X improvement Project Gets Underway

Springfield City Councilor Victor Davila told us he’s lived in that neighborhood all his life and he described the project as a necessary evil that will come with headaches, but it will be well worth the wait. “It’s just gradually getting worse. We have anywhere between 16,000 cars that come down Sumner Avenue each way and it’s just gradually getting worse. People are using it as a speedway and this is not a highway. This is a residential neighborhood. This is a historic district here and this is our home, so the techniques being used the widening of the street, it’s going to be a much better and safer for everyone,” he explained.

Councilor Victor Davila - The X is one of the top 10 most dangerous intersections in the state.

“This project is a need, not a want,” said City Councilor Victor Davila, who represents the Forest Park neighborhood. “The X is one of the top 10 most dangerous intersections in the state.”

But Davila said he knows it will cause years of disruption for residents and encouraged people to sign up to get alerts so they can be notified of construction areas to try to avoid. Or to simply plan for slowdowns.

“Bear with us. It is a safety project that needs to be done,” he said.

Councilor Victor Davila Advocates for Trenton St residents.

City Councilor Victor Davila, who represents the Forest Park area, believes this change is essential, especially on Trenton Street where there have been numerous accidents on this narrow street, and many neighbors have had their parked cars damaged.

“The resident sent out a letter to the City Council, expressing their concerns and they themselves made the necessary steps to go to the traffic commissioner and they started the petition,” Davila stated.

“When the residents get together, and they unite and speak, wonderful things can happen,” Davila emphasized.

X mark the spot for immediate approval

Ward 6 Councilor Victor Davila, who represents nearly all of the intersection, called the project “a need” not a want.

The “ultimatum,” as some councilors called it, rubbed several councilors the wrong way. Ward 6 Councilor Victor Davila, who represents nearly all of the intersection, called the project “a need” not a want. However, he did not like being given the bum’s rush.

“I don’t deal well with ultimatums,” he said, “I hate when people tell me if you don’t do this today, you can kiss it goodbye tomorrow.” Still, he did not seem interested in delaying a final vote.

Councilor Victor Davila Pushes for Cooling Center in Forest Park

Springfield City Councilor Victor Davila says it will provide much-needed relief for those living in and around Forest Park. “We have transportation issues here in the city are doing do have the ability to transport themselves to different locations. Yeah, we do have good PVTA in the area, but sometimes people don’t have the money for the PVTA here. So we need to ensure that we have locations that are easily accessible to different neighborhoods,” said Davila.

Councilor Davila introduces Ordinance for free on street parking for Veterans.

The ordinance will mean any veteran with an official state-issued veteran license plate can park at an expired meter without getting a ticket. The veteran is required to be driving the car at the time.

“It is a good way to say thank you to veterans,” City Councilor Victor Davila said.

Councilor Davila supports on duty injured Police Officer

A police detective whose career ended abruptly after he was hit in the head with a hammer will get his full salary and the pension he would have received if he was able to remain until his retirement.

The City Council voted to grant the benefits to Misael Rodriguez in a special act

Councilor Victor Davila Creates Pilot/Revenue Committee to help with Property Taxes.

“We face uncertain times and we are going to ask them to pitch in and do what is fair,” said City Councilor Victor Davila, who is heading up a committee of city finance officials, several councilors and two residents that is examining ways to reduce the tax burden on homeowners and businesses.

Councilor Davila introduces ordinance to raise illegal dumping fines.

Many of the people caught dumping live outside the city, City Councilor Victor Davila said at Monday’s discussion.

Deeply Concerned...give more Covid-19 attention to Western Mass.

The lead councilor, Victor Davila, said he learned of the Franklin County representative Wednesday, but believes there should be someone from the Springfield area, as being the third largest city in the state and being ranked among communities with the highest rate of the virus.

The one representative from Western Mass., is “not nearly enough,” Davila said.

“Springfield has been lagging behind in the fight on Covid-19, we seem to be an after thought when it comes to getting the resources we need to successfully fight this Pandemic,” Davila said, in a prepared release. “We lacked behind with Protective Personal Equipment for our Police Officers, no testing sites for at the initial critical stages of the Pandemic.”

Victor opposes methadone clinic bordering Forest Park

July 6, 2019

Springfield, Ma - Victor Davila in a community meeting with Mayor Sarno and other community leaders, expressed opposition to a proposed Methadone clinic bordering Forest Park. “It is a potential traffic nightmare...it will be a disaster waiting to explode,” he said. “Everyone wants to come here and this neighborhood can only handle so much.”

(Clink on title to read full article or click here) https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/05/springfield-south-end-residents-protest-planned-methadone-clinic.html

Op-ed on Fighting Blight in the City of Springfield

On July 27, Victor released an op-ed to The Republican and MassLive outlining his proposal for fighting blight within the City of Springfield.  The text is included below.

Dear editor,

Blight is a critical community issue in many ways.  Blight is directly associated with social, economic, and environmental issues in the community.  As the economy starts to turn downward, we tend to see an increase in abandoned and foreclosed properties—an open invitation to blight.

The causes of blight vary from city to city and even neighborhood to neighborhood, but many cities are dealing with blighted parcels as a result of some combination of “suburbanization,” population decline, job losses, foreclosures, and natural events that render structures or lots unusable.  If left unchecked, blight will devour any neighborhood.

Here in our beloved city of Springfield, great gains have been made in addressing blight.  Our code enforcement team does a great job in conjunction with the Police Department Ordinance Flex Squad in following up with vacant and blighted properties.  All great gains, but I believe we can do more.

We can improve this fight by identifying at-risk properties before blight takes hold.  I have personally seen four vacant and blighted properties in a relatively short distance from each other in a city neighborhood.  We must be more proactive on this front.

Here is what we can do.  We need a vacant property registry ordinance, aimed at requiring property owners to register vacant housing with plans to maintain the property.  This will ensure a safe and livable neighborhood.  This ordinance should include foreclosed properties and those in danger of becoming foreclosed.

We must also increase the amount charged in code enforcement fees when the city does maintenance on the property.  Current city ordinance (Chap. 285, Sec. 5A) allows the city to recover fifty percent of the fair market value for the maintenance performed on a blighted property by the city.  We must increase this amount to 100%.  This area is currently lost revenue for the city and is not a deterrent to the owner that lets the property become blighted.

Lowering blight will bring economic and social stability in the neighborhood and is a strong catalyst to reducing crime.  This would be one of my priorities if I am so fortunate to be elected to the Springfield City Council.

Victor Davila