Janson Calls For Austerity, Business Development

Mike Janson is calling for less spending and more business development as he runs for Councillor-At-Large in New Bedford.

During his Monday morning interview with WBSM's Brian Thomas, Janson was critical of the city's Economic Development Council saying they need to more to attract new businesses.

Janson specifically cited the airport and the waterfront as two areas in need of more attention.

We have a Foreign Trade Zone at the airport and we've never increased the runway to the capacity that's necessary to use the Foreign Trade Zone, that has to be looked at," said Janson "we also have prime waterfront that needs to be developed, it doesn't need to be just a casino, but we have to get some kind of businesses down there, on the waterfront, that aren't just in the seafood business."

Janson is also calling for more austerity saying that the city needs to reign in its spending and avoid more taxes for city businesses and residents.

"You gotta demand that our city government cut its spending in every department," said Janson "every department head should be looking to cut spending and bring down our budget. It's very simple, we have to bring our budget down, we have to put a freeze on hiring and, through attrition, bring the numbers down."

One cost cutting cutting initiative he disagreed with was the closure of the Kempton School.

School officials say the closure saved the School Department $235,741.

However, Janson says the savings are not as great as the School department claims.

"They still have to maintain that building, they still have to have a custodian there, whether the kids are there or not and they're still paying the teachers," said Janson "now they're paying for busses to pick them up, take them to the Rodman school, and bring them back."

Janson will be one of 11 candidates up for the at-large seat in the Preliminary Election on October 6.