A Sneak Peek at Plymouth's 2009

Year-end articles naturally divide into two types: A recap of the "big" stories of the previous year, and predictions for the upcoming year. For the former category, one wonders how big those stories were if we already need a reminder. There is also a suspicion that these articles are really filling the space vacated by the retailers' ads. As far as predicting the future, there is serious downside as some wise guy will go back and look up your predictions, especially the ones that really turned up lame, like the predictions for 2008 which saw absolutely no chance that Barack Obama could win the election.

The solution here is to focus on a few developments from 2008 and examine how they might emerge in the coming year. In addition, the focus here is on our home town where issues fly under the radar of the national media.

At last May's Town Meeting, a proposal for a new form of government for Plymouth was voted down by a two to one margin. In spite of the low 25% voter turnout, it was generally agreed that while there was significant support for a mayoral form of town government the proposal was just too complicated and failed to provide clear lines of responsibility.

Almost immediately, work started anew on another new charter for town government, which is expected to be presented to the spring Town Meeting. According to a recent ARTICLE in the Old Colony Memorial, the charter process can be lengthy:

This week, Town Clerk Laurence Pizer clarified the process and noted that, optimistically speaking, it could be two years before any major changes in Plymouth’s administration went into effect – assuming Town Meeting and voters opt for a mayor.

“If everything passed, my best guesstimate would be January 2011,” Pizer said.

The rest of the article does a good job of explaining the process. And while the primary concern was for the possible impact of a new charter on the hiring of a new town manager, it also highlights the opportunity cost going through the whole approval process with a half-baked proposal, only to be turned down by the voters. The lesson here is that we all might spend some time studying the proposed new charter before it gets locked in to the process. We need to give the concept of a mayoralty type government a hard look and be sure it is presented in its best form. Otherwise, we will lose at least a few years before we can try again.

The second issue to unroll in 2009 will be the initial development of Plymouth Rock Studios. Co-founder, David Kirkpatrick, was featured in a Boston Sunday Globe ARTICLE profiling his movie-making background and his enthusiasm for making the Plymouth studio a reality. Suffice it to say that his enthusiasm proved infectious as Plymouth provided the project with all the approvals and tax breaks it sought. And many would ask, why not? The enticement of jobs and tax revenue overwhelmed any concerns about infrastructure and traffic. If the $400 million project succeeds, the benefits to the town will be substantial. And while the project will take several years to come to fruition, construction is expected to start in 2009. According to the article:

In the coming year, Kirkpatrick says, the vision of Hollywood East will begin taking on a physical form. "Since we want to be open in the fourth quarter of 2010, part of the studio will be built by the end of 2009," he says. "We've got $200 million in payroll to spend on construction in laborers, carpenters, and tradesmen."

The studio is expected to employ 2,000 or more. "Jobs on the lot," as Kirkpatrick calls them, will start being filled in the spring of 2010.

Let's hope that this movie plays out as well as its previews.