Worcester Candidate Profile: Gary Rosen For City Council

WORCESTER, MA — With the Worcester preliminary out of the way, the city's at-large candidate pool shrunk from 15 to 13. The field of 13 candidates will battle it out in the polls in November when just six spots will remain. Worcester's general election will be Nov. 5.

Worcester Patch asked candidates in the contested races to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Gary Rosen, 74, is running for an at-large City Council seat. Rosen is a retired high school chemistry teacher and one of the sitting at-large councilors in the city. He previously he served as a member of the Worcester School Committee and is a former District 5 City Councilor.

Are you running for office in Worcester? Contact Samantha Mercado at samantha.mercado@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Worcester Patch.

Previously on Patch: Worcester Preliminary Has Small Turnout, Familiar Faces Advance

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Like all American cities, Worcester faces many challenges and pressing issues. Certainly among them is keeping the city affordable for all its residents. To do so, in voting Worcester's dual tax rates (residential vs commercial), I shall continue to vote for a favorable residential tax rate - one that allows people to buy, own and remain in their homes.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I am the only person ever who has served as a Worcester School Committee member and both a District and an At-Large City Councilor. So I have the experience and institutional knowledge to continue to serve the residents, business owners, city and private employees and our students.

With character, integrity and compassion, I have earned a reputation of always helping the youth and adults of our city. And as a retiree, I basically serve as a full-time city councilor.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

If re-elected, I will continue to work: to provide sufficient funding for public schools, public safety and street and sidewalk resurfacing; to reduce the amount of litter and dumping throughout the city; to bring more investment, businesses and jobs to the city; to keep our senior citizens active, healthy, hopeful and safe; to synchronize traffic lights and control the speed of traffic on residential streets; to open more rectangular fields to accommodate soccer and other sports

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

After years of neglect by the city, I am quite proud of working both as a district city councilor and a founding member of the Coes Zone Task Force to make major improvements to John Binienda Memorial Beach at Coes Pond. I also worked closely with the aforementioned group to help plan and design neighboring Coes Park, a unique state-of-the-art, universally-accessible and multi-generational park and playground. And the historic Stearns Tavern, which was moved to Coes Park and rebuilt in all its former splendor, recently opened.

For the past six years, I have served as the Chair of the council's Youth, Parks and Recreation Committee. That committee has been instrumental in leading the phenomenal and unprecedented growth and development of our parks system.

Over the years, I have earned a reputation for timely and responsive constituent service. I see myself as a public servant so anytime I can assist residents and business owners to cut through red tape and find acceptable solutions to their problems, I do that.

If re-elected, I shall continue my tireless efforts to improve the WRTA bus company by making sure it has adequate funding, increased ridership, possibly a fare-free system and routes that serve the public.

I also want to take a thorough look at the contract that the city has with Spectrum/Charter Communications. That company's Worcester subscribers appear to be paying much too high prices for TV, internet and telephone service.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

by my dad: Always be wise, grateful and humble.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I hope the voters see me as being capable, sensible, honest and worthy of their vote on Election Day.