[Caraviello]: Good evening, everyone. The 37th regular meeting of the Medford City Council. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Six in the affirmative, one absent. Please rise. The motion by Vice President Knight to suspend the rules. We have a representative here from Local 25, Mr. President. Seconded by Councilor Falco. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.
[Caraviello]: Yes.
[Morell]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Absence. President Aviello.
[Caraviello]: Yes. Six in the affirmative, one absent. Motion passes.
[Knight]: Mr. President, the reason I ask for the rooms to be suspended is to invite Stephen South from Local 25 up to the podium. He's here this evening to join us with a special announcement, I do believe. I was contacted by his office earlier in the week, and he asked that he be extended this courtesy this evening as the official bargaining agent for a number of units here in the community. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Good evening. Name and address of the record, please.
[South]: 25 but coincidentally I also live at 106 Damon Road in Medford. Thank you, sir. Good evening, Mr. Chairman Good evening, Councilors, just wanted to talk briefly with all of you about an issue. It's been brought to my attention first in the summer. And then over the last few weeks that the city has hired private investigators to follow multiple members of my bargaining units. We've put in a request for information to the city asking for the scope and who's ordered this. I think I'm aware of who it is, but I wanna see if the council is aware that any of this is going on. I am not aware. I don't know, I can't speak for the other councils. And is there a line item in the budget that provides the city with money to, in the tens of thousands of dollars, to pay for private investigators to follow your employees? None that I'm aware of. Okay, well we've requested a whole slew of information over a month ago we we've received very little of it but we'll, we'll do our due diligence, obviously we're entitled to that information but I wanted to see if first if you were aware of it the Council, and if not, you know, obviously we feel that it's very inappropriate. We think that it's more of a fishing expedition. There's been no credible allegations brought to our attention, but I know that the city's conducting multiple investigations that are, like I said, a fishing expedition. But I appreciate your time, and hopefully we can get to the bottom of this. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. Before you, any questions for Mr. Sotheby's here?
[Knight]: Mr. President, I do believe I do believe Mr. South has had the opportunity to organize several bargaining units here in the community, maybe you could tell us a little bit about that I know we were able to recently approve the contract for our inspectors and recreation department.
[South]: Yes, and we just filed for another group last week of the, the, this part of the school committee but it's the. assistant principals, the department heads and the administrators and all of the Medford public schools. That's the seventh group that we've organized in the last seven years. So we look forward to continuing a strong relationship that we had for many years with the city. We're hoping that can continue and continue our bargaining relationship. And obviously we do a lot in the community and share a lot of interests with all of you. and our families and we look forward to continuing that partnership with the city of Medford, and local 25. Thank you.
[Knight]: Thank you, Mr. President, just one more item Mr. President, before I wrap up, just one more item. It's also been brought to my attention was the self that you've been able to organize. a private entity that provides transportation services to our students here in the community?
[South]: Yes.
[Knight]: And you're in the process of negotiating a contract now?
[South]: Up until recently, that's no longer the case.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is the contract been negotiated or? No, they've been released. They've been released. Yes. So that's done. Thank you.
[Bears]: Thank you, Mr. President. Certainly want to get to the bottom of this. I just wanted to add congratulations to you and all of your members on the election of Sean O'Brien as the President of National Teamsters.
[South]: Thank you very much, Mr. Bares. I appreciate that.
[Caraviello]: Any other questions? Thank you, sir.
[Knight]: I thank you all for your time. Have a nice evening. Thank you very much. Mr. President, I do believe that this council has asked this question in the past. This was something that I put forward a number of months ago, requesting that the administration disclose to us if there's any type of investigation going on. I believe this was something that got brought up maybe in, oh, May or June, if I'm not mistaken. With that being said, maybe it would be possible for the city clerk to provide us with a copy of that paper and the other response that the administration gave, and then we can forward that to Mr. Self as well.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. All right, motion to revert back to regular business. Motion by Vice President Knight, seconded by Councilor Bears. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears? Yes. Councilor Falco? Yes. Vice President Knight? Yes. Councilor Ntuk?
[Caraviello]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Larao? Yes. Councilor Stephanopoulos?
[Caraviello]: Yes. Six in the affirmative, one absent. Do we still have to call the roll if George is not on the meeting? Yeah, so yeah, we don't, we won't scroll around today. Thank you. I wasn't sure. 21619 off of my Vice President Knight and President Caraviello, be it so resolved that the Medford City Council thank the Sloan family and all of the Century Bank staff for their philanthropy and contributions to the city of Medford. Vice President Knight.
[Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. Just this past week, we had a very monumental transfer of ownership of Century Bank over to Eastern Bank. And seeing this happen, it brought some sadness, whereas I've had the ability and fortunate responsibility to work with the Sloan family now, going back to when I first got involved in government in the late 90s. The Sloan family have been great, great, great advocates, great participants in our community, great benefactors, very generous people that have really helped make Medfed a better place. They've invested not only their money, but also their time, their energy, and their efforts here to create jobs, to run a successful business, to build and develop, and help grow our community, but they've also been very philanthropic in nature. And because of that, Mr. President, I offer this resolution and I thank you for co-sponsoring it with me. And I'd ask my council colleagues if we could be so kind as to extend the slightest bit of gratitude to the Sloan family based upon their 40 plus years of dedication and commitment to this community.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Personally, I've known the Sloan family for many years. Marshall Sloan, a citizen of the year. Barry and his sister have been great community members. Their philanthropy throughout the community has been second to none. Their room at the top of the bank, they gave to everybody that used, paid for everyone's dinners there. I mean, let's say, The family who started with a small bank in Somerville and grown to one of the largest banks in New England, privately held. And again, I talked to Barry all the time and I wished him well personally, but again, I wanna wish everybody, Barry and his whole family, great success on whatever him and Linda decided to do going forward. And we welcome Eastern Bank into our community and hope they'll be the same kind of partner that the Sloans were. Thank you. So, on the motion by Vice President Knight, seconded by Councilor Falco. All those in favor? Motion passes. 2-1-6-2-0, offered by Councilor Markson, President Cabrera, be it resolved that the office of the Medford City Clerk be discussed. Councilor Markson.
[Marks]: Thank you Mr. President, I want to thank you for co-sponsoring this resolution. I offer this resolution tonight Mr. President to get some clarification on some recent happenings within the City Clerk and the registrar voters office. As you may or may not be aware, the election process this year, during both the preliminary election and the general election in November, were called into question regarding the review of voter list. And it's my belief that the Secretary of State's office, in particular the election division, was reviewing a list that was submitted by the city back a few months ago to inactivate a number of registered voters in this community. Now, that process, I am not aware of where it stands, and that's the reason why I'm offering this tonight, Mr. President. However, what I am aware, and not through any formal communication from the city administration is that there is currently an external third party audit that's being taken place, I guess, as we speak by an external party of which I believe it was initiated by KP Law, who is a vendor, nothing more than a vendor for this community. So I'm not quite sure the KP law has the authority to initiate an audit on a department within city government here. That's the first question I would have. And secondly, the extent of what this audit is going to involve. I'm under the impression it involves the city clerk's office slightly, mostly the registrar voters office. And I think it's only appropriate, Mr. President, where we are responsible for hiring of the city clerk. The city clerk in his capacity is not only the city clerk, he's also the chief election officer under our charter. And I think it's only appropriate that we as the hiring authority find out why KP Law, a contractor that works for the city authorized an external party to come in and do an audit of the city clerk's slash registrar voters office. So at this point, Mr. President, I would ask that we have a committee of the whole meeting to bring us up to date. I would assume, and I wasn't privy to any of these meetings that were held over the last couple of weeks, but I would assume we would have to invite someone from the city administration and they would be aware of who actually should be invited and who took part in these meetings that were held that the Medford City Council was not privy to. Mr. President, in order to ask the questions I have, I won't ask them tonight, but I have a laundry list of questions on where this audit stands, why it was initiated, by who, for what purpose, Mr. President, and the list goes on and on. So that's what I'm gonna put in the form of a motion that we set up a committee of the whole meeting within the next, and I realize it's the holiday, but maybe sometime after Thanksgiving, Mr. President, if we could set that up, a committee of the whole meeting to discuss the ongoing audit that's being done in the clerk slash elections department.
[Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President.
[Caraviello]: I can give you the information that I know. KP Law has an election expert on their team, and they are looking to, the word audit wasn't used, we're to review the clerk's office. And from what I understand, they're looking to hire two clerks from two towns, I'm sorry, two cities to conduct this review. I don't know which, I don't know if they've hired anybody or, or if it's already started I can't give you that information I'm not privy to that point of information, Mr. President, what information vice president, I do believe by a vote of seven to nothing this Medford City Council cut KP law out of the budget.
[Knight]: How are they being paid.
[Caraviello]: I cannot answer how they're being paid. So, so but let me let me go back to what I was saying. They are looking to bring in two clerks from two other cities to review our clerk's office. I guess this has been done in the past in other cities, according to the Lori Goldberg of KP Law. So that is all the information that I know at this point. I don't know if it has started or if they've hired anybody to actually start this review. Councilor Morelle.
[Morell]: Thank you, Mr. President. As we've run into this issue recently, I would just ask if that it's anticipated we'll be discussing any personnel or any individual- We will not be discussing any personnel matters this evening. Oh, not tonight. In this upcoming committee of the whole, just ensuring if anyone's going to be discussed that they are given the proper notice and invited so we don't have our hands tied.
[Caraviello]: They will be notified properly if a personnel matter is going to be discussed. Okay, thank you. Mr. President, if I could. Vice President Senator, Councilor Marks.
[Marks]: And I appreciate that update. And I know you weren't part of all the meetings that took place. However, to me, the larger issue is how does a vendor, this is a vendor, initiate an audit of a city department? I don't think there's any precedent anywhere that a vendor would have that authority. So that's my first question. Who and what capacity does KP law have to initiate I call it an audit, you could call it a review.
[Caraviello]: I'm just using the terms that I was given.
[Marks]: Right, right. So that would be my question. And prior to anything happening, Mr. President, where the only authority that we have for hiring in this community, out of the hundreds of positions, we're responsible for the city clerk. One position, we're not even responsible for the people that work within the city clerk's office. We have no hiring authority over the people that actually work for the city clerk, but our one responsibility is the city clerk. And he runs the day-to-day operations of the clerk's office and is responsible for the oversight of the registrar of voters office. How are we not brought into the conversation when a review slash audit is requested by a vendor, as Council Vice President Knight mentioned, that may not even be a vendor because we slashed them from the budget in June. So there's a lot that needs to be answered, Mr. President. I hope we can get those answers answered tonight. We had Mr. Salt up here tonight talking about, you know, who authorized private investigators to follow around DPW workers. Was that in the budget? These are questions, Mr. President, that we need answered as a community. and they're very important questions. This is one of them, Mr. President, and I would hope we set up that meeting immediately.
[Caraviello]: That will be next week, right after the holiday.
[Marks]: It will be next week, Mr. President. A second question. We pay our own city solicitor, Solicitor Kim Scanlon. who served as assistant city solicitor for a number of years, a very capable attorney, very knowledgeable of city ordinances, city charter, but yet we have a private vendor that comes in and starts investigating. I won't call it an investigation. I know they get a little antsy when we say investigation, but hires two clerks to come in and do a review slash audit. Where's our city solicitor? That's supposed to be the oversight, the legal oversight for this community. Was this signed off by the city solicitor? So I, right, so you can see where this is going, Mr. President, that we can have a rogue entity that has nothing to do with this community other than the fact that they're a hired vendor, stop auditing and investigating departments and employees and policies and procedures. It makes no sense at all, no sense at all. And I realized this is a touchy subject because some of this was initiated because of an election. And the people that are running this community ran in that election and they have to probably recuse themselves from being involved in any review, which I understand. but we don't leave it up to a vendor. We don't leave it up to a vendor, Mr. President. That makes no sense. So really, I hope next week, I appreciate that, Mr. President. I appreciate everything you've done on this issue to keep me as one member of the council informed to the best of your ability, but we really need answers. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Knight]: Thank you. Mr. President, I do think it's also important to point out that we have a board of registrar voters. And I think that, you know, they've been left out of this process for pretty, pretty open to the point where they two of the three members resigned during the election process this year. So I think there's a, you know, something that's definitely worth discussing, Mr. President, and I support Council Marx's resolution and I will move to second it this evening.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. Councilor Falco.
[Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank you and Councilor Marks for bringing this forward. I found this process to be very frustrating. I feel that right now I know myself as a council, I have more questions than answers and that's not your fault. I agree with Councilor Marks. We have an outside entity that's running the show and who's giving them the authority to do this. And Like I said, there's, there's just more questions than answers. It's just incredibly frustrating. I mean, I know what I would like to see is I'd love to see just a timeline of events, literally from when this whole issue came about. when the list got messed up and people were deleted, people added back on. I mean, who gave that person the authority to do that? I have so many questions. I think we'll need more than an hour.
[Caraviello]: As do many people. We'll do it on a Wednesday.
[Falco]: So I would say this should be a Wednesday night meeting just because I don't think this is a meeting that I don't want to bump into our regular two things. You are correct.
[Caraviello]: That's what I was planning.
[Falco]: If you could schedule that on a Wednesday, I think that would be the best bet. Because I know I have a ton of questions, as I'm sure my colleagues do as well. But there are a lot of things, I think, that need to be looked at. It's very frustrating. Here we are a month later, and we're doing this. But we need to do this as soon as possible. It'll be next Wednesday. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Any other councilors have any questions? Good evening, name and address of the record, please.
[SPEAKER_07]: Hi, Patricia Daugherty, 235 Winthrop Street. I'm so glad to see this on the agenda tonight because you may or may not know that since the day after the election, there have been a lot of issues about getting information from the city clerk's office and from the register of voters office. Did any of you know that? Well, normally before the election, campaigns can come and get information freely from the city clerk's office or the register of voters office. And usually after the election, a volunteer will go in and ask for the voter activity list. And so after the September 2nd preliminary, we have got the voter activity list. And that list is important because it'll allow you to fine tune the list you'll use in the next mailing. It tells you who voted, who didn't vote, what parties voted.
[Knight]: Point of information, Vice President Knight. I noticed, Ms. Brady, that you said we. Are you here representing a group or an organization, or are you here as a citizen?
[SPEAKER_07]: No, I'm saying as volunteers, as like a volunteer.
[Knight]: Do you mean like as a volunteer in general may do this practice?
[SPEAKER_07]: No, I went in there. I went in because I had volunteered on several campaigns this fall.
[Knight]: So you're speaking as an individual today.
[SPEAKER_07]: But at this moment, I'm speaking as me who went in. So I went in to get, so the day after the November 2nd election, I went in to get the numbers, the unofficial official numbers, and knowing that they are not official until of course they're certified. And I also asked if I could then, when would the voter activity list for November 2nd be ready? Usually that's a week or so. And so they gave a date. But I also heard when I was down there, that a list of 12,546 people had been moved from active to inactive back to active again before the preliminary election. Now, were you people aware of that? Through the chair, Councilor Marks, you were aware of that? Correct. called the Secretary of State's office and Michelle Tassinieri got back to me and she's chief legal counsel, as many of you might know, and she explained what happened. She said that the city clerk's office had moved 12,546 people to inactive status and then it, but it was done too close to the next election. So, and I can't remember whether she said notices were sent out or not sent out because what happens is the city does their annual street listing. And if you don't respond, you then are removed from the active photo list. And, but before they do that, they send a card out to remind you that you didn't fill out your street census. And so when I was talking to her, She said, but it was too close to the timeline. Someone had filed a complaint. And I said, well, how would they know that? How would they know that there was anything to complain about? And she said, well, I'm not sure you'd have to find that out from the city clerk's office. So, but the other thing I asked her about is I said, there are 41,000 people registered to vote in the city. And the census says we only have 59,000 people. Doesn't that seem very high to you? And she said, it seems really high. And she said, why don't you go back take out, go to the recent census and take out all the kids, everyone under 18 who can't vote. And then if you come up with a really high number, then go to your council, go to the registrar's office and suggest that maybe there needs to be some sort of deeper review. So I did what she said, and we came up with a really high number. And just to make sure it wasn't off base, I took Wellesley, which I knew to be a very high, owner occupied city. And I knew they had very high public participation because they have hundreds of people show up at their town meetings. And then I thought, well, this is kind of extreme. I'll just go next door to Winchester, the same thing. And so both Wellesley and Winchester have an 80% of their population is registered to vote and they have 90%, give or take, owner occupied. So you would expect that. Well, Medford has 85% of our population registered to vote. And that is extremely high because we're only at 56% owner occupied. So I'm suggesting that there might want to be some investigation into why our we have such a high number registered to vote in the city. But the other thing is I said to her, well, if We were going to delete 12,546 people from the list that would leave 29,000 people registered to vote. Listen, that seemed like a really high number to delete and she said it is a really high number, she said you need to ask maybe. the city clerk wasn't deleting the list, cleaning up the list every year. You know, maybe you go back seven or eight years and they hadn't cleaned up the list. And I thought, well, that was unusual. That would be not right. Well, I happened to run into Ed Finn outside one day and he said, no, we cleaned up the list every year. And he said, I think Adam has been doing it also. So I think another question we have to ask is how did we get to 12,546 people on the list? Maybe that's part of the review. Well, there were a couple more questions here. So anyway, I waited the week and I walked back into city clerk's office to see if the voter activity list was ready. And I was told, we can't talk to you. I said, me or everybody? We can't talk to anyone. And I said, what do you mean you can't talk to anyone? We can't give out any lists, we can't do anything. I said, what do you mean? I was told we could committing, you have the voter activity list, why can't I have it? And they said, we just can't tell you anything. I thought, this is really weird. Like normally you only shut down the flow of communication when there's a criminal investigation. I said, is there a criminal investigation? They said, we can't talk. So I went down the register of voters office. This is Wednesday, November 10th. And I said, Sandy Gill was there. And I said, could I get the list I talked about with you last week? And she said, I'm sorry, we can't talk to you. And I said, what are you talking about? And no one would look up. Everyone was really nervous. And it was the weirdest state of affairs. So I went home, called up seeing Michelle Tassineri again. And she called me back later on. And someone said, we can't talk to you. The Secretary of State's office said we can't talk to anyone right now. Oh, I forgot one important thing. So I went upstairs. They said, you got to go to the city solicitor's office. So I went there. And she was too busy to talk to me. They said, you have to file a freedom of information to get this information. I said, this is unbelievable. I said, we just got the exact same list like in September. So I went to the mayor's office and there was a meeting going on and I got to go in and I said, can you please tell me under what authority are you shutting down the flow of information? Is there a criminal investigation going on here? And the mayor didn't answer me.
[Knight]: I understand that there's some emotions running high, but to keep insinuating, is there a criminal investigation? Is there a criminal investigation? I'm just thinking that, you know, the narrative is getting a little skewed here. You know what I mean? Let's keep it to the facts, please. That's all I'm saying. Is there a criminal investigation? I mean, come on.
[SPEAKER_07]: That is the question. That's a very factual statement I made because that's what I said. I said, how are you shutting down the flow of information? Is there a criminal investigation going on? Because normally that's the only time you would shut down the flow of information. And I was told by the chief of staff answered me, not the mayor. And she said, you have to go through the city solicitor and file a FOIA.
[Knight]: So I was like, this is- Wait, Mr. President, it was brought to my attention after having a conversation with the elections coordinator that because of the inordinate number of requests that the office was getting relative to the provision of certain documents that they sought advice from the Secretary of State's office as to how to handle it. And then the Secretary of State's office said these requests can be handled as Freedom of Information Act requests.
[SPEAKER_07]: So Mr. President, to continue, Michelle Tassinari legal counsel for the Secretary of State's office called me back that afternoon around 430. And she was very upset. And she said, I not only called city clerk's office, city hall, she said, I emailed them. And I told them under no circumstances are they to use our office as the authority in shutting down information. She said, I don't know why they're doing it. It's extremely unusual. She said, but in order for you to get information, you'll have to file. The next day was Veterans Day, the office was closed. I went Friday and filed eight or nine requests for the information that is normally given to us. So the questions I'd like to know is, you people hire and fire the city clerk, did you give the order to shut down the information? No. So, but the most important question now is, What is the background on the 12,546 names? Did you have that information before either the preliminary or the election? That there was this list that went from active to inactive to active?
[Caraviello]: Did you- I can't speak for the council.
[Knight]: The Medford City Council doesn't perform election oversight duties. That's what the board of registrars vote as far as, and that's what the secretary of state's office as well.
[SPEAKER_07]: Well, through the chair, Secretary, Michelle Tosineri said that, that is something that was, so it was a major mistake, but it was a major mistake that should have been brought to the attention of the administration in the city, both council president and the mayor, because it was, it meant that nobody had to go to a voting, to the precincts and show a license and or sign an affirmation that they lived where they say they lived and they had lived there January 1. And so did any of you, Councilor Bears, Councilor Knight, the Councilors over here, did you people know that there was this information of 12,546 names out there?
[Knight]: quite frankly, I don't pay much attention to the functions of the office that falls under the purview of the administration that has a department head and a board that's required to make sure that they're in compliance with what's going on.
[SPEAKER_07]: It's the city clerk's office.
[Knight]: It's also the board of registrars of voters.
[SPEAKER_07]: Yes, but the city clerk is the city clerk that was the one that was told.
[Knight]: Are you insinuating that the city clerk is conducting some sort of bad behavior or something like that? Because if that's the case, we're really going down a slippery slope here.
[SPEAKER_07]: I'm not suggesting any of that. I'm asking questions. I have questions to ask. So what Michelle Tosineri, legal counsel, she said these questions should be answered by city hall. Now, I said the city council hires and fires the city clerk's office. I don't know what the city clerk knew or didn't know, but she did tell me that he, she had him put the list back, the active that he put on inactive, she had him put it back to active because it was within a timeframe. And she said a citizen had called in to complain to the Secretary of State's office. And my question to her as well how would anyone know to even call in. And to do that, like in the different campaigns that people were out there, they didn't have this list. And if you knew the list existed or the information existed, it would be something that you would wanna get just like the way you go in and get the voter activity list from September 2nd. All right, well, I just have the questions I'd like answered is who gave the authority in city hall and under what authority did they have to shut down the information?
[Caraviello]: And then the other thing is- I don't think anybody in this room has that answer.
[Knight]: And I just want to be clear. So you did say that the Secretary of State's office did say to put these inactive voters back onto the active voters.
[SPEAKER_07]: Yes. And then, but, but I don't so as of today we still, I do know that one person who requested the information did get was sent had the list. I have not been sent the list. And now I know that city clerk's office, they have COVID and maybe they're all out sick with it and they can't do that. Maybe that's the answer. But it is very discouraging to know that anything that you normally would get, you cannot get right now.
[Knight]: Thank you. The city clerk's office isn't the keeper of the records. The city solicitor's office is the keeper of the records. So the provision of the records would come out of the legal office.
[SPEAKER_07]: Well, through the chair, never ever has it been known that anyone goes to the city solicitor's office to ask for the active voting list of any election. for the registered voters, you go to the city clerk's office. Thank you.
[Bears]: I just think, since we are talking about what the Secretary of State's office said there have been multiple Republic reports in the Medford transcript about this. And I just want to remind everyone that A, the election has been certified, and B, directly quoting Deborah O'Malley, a spokeswoman for the Secretary of State's office, quote, no voter did anything wrong by casting a ballot. Everybody who voted, voted legally. That's the opinion of the Secretary of State's office.
[SPEAKER_07]: Michelle was kind enough on the 10th to let me know that the deadline for Any campaign that I may be volunteering for, the recall deadline to file the papers was Friday the 12th. But she said, don't forget there's section, Mass General Law 54, section 134, which is once an election is certified, you can contest it for 30 days. So it isn't as though everything's hunky-dory. We don't know that. There's just a lot of questions and we don't have the answers.
[Caraviello]: Gentlemen from East Medford, name and address of the record, please.
[Castagnetti]: Thank you, Mr. President. First of all, Andrew Castaneri, Cushman Street, East Ford Mass. First of all, if I recollect correctly, your city councilors on numerous occasions have asked the administration for financial help to the city clerk's office because of all the responsibilities, including the voting Am I correct with that? Thank you, Councilor Marks. Thank you. I hope enough went to, the request was honored and heeded and enough of it went through to really help out in the situation of a city of 57,000 peoples. We must have honest and fair elections without questions. anywhere in this country, especially in our hometown. And with 25% of the voters in question, 25% of the registered voters, actually it's more if it's 12.5,000. That's a huge number. I remember in the days we used to play poker. And if a car got flipped over or an extra car was dealt, we used to call it a flood deal. So I'm thinking, whether this election is certified or can you uncertify it, that we should call this a flood deal and do a do-over election for the sake of many candidates who spent lots of money. And some of it might be theirs, mind you. Who knows how much time and aggravation? Is it too much to ask in a so-called republic democracy for free, fair elections that we can make book on? That's all I have to say. Do you have any responses at all?
[Knight]: Anyone? We don't have the authority to recall an election that's been certified by the Secretary of State's office.
[Castagnetti]: Could we file lawsuits? No, not me. I ain't got your kind of cash or union money behind me. I'm talking about, a lawsuit can be filed for that, you think? Anything can be done. That is your honorable opinion. Thank you. Thank you, sir. This is very upsetting in plain English.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. Any further questions? On the motion by Councilor Marks, as amended by Councilor Marks, to have a committee at the whole meeting as soon as possible. Seconded by Vice President Knight. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. 2-1, 6-2-1, offered by Councilor Marks, being so resolved that Director of Public Works, Brian Kevins, be recognized for his many years of dedicated service to the citizens of Mifflin. Councilor Marks.
[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Recently, we lost a very good city employee, longtime DPW Director Brian Kearns, resigned from his position. Mr. President, if anyone knew Brian, knew he was a dedicated worker in this community. He was dedicated to doing his job. He was relentless when it came to supporting his fellow DPW workers, Mr. President. Brian, in my opinion, probably had the toughest department head position in this city. From my standpoint, I would probably contact Brian or his office with 90% of the calls that I received, because they dealt with DPW in some fashion. Brian oversaw the pox. highway which included sidewalks and streets, the cemetery workers, water and sewer, forestry, and the list goes on, Mr. President. He really did tremendous work with little funding. And that has been a topic of discussion by this council for a number of years to get more boots on the street. And we've been somewhat successful, but not quite to the level that the residents in this community expect from a full-fledged DPW department. But it wasn't because of Brian Kerins. It was Brian Kerins that was the glue to this operation. and kept it going for years, Mr. President. I think it's sad to see Brian resign right before a major street sweep. which is kind of a big deal in this city and a big deal with DPW. I think it's sad to see Brian resign right before a winter, which DPW plays an instrumental role in clearing our streets for public safety. I think it's sad to see Mr. President, a department head with so much firsthand knowledge of the inner workings of a community. And Brian knew every one of the 763 roads in this community. He knew the infrastructure. He was familiar with the city. And that's going to be very difficult to replace. Extremely difficult. We know firsthand because there are a number of open positions that the city administration is trying to fill now. And we hear far too often that there's just not the candidates out there. There's not the knowledge base that would be required in some of these positions. And the director of DPW is definitely one of those positions, Mr. President. I just want to thank him for his many years of service. No matter when we had our meetings, Mr. President, whether it was this two Saturday, three Saturdays ago in the pouring rain, Brian Kearns was the first to show up. He was the first department head, Mr. President, to show up during COVID. I give him a lot of credit for that, Mr. President, because it was voluntary, whether you want to come on Zoom or not. And he was the first department to come up here and provide a little normality for, at least for the residents, and I believe for this council. So I want to thank him for that, Mr. President. He was always outgoing, someone that would tell you a good story. And really, when you gave him things to work on, he got them done. He got them done, Mr. President. And I want to thank him for all his years of service. I know he doesn't live in the community, but I hope that this is not a loss that we hear from Mr. Kearns. And it would have been great to have some type of transition. You know, when you have someone that's in a role of that importance, it's nice to hand it off to someone else, Mr. President. And I don't know if you can fill those shoes and how long will it take and how long will it take to bring someone up to snuff? You know, I just think it's a big loss for this community. And I wish that it didn't work out this way. I wish Brian was still on with us. However, that wasn't my decision, but I want to thank him for his years of service. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Bears]: Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you, Councilor Marks, for putting this on the agenda. I agree with everything you said. I think Brian has done some incredible work. And, you know, my first term, this term, I have been the chair of the Public Works Subcommittee, and I have been lucky enough to work with Brian, Council President, Councilor Marks, Councilor Caraviello, through looking at snow removal, snow removal policy, sidewalks, ordinance, et cetera, and Brian was, was an essential part of that and a great partner. I can still remember sitting down getting ready to chair my first subcommittee meeting as a Councilor and getting some words of encouragement from Brian that it'll be okay. So it worked out well. Sad to see him go, but definitely want to congratulate him for everything he's done for our city. Thank you. Thank you.
[Morell]: Thank you, Mr. President. Yeah, I echo my colleagues and their kind words on Mr. Cairns, and before I started my term, I reached out to the majority of the department heads to learn about their departments. And he took time out of his day to take me around the DPW yard, the facility, and show me every single, really every single inch of it and all the work they do down there and all the work he managed. He's always incredibly responsive and just a pleasure to engage with, again, when most of us spend, or all of us spend a lot of our time asking things of him. And he was always very kind and responsive, and he will be missing I think and for as many years of service to the city.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Council Falco.
[Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I also want to thank Councilor Marks for bringing this forward and thank Brian for his many years of service to the community. He was always there, always very passionate about what he did. And I think probably Councilor Marks had one of the toughest departments, I think, to manage because it just involves so much. I mean, the infrastructure, the budget, I mean, it's just, there's a lot there. There's a lot to know, and it's a really, really tough position to replace in a city of our size. And, you know, he's always been very helpful. Same thing when I was first elected I he took me down the DPW yard kind of introduced me to everybody just walked me through the process how things work day to day. That's very helpful, especially when you knew and He was always there. And I think, you know, the thing that I loved about Brian was he's one of those guys you asked him the time and told you how to watch for it. And that was always helpful during the budget because you'd ask budget questions and he would give you all kinds of information that you didn't even ask for. But it led to more questions, which was very beneficial, I think, for the council as a whole. And he will be missed. He was always great to talk to, ask questions to, very valuable. He will be missed. I just want to thank him for his years of service to Council Marks, and thank you for bringing that forward. Thank you.
[Knight]: Vice President Knight. Yes, Mr. President. When I think of Brian Kerins, I first got the chance to meet him when he was with the then MDC. And then he had a brief stint here in the city of Medford, where he worked with Paul Gere, someone who he couldn't have been more different than. And when Brian came back, you'd see Brian with dirty boots, yellow reflective vest on walkie talkie always in his hand. He wasn't afraid to go out in the field to get in the hole, to be out there and working with his people. He did a great job. Someone that's going to be sadly missed. I do think I brought a wealth of knowledge to our community in terms of the operations of how public works is supposed to be done. And he's over the years gained a great deal of institutional knowledge that we're never going to be able to replace. And we're seeing that more and more with these department heads that are leaving. You know, we're losing a lot of institutional knowledge here in the community. And, you know, that's leading to certain situations. But it's my hope that we move forward and we find a replacement for Brian that will be able to fill the big shoes that he's left behind. And I wish him all the best in his future endeavors. So with that being said, Mr. President, I second the council's motion.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. And if I could say, you know, Brian, I'll use Councilor Marks' words, did yeoman's work for the city of Medford. I mean, guy was out there Saturdays, Sundays, I mean, snowstorms, I was out there all the time. I'm telling you, I've never called the guy once where he didn't respond to me immediately. I mean, his knowledge and And, but the one thing I did know that the respect that the other men from the DBW had for him was outstanding. The whole department respected him. I didn't hear anybody on the DBW ever have a bad word to say about Brian. Ryan was, he cared about his man, but you know, I think he was more of a fireman than a DBW, because all he did all day long was put out fires throughout the city. Got a hole here, a thing there. Talk about using smoke and mirrors. Ryan was the master of it. So again, he's gonna be missing this community. And the guy I do feel bad for was Tim. You know, Tim McGiven's got already a daunting task on his desk, and now he's the, doing DPW work. I would hope that the administration finds somebody very quickly before the winter time comes because, again, DPW is... They're right up there with the police and the fire department. They're the first responders. Thank you. Thank you, Brian.
[Richard Orlando]: Richard Orlando, 13 Winford Way. I'm a little bit puzzled. I've just listened to seven city councilors. It was almost like you were talking about a person to give a promotion to, an advancement to. Has anybody asked the obvious question? Why did he leave? I've been in management positions many times over the years of my career. If someone leaves, particularly if they're a valuable employee, I wanna know why, because that might mean something I need to correct within my organization. So there's a question on the table, but I haven't heard any one of you ask. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. So on the motion by Councilor Marks, seconded by Councilor Falco, all those in favor.
[Marks]: Mr. President, before you call the roll, just to, if we can send Brian a citation. Yes. And to respond to Rick, Rick, Rick, because I think everyone that comes up to the podium ask questions that we can answer or try to answer deserves some type of response. It's my understanding from the communication that I received from the city administration that Brian was asked to resign. and he did indeed resign. That's my understanding. So he stepped down. So that's how it, I don't know for what purpose he was asked, you know, that I don't know, but that's my understanding. And I stand to be corrected if it's not the case. Thank you, Councilor Marks.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. So on the motion by Councilor Marks, seconded by Councilor Falco, all those in favor. Motion passes. 21622 offered by Councilor Morell, whereas lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among men and women in the United States and in Massachusetts 2021, accounting for more deaths than colon cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer combined, whereas according to the Massachusetts Centers for Disease Control, there were 5,500 deaths. 50 new lung cancer cases and 2770 deaths caused by lung cancer in 2021. And whereas the five year survival rate for localized lung cancer is minus 59%, yet only 17% of lung cancers are diagnosed at this stage. And whereas funding for lung cancer cancer trails far behind funding for research of many other cancers and additional research is needed early diagnosis screening and treatment for lung cancer, as well as lung cancer affecting women in lung cancer health disparities ends, whereas African Americans have the highest lung cancer Incidents in mortality of all races and disparities and like cancer screening diagnosis treatment in mortality. I will carry characterize among African Americans and other racial minorities and whereas lung cancer, and never smokers is a seven pleasing cause of cancer related deaths in accounts for 17,000 to 26,000 deaths in the US every year, 60 to 70%. of never smokers diagnosed with lung cancer are women in a proportion of lung cancers diagnosed in never smokers is increasing in the United States. Therefore, be it so resolved that the Medford City Council recognize November 2021 as Lung Cancer Awareness Month in Medford and encourages all citizens to learn about lung cancer and early detection through lung cancer screening. Council Member Rao.
[Morell]: Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you for reading through all of that. So students from the BU chapter of the American Lung Cancer Screening Initiative reached out about this. They're going around to city councils, town councils around the area to really raise awareness for this leading cause of cancer death that, as you just read, doesn't receive the funding or the recognition that other cancers like breast cancer and prostate cancer receive. And really just having this on the agenda to raise awareness for early screenings I, you know, personally in my family, I have a very young person who was diagnosed with cancer, stage four cancer that metastasized to her lungs. And she's still with us, thankfully. But early screening of all types of cancer, early screening would have done a world of difference for her, her prognosis and the treatment she's received. So any opportunity to raise awareness about screening opportunities or just talking to your doctor about potential screenings, I think is important, especially as There are such high rates of diagnosis and death and particularly as people have been putting off understandably so medical care because of the COVID-19 pandemic, just encouraging people to have these conversations and see what type of early screenings are out there. So I move approval. Thank you. Thank you.
[Bears]: That's the best. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilor for morale for putting this forward. I had my grandmother was lucky enough to have her life saved. She had five different kinds of cancer in her life, but I think lung cancer was the third one. And luckily an early screening saved her life. And that was many years ago when outcomes were not nearly as good. So I really appreciate putting this forward. And I just wanted to note on the fourth paragraph, it says, whereas funding for lung cancer research. Oh, nevermind. You got it right. I was reading it wrong. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. And myself, thanks to Council Member Obama. My mother suffered from both breast cancer and lung cancer. Unfortunately, I don't know which one brought her to death first, but thank you for bringing this forward. It's something I've supported and I support their breast cancer also. Thank you for bringing this forward. So on the motion by Councilor Bears, I'm sorry, by Councilor Morell, seconded by? Seconded by Councilor Falco, all in favor? Motion passes. 2-1, 6-2-3. Offered by Councilor Bears, be it resolved that the City Council that the board of health meet to reconsider the city's mask regulations due to the significant increase in COVID-19 cases. Councilor Bears.
[Bears]: Thank you, Mr. President. As we know, the board of health has been meeting monthly, if not more often throughout this pandemic to address the ongoing issues and various different incoming problems that we are facing in terms of public health. I believe at their last meeting, I don't think there's been a meeting since then, The Board of Health voted to adjust the city's mask regulations, not in city buildings or public buildings, but in private buildings. And a lot of residents reached out talking about how they felt that the communication around why that happened was unclear and insufficient. So I know that Board of Health has regular meetings and I'd like them to make sure that this is on the agenda so that they can A, just assess the conditions in the city right now and what they think the regulation should be from a public health perspective. But also I think especially talk about how to explain the decision they're making to the residents of the community. The day that the decision came out, there was a front page story in the globe saying the cases were rising very quickly. The explanation from the Board of Health said, you know, we're doing this because cases are on the decline but if you looked at the data over the past week the cases have been on the increase. So I just think that that kind of clarity of messaging is really important from the Board of Health just to so that residents understand why decisions are being made, what's the health justification, and knowing that they're going to be safe and protected. So really just want them to make sure to have this conversation or ask them to have this conversation at their next meeting and come out of that with a clear message, whichever way they come down on it. You know, I certainly have an opinion. I'm not a doctor, but I do think that the messaging and the explanation to the community really could stand some review. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Bears]: Council Member Max.
[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I'm just a little confused that the resolution reads that the Board of Health meet to reconsider the city's mask regulations. And now you're saying just to clarify how they got to the point of what they've already done in their last meeting?
[Bears]: I mean, it seems like two different... What I mean by reconsider is have it on their agenda and discuss it. If they were to change their decision, that's up to them. But at the very least, I think we deserve a more accurate and clear explanation of the decision that they made.
[Marks]: Right. So you're asking them to reconsider mass mandates in local restaurants and businesses throughout the community.
[Bears]: Well, putting it on the agenda would be considering it. So that's what I mean.
[Marks]: Right. Okay. I just, I just want to make sure because the language I'm reading is very different than what you just stated.
[Bears]: I think it means consider it in a meeting. You know, they, they made a decision last week, reconsider it this week or whatever this month, last month, this month. That's all I'm intending here.
[Marks]: Okay.
[Bears]: We don't have any authority over this. So it's really just saying, I mean, I'm just getting a lot of people saying, why did you do this? Are my kids safe? Am I safe to go to the grocery store? You know, and I think people deserve a clear understanding of why we're making the decisions that we're making.
[Marks]: I and I think anyone should be held accountable and actually for a period of time we were having a board of health director appear before the Medford City Council, giving us, if not week weekly updates, you know, bi weekly updates, Mr. President, and that hasn't happened. Correct me if I'm wrong, maybe in five, six months, seven months. And I haven't heard any outcry from members of this council saying, where are our updates? What's going on? In the past, we heard we have to follow the science. They follow the science, and people are still upset because they want to make sure everyone has a mask no matter where they go, Mr. President. So for a period of time, you need a mask to walk into a restaurant. I have to have my mask when I walk into Carol's, but as soon as I sit down, I take my mask off and I sit there and I eat for two hours. Not sure what that science is, but that was the mandate that was out there, Mr. President. Now I think we're at a situation right now where the board of health deems that a mask is not required in businesses. And we're hearing that people wanna bring it back again, Mr. President. And if we're gonna follow the science, let's follow it, right? Let's be consistent. And so I just wanna make sure we're consistent, Mr. President, whatever we do. City Hall, you still have to wear a mask. I don't know where that science is. So it's safe for me to go out to eat. When I come in City Hall, I have to wear a mask. There's giant auditorium here. where you could social distance, you have to wear a mask, Mr. President. Makes no sense. Thank you. Council Member Rao.
[Morell]: Thank you, Mr. President. If the councilor would agree, I'd be happy to suggest amending the paper to invite a representative from the Department of Health to just give us an update as we head into the fall, as numbers continue, as numbers, you know, a little bit of a cyclical pattern at this time, just to talk about what we could probably expect from the city as we head into the fall and cases continue to rise.
[Bears]: I'm certainly open to that amendment. If I may, Mr. President.
[Caraviello]: You want to make the amendment?
[Caraviello]: Make it as an amendment that the board of health director repairs before the next meeting. Councilor bears is amending that putting an amendment on that, that the board of health director appeared at the next meeting.
[Bears]: And I would just add, Mr. President, that I did reach out to the health department and, um, you know, basically they said at least in public buildings that they are still certain as it pertains to the mayor and the health department that They would like that that regulation to stay in place so there may be disagreement in between in there, you know, I don't know. But all I can say is, you know, I was reading something very interesting today. when it comes to following the science, right? It's pretty clear at this point that following the science has cultural and political and economic and social determinants that are affecting that. You know, we are at a case rate in Massachusetts. It's back near where we were in the surge, you know, last winter. And if you look at Austria or Germany, right? They're below where we are and they're locking things down. So clearly there's multiple different policy outcomes that depend on a lot of factors, but the thing that I was reading that was most interesting to me and I think hopefully as many of us as possible can agree on this, the death rate for vaccinated people, even during the Delta variant. If you are fully vaccinated, you're under 50, the death rate rounded down to zero, zero per 100,000. So if anything else, the city is running vaccination clinics. Children, I believe five to 11 were just added to the ability to get the vaccine. And it really is protecting people from serious cases of disease in most cases, and certainly from death. And I think that's the most important thing we can think about here. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: You know, we have, we have a method employees are three medical professionals on on the medical team to, and along with the board of health director was, I think it's, you know, done a great job during this and getting us through this time and I think she'll she'll she'll make the decision with along with the mayor. You know, the vaccinations are readily available everywhere. CVS is doing them, Walgreens is doing them. I think we're at the point now with the people who want to be vaccinated have been vaccinated. I mean, I've got my booster shot, I've got my flu shot, I've got so many shots, I don't know what works anymore. So.
[Bears]: You're here with us, Mr. President.
[Caraviello]: I'm still here, I'm still sitting here. But again, you know, You know, I'll take the guidance of our medical staff, which are very, you know, three competent people, and I'll follow their guidance, and whenever they decide to change it, that's what we'll live by.
[Marks]: So, Mr. President, if I could. Council Member Max. So I think we have to be mindful, right, that for the past almost two years, every business in this community has followed the rules and regulations. No matter how difficult it may have been for that establishment, they've followed the rules and regulations. Now the Board of Health is stating that it's all right to go into a restaurant without a mask on, according to their recommendations, Mr. President. It's very different than City Hall. You know, City Hall doesn't even have to open the door. You know why? The money comes in through taxes. They don't have to worry about opening the door. It's the local businesses that have to turn the key, get employees to come in and provide a service. And I think the more that we make it difficult for businesses to operate, Mr. President, it makes it increasingly difficult for people to make a living. We're going on almost two years now. So in my opinion, I'm not gonna support this tonight, because I'm not gonna revisit anything that goes against the Board of Health's recommendation. They came up with their recommendation. Now, there are people in this community that feel that that's not the right recommendation, then don't go out, Mr. President. Don't go out. It may sound insensitive. Don't go out. I had my two injections. I had my two shots. My whole family did. And months later, we all were stricken with COVID, Mr. President. And it wasn't because I didn't wear a mask. And it wasn't because I didn't take the precautions. It's because we really don't know about this virus. We really don't know, Mr. President. And I think it's unfair to subject businesses, local mom-and-pop businesses. We're not talking about Target or some of the big franchises. We're talking about local mom-and-pop businesses. And I think to send a message out that we want to go backwards again, Mr. President, and to question the Board of Health, I think is a misstep. I really do, Mr. President. And so I won't be supporting this Mr. President tonight, because I think we're following the science right now. And I think the science tells us that, you know, they saw something on the news the other night that 95% of the beds in Massachusetts are occupied in our hospitals. But I think the number, don't quote me on this, but I think 17% of the beds out of the 95% were COVID related. Everything else was people catching up from surgeries they postponed or things that, ailments that they had that they weren't going to the hospital for. And that's what's driving the numbers in the hospital now. So, you know, I just think we have to you know, move on the best we can. And I think this would send a terrible message to our businesses, hundreds of businesses in the community, that we want to take a step backwards, Mr. President. And in my opinion, there's no need to at this point.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. Thank you. And I, being one of those small businesses, certainly felt the crunch of this.
[xyqJQrsXvc0_SPEAKER_27]: Good evening, name and address of the record, please. Good evening, Mario Carroll 31 Richard Street, and also I'm here as the president of the Metric Chamber of Commerce. What prompted us to get here and we saw Council of beers is resolution tonight was a little bit upsetting to us we put, we pulled the board of directors and. Everyone came back saying we should go down there and try to get this ironed out and try to hear exactly what this resolution is looking for. From what I heard tonight compared to what I read, I'm with Councilor Marks as it sounds different than what we read. All along through this whole pandemic, the Board of Health hasn't been questioned for any of the moves that they've made. that the city has been commended overall for the, the way they handled it. And I'll go back to saying with the doctors that are on the Board of Health and in Mary Ann director. So, I mean, it strikes me a little strange right now that why are we looking to do this? You know, from what I understand, and I'm not a doctor or a scientist, but science says that the reason the spike is in all the numbers is because they're testing the younger generation, almost the school age, twice, twice as much as they were tested before, which is causing a larger number of positive, yeah, thank you, thank you, Adam, positive results. So I mean, I just, I don't understand this time, neither does the chamber, you know, we're trying to bring business back, we're trying to work hard together. There have been so many small businesses in this community that have been hurt, may never even come back. You know, and they've put their whole life savings and family investments and whatever they could do to keep their doors open and to even think about it in a time like this to say, you know, maybe it's time to look back. It's certainly to me in the chamber's position that this is a board of health matter. This really isn't a city council matter. Thank you. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Any further discussion on that? On the motion by Councilor Bears, seconded by.
[Knight]: Can we just repeat it back, Mr. President, as to what it is we're looking for, if it's, we're looking for an explanation or we are looking for, you know, a review. It was the amendment, that's why I asked.
[Caraviello]: Be it resolved by the Medford City Council that the Board of Health meet to reconsider the city's mask regulations due to significant increase in COVID-19 cases, as amended by Councilor Bears, to request that the Board of Health Director appear at next week's meeting. Is that correct? Yeah. Okay. Sorry? It was the closing amendment. Oh, I'm sorry. That's Councilor Morelle amended, I'm sorry. Roll call vote, Mr. President. Councilor Marks has requested a roll call vote. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.
[Hurtubise]: 21, 6.3. Yes. Yes. No. No. Yes. No. So three for the affirmative.
[Caraviello]: So, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, Seconded by Councilor Bears. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. All those in favor. Motion passes. 6-2-1, 6-2-4, offered by President Caraviello, be it resolved that the Medford City Council requests the administration extend the yard waste pickup schedule another two weeks. Joe, I've been getting, I think all of us have been getting calls about people with the yard waste and saying how the trees, the leaves have been falling from trees. And I think the 29th is the last pickup schedule if we, Yeah, I think 29 is the last week. And I'm requesting that the administration reach out to waste management so we can get another two extra pickups. So have some morale.
[Morell]: Thank you, Mr. President here I think we're going to continue I thank you for bringing this forward I think we're going to continue to run into issues like this I know earlier in the year we discussed the issue of the buildings that still had heat on in June as climate change makes its impacts we're going to have you know our season shift little bit so this year and going forward it would be great if we could discuss, you know, continue to Yeah, please check up. I of course am of the mind that pollinators and other friendly critters love your leaves on the in your grass so you can leave them up for those of those who choose to rate them or leaf blow them. Of course, they deserve to have been picked up. So thank you for bringing this forward.
[Bears]: Thank you. Just as someone who raked a lot this weekend, I was disappointed to see how many leaves there were today. So I think we're gonna need a couple extra weeks. Thanks. Councilor Falco.
[Falco]: I myself have been raking a lot recently and I noticed still in my neighborhood, there's still a lot of leaves, still a lot of trees. And so I think we should at least have another, at least one if not two pickups. So thank you for bringing this forward. This is something that we all encounter year after year. It needs to go later into the season. So I would definitely encourage at least one or two more pickups.
[Caraviello]: I think because of all the rain we had this year, the leaves just aren't falling down.
[Knight]: And we can't burn them. Sorry, we're not allowed to burn them. Don't be able to burn in your leaves people.
[Caraviello]: On motion, seconded by. Second. Seconded by Councilor Falco. All those in favor. Aye. Aye. Motion passes. Reports of committees. 21618, November 16th, 2021, committee of the whole report. This was in regards to the CPC funding for the fire station. The motion by Vice President Knight, seconded by Councilor Bears. All those in favor? Motion passes. Any further discussion before we do the minutes? The records of the meeting of November 9th, 2020 were passed to Councilor Falco. Councilor Falco, how did you find those records?
[Falco]: Mr. President, I just received these tonight, so I'll need another week to review these. So if I may ask that these be tabled to the next meeting.
[Caraviello]: And the records of the meeting on November 16th were passed to Vice President Knight.
[Knight]: I too would request the same consideration as offered by Councilor Falco, Mr. President. So will you both be tabled?
[Bears]: Mr. President, if I may. Just to request that paper 21-543 and I believe it's 21. I gotta look for it. 21-593, just that those committee of the whole meeting reports be forwarded to the traffic commission. 21-593 and 29.
[Caraviello]: 21-543 and 593. Okay, 21-543 and 29. It's a further request, not a correction. Okay. Just that you email them to the Traffic Commission. Send those two, the minutes of those two to the Traffic Commission. Okay.
[Falco]: Is that the minutes from the- Cotting Street and Brook Street. Yeah, the two- Cotting Street and Brook Street.
[Caraviello]: Yeah, the Saturday before the election meeting.
[Falco]: Do we know when the Traffic Commission is meeting again to take up those items?
[Caraviello]: I don't. I think they meet again in December, if they're meeting in December. Thank you, Mr. President. This weekend is, I forget, the football game on Thursday, the annual game. Go Mustangs. Go Mustangs, get out there and cheer our team on. They're doing quite well this year. It's the best team we've had in many years. The game's at Malden. Get out there and support them. Let's get a winning streak going. Winning streak going. This is the start of the giving season. Thanksgiving, Christmas is coming up, people are in need. I ask everyone in the council, if you want to sponsor a family, or you have a family in need for something, This is the time where, you know, as Councilors, we step up and do over and above what we're supposed to do here.
[Knight]: I can't be sponsored, Ricky.
[Caraviello]: I'm sorry?
[Knight]: I can't be sponsored. You can't be sponsored, Councilor.
[Caraviello]: Myself and Mike Durham, the last two days, we did over almost 50 families. And thank you to Dawn Marcelino for helping to provide Mike with full turkey dinner for everybody. And again, I say, this is the giving season and I think Christmas is coming up and Thanksgiving, people need food and a lot of things and families are in need. If you want to adopt a family, let me know, I'll help you out. But this is the time for everyone to step up and go over and above.
[Marks]: Mr. President? Yes. If I could, and I just want to personally thank you, Mr. President. You've been doing this well before you were even on this council, and it doesn't go unrecognized, Mr. President. Thank you. Your dedication to assisting those in need in our community, I personally want to thank you.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, thank you. But again, I'll ask everyone to step up. There's always families in need, and if you need a family, I'll get your family to help out wherever you need. So, motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. Motion by President- Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. On a motion by Councilor- Thursday.
[Hurtubise]: Thursday.
[Caraviello]: Thursday. The football game is Thursday.
[Hurtubise]: Thursday. Everybody tomorrow.
[Caraviello]: Motion to adjourn. All in favor. Aye. Motion passes. We'll adjourn.
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