[Petrella]: 大家好，欢迎您参加您的节目，混乱的事件。 我是约翰·佩特雷拉（John Petrella）。 今天的节目以罗伊·贝尔森（Roy Belson）和丹妮尔·马塞利诺（Danielle Marcelino）为特色，他们将解决有关即将到来的Medfed中即将推出的超越问题的信息，这些问题是第六，七和八个问题。 今晚，我们参加了我参加的全梅福德会议的Roy和Danielle的视频演示。 这是由Joe Dimaio Creative的Joe Dimaio录制和制作的，我要感谢您，Joe，帮助我们解决了这些问题。 罗伊·贝尔森（Roy Belson）是一位专业人士，拥有数十年的经验，担任梅德福公立学校系统的负责人。 他在州议会大厦受到高度评价，为教育战略和计划提供了指导。 罗伊（Roy）解释了梅德福（Medford）和我们的孩子的当前状态和解决方案。 他不支持教育投票。 丹妮尔·马塞利诺（Danielle Marcellino）是梅德福（Medford）消防员工会秘书和消防员。 她正在为梅德福消防员联盟讲话。 丹妮尔（Danielle）解释了与消防员组织在设计中缺乏互动，以及新的消防总部的需求。 她将把梅德福市民放在首位，并立场不支持债务排除。 我们将首先向您展示Roy的演讲。 其次是Danielle的
[Scarpelli]: 我们必须感谢我的团队，其中很多，但我要感谢这里的每个人。 如果您来自All Method，如果您可以举手。 只是感谢您今晚在这里并提供帮助。 太感谢了。 我们有一些活动。 我知道今晚是一个艰难而艰难的夜晚。 我知道我们今晚有大约三个不同的活动，但是我们说我们需要做某事，因为事情发生的事情真的很快。 我们在这里的原因是因为我们想谈论命题2.5覆盖和债务排除。 因此，投票将有三个问题。 几个人讲话后，稍后我会给您更多信息。 但其中一个是债务排除，这是针对新的消防总部。 我很幸运，我们有一位来自消防部门的工会领导人之一。 丹妮尔·马索利诺（Danielle Masolino）将在这里。 她要一会儿讲话。 并自豪地说我打电话给他的意见，因为我认为他可能是 至少在马萨诸塞州，最聪明的教育思想。 他是我尊重的人。 很难说，我认为直到那个人走了，人们才尊重他。 但是我打电话给这位绅士，我问了他一些问题。 在五分钟之内，您会感觉更好，因为他只是用他的知识来教育您。 我问他是否可以出来度过一个星期五晚上出来讲话， 给出他的意见，以及他作为教育领袖的观点，一个人经营我们的学校系统很多年，仍然在州一级，高水平在州的人工作，他将分享他的一些知识，然后我们会填补人们有一些问题的空白，我们可以帮助我们教育每个人，以便他们在11月7日这意味着什么。 所以现在，我想介绍我的朋友罗伊·贝尔森（Roy Belson）。
[Belson]: Nice to see everybody. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to say a few things. And hopefully, what I express will help you understand what's going on. Obviously, I'm here to share my perspectives and my thoughts about the upcoming questions on the November ballot, especially those that affect public education. So while I'm no longer the superintendent of schools, I'm in my seventh year of retirement or semi-retirement, I still stay very aware of education items, both in the community, the state, nation, and it's very enlightening to see what people are doing around the commonwealth. I spent 50 years in Medford public education, 23 years as superintendent, And I also served at different times as the budget director, the curriculum director, and the personnel administrator, as well as a teacher. So I care deeply about what happens in our schools and our community. I'm not here tonight to criticize the school administration. I know how hard they work. I know the challenges that they face. And I know that some of the things are beyond their control. I have always believed, and I still do, that schools deserve solid levels of funding and that the budget process must promote and support quality programming, stability, and predictability. Budget development must be resourceful and creative. It should not be a destabilizing force, exercise, and create uncertainty and conflict. And I think that's what's happened in the last couple of years. Yes, there will be from time to time differences among officials, educators, constituents, but at all times, they should be based on the facts, on available resources, best practices, and the needs of students and their families, as well as the community at large. The current override ballot questions, initiatives, and two of them in education, and one, a debt exclusion for the fire department, Call for, if you will, in the school department, a $7 million hike. You had a half a million dollars for the DPW at 7.5. This is a property tax levy. This request is based upon the argument that the school system has been perpetually in a structural deficit, and it's not true. The pertinent questions are these. Is it true that we're in a deficit? How does Medford compare with other communities around us? Are there good alternatives available to meet our needs? Is this a one-time request or will there be another one, a larger request in the near future? And I think you know the answer to that. What is the real impact on the Medford taxpayer? And does the voting public truly understand the pros and cons? And has there been sufficient information and time for the public to make an informed decision? So let's take a look and let's consider the following. The last two years relied heavily on the use of federal ARPA and ESSER funds. They were put out there because of the COVID crisis. It was well known that when these funds were used up, there would be a need for the city to sustain staff and programs with local and state revenues. Otherwise, there would be undesirable cuts to program and personnel. So was this necessary? When the budget process took place in the last year, everybody knew that those funds had to be replaced. And those funds enabled the city to build up a free cash reserve that is three times what has ever been in place. Almost at this point in time, $35 million. And if that was the case, was it necessary? And did the mayor really fail to provide full funding consistent with the school committee's request? when there's a significant amount of free cash available to the city, much higher than the amount available in previous years. The school administration, by law, is required to ask, and the school committee as well, for an amount sufficient to support the schools under Proposition 2 1⁄2. It's their legal request to do that. The mayor or the city manager in the past, when 2 1⁄2 passed, had the bottom line, and the city council can only approve or cut what the mayor provides. So it's not simple. The amount of money reported to DOR of free cash was $25 million in 2004. And as I indicated, they added another $9 million or thereabouts in the current fiscal year. Why, given the often repeated mantra of the mayor, transparency. Interesting word. And the city's financial director, did they fail to provide a clean and complete report on the city's financial position to the city council and the school committee? I think the answer's simple. The answer is that they wanted to leverage a crisis to create a need for an override, because you're in a situation where you don't have it, you're threatening cuts to important services, and if you don't give me the money, we're gonna have to do drastic measures. This is not Proposition 2 1⁄2. In 1981, 1982, I was in the school system. I was working with the superintendent's office, and the budget of the city of Medford for the schools was $19.4 million. That year, we had to cut $3.2 million. That's a cut. 150 people got laid off. That was difficult, very difficult. We are not in that situation right now. We are not in that situation. When the 2024 DOR, Department of Revenue Tax Recap Report is studied, and I did that, There are clear underestimates of revenue amounts when compared with 2023, specifically by almost 15%. So in other words saying, if investment income was X, it was 14% less when they were projecting their revenue, almost $18 million. Why create a crisis? Before you ask the public for an override, should you not first use the obvious resources available? You can always go back later on and say, you know, we used up our resources. But when you have them, why won't you use them? Let's talk about the tax rate. The Medford tax rate is low. The residential tax rate is low comparatively to area communities. Nothing wrong with that. I don't think anyone feels like it has to be number one, the highest tax rate in the Commonwealth. So it's not a bad thing when affordability for housing and other needs is challenging. If the overrides and debt exclusion pass, taxes will increase, I think, by at least 10%. especially when you include the 2.5% statutory increase that happens virtually every year. And what about the impact of re-evaluation? You know what's going on right now. They're checking your houses out. And by the way, if you haven't noticed, your house is worth more than it was when you bought it, in most cases. And when they reassess it, they're going to reassess it and the taxes are going to go up. And on top of that, you're probably going to pay a little bit more for water and sewer. And when you add it all together, if you have to take an equity loan, you're gonna pay a hell of a lot more interest than you might like. And if you're a new person wanting to buy a home, the mortgage rates are still at 6.2%, and even if it goes down to 5%, it's a hell of a lot higher than it was when people refinanced a few years ago. And what about renters? Some of these people will never have a chance. They just won't be able to to get in and the landlords are going to pass on the rent to their tenants. So, that affects people too. When you think about it, there's also a deduction, tax deduction limit. You used to be able to take your income tax and your house property tax and interest. You can't do that anymore in the current rule. So, you can't even deduct some of the stuff that you used to be able to do before. Some people can get around it for various reasons, Not everybody. If you look at the age factor in the community, 22% of Medford residents are over the age of 60. 14% are 70 or more. A lot of these people are on fixed incomes. They don't have another alternative to go to. And they're probably supporting their children, their grandchildren, and everything else like that as well. So a hit like this is really significant. By the way, as the high school project moves forward, and it's in a planning stage right now, undoubtedly there will be another override request, which isn't out there right now. That'll make three override requests. The two that are there now, and the one that might come up, plus the debt exclusion, in the very near future. Given the cost of a rebuild, or renovation, this will be the biggest number that you've ever seen. The SBA reimbursement rate is not known at this time. It will only cover certain costs. Not everything is eligible. If you look at high schools that have been built or renovated in recent times, you're talking somewhere in the vicinity of $200 million to $400 million to redo the high school. We've got vocational shops and other things like that that have to be preserved. That's an expensive thing. And if you maybe get 35, 40%, not getting the 90% that we got for the schools, the K through 12 schools that we got several years ago with Rick as the chairperson of the building committee at that time. And we, by the way, sold the old schools so that we actually made money. Don't tell anybody. You don't get that now. So you're gonna be talking about potentially 100 to $200 million of local assessment over and above. That will impact taxes on top of the early override assessments. And by the way, if the override passes in November, you will see the increase on your January 2025 tax bill. You're not gonna wait a year to build it up. You're gonna see it in January. It's only a few months away. Now one of the arguments that comes around is that somehow Medford salaries and cost per pupil are not competitive. Now as a educator, I think I started off with this, I want every nickel I can get for the schools. I mean, I'd be less than honest if I didn't tell you that I think the schools deserve every nickel we can give them, and we have plenty of needs. But no one gets everything they want, and no school system is able to do that, and no community is able to do that. Well, let's take a look at the Medford Public Schools financials. And this is according to the latest Department of Elementary and Secondary Education statistics. The state average per pupil is $19,714. Medford is currently spending $21,372. Arlington is spending $18,615. Malden is spending $17,428. Melrose is spending $15,540. Peabody is spending $16,996, and I can go on and on. Now, someone can say, well, there are, Mystic Valley, by the way, one of the charter schools that sucks away dollars from our budget, is paying, is spending $14,167. Now, there are places, Somerville 23958, we just built a building so you can see where, that's involved. And by the way, if you want to chase Cambridge, Cambridge is spending $36,712. Of course, Cambridge has got a property base that's incredible. And Burlington is $25,297. And by the way, if we were still sending kids to Minuteman, the cost would be $34,176. And if we continued to send 50 kids there like we did when we cut it off, we'd be pushing $2 million a year of money out of our pocket. And that's why we rebuilt the vocational school. And people argued about, why are you not sending the kids to Minuteman? Because they're sucking dollars out of Medford. And we had a right to rebuild our own school and run our own programs at a far less cost. So, then the question comes about teacher salaries. Where's Charlene? Charlene? All right, Charlene, don't take offense. Okay. If you look at the average salary for the Medford teachers, average salary, and this is latest numbers, you know, obviously it's gone up a little bit. The average salary is $88,179. That's the statistic. If you're on the top step, 10 years, a master's plus 60, this year fiscal 25, you're going to make $111,000. In Arlington, the top salary is $83,466. I mean the average salary. Melrose is $76,369. Beverly is $84,765. Malden is $83,366. Marblehead is $84,365. Mystic Valley, the charter school, is at $73,823. Prospect Hill at $78, another charter school. And so on and so forth. Our teachers deserve good pay, but they don't leave because they can make $2,000 or $3,000 more in another community. They leave because they're afraid they might get their job cut. They leave because they don't have good benefits. And in Medford, health benefits and other benefits contractually are outstanding. There are a lot of reasons why people stay in the Medford public schools or come to us. Because our benefits are good. They're very good, by the way. and our salary is competitive. There is a teacher shortage in the country, so, you know, Medford's gonna be affected by that. There are a lot of people not going into education right now because they're feeling that it's too challenging. But people will stay with us for stability. So the argument that somehow we're not competitive is not real. Now, what are the alternatives besides free cash? Well, first of all, Medford's new growth is in the tank. We're on any building permits currently in place at City Hall right now. And unless you're really big on a beer haul, that's the only thing that I know about. How much are we leaving on the table? How can we grow the tax base rather than increase taxes on residents? We're not doing it. We're not doing it. Don't penalize the school system operations by building up huge reserves in free cash. Don't underestimate revenues. Let's strive for affordability. And in the request for the override, there's these general categories, teacher salaries, this, that, and the other thing. Be specific. The people who are voting for this are voting against it, need to know where every dollar is going. They don't want to just hear it's going into a tank someplace that hopefully will support the kinds of things that we consider to be important. General categories don't cut it. The override vote is less than two months away. And residents, citizens, are already voting or are going to start voting very soon. So besides the general information on the web, so the city's web, What does the average citizen know about the need and the impact? Probably not a lot. Many of you will vote by mail at the general election for the president and senator, and local races are at a minimum. So there aren't a lot of people who might even come out because, you know, they'll vote for the president and that's it. The Secretary of State, I'm going to pull this out. Most of you probably got this. Secretary of State sends out this every year, every year there's an election. And in it, not only are the candidates identified, but the ballot issues, there's five ballot issues statewide. They're identified with pros and cons and research so that you as a voter can actually decide based on some information based on partisans born against and research whether to vote for a particular item. I haven't seen anything in this city that would even comes close to that. You have a lot of people who will go in there that day and they will not know the impact of what they're doing. Some of them will think they're voting for $7 million for a new high school. They're gonna be surprised. Many will vote by mail. So, is this the right way to request an override from our taxpayers? Our city deserves, our citizens deserve more transparency than we're currently seeing. Our citizens need more information on the city's finances. The city council needs more information on the city's finances. They don't have it. How many times, and we go to Rick or to anyone else, George, how many times have you asked the city's finance director, is he still reconciling some previous year? Well, they're working on it. No one wants to tell anybody what's really there. And that's a problem. So people will vote without really knowing. Our citizens need to know that there will be a likely third override coming to them in the future for that high school. Now, whether it's a rebuild or it's a renovation, it's going to be expensive. It's gonna be expensive. And SBA will not give us 90 cents on the dollar like they did way back when. And we will not have buildings to sell off to pick up the rest and make money. Our citizens need to be assured, need to be assured that the school budget will not be shortchanged. That any municipal service will not be shortchanged. When legitimate resources are available without an override. Let's not leverage the override. Let's not create a crisis in order to get an override through. If there's a need for more money down the road for operations, after the high school project becomes known and the reimbursement rate, well, okay, put it out there and people can talk about it. But right now, you haven't got all the information. Right now, you don't know the big ticket item coming down the road. You haven't got any idea. At least you don't, many of you don't. And it's important that you do. Because too many people out there are going to be pushed out of their homes. Too many people are going to not be able to afford to come to Medford. And our school system will be played with. You don't leverage the school system. You make sure, you don't leverage the fire department, the police department. You don't leverage the, you make sure they have what they need to do the job. And if you've got the resources available, then do it. And if you really, really need something, then you make the case for it. And in my opinion, the case hasn't been made. The case hasn't been made. Thank you for listening.
[Scarpelli]: 我很荣幸我们的一个朋友为消防员付出了如此努力的努力，以捕获赠款，并在我们的税基中承受压力，即我们的工会秘书丹妮尔·马索利诺（Danielle Masolino）在这里。 欢迎，丹妮尔。
[SPEAKER_01]: 嗯，就像乔治说的那样，我是消防员的工会秘书。 我也是，嗯，我不仅仅是秘书。 我实际上有一名消防员。 我实际上是在高处，嗯，嗯，嗯。 对不起。 所以，嗯， 我在这里代表我们的工会代表这个主题。 显然，我敢肯定，你们中的许多人都知道，就像乔治说的那样，我们最近在这座城市进行了很多试验和磨难。 而且我一直在听到一些公民的来信，我们已经进行了讨论。 有了我遇到的人，他们认为我们可能只是不想要这个总部，或者我们不喜欢从市政厅出来的一切，因为我们目前与市长矛盾，这是100％不正确的。 我们不希望只有一个新的总部 我们迫切需要总部。 话虽这么说，我们不支持将被带给公民的债务排除，因为出于几个原因，主要是因为推出了什么以及债务排除在内的债务不足是为我们的部门的设计计划严重不足。 我们认为作为一个工会，我们不能很好地良心，要求公民支付一座耗资3000万美元的建筑，甚至不满足我们部门的基本需求。 可悲的是，它不满足我们的需求，主要是因为我们被完全排除在设计建筑物的过程之外。 实际上，他们明确地说我们不允许参与该过程。 即使在部门内，生活在建筑物中的人们，我们团结在一起，成立了一个委员会，我们讨论了该部门的需求以及我们作为部门的需求。 能够随着我们周围的城市成长而成长和支持公民。 就像我说的那样，他们完全无视我们必须说的任何话。 他们从未提出过我们的意见，实际上告诉老酋长，前弗里德曼（Friedman），他不是要让我们知道他对这座建筑的任何信息。 去年夏天，当我们终于与参谋长回来讨论发生了什么事时，我们被告知他们已经准备好绿色点亮一个项目，因为他们认为这很棒。 因此，我们有机会窥视正在发生的事情，我们发现了一栋无法实现的建筑物 完全支持我们部门内部的任何增长。 就像我说的那样，我们将无法添加更多的公司，您知道，您知道，额外的技能或类似的事情。 这只是目前那里的东西。 我们还发现一栋将要有房间的建筑物 我们称它们为双重占用。 因此，目前，我们住在我的房间里，我们在有多个人的双层床上睡觉。 就像它一样，就像夏令营一样。 嗯，所以这座建筑正在建造，我们实际上将再次一起在房间里睡觉。 我不知道你们中有人是否和您的同事一起回家和他们一起睡觉，但这有点奇怪。 嗯，我知道。 嗯， 但这只是它在消防部门的方式。 这就是全国消防服务。 过去总是这样。 但是显然，时间正在发生变化。 事情正在发生变化。 我们有女人。 我们有各行各业的人现在想成为消防员，这很棒。 很高兴看到部门多元化。 话虽这么说，我们需要能够适应它。 去年夏天我们已经展示的建筑设计实际上无法适应。 实际上，对我个人而言，这有点令人沮丧。 那是到浴室，双层床，淋浴间，更衣室等的地方。 因此，一切都将像一个共享空间。 因此，我们遇到的其他大问题之一是消防联盟是警察局上升的时候。 我敢肯定，你们所有人都知道，所有这些最终都进入了我们以前的训练塔所在的空间。 我们对失去训练塔感到非常沮丧。 我的意思是，我们到处都发布了有关它的信息，我认为我们会选择它和所有内容。 因此，我们向我们承诺，尤其是由这位市长承诺，前市长向我们保证，我们将获得一座训练塔。 当我们看到新总部的设计计划时，我们发现它不过是楼梯间，他们称其为训练塔。 对于我们来说，训练塔，我们的旧训练塔，我们实际上可以燃烧。 我们可以在其中点燃东西，并像我们在常规房屋中一样将其伸出来。 就像我说的那样，这座训练塔只是一个楼梯间，实际上是出口的一种手段。 因此，建筑物的其余部分将使用它进入并退出建筑物。 实际上，如果这是出口手段，则不能称之为训练场。 他们必须分开。 因此，当我们看到设计时，我们感到非常沮丧。 我们与参谋长提出了这些担忧。 她把他们带到市长。 他们似乎很惊讶，然后他们 有点回到绘图板上。 从那时起，我们实际上不再被允许，不允许做任何计划。 我们不允许谈论我们的需求。 因此，当我们得到另一个计划在去年年初或去年年底将弗里德曼酋长带给我们的计划时，它再次很短。 所以我们缺少空间，嗯， 我们缺少存储空间。 我们缺少能够添加更多设备的空间，以便该部门可以发展。 我们缺少添加更多部门成员的空间。 再说一次，就浴室空间，更衣空间以及类似的东西而言，还有其他缺点。 因此，您知道，我们显然对这个计划不满意。 除了对该计划不满意之外，我们还被告知该计划的原因没有比这更好的原因了，因为该市预留的预算是3000万美元，而他们再花费的一毛钱比他们拥有的3,000万美元更高。 所以我们想，好的，如果是这样，那么，我们将尝试与此合作。 我们和承包商一起走来走去，我们试图使其正常工作。 然后，我们发现这种债务排除在外。 现在，我们发现，债务排除实际上是整个3000万美元的项目。 因此，我们对这座城市的问题是，您最初预算的钱怎么了？ 而且，如果您的预算中存在缺点，如果要排除债务，为什么不要求额外的钱来可能实现这一目标，也许可以满足部门的需求？ 我们不是要奢侈品，我们只是在要求总部内的基础知识。 看到这座城市不打算在这座建筑物上花一美元，他们要求我们所有的公民付出整个账单，这真让我们感到震惊。 因此，由于所有这些事情，我们100％不想看到 我们的公民受到这一点的影响，然后转过身，实际上知道该项目也将有一些严重的缺点，并且不符合该部门的需求。 因此，您知道，我们要求人们对此投票。 显然，就像乔治说的那样，我们度过了艰难的一年。 我们与这座城市没有太多的沟通。 因此，您知道，这些问题确实，我们真的没有机会问这些问题，坐下来与他们交谈。 我们确实有对话。 我们确实谈到了将要改变的事情。 然后我们被告知我们将被排除在那时。 我们的前任酋长告诉我们，他被明确告知我们不应该被告知这些事情。 不幸的是，我们甚至无法尝试改善这一点。 因此，除了有很多缺点之外，我们确实没有落后于这种税收增加。 我们要求大家对此投票。 我们已经有几个人伸出手，要求我们支持增加税收，并且我已经通过电子邮件发送了电子邮件。 当我有点抢手并能够将其全部写下并编辑我必须说的话时，我会好一些。 因此，我给了几个人发了电子邮件，其中一位是一所学校，并解释了为什么我们不能支持这一点。 而且我什至没有太感谢您的时间。 因为我们不支持它。 没有人对我们为什么不支持它感兴趣。 我不应该没人说。 该特定的人对我们为什么不支持它不感兴趣。 因此，我们觉得有必要让我们不支持它。 但是与此同时，这有点困难，因为目前的气候很难做到这一点，而没有听起来我们只是一群愤怒的人，而我们只是不喜欢任何东西。 因此，如果有人有任何疑问， 我有空，其他工会官员可以使用。 如果您有任何疑问，请随时与我们联系。 如果您需要我们的电子邮件地址或其他任何内容，则可以立即问我。 是的，乔治·斯卡佩利（George Scarpelli）也可以把它拿到你身上。 我们很乐意谈论这些事情。 我们非常感谢每个人在今年经历的一切中的支持。 每个人都对此很棒。 谢谢。
[Petrella]: 有关方法发生的更多信息，请访问Facebook和YouTube上的方法。 或者，您也可以访问MCNO2155.com的方法社区网络。 要观看我们的剧集，或者您对自己的表演感到好奇，请访问Methodtv.org。 对于方法，我是约翰·佩特雷拉（John Petrella），请保持知情。 谢谢。