Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Women's History Month: Mayor Wong
In 2007, Mayor Wong of Fitchburg, MA became the first female Asian-American mayor in a city that never elected a woman to the job. Some tough decisions were made, many of them unpopular, for a city that was on the brink of financial disaster. "We’ve been paying bills without looking at them for years and years," Wong said.
Lisa Wong, in her first two and a half years in office, built up a stabilization fund from $20,000 to over $4,000,000 and balanced the budget. It's not all money, though. She helped to found Fun in FITchburg, an initiative to combat child obesity in Fitchburg.
Mayor Wong is living proof that women in politics don't have to fit into a stereotype caring only about the women's right to choose, family orientated issues, and advocating for women. Mayor Wong looked at her passions, her strengths, and did what she could to make Fitchburg a better place; she took a job previously done by men and did it better. She looked at the financial crisis of Fitchburg, MA and did something about it. Now, with a balanced budget, she is able to look at and support environmental projects and redevelopment projects in an entirely new and more effective way.
Also, like Nancy Pelosi, Lisa Wong loves dark chocolate.
