Now, the Real Work Starts

Since April, Lisa Wong has done little else than run for mayor. Outside of the occassional kayaking trip, she has knocked on doors, done standouts, and talked non-stop about her first campaign for public office.



Now, after she has put together a win for the ages, she can really get to work.



Never again will Lisa Wong be known as the "former executive director of the Fitchburg Redevelopment Authority." Starting now, she's "mayor-elect." In two months, it's just "mayor" -- with all the headaches, political roadblocks and troubles that go along with it.



Over the last six months, voters have looked at the mayor's election as the opportunity to create change in the city. Incumbent Mayor Dan Mylott, one of the city's canniest of politicians, read the winds early and bowed out of the race in early August. Wong read the winds earlier, and let them carry her to an impressive victory in the preliminary election, and a stunning 72 percent of the vote tonight.



Wong goes into the Mayor's Office with an impressive mandate, and she'll need every last bit of it.



Wong faces the twin challenges of nurturing the city's budding momentum while wrestling with the overwhelming problem of the city's financial problems. They are problems that are not going to get better overnight. Wong knows that, but will the voters? Will a slow rebuilding, that will take more than one two-year term, but allowed? Wong needs to make a good first impression, one good enough to get her elected.



So far, Wong has proven to be a fabulous organizer. She ran against someone who had run citywide five teams previously, and beat him by an unfathomable margin. She ran a smart, well-organized campaign that stayed on message and mission throughout. She'll need to bring that organization and focus to the Mayor's Office.



What happens first? Wong has been vague -- intentionally so -- about her first few months in office. Tom Donnelly has consistently warned since the preliminary election that layoffs or union contract renegotiations are vital in January. Wong has neither agreed nor disagreed with that, but she will have to come up with an answer in the next few months.



Wong has staked her claim as a smart financial agent of change -- and recently as the impetus for new business in the city. It is a bold statement -- attracting large, tax-paying businesses to a city that is generally regarded as struggling, with high taxes, utility bills and relative lack of transportation access. It is a goal that will take time and hard work.

The hard work won't be a problem for Wong. She proved over the last six months she's willing to do whatever it takes to achieve success. As a 28-year-old mayor, it's probably OK to label her an overachiever. But this next challenge is unlike anything she has ever seen.

She will now start trying to get the financial situation under control, a process that will take time, a long-term plan, and compliance from the City Council. She'll need to prove she can play well with the council, and get it to buy in on her plans. What if she needs to make deep cuts? As the candidate who positioned herself as the agent of hope and vision, cuts may be a difficult chore. She has discussed, broadly, improving education -- and likely increasing money for the city's schools. Where will that money come from? She promises to rip the budget apart and start over -- which fiefdoms will she implode, and what will the political fallout be?

Tonight, without a doubt, is a great night for Lisa Wong, and is a testiment to her hard work, organization and success. Not only did she win, but she won big. Not only did she win, but she proved that her message is one with the electorate.

Tonight, Lisa Wong proved once and for all that Fitchburg is ready for change, and ready for change for the better. A city of 40,000 people now turns its eyes to her first steps forward, wondering what those initial moves will be and whether or not they will be successful.

In the movie "All the President's Men," Ben Bradlee tells Woodward and Bernstein after a key break in the Watergate story to take a bath, take a 10-minute break, and then get back to work. Only the fate of the country and the world hang on the story. Tonight, Lisa Wong can take her 10-minute break, maybe a 10-hour break, but should know it all starts tomorrow.

The clock for Lisa Wong starts right now. She has two years to prove that her message of hope and vision can lead to success and momentum for Fitchburg. She has two years to prove that a 28-year-old daughter of immigrants is the perfect fit for what was an old mill city now looking for a new identity. She has two years to prove that all of the promise and potential of her campaign can be the future of the city. The clock -- and the real work -- starts right now.