Haller and Simonds square off for District 4

By Chet Williamson

It's early in the campaign, but two candidates running for the District 4 City Council chair are targeting each other, and hard. Both candidates recently launched their respective campaigns with fundraisers in the Main South neighborhood. Incumbent City Councilor Barbara Haller held hers at Gilrein's. Her opponent, Lynne Simonds, held hers at Stone Soup, the artist and activist organization on King Street. This is a race in which you're either for one or the other. There's not much middle ground.

Barbara Haller

"That is the fundamental difference," says School Committee member Joseph O'Brien, who lives in the district and supports Haller. "That is their disagreement. Lynne thinks that you should be able to site at will. Barbara has been a staunch advocate to say the district is oversaturated with social service programs, and that is pretty reflective of most of the folks who live in the district."

"The social service siting issue doesn't have to become a public slaughter," Simonds says. "In other words, they do good things for us too. It really isn't an issue that can't be directly addressed and corrected. The ones that are here can be supported and enforced. I think often times Barbara polarizes this issue. It doesn't need to be polarized. It needs to be worked through."

"I think polarization is Barbara's strategy," says Dr. Corey Dolgon, a sociology professor at Worcester State College. "Lynne has tried to come up with reasonable solutions to the PIP [People in Peril shelter on Main Street, long-fought by Haller and others]."

Dolgon doesn't live in the neighborhood, but in some ways, represents an increasingly active segment of the population that does. Because of the high concentration of social service agencies, the district has, in many ways, become a neighborhood of activists. Groups such as Stone Soup, Women Together and Real Solutions, are rallying behind Simonds as she challenges Haller for the second time. "There are a lot of people really excited that she is running," says Dayton Street resident Jen Solin, who supports Simonds. "I think Lynne is more in touch. She just doesn't show up so that people can see that she is at an event. She is the kind of person that literally gets inside the Dumpster and does whatever she can to make a difference."

Another question for both candidates could also be: Who really votes in District 4? It may be ethnically diverse, but according to a Haller supporter, voting records show primarily older white voters, who tend to be more conservative, which works in Haller's favor, who is seen as tough on crime and drugs.

Throughout her six years in office, Haller has, in her words, "taken the issues straight on." She also claims that her policy is making agencies think twice about siting in the area. "I call it ghetto-ization," she says. "I've maintained that the social services are wagging the dog in our city as opposed to our city identifying what its needs are. The recidivism rate around addiction and alcoholism is abysmal. We need to understand why that is and what are we doing wrong.

"Social service agencies are now more than ever looking to locate outside of District 4, because we have been able to articulate the message against overwhelming any one neighborhood and changing the character or future possibilities for that neighborhood."

Lynne Simonds

Haller counters, "People try to portray me as being insensitive and not liking poor people or homeless people. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is I want effective and efficient programs that deal with the issues. Not — if it's got ‘social service' next to its name, it's got to be a good program attitude."

While the siting issue will remain a hot button throughout the campaign, both candidates say there are many more pressing matters facing District 4. Haller says that local government must be an active partner in protecting and developing strong neighborhoods. "My slogan is ‘Moving Forward Together,' so it is not downtown versus the neighborhood. We are all working on improving our lives. My focus is what I call ‘a neighborhood voice' and quality-of-life issues. We have made progress, but there's still a huge amount of work left to be done."

Simonds says, "We need to open up the process. We need to hear from people. City Council needs to work on policy. We are supposed to be assisting the city manager. We are not supposed to just sit there and soak in what's being offered to us. That has to change, especially if you are going to be a city on the move. You have to feel part of the process. I hope that there will be several debates throughout the campaign with Barbara and I throughout the district so that people can see those differences."