindle Community Reporter

Marlborough - The political campaign season is beginning to heat up in Marlborough as a new candidate for mayor officially jumps into the race this month.

Patrick Hogan will declare his race for the city's top office with a campaign kick-off event Friday July 13. He will face off against incumbent Mayor Nancy Stevens.

Hogan has been working on his campaign for several months already, and said he is beginning to pick up support.

"I've got younger people coming up to me and they are registering to vote because they want to be involved with the campaign," Hogan said.

Stevens said she welcomes an opponent in the race.

"In terms of competition, that is what government is all about," she said.

Hogan said he is running for mayor because there is waste in the administration of the city government. He said the city is using tax dollars poorly, and there is duplication. Were Hogan to win the mayor's office, he said some officials would lose their jobs.

"Some people might get cut in the process," Hogan said. "You've got to do it. I can't say who or when."

In criticizing the current administration, Hogan pointed to the Financial Management Review completed in December 2006 by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue's Division of Local Services.

The review made 23 recommendations that Marlborough could take to improve city services. It recommended adding computer training for staff , recommended that the city purchase and install scanners in the collector's office, and consolidate and reorganize the finance departments, among others.

Hogan charges the report has effectively been shelved.

Stevens said it takes time for her and the City Council to implement the proposals.

"Just because we are not out there talking about things does not mean that we are not researching them," Stevens said. "If you look at the reorganization of the information technology department and legal department and look at the budgeting process, I think we have made great strides in that process, and more strides in terms of efficiencies in the last 18 months than we have in the years prior."

Hogan said he would like to see the review implemented more quickly, and would bring together as many voices as possible in the city to make that happen.

"I would take the management review; I would review it with a citizens' panel," Hogan explained. "I would get people together, not just the 'in crowd' in City Hall. We'd come up with a plan, and if we had to restructure the organization we would do that."

Hogan said with the upcoming upgrades required at the city's wastewater treatment plants, Marlborough needs to ensure it is conserving money as best it can.

"We need every penny we can find and we are wasting it," he said.

To pay for the upgrades, the city councilors considered a bond bill of $41 million at the last council meeting June 25, but the proposal was voted down. A similar amount may be required to pay for upgrades to the easterly wastewater treatment plant. The work is scheduled to be completed between 2008 and 2012.

Hogan, 38, currently serves as a policeman with the Marlborough Police Department and is the president of the patrolman's union. He said if he is elected he would take a leave of absence from the force, which he said is allowed by state law, for his first term.

"I'll forgo the Police Department," Hogan said.

Hogan is a lifelong resident of Marlborough.

"My family goes back generations," he said. "I've lived in Marlborough my whole life."

Hogan's campaign kick-off event will be held July 13 at 8 p.m. at Speakers nightclub in downtown Marlborough. The campaign Web site is at www.hogan4mayor.org.