Mayor-elect Compo Pierce plans changes

Nov. 12—WATERTOWN — Mayor-elect Sarah V. Compo Pierce is already thinking about making some changes to the mayor's office.

To her third-floor office in City Hall, that is. She wants to "spruce things up" in the office now being used by current Mayor Jeffrey M. Smith, she said.

Even before taking over the mayor's office on Jan. 1, Compo Pierce, 37, who defeated Councilwoman Lisa A. Ruggiero on Tuesday, has outlined some goals.

She already began reaching out "to open the lines of communication" with the other members of City Council — Cliff G. Olney III and Ruggiero, and newly-elected councilmen Robert O. Kimball and Benjamin P. Shoen.

She intends to set a time in the coming weeks to meet with them, one-on-one, to see what they think about city issues and where to go from here.

Secondly, she would like to start discussing the search for a new city manager. In September, Kenneth A. Mix announced that he will be leaving City Hall, blaming the infighting and controversy that has plagued the current council for months.

She says the two new council members should be a part of those discussions. However, Ruggiero and Olney have made it clear they think the appointment of a new city manager should solely be done by the existing council.

Compo Pierce has heard the city has already received a few applicants for the job. The deadline to apply is Nov. 27.

Meeting with the local representative of the governor's office and different levels of government is also crucial, she said.

That effort will be important as the city plans to deal with a $50 million project to limit two contaminants at the Water Treatment Plant.

"I'm going to make water issues one of my top priorities," she said.

The city faces challenges with an aging water system and a leak in one of the city's two reservoirs in Thompson Park that's causing the city to lose about 400,000 gallons of drinkable water a day.

It's important for the city to seek out state grants to help finance water department projects, she said.

She also plans to make council meetings more efficient. She likes a proposal by Councilman-elect Kimball to limit the time that council members can talk during the new business portion of council meetings.

And council members should only take up issues in new business that actually pertain to new business, she said.

Some council members have used that part of the meeting to make political speeches, talk about what they've accomplished in office or why they voted a certain way on an issue.

As for the mayor's office in City Hall, she plans to add her "own touch without using taxpayer money."

"There's things in the office from Jeff and when Joe Butler was mayor," Compo Pierce said, adding she wants "to make my office my office."

The decor will feature personal items that she accumulated while working for state Sen. Patty Ritchie and by adding some family photos, she said.

She will be sworn in to office on Jan. 1.