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Worcester Magazine
WHAT THE CLUCK?: Politics is not for the weak or timid. It is a bloodsport where one has to be willing to take a pummeling from any and all directions. But there is one issue so divisive, so heated, that Worcester city officials have sidestepped it for years, quickly dodging and hiding as soon as it rears its ugly head. What is this third rail of Worcester electoral politics that causes so much political carnage that it s usually shuffled out of sight almost as soon as it s raised? Is it residential vs. commercial real estate tax? Defunding the police? Sex education? Well, yes. Actually all of those, but also … backyard chicken farming. It s an issue that brings strife every time it arises, revealing political fault lines, fracturing friendships, ruining reputations … and now it s back. According to an article in the Telegram & Gazette by Steve Foskett, “Members of the Planning Board said Wednesday they liked the idea of reviving a discussion about allowing
Worcester Magazine
DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN: Reading accounts by Telegram City Hall reporter Steve Foskett and former Worcesteria columnist Bill Shaner about the Planning Board review of the proposed Amazon Warehouse at the site of the deceased Greendale Mall, I was struck by the situation s familiarity. Corporate predators such as Amazon have long insinuated their selves into Worcester, as they have almost everywhere in the country, usually scoring tax credits for promising jobs that always turn out to be insufficient and underwhelming. Amazon, particularly, has had issues with low pay and back-breaking labor conditions, so it s easy to see why many want no part of them, although those same people aren t canceling their Prime subscriptions. (Mine just recommended Rules for Radicals by Saul D. Alinsky. I think our corporate overlords have developed a sense of humor.) But as Shaner points out, none of that s the purview of the Planning Board, so the warehouse is probably going thro