Winter 2007

Performance pacts offer energy upgrades for (almost) nothing

By Andreae Downs Energy, Municipal Government 0 Comments Jan 25, 2007

INTRO TEXT it sounded almost too good to be true, the way the young man speaking before Newton’s board of aldermen described how improvements to crumbling firehouses and neglected school buildings could basically pay for themselves. The source of the fiscal magic? Performance contracting. Under a performance contract, clients use savings on utility bills to(...)

Politics

ACTIVISTS, NOT MAYOR, CHANGE NEW BEDFORD

By CommonWealth Staff Municipal Government 0 Comments Jan 25, 2007

Your article on the mayors of New Bedford and Fall River (“Bright Lights, Little Cities“) is well-written, but there is a message that is lost, and those of us who are considered activists see it as a glaring omission. The biggest hurdle through all these decades has been that “our leaders” have always had very(...)