PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayor-elect Linda Tyer is readying her transition plans.

 

Fresh after a decisive win over Mayor Daniel Bianchi, Tyer says she is putting together an inclusive process to develop the blueprint for the next four years. Just three weeks after winning election, Tyer says she has already begun to work out transition plans.

 

"It's been a bit of an adjustment to shift from being in competitive campaign mode to now starting to think about transition," Tyer said. "Over the last week or so, I've started putting together a plan for how to transition internally."

 

The current city clerk says she hasn't quite nailed down the details but is calling for public input sessions and small committees to focus on various subject areas. 

 

"I really want to do something more creative with the transition and I'm still trying to put a framework around it. The idea is that I would create small workgroups of three to five people and they would tackle a subject," Tyer said.

 

Her idea is to form small groups to meet with department heads and that are focused on various subjects — such as arts and culture, civic engagement, multicultural affairs — and craft recommendations on what the city should continue to do, new initiatives to supplement the work, and "dreams" for the future.

 

"I would ask them to hold a couple of public input sessions and then we would collate the work from the various subgroups into one document which would give us a sense of community engagement," Tyer said.

 

By April, she hopes to have a document of "bold" initiatives the new administration can focus on over the next four years. She says the document will serve as a complement to the city's master plan. 

 

Much of her campaign focused on public safety, and Tyer said she'll be asking the Police Department to immediately craft its "boldest" plan. 

 

"One of the first things I'll do is ask the police chief and the command staff to bring me their biggest, boldest plan for a modern law enforcement agency. I am going to ask them not to think about money. I know that when people read those words or hear that, their immediate reaction will be 'she is just going to give the Police Department anything they want,' " Tyer said. 

 

"What I really want them to do is to feel free to brainstorm their biggest, boldest ideas and then it will be my job and the job of the chief of police and finance team to narrow the focus and develop a strategy to implement some of their best ideas over a four- to five-year timeframe."

 

It's not just about hiring new officers, she said, but also finding new strategies to engage the community and become more effective in policing. Those plans are eyed to be the driver of the new vision Tyer will use in budgeting and restructuring of departments, she said.

 

Meanwhile, she has already started transitioning into taking over the day-to-day operations. She said she's asked all department heads to provide her with a "briefing document" and will soon start holding one-on-one meetings with the them to discuss the future.

 

"I've been around a long time so I understand the structure of government. I understand the day to day operations. I know who is who and what their core responsibilities are," Tyer said.

 

But she wants to have a clear understanding among the departments about the next four years. She's asking for the department head's resumes, professional development work, and affiliations and she is asking for the top three initiatives in the department, the top three initiatives pending, and the top three "wishes" for their respective departments. 

 

Tyer takes office in January and in May she'll be tasked with providing a budget. She believes much of the transition work will be completed in time for her to reallocate funds in her first budget proposal to support the new priorities of her administration.

 

"The budget really is a policy document. Once we set the priorities and the vision of how we want to deliver services, the budget will reflect those priorities. So, there may be a reallocation of those resources, there may be the elimination of things with the addition of other things. That's a big part of these first few months of an administration," Tyer said.

 

She campaigned focused heavily on crime, blight, and education. She says not everything she wants to do requires money and that instead, areas of the budget can be reduce or level funded. Tyer added that she'll be working with the city's Finance Department to identify the current status of the budget and revenues. But until she gets to dig deeper into the city's financial position, exactly what initiatives will be funded in the first year remains a question mark.

 

"There are a lot of factors that go into the development of a budget. I'm not in a position when I can say we are cutting this and adding that," Tyer said.

 

Another keen interest she has is looking at the structure of departments. She used the example of making positions more focused on business development in the office of Community Development or creating a Department of Multicultural Affairs. 

 

What Tyer wants to do shortly after taking office is to develop strong relationships with businesses and craft a plan for recruiting young professionals. She has also already been working with the Berkshire United Way and the School Department on a grant application to expand early education.

 

The city is poised to embark on some major projects in 2016 and Tyer reaffirmed her support to see those through. The Berkshire Innovation Center is short on money but is still in the works. She said she was disappointed there weren't more job creation requirements added to the contracts but she still sees the project as a good one for the county. Tyer hopes to usher that project along.

 

Tyer also favors the new Taconic High School and while that is far along in the process and construction expected soon, she says she will continue to support the efforts. Beyond seeing the construction through, she'd also like to start looking at the expansion possibilities for the future to possibly move all of the city's high school students to the campus.

 

The mayor-elect campaigned against the mayor being a member of the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority, which is charged with developing the William Stanley Business Park. She says early on she will find out what is needed to change the composition of the board to remove her from being a voting member. 

 

"I feel pretty strongly about letting the PEDA board and the people who have been appointed and serve in various areas of expertise do their work without a political influence," Tyer said.

 

Until a change is made, she committed to serving as a board member. 

 

Tyer said she has already begun recruiting people to serve as her administrative assistant and her executive assistant. She said she'll be naming people those positions soon.

 

"I have some people that I am recruiting to apply and certainly the positions are very, very important," she said.