[SPEAKER_05]: Es.
[SPEAKER_02]: Gracias. Gracias. Sí. Bueno.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Mi cheque uno, dos, mi cheque uno, dos, uno, dos.
[SPEAKER_02]: Creo que es una buena pregunta. Parece eso.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Buenas noches a todos. Siéntete libre de tomar asiento. Vamos a empezar algo a tiempo porque queremos que todos lleguen a casa sanos y salvos con el clima. Y estamos tratando de mantener el programa en menos de una hora. Así que gracias a todos por estar aquí. Primero, quiero anunciar que tenemos un invitado muy especial para comenzar esta noche. Tenemos a nuestro primer poeta laureado, Terry Carter, que nos leerá un poema. Terry es autor publicado de cinco libros. Actualmente está escribiendo el sexto, que se imprimirá muy pronto. Es un gran activo para cada parte de nuestra comunidad, las escuelas, el Centro Comunitario de West Medford y la comunidad en general con su poesía y mucho más. Entonces, sin más preámbulos, Terry Carter.
[SPEAKER_05]: Debe ser el comité de bienvenida.
[Carter]: Un estado mental de Medford. Has estado prestando atención a esto, estoy seguro. Por favor, sepan que nuestras intenciones son templadas y puras. Buscamos que nuestra ciudad funcione desde la oficina del alcalde hasta el secretario municipal. Queremos que veas los alojamientos, los carriles bici, los parques y las estaciones de metro. Queremos que vea las colaboraciones de las artes, organizaciones sin fines de lucro y fundaciones firmes. Queremos que vea cómo prosperan las pequeñas empresas y cómo la salud pública mantiene viva a la gente. Las medidas progresistas con un sentido de tradición pueden encender el motor a medida que los ciudadanos resuelven sus problemas y la calma reemplaza el grito enojado. discusiones reales sobre raza y razón, y sin temores oscuros de traición romántica, la nueva escuela con datos y evidencia, la promesa de sentido común de la vieja escuela. Esta sigue siendo nuestra mayor esperanza para un gobierno de alcance experimentado que satisfaga las necesidades de cada alma, que nos haga más fuertes como un todo, que no dé por sentado el voto, sino que honre las semillas que plantaron nuestros antepasados. que arroje luz sobre la confianza del público en soluciones sabias y justas. Estas sencillas rimas, a modo de ilustración, constituyen la declaración de esta ciudad. Trabajar juntos, de la mano, como la banda de música de un Medford Mustang. Donde los trabajadores puedan negociar y ganarse su fe, sin odio. Donde los socorristas se ganan el respeto y sí, siempre sirven y protegen. Donde los constructores hacen una pausa consciente para leer más allá de la cláusula del contrato, para ver más allá de sus taladros y sierras, para escuchar la voz de una causa común. Donde el arcoíris del orgullo huya por completo y las diferencias no nos encuentren asustadas. Donde las iglesias adoran a una paz afín y seguidores fieles. liberación amable, donde Black Lives Matter es fundamental y vemos todos los rostros como amables y gentiles, donde criamos a nuestros hijos con los ojos abiertos y lecciones que no solo desinfectan, donde los maestros pueden enseñar y los niños pueden aprender, y no hay brujas o libros para quemar, donde damos la bienvenida a gente nueva de todas las naciones, bengalíes, latinos y haitianos, donde la innovación corteja a la tradición para formar una nueva condición mejorada y el legado realiza una danza maravillosa con el audaz avance de la transformación. Este es el grito del corazón de la ciudad. En esta nueva temporada, es donde comenzamos. Apuntar a un progreso, sensato e inteligente, que una y no separe. Donde resuena la justicia social, la gente participa en debates saludables y la buena comida llena los platos de cada familia mientras los vecinos cruzan las puertas abiertas. Ahora es el momento de que todos escuchen un mensaje de unidad alto y claro, mientras que otros pueden defender la ira y la disensión y hacer todo lo posible para provocar tensión. El objetivo de una administración confiable es una comunicación clara y transparente. En esta era de COVID, todavía debemos pedir a los líderes que se quiten la mascarilla de forma segura. La simple verdad del estado de la ciudad es que la gente quiere ver más pruebas. Que líderes competentes gobiernen el barco y tengan un control fuerte y firme. Que las nuevas ideas se implementen a medida que la sabiduría fluye como vino fermentado a partir del molde profundo y fermentado de la historia para ser dispensado cuando el progreso lo solicite. ¿Cuál es la solución adecuada y sólida que conduzca a una ejecución perfecta, que aleje de la persecución, que detenga la marea de retribución? Estas simples rimas, a modo de confirmación, confiesan nuestra sed de activación, confiesan nuestra búsqueda de recuperar la mejor cooperación de Medford. Y así, el poeta lee las estrellas como luciérnagas en frascos de vidrio transparente para ofrecer una pista de lo que podría suceder en un esperanzador 2023. Las mareas místicas se retorcerán y doblarán. Pero este es el momento de que Medford repare los rieles rotos de nuestras escaleras cívicas, la fe desgastada en nuestros asuntos públicos. Esta sigue siendo nuestra mayor esperanza de un liderazgo de alcance experimentado que satisfaga las necesidades de cada alma y nos haga más fuertes como un todo. Ésta es mi súplica, buen medfordita. Y ahora este poeta dice buenas noches. Gracias. Gracias. Gracias. Y ahora es un honor para mí. Gracias. Y ahora es un honor para mí presentar a la vicepresidenta del comité escolar, Jenny Graham.
[Graham]: Buenas noches a todos. Gracias alcalde Lungo-Koehn por invitarme a hablar esta noche. Me siento honrado de estar aquí y de ser el vicepresidente del comité escolar y tal vez más honrado de que los ciudadanos de Medford hayan impartido su fe en mí durante casi cuatro años. lo cual parece una vida pequeña durante estos últimos cuatro años. Cuando pienso en el resumen del año, se siente como en todos los años en los que pienso desde que me uní al comité escolar. Por eso, cada año, el comité escolar trabaja muy duro con la administración de nuestra escuela para lograr avances. Y cada año también queda muy claro que hay mucho más progreso del que nuestros estudiantes merecen. Y cuando pienso en eso, a menudo me siento abrumado, pero comenzaré con algunos aspectos destacados. Entonces, el año pasado, invertimos en muchos planes de estudio de alta calidad para nuestros estudiantes. Eso debería haberse hecho hace mucho tiempo. Esto incluye libros de texto para muchos cursos de secundaria. Incluye un nuevo plan de estudios de matemáticas para nuestros estudiantes de secundaria e incluye un nuevo plan de estudios de matemáticas para nuestras escuelas primarias. También hemos continuado en el nivel primario infundiendo planes de estudio basados en la fonética en nuestra programación, en nuestra programación de alfabetización mientras buscamos un reemplazo más completo de nuestro plan de estudios de alfabetización. Ese enfoque basado en la fonética es claramente lo que la ciencia nos dice que es la manera de apoyar a todos los lectores y cambiar vidas. Por eso estoy muy agradecido a la administración de la escuela por su tenacidad, ya que han trabajado para lograr un gran cambio en la forma en que se lleva a cabo la enseñanza y el aprendizaje en nuestro nivel de escuela primaria cuando hablamos de lo más fundamental, que es el aprendizaje. para leer. Mientras miramos hacia el futuro, también me entusiasma ver que hemos reunido a un grupo de residentes de Medford para analizar nuestro plan de estudios de salud y asegurarnos de que, en el futuro, nuestro plan de estudios de salud sea integral, esté basado en la ciencia y Trabaja para prevenir el acoso y la violencia en nuestro alumnado. El equipo que hemos formado es realmente asombroso. Están tan acreditados. Simplemente no puedo ni creer que todo este talento viva bien. cuídense en este pequeño espacio que llamamos Medford. Más allá de todo el buen trabajo que estamos haciendo en el aspecto curricular, la otra cosa en la que hemos dedicado mucho tiempo a trabajar y de la que estoy muy orgulloso es el trabajo que hemos hecho para reforzar nuestros apoyos de salud mental para los estudiantes que Está claro que, como todos nosotros, todavía están pensando en salir de la pandemia y de todas las formas en que les ha afectado. Así que estoy muy contento de que hayamos podido reforzar esos apoyos y que el trabajo que estamos haciendo allí sea Es arduo y súper importante. El año pasado fue importante ya que negociamos con nuestros 11 socios negociadores. Contamos con 11 sindicatos dentro de las Escuelas Públicas de Medford. A través de ese trabajo, agradecimos a nuestros maestros por su arduo trabajo durante la pandemia y más allá, y seguramente después de ella. Y resolvimos el contrato más favorable. en décadas para nuestros profesores, tal vez nunca. También nos comprometimos a que nuestros empleados de las Escuelas Públicas de Medford merecen un salario digno y encontramos una manera de garantizar que nuestros paraprofesionales reciban una compensación que no sea solo un salario digno, sino un increíble paso adelante para nuestro personal y los estudiantes que merecen. También hemos establecido contactos con las enfermeras, las secretarias de nuestra escuela y nuestros carpinteros. Y todavía tenemos trabajo por hacer para resolver nuestros contratos restantes, pero estamos comprometidos a garantizar que nuestro personal reciba un salario digno por el servicio que brinda a nuestros estudiantes. Quiero agradecer a la Comisión de Preservación de la Comunidad por su continuo apoyo a las Escuelas Públicas de Medford. Más recientemente, pudimos reunir un comité asesor para analizar el reemplazo del patio de juegos de la Escuela Primaria McGlynn con su apoyo. El diseño es impresionante. Reconoce que jugar es aprender, lo cual es sorprendente. Y es, o será, el primer parque infantil verdaderamente inclusivo de la ciudad de Method. El comité asesor trabajó muy diligentemente para garantizar que escucháramos a una gran variedad de partes interesadas. Escuchamos a los niños, escuchamos a los maestros en el edificio y escuchamos a la comunidad porque ese espacio también será un espacio comunitario. Y pudimos idear un diseño centrado en la sostenibilidad, la inclusión y la diversión. Gracias al CPC por su continuo apoyo. Tenemos compromisos para financiar la construcción y con el alcalde para dedicar fondos ARPA para hacer realidad ese patio de recreo. Me sentí orgullosa de formar parte de ese comité, del comité asesor mismo, junto con la mujer del comité escolar, Melanie McLaughlin. Y creo que es seguro decir que todo el comité escolar está ansioso por cortar la cinta del patio de recreo terminado. El año pasado planteó su parte de desafíos. Estoy seguro de que has oído hablar de todos ellos. Y creo que es seguro decir que ningún edificio escolar se ha sentido más desafiado que Medford High School. Tomamos medidas en estos últimos meses para garantizar que nuestra escuela secundaria sea segura y propicia para el aprendizaje de todos los estudiantes. Crear un clima y una cultura que merezcan el orgullo de Medford es sin duda un trabajo en progreso, y todos estamos comprometidos con él. Mi corazón y mi trabajo están con las familias que han sentido el dolor que es nuestra historia, y es gracias a esas voces y porque es lo correcto que estamos analizando profunda y detenidamente lo que está yendo bien, y más. Lo más importante es lo que hay que cambiar. Estoy comprometido a hacer esos cambios, sin importar cuán difíciles sean, porque nuestros estudiantes no merecen menos. Finalmente, nuestros estudiantes de secundaria también merecen un edificio que pueda respaldar una educación moderna y de vanguardia y que tenga un amplio espacio para nuestros estudiantes vocacionales. Estoy orgulloso de la solicitud que presentamos a la Autoridad de Construcción Escolar de Massachusetts el año pasado, y me desanimó saber que no nos invitaron al siguiente paso, principalmente debido a los costos cada vez más altos en proyectos de construcción, proyectos de construcción de escuelas en todo el estado. Hago un llamado a nuestra delegación estatal para que haga todo lo posible para garantizar que aumentemos los fondos a nivel estatal para la MSBA el próximo año y en los años venideros. Y me complace anunciar que volveremos a enviar nuestra solicitud en abril. con adiciones según lo descrito y recomendado por la autoridad de construcción, y que también comenzaremos discusiones sobre qué otras opciones podemos tener y comenzaremos a explorar cómo avanzamos en la reconstrucción o reemplazo de Medford High. También espero trabajar con el alcalde para hacer realidad la reinventada Medford High. Terminaré diciendo esto a todos los millonarios y multimillonarios de la audiencia: Si te preguntas cómo generar un impacto en la vida de las personas que te rodean, llámame. Podemos hablar sobre el impacto que una Medford High reinventada puede tener en nuestros estudiantes y nuestra ciudad. Dicho esto, es un placer para mí presentarles a mi amiga Nicole Morell, quien es la presidenta del ayuntamiento. Gracias.
[Morell]: Gracias vicepresidente Graham por esa presentación y por el trabajo que han realizado sus colegas en los últimos años. Sé que algunas personas dicen que el comité escolar es en realidad el trabajo más difícil en política y estoy charlando con todos ustedes. Yo estaría de acuerdo. Gracias al alcalde Longo Cohn por invitarme a hablar esta noche para compartir algunos aspectos destacados del concejo municipal. Si hay un niño chillando durante esto, es mi hijo. Entonces está totalmente bien. Es un honor para mí servir como presidente del concejo municipal de Medford. Y estoy muy orgulloso del trabajo que hemos realizado en las más de 100 reuniones que hemos realizado desde enero de 2022. Trabajamos en nuevas ordenanzas, votamos a favor de una revisión de los estatutos, aprobamos fondos para algunos proyectos transformadores y completamos la recodificación de nuestro código de zonificación, todo en apoyo de un Medford más habitable, vibrante y sostenible. Gran parte de lo que hacemos como consejo es un trabajo en progreso, porque un buen trabajo requiere tiempo. Es hora de trabajar unos con otros como concejales, como el concejal Carballo, a quien veo aquí esta noche, tiempo para escuchar y trabajar con los residentes, tiempo para equilibrar puntos de vista opuestos y tiempo para responder a los tremendos esfuerzos de los departamentos, juntas y comisiones de nuestra ciudad. Durante el año pasado, el consejo se ha centrado en la vivienda, continuando el trabajo de establecer un fideicomiso de vivienda asequible, brindando sugerencias para el plan integral de la ciudad, votando a favor del plan de producción de vivienda y trabajando para establecer una ordenanza de notificación de vivienda, todo lo cual tiene como objetivo brindar oportunidades de vivienda y apoyo a los residentes. A principios del año pasado, el consejo finalizó y votó a favor de una recodificación de zonificación, la primera revisión y reforma integral de la zonificación de Bedford en décadas. La zonificación actualizada es clara y concisa y sienta las bases para el desarrollo sostenible y las oportunidades de vivienda. Espero con ansias la segunda fase de nuestro trabajo de zonificación y agradezco al alcalde por asignar fondos para eso, y en este trabajo donde podemos trabajar una vez más con los departamentos de la ciudad para actualizar nuestra zonificación para apoyar a los residentes y trabajar en conjunto con el plan integral. para la ciudad. Además de nuestro trabajo de zonificación, el consejo ha trabajado para modernizar las ordenanzas y políticas sobre comidas al aire libre y camiones de comida en la ciudad, respondiendo a nuestra comunidad empresarial y a nuestros residentes para apoyar a un Medford bullicioso. Aprobamos una prohibición del poliestireno dentro de la ciudad, impulsada primero por los estudiantes del Centro para la Ciudadanía y las Responsabilidades Sociales. Y con esto, Medford se une a las comunidades de todo el estado, tomando en serio los impactos dañinos de este tipo de contaminación y nuestro compromiso con la sostenibilidad. El consejo también votó para vincular el límite de aplazamiento del impuesto a la propiedad para personas mayores al crédito fiscal para disyuntores para personas mayores, que automáticamente amplía la elegibilidad para este programa cada año y ayuda a las personas mayores a permanecer en sus hogares. El año pasado, actualizamos nuestra ordenanza de remoción de nieve y entregamos una serie de sugerencias de políticas a la administración para simplificar la guía de remoción de nieve y, con suerte, algún día poner a prueba un programa de limpieza de aceras administrado por la ciudad en Medford. Hicimos todo esto con la ayuda de los residentes y, lo que es más importante, las juntas y comisiones de la ciudad y el personal de este edificio. Son socios en este trabajo y aportan conocimientos y conocimientos invaluables. Y agradezco al personal de la ciudad por brindar su tiempo para apoyar este trabajo. Todavía tenemos mucho trabajo por lograr y estoy seguro de que podemos trabajar juntos como uno solo en el ayuntamiento para avanzar con las actualizaciones de zonificación, avanzar con un Medford más sostenible y resiliente y avanzar con la revisión de los estatutos de nuestra ciudad para garantizar que refleje la ciudad que somos hoy. Quiero agradecerles a todos por su tiempo y por permitirme compartir algunos de los aspectos más destacados que hemos realizado como organismo trabajando juntos y con las personas en este mismo edificio. Y dicho esto, me gustaría presentarles a la Honorable alcaldesa de Medford, Brianna Lundekarp.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you so much. First, I wanna start by thanking Steve. I wanna start by thanking Steve Smerity, the director of communications and Emma Tombley for helping me write this speech you're gonna hear tonight. I think Steve and I had a tougher job the last week cutting it down from 25 pages to nine. So you can thank me for that later, but there's so much that has been accomplished in this city that I wanna speak about. So I'm gonna do that tonight. And I'm not gonna rush, usually I rush, I feel so bad, I'm long-winded, but I'm not gonna rush because this work that everybody's doing on a daily basis is worth taking my time for. And just before I start, please know that just because something's written on a sign doesn't mean it's true. And I'm sorry that the horns are beeping. And I'm sorry to Terry, but the horns were beeping. Thank you for those joining us here tonight. Thank you, if you're watching from home or on Zoom, I do know that we have many elected officials here, Representative Donato, School Committee woman, Kathy Kreatz, Member Ruseau, and City Councilor Rick Caravielloa, and Member Hays. Thank you. And former member, Paulette Van der Kloots. Thank you for joining us. Thank you to Terry Carter, our poet laureate, member Jenny Graham, and President Nicole Morell for kicking off the event. Before I begin, I must thank the tireless work of our department heads, city staff, and volunteers who have committed to doing amazing things under the difficult and ongoing conditions caused by the pandemic. You're all integral to the success that I will be highlighting here tonight. You're the reason why we're here tonight. I stood before you last January and outlined my vision for Medford, listing many long-term goals, including numerous projects that are currently underway, and laid out our roadmap for the next two years and beyond. Now, as we begin this fourth year of growth and progress, I want to give an update on how things are going, what challenges lie ahead, and how we continue to deliver on the promises we made, the vision we shared, and the future we've imagined. Walking through the city, visiting places I frequented as a child, young adult, and city councilor, what struck me in many instances was how infrequently some places change. A community that does not grow does not thrive. And here in Medford, because we have done the planning the last three years, we now are about to see growth mode. We've been able to make this transition and kickstart our economic engine because of a key goal, tapping into the unrealized potential of our squares, our green spaces, and our city-owned properties. The most obvious opportunity to begin our next generation of development is at Wellington Station. The untapped 28 acres of land has been in city control for over half a century. Since 1969, and in our community was completely missing out. not only on the potential revenue streams, but also the exciting opportunities that could be realized with diverse transit oriented mixed use development designed to attract new families, workers, and students. Since we issued the request for information in September, we have spent the past few months reviewing proposals from eight highly qualified developers and released those to the public earlier this month. Each plan had a unique vision for the area's potential and suggested bringing much needed housing options and other mixed use features, such as retail, office, hospitality, and green space. We will take you through these proposals and use them to help inform a future RFP in 2023 that fits the needs of our community and brings about generational change to the Wellington area. In addition to Wellington, we're also attempting to reimagine a few underused city-owned lots in Medford Square. with the help of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council working to develop priorities and criteria for future redevelopment through a community-driven analysis and visioning process that will incorporate the needs of residents and stakeholders. We will finally see progress on this project in the coming year and get out an RFP for Medford Square in 2023. We have an opportunity with these lots to implement smart resident-focused development that aligns with our community's priorities and vision. If we do this the right way, it will benefit our downtown square by creating a more sustainable and accessible future for the area. But as I said, we can't do this in a silo. We must engage and work with our seniors in the neighborhood, our local small businesses, Chevalier Theater, and residents to access their needs, assess their needs, and implement a strategy that recognizes their importance to building a more vibrant and thriving downtown area. One of the three 40B projects we are negotiating on Mystic Ave has been a topic that has garnered much debate, controversy, and discussion over the years. There's an opportunity for meaningful, lasting development on this strip that we can't afford to miss. Director Alicia Hunt, Economic Development Director Victor Schrader, now part-time, and I would not settle for thousands of luxury apartments at this site. and have been working with the developer on a different vision, one that can bring innovation and lasting possibilities to Mystic Avenue, a $1 billion life science development equipped with open space and first floor retail. As we look to strengthen our commercial corridors, we must not lose sight of ensuring that people who will use these new developments also have the ability to continue to live in our city. It's no secret that there's a housing crunch in the region, Cities across the Commonwealth are feeling the pressure to create lasting solutions to this problem and Medford is no different. Our city, however, is finding solutions that will bring more housing, especially affordable housing to Medford. We'll have a comprehensive master plan, which is being released very soon, will help guide our housing policy in the future. We currently have two other 40B projects that my administration is negotiating and working on. We worked with the developers on the project on Mystic Valley Parkway to resubmit plans to the Zoning Board of Appeals that includes 350 units, 25% of which are affordable housing units. We're committed to using ARPA funds to support and assist with affordable housing projects, like the ones at our Housing Authority complexes at 121 Riverside Ave and Walkland Court. We've allocated 400,000 to help offset permitting costs of renovations, thanks to the help of Bill 40, for upgrades and renovations to new affordable units at 121 Riverside Ave just this past week. Using existing funding sources like ARPA are helpful and allow us to make immediate expenditures to ease the burden on partners, but we're doing so knowing that we need a long-term plan for additional revenue sources. ARPA will end in 2025 and we don't want our partners left holding the bag. That's why establishing affordable housing trust is so important and will help allow us to fund new projects in the absence of ARPA. We've done the work, communicated with stakeholders, and are ready to move forward. The next step in the process is working with the council, who I know is supportive and understands the value of the trust. Those are just a few of the over 30 development investments we are working on. A special thanks again to our planning team led by Director Hunt and our now part-time economic development administrator. Thank you. Thanks to the work of our police chief, Jack Buckley, Medford PD is setting an example for how to operate as a diverse professional police force that continually engages with the community, builds new lasting partnerships and promotes inclusion and empathy with the way each of our officers conduct themselves. Aiding in that mission is the remarkable facility that the MPD calls home. And I have made it a priority to see that the fire department has a headquarters that is just as dynamic and meets the current needs of our firefighters and emergency personnel. Also, one of the ongoing initiatives that has been moving forward over the past year is upgrades to all six of our stations. We have already spent over $1.3 million on over 20 projects to upgrade each of our stations, including lighting projects in each substation, roof repairs or replacements, kitchen upgrades, and one final one to go. And we will continue to ensure these are the best working environments to keep Medford safe. Since day one, bringing our fire stations up to the standards of the 21st century department have been a priority of mine and my chief of staff, Nina Nazarian and chief John Friedman have been working tirelessly to get an owner's project manager hired and an architect contract signed. We are happy to announce that we do have an owner's project manager that we have hired and are very close to signing a contract with an architect firm for the design of the fire head quarter building. A special thank you to Medford residents, Luke McNeely and Paul Holian Jr. who have also done a lot of work, a lot of reading as it relates to this project. Please know that these things take time, but there is a committed group pushing these projects as fast as they can with me nagging them every step of the way. In addition to the efforts underway for the fire headquarters, our fire substation, engine three on Salem Street, is going to have the garage floors replaced this year. Thanks to the work of this team, as well as the dedicated help of our chief officer, Fiona Maxwell, and her team, and available community block grant funding, we can move forward on this project exponentially. Finally, this year, we'll begin IT work of over 500,000 and are designing window repairs or replacements at all the substations too. That's an additional over $2.2 million investment in new projects at the fire stations with a potential over $20 million bond after that for the headquarters. And in order to help fund these infrastructure improvements, I spent months negotiating to have cannabis dispensaries in Medford that would benefit our community. Our terms were eventually met and in addition to receiving the maximum 3% gross revenue coming back to the city, which will be used towards roads and sidewalks. We were also able to secure funding for our library, fire stations, DPW vehicles, cruisers for the police department, local nonprofit aid, veteran aid, and so much more. With all of these new projects coming online and countless more already completed, it's critical that we have sufficient transportation infrastructure in place to handle the demand and allow people to get to move about the city safely. That's why we commissioned a street and sidewalk infrastructure assessment early in my first term and showed the city, and the city has 200 million in backlog of road and sidewalk work that needs to be fixed due to the decades of neglect. This is a huge task, and although the city does not have the funding or capacity to complete this work in a year or two, we are not shying away from planning and implementation. We have been diligently working to complete our most critical roadways. In the past few months, With the help of our city engineer, Owen Hortella, we outlined a pavement strategy for Freedom Way. The road was in dire need of repair and was used regularly to access schools and city facilities. I'm happy to report that we have done the initial repaving with plans in place. Owen, there's more work to do. For a complete road rebuild in about two years. We've made a significant investment in upgrades to our sidewalks as well. This past year, we bonded a million dollars and we'll be going to the city council for an additional bond of 1.5 million that will include equipment. So even more work can be done in-house by our DPW team. Thank you to treasurer Judy Johnson for always helping us whenever we need her, when it relates to bonds. We've also identified more cost-friendly options for some road repair. Recently, 94 streets were identified in our assessment as prime candidates for a process called crack sailing. Over 30 streets have been completed with roughly 60 more to finish this spring. We are also working on a comprehensive patchwork plan that will be finalized and released to further repair our roads. Engineering and our Department of Public Works Commissioner Tim McGivern have been instrumental in this planning. With an eye on maintaining and improving the structural integrity of our streets and sidewalks, we've made tree stump removal and tree planting a priority. Working with our tree warden, Aggie Tudin, over the past year, we've secured over a half million dollars in funding for this work. And we'll continue to invest our resources towards this over the course of the year. I want to thank our state delegation, Rep Donato, Rep Garbally, Rep Barber, for providing some of that funding for this project and many, many others. Thank you. As we upgrade infrastructure, we additionally want to continue investing in our local businesses that are so important to the fabric of community. A few weeks ago, the city awarded $75,000 to 23 local businesses for storefront improvements. With this second round of funding completed, we have awarded over 100,000 through small business facade improvement grants. I spoke about revitalizing Medford Square in my inauguration speech last year, and I'm proud to say we are working towards that goal with programs like this that inject funding and create opportunity for local businesses to thrive. I can't mention local services without mentioning directors, Pam Kelly, Kevin Bailey, and Barbara Kerr, who have done an excellent job running our senior center, recreation department, and library through the last few years of the pandemic. And of course, without the leadership and expertise of our board of health director, Marianne O'Connor, and the staff in the health department, we would not have been able to navigate our way through the early days of the pandemic. Marianne and the team, including Board of Health Nurse Sarah Harris, provided clarity and calm during a truly chaotic and scary situation. So thank you to all, including our volunteers who helped administer over 2,800 COVID vaccines and 600 flu vaccines just in 2022, including close to 190 homebound vaccinations. Vaccines were administered throughout the city with the help of our community liaisons. who connect the community to city resources and expand communications and accessibility to our non-native English speakers in Medford. Expanding opportunities to showcase Medford's growing diversity and culture offerings has been a key part of our development strategy. Our parks and recreation spaces have also been upgraded with new murals. And just today I was at Wright's Pond working on the next with a local artist and Kevin Bailey. Chevalier Theater additionally renewed a five-year contract with the city back in September, bringing world-class entertainment to our hidden gem for years to come. We have signed a contract with a cannabis dispensary company, Theory Wellness, to construct our first-ever art center on Mystic Ave. They have broken ground, and we cannot wait to see this become a reality. Medford's waterfront will also become a new place for residents to enjoy, with plans in the works to create more recreation areas and beautify the area with murals and other art from the community. We hope to release the initial design for community feedback late this winter. Our city services and facilities are not the only community driven spaces that deserve our investments. We've also been able to prioritize our local nonprofits that have been instrumental to providing critical services and resources to our community. In addition to CDBG funding, we awarded over 230,000 to 25 nonprofits through the Community Fund Committee earlier this month. Included in this round of funding was the American Legion, Temple Shalom, the Medford Chamber of Commerce, and all four of our elementary PTOs, just to name a few. We expect to open up the second round of funding of grants later this year. We've talked a lot now about our progress and excitement for future projects, but we have also been met with some challenges this year, especially in our high school. Our schools, especially the high school, have needed to make change to better address the growing issues stemming from the pandemic. And I've spent, thankfully spent a lot of time over the last month with our superintendent, Dr. Maurice-Edouard-Vincent, as well as other district leaders, pushing for plans that are sustainable, adaptable, and work in the best interest of students. We have two newly trained student resource offices, a revised bathroom plan, and are engaging with students on a much more personal level. But most importantly, we have heard the students' concerns and listened to their lived experiences. We must strengthen our relationships and trust with both the students and caregivers and ensure that our school system is safe and an inviting place for all. As Jenny stated, we're still looking to obtain an MSBA loan to build a new high school. The building we have now is not amenable to quality education, and we believe we have a strong case for the next round of loans due in April to rebuild a state-of-the-art flagship school that our students and faculty deserve. I thank the school committee, the superintendent of schools, Dr. Maurice Edouard-Vincent and Mr. Dave Murphy for all their work on that application and we will be resubmitting. As our community continues to grow as a destination for families and professionals, there is a significant opportunity to expand accessible and efficient public transportation options. As I'm sure you've all seen and hopefully written, the Green Line Extension finally opened in December after many challenges, delays and questions. That was probably the happiest I've seen people at 5 a.m. on a Monday morning cramming in line to get a spot on the T. That just proves that the extension is a turning point for Medford. And I want to thank the community group that advocated and worked on this project for years. I will never stop pushing for better public transportation in and around our community as I did with the MBTA new better bus redesign and the closure of the orange line over the summer. I thank director Todd director of traffic and transportation, Todd Blake, for being the expert this city needs, advocating with us, working with us, and advising us along the way. Thank you. With his help and many others, we've also increased the scope of blue bikes around the city this year with three new docking stations at Tufts Square, Brooks Park, and Medford Square. We are working to expand this network further as alternative green transportation options support our climate action and adaptation plan, including efforts to provide residents with clean, sustainable, and affordable alternatives. I'm happy to announce that we have secured funding for seven additional Blue Bike locations, with the next three coming online later this year at Hormel Stadium, Harris Park, and Spring Street. For the four remaining, we're tentatively exploring Riverbend Park, Haines Square, West Medford, and the Hillside. As outlined in our Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, we have lofty goals of reducing our emissions by 50% by the end of this decade and have been working to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. To do this, we've taken a series of steps aimed at making our city operations, facilities, and policies more conducive and adaptable to climate resiliency. The last time I spoke at this podium to you all, I mentioned that we were in the process of securing funding for two additional electric charging stations with the hope of installation this year. Thanks to the work of the Planning, Development and Sustainability Office, especially the work of Planner Yvette Niwa, we've delivered on the promise and have two new stations, one at Hormel and one at Carr Park. And I'm happy to announce that we're expanding on that growth with two more, one at the Missittuck School and one at Tufts Park, coming online this summer with an additional seven being planned over the next year or so. But to implement real changes in the way we conduct our operations, we must commit to reversing our reliance on fossil fuels internally as well. This is also a priority of our city council and school committee. I'm happy to announce that we have secured $230,000 grant Diesel Emissions Reduction Act from the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act from the state with the help of Mike Wentzel from DPW to assist with the purchasing of an all electric commercial grade sweeper, which will replace our diesel engine vehicle. We also made concerted efforts to transition our other vehicles in our fleet to more green friendly options. The police department has purchased new hybrid vehicles and is patiently waiting for their arrival, hopefully in June, which will make their daily operations much more efficient, cleaner, and adaptable to challenges. We also thank director Faye Morrison, who will also be transitioning her fleet in the near future. The city is additionally enhancing its climate resiliency and emergency preparedness efforts through our MedFit Connects program led by our office of prevention and outreach manager, Penny Fanioli. This program seeks to expand and strengthen resources for our underserved community members. And we recently secured a grant, another grant for over 400,000 from the state to accomplish this work. An important part, I'm almost done, I'm sorry. An important part of our commitment to expanding resources and programming for residents is our investment in our green spaces. Medford's many parks are a source of pride for the city. and we have plans for upgrading the construction in many of them, close to 50, actually. I engaged an internal team who have been meeting close to monthly for three years to plan, gain community input and secure funding. In projects scheduled to start this spring and summer alone, we have secured over $5 million for renovations. One of our largest upcoming projects is Carr Park. Carr Park's vision plan was released the end of 21, and we are proud to say that phase one is fully funded and in design and expected to start this spring. Carr Park recently secured additional funding for phase two, which is on the horizon as well. In phase two, we can get excited for new basketball courts, one which will be covered by solar panels, a new playground and much more. Car's solar infrastructure will be funded by $1.5 million earmark in the federal 2023 budget. I wanna thank our federal delegation, including Congresswoman Clark, Senator Markey, Senator Warren, for their work in passing this budget and helping fund community projects here in Medford. Our planning office has been instrumental in this work. Thanks to their work, especially again, Director Hunt and Planner Amanda Centrella, we have not only secured opera funding, but a match of $1 million from another grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for phase one. Awesome job. Upper funds have made a huge impact on our community in the work we are able to do throughout the city. Unlike other communities that set specific funding amounts for various sectors, Medford has taken a needs-based approach, allowing us to invest funding where it is needed most. The data we collected from the community focus survey released this past summer helped inform many of the projects I've mentioned already tonight, with many others that I don't have time for. With the help of our amazing federal funds manager, Lorena Escalero, We will be continuing to invest in areas like affordable housing, public health and infrastructure, as well as plan for the future while being transparent with the work we're doing. Throughout our opera planning process, we have been open and transparent about our financial outlook and the need to allocate a percentage of funding to revenue replacement. Like many other cities and towns in the Commonwealth, the economic effects of the pandemic left a sizable gap in several revenue streams that we traditionally have counted on. For the past two years, the years we have reduced our reliance on ARPA dollars and expect the trend to continue in fiscal year 24 and 25. It's no secret that the city has incurred a structural deficit. And though we have several dynamic development opportunities on the horizon that will inject revenue into our bottom line, thanks to our assessing team, especially, I see Jim O'Brien and Ellen as well have been great. We are analyzing the potential need to come to a solution as to how to fill and address the gap. especially when ARPA is gone. We are closely monitoring and reviewing the need for an override in the future to ensure we keep performing work at this level. These decisions are not easy and we must balance the need and the ability to pay while taking into account that we will need a debt exclusion to build a new high school in the not too distant future. Since hiring CFO Bob Dickinson and budget manager Courtney Cordello, We are back to our baseline staffing levels in the finance department, and my office and the finance team have been hard at work with department heads, collecting information early in the process for the formulation of the fiscal year 2024 budget, especially given the global economic issues that persist, such as inflation and supply chain, in addition to recovering from the structural deficit of the pandemic. Fiscal year 24 is expected to be another difficult year. However, we continue to work hard to get the city's revenue stream to the needed levels to sustain the city's needs. Again, I want to thank everyone at City Hall that made all this work possible. While we're still working to optimize our staffing levels, the strength of the team that I have put together over the last three years in office has completely changed the culture of City Hall. and other places and helped usher in much needed modernization and efficiency updates in city hall operations and policies. Together, we are building the groundwork to professionalize Medford like never before and create a more meaningful and welcome experience for our residents. We have so many new hires that have been instrumental to that change. Those that I've already mentioned, as well as Jeremy Johns, our director of veteran services, Melissa Ripley, our elections manager, Jim Silver, our special projects coordinator, Bill Forty, our building commissioner, Paul Riggi, the city's first ever facilities director, a position the council and I advocated in favor for for the last 10 years. And thank you to HR and our director, Neil Osborne, and the efforts of so many others for keeping this process moving forward and helping fill roles. Accountability has been key to transforming the way our city works and serves our residents. Without accountability, it's impossible to get a professionalized government that the city needs and the people deserve. Part of accountability is ensuring every city employee and resident is aware of the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and has the means and support to actively promote equity and accessibility. It's part of our social justice roadmap. And with the help, amazing help of our director of diversity and equity inclusion, Francis Waje, The city has and will continue to expand DEI training for all staff, city, fire, and police, including implicit bias and cultural competency training. I've said it before, there are things I will not tolerate and no one will discourage me from doing this hard work. We can do hard things. We can transform this city and rid ourselves of the antiquated, outdated, and inefficient policies. But it takes time, it takes focus, and it takes trust. So I'm asking you to trust me. Trust me to do this work. Trust me to make decisions that are in your best interests. And trust me to lead this city to where we all know that it should be. Because there is much more to do. It is often not comfortable or fun having to make these hard choices and do the necessary work. But I've seen and heard about governments run without accountability and they quickly become chaotic and corrupt. And I will not let that happen here. I am committed to a transparent ethical administration for the city and thus will not tolerate city employees who do not share that same work ethic. That said, to be clear, the vast majority of our city employees come to work every day and try their best to move the city forward. many of whom I've mentioned tonight and all of whom I just don't don't don't have all the time. I do and I will continue to do all I can to support them in every way I can. To conclude, please know that so much work has been put work has been put in over the last year to find creative solutions to any roadblocks the city faces. When searching for funding, we find grants and secure them. When presented with differing When we say we are going to do something, we do it. I am dedicated to keeping my promises to Medford and delivering on projects, no matter the challenges we face along the way. And finally, and thankfully, we have the personnel to make it happen. Thank you. I'm the emcee, too. So I want to just thank you all so very much for coming tonight. Those who are watching from home or on Zoom, past and present employees of Medford, we just, again, appreciate all your hard work. Thank you so much. We have a reception outside, so please stay, have a bite to eat, and get home safely. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_02]: Bueno.