[Hurtubise]: Vice President Knight. Present. Councilor Marks. Present. Councilor Morell.
[Morell]: Present.
[Hurtubise]: President, please rise and salute the flag.
[Falco]: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[Caraviello]: Pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12, 2020 order suspending certain provisions of the Open Meeting Law, Chapter 38, Section 18, and the Governor's March 18, 2020 order imposing strict limitations on the number of people that may gather in one place, this meeting of the Medford City Council will be conducted via remote participation to the greatest extent possible. Specific information and guidelines for all participation by members of the public and or parties with a right or requirement to attend this meeting can be found on the City of Medford website at www.medford.org. For this meeting, members of the public who wish to listen or watch the meeting may do so by accessing the meeting link contained herein. No in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted, but every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings in real time via technology means. In the event we were able to do so, despite best efforts, we will post on the City of Medford or Medford Community Media website an audio, video, recording, transcript, or other comprehensive record of the meeting as soon as possible. Okay. Motions, orders, or resolutions offered by Vice President Knight. Be it so resolved that the Medford City Council requests that the city administration provide an update regarding the status of contract negotiations with the clerical union staff. Vice President Knight.
[Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. Last week, we made inquiry into the status of the negotiations between our recreation department, building department, and the administration. And this week, I'd like to ask for an update on our clerical union. It's my understanding that both of these bargaining units have gone without a contract for an extended period of time, and I personally don't see any reason why. I think that they should be at the table negotiating. If they're at a stalemate, then let the council know. But at this point in time, Mr. President, I'm asking that we get an update. Unfortunately, in our packets this week, you will see that the mayor did respond to last week's resolution. And her response was, we will not comment on ongoing contract negotiations. So with that being said, Mr. President, I'd ask that the resolution be forwarded to the administration. with the anticipation that they see the error in their ways and provide us with the information that we need to make informed decisions moving forward into budget season. If in fact these two collective bargaining agreements are settled, it will have a financial impact on this community. And as the financial watchdog in this community, the Medford City Council, the body responsible for the appropriation of funds, I think it's well within our scope and authority to be informed of these decisions and what's going on. So with that being said, Mr. President, I ask my council colleagues to support this resolution.
[Caraviello]: A motion by Vice President Knight, seconded by Councilor Falco. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears? Yes. Councilor Falco? Yes. Vice President Knight? Yes. Councilor Marks?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Morell? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Caraviello? Yes.
[Caraviello]: 7 in the affirmative, motion passes. 2-1-374 offered by Councilor Morell, being so resolved that the City Council receive an update from the administration on current 40B project and applications in the city. Councilor Morell.
[Morell]: Thank you, Mr. President. Yeah, this is just seeking an update from the administration on the three ongoing projects, which to my understanding are still making their way through council. As you know, this is a recurring item. This has been placed by yourself on the agenda before. Just seeking information and update from the administration, particularly because These three developments are listed in the housing production plan that was delivered to us as affordable housing in the pipeline. So I'm just seeking to understand if this is affordable housing that is actually coming through or this is actively being fought by the administration and what the update is there. So just seeking a written update from the administration. I don't know if there's anyone on the call tonight either.
[Scarpelli]: I've requested to put through a resolution similar to this, but I was told that it didn't, we had this on the agenda less than 90 days. So I did want to, if I could add to that, just if the Senate administration can also provide us with the, with the tax revenue that is being lost right now with the lack of the 40B projects and follow up with the update on where we stand legally. I've been told there was already a hearing today on one and didn't go too favorably for the administration. So, which from what I've been told, I think it's going to follow suit. So be interested to see. So thank you, Mr. President.
[Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank Councilor Morell for bringing this forward. I think most every councilor has actually had a similar resolution to this. And yet we have not received any response from the administration regarding this. And this is a major issue in our community. We're talking about housing and we have got no information from the administration. The administration wants to be transparent. They have to be transparent about this here. If we had these tied up in court, this is costing us, I'm sure hundreds of thousands of dollars. So if Councilor Morell wouldn't mind, I'd like to amend the resolution as I've amended, I think most of the other resolutions that have pertained to this matter to find out how much we have spent so far on legal costs regarding 40 Bs and where they are being charged on the budget. And once again, I just want to thank Councilor Morell for bringing this forward and I second the motion.
[Bears]: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilor Morell and my fellow councilors. I agree with the sentiments that everyone just echoed. I would just also ask that we amend the paper to request that the administration give us an estimated timeline for when the legal process will be complete for the same reasons that my fellow councilors have outlined. Thank you.
[Knight]: If I may, Mr. President. Thank you. I look at this situation with the 40B developments that are going on in this community, Mr. President, and I look at them as missed opportunities. And we have an administration that campaigns on affordable housing and then fights tooth and nail to prevent it. With just one of these projects, we're looking at probably close to $2.5 million in permitting fees, probably $250,000 per month in property taxes. And it seems like it's a frivolous fight when five separate consultants, all independent of each other, say that the city's glam calculations are incorrect. So I really think, Mr. President, that they should have run a friendly 40B. We had Judy Barrett working with us, who's the renowned 40B, friendly 40B expert across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, who's no longer with us for a variety of reasons, I think, that surround the ongoing litigation, Mr. President. So with that being said, I thank the councilors for bringing this up and I certainly look forward to bringing this solution, this issue to a head because we talk about what's going on in the inner belt of 95 and the need for affordable housing and the need to increase housing production. We have a housing production plan. These projects are mentioned in them, but where are we?
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. And if I could put it, I want to thank Councilor Morocco again. Like Councilor Falco said, I think we've all brought this up at some point in the last year. And again, we've gone through the housing production plan, and all we keep hearing about is affordable housing, affordable housing, affordable housing. And we're 670 units away from our magic number. Again, unfortunately, this is the only avenue we have for affordable housing in any kind of numbers. So I don't know what the holdup is, and I support all my council's resolutions on this. And hopefully, again, another time, this is probably the fifth or sixth resolution doing this, and we get some kind of answer. So on the motion, Councilor Morell, seconded by? Second. Seconded by Councilor Falco. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Hurtubise]: as amended council bears. Yes. Council Falco. Yes. Vice President Knight. Yes. Council Marks.
[Morell]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Council Morell.
[Morell]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Scarpelli. Yes. President carry yellow. Yes.
[Caraviello]: 21375 offered by Councilor Marks, be it resolved that long time resident business owner in the late Frank Andre be recognized for his dedication and commitment to the residents and businesses owners of Medford. Councilor Marks.
[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. It's a real honor and privilege tonight to mention the name of Frank Andre. For those that do not know Frank, Frank was an instrumental part of this community for many, many decades, Mr. President. Frank Andrew was born in Worcester, Mass., and moved to Revere as a young boy, and then permanently located to his beloved Medford in 1936, living on Fulton Street for the next 80 years until his passing in 2016 at age 94. Frank lived in Method with his parents, Michael and Phyllis, and siblings, Anthony, Nicholas, Francis, and Lena. The family settled at 131 Fulton Street, a home that is still in the family today. A few years later, Frank met his future wife, Norma Luongo, who lived a few doors down at 105 Fulton Street, and later at 115 Fulton Street. The couple married in 1946 and had one son, Chuck. Frank and Norma purchased a new home at 125 Fulton Street with his grandson, Michael, and his wife, Gwen, and their two sons currently reside today. To complete the family's occupation of the stretch of Fulton Street, Frank built a house for his parents at 137 Fulton Street in 1956, which is now occupied by his granddaughter, Carla. Frank was involved in many businesses in Medford in the 1940s and 50s. Among other things, he owned a bicycle rental shop, opened Frank Andre's restaurant, and then was involved in Andre's Market with his family, all located on Salem Street and Riverside Ave. In the early 1960s, Frank focused his attention to building when he founded the Andre Construction Company in Medford. Andre Construction went on to build over 300 houses, with the majority built in North Medford. Frank's home still dominates streets like Gaston Street, Haines Street, Mitchell Ave, Andrew Street, Saunders Street, Reeder Drive, Doonan Street, Fulton Spring Road, and many, many others. He also owned many commercial properties in the city, primarily in Medford Square. It was through his building and investing in properties that he first became interested in the Dyer Building that was formerly housed the Medford Theater, located at 36 Salem Street, which had fallen into disrepair and had closed in 1964. Frank eventually purchased the property along with the prominent local physician, Dr. Anthony Graffio from the Hackett family in 1965 with the idea of converting the building to the then novel idea of constructing office condominiums. Things suddenly changed for the city of Medford, and in particular Medford Square and its merchants, on the night of November 1st, 1965, when a general round fire ravaged Medford High School. when plans were announced a short time later to construct a new high school on Winthrop Street, Method Square had become dependent on businesses from almost 3,000 students, suddenly was facing a crisis. with the square facing the reality of many businesses leaving due to the high school relocation, then Mayor Jack McGlynn approached Frank and asked him to consider renovating the dilapidated theater, building and reopening it as the cornerstone of the Medford Square community. Frank knew nothing about the theater business, but did his investigative work. And true to his Medford pride, and in an attempt to revitalize Medford Square, he met with Mayor Jack McGlynn and the city council and renovations began. On August 2nd, 1967, Frank proudly opened the newly renovated and then state-of-the-art Medford Cinema. The cinema opened to long lines, with the first two movies being Disney's Snow White and the comedy hit Never Too Late. In 1968, Frank opened Cinema 2 by renovating the old Colonial Hall that was located in the second floor of the building. In 1969, the complex expanded to Medford Cinema 1, 2, and 3, with the opening of Cinema 3 and the then converted balcony. Over the next few decades, it was mission accomplished for Medford Square as long lines of patrons waited to watch their favorite movies at Medford's only theater. Hits like The Sound of Music, The Godfather, and Jaws brought thousands of people to Medford Square each week. Frank became well-known in the theater circles in 1970 with his innovation of Dollar Night. On Mondays and Tuesdays patrons could pay just $1 to see the movie of their choice. This spawned huge crowds and also drew the attention of the Massachusetts State Police as it was not uncommon to have traffic at a standstill on Route 93 trying to get into Medford Square. Local businesses thrived because of the success of the cinema. Carol's Restaurant, Papageno's, the Pewter Pot, the Method Cafeteria, Savage's Deli, Brigham's, Baskin-Robbins, the Peking on the Mystic, the China Ocean, as well as the counters at Grant's and Woolworth's were all jam-packed before, between, and after all shows. In addition, local merchants in the square started to stay open later and began to thrive again, enjoying the many patrons of the cinema that suddenly became newfound customers. Method Square became revitalized. Frank operated the cinema for decades until the advent of the mall-style multi-screen complexes that put an end to almost all neighborhood theaters. Frank's other interests also included the owning of the Andre Thoroughbred Racing Stable. Frank was involved in local sports as well, serving as a long-time manager of the Hawks in the Nob Method Little League, as well as vice president of that league over a decade. Frank was a staunch supporter of Medford High School athletics, and his biggest joy was watching his son, Chuck, and grandchildren, Michael and Carla, participate in Medford sports. In fact, his son, Chuck, and his granddaughter, Carla, are the only father-daughter duo currently inducted into the Medford Mustang Hall of Fame. Frank's family continues to make Medford their home today. Chuck and his wife, Kathy, are both lifelong Medford residents, as are their grandchildren, Michael and Carla, and his two great-grandchildren, Leo and Miles. Frank's son Chuck is the founder of Remax Andre Realty Services in Medford Square and continues to own and operate the Andre Chiefs, formerly the Hosmer Chiefs, Medford's only semi-professional baseball team. Kyle is a teacher at Medford High School, while Michael is an executive at neighboring Assembly Row. Frank's contributions to the city run long and deep and are still evidenced today by his legacy and ongoing participation of his lifelong Medford family members. Mr. President, I respectfully ask that we as a council vote on the motion tonight. that a dedication and a plaque be placed in front of 36 Salem Street, which formerly housed the Medford Cinema, honoring and recognizing Frank Andre for his unselfish dedication to the residents and business owners of Medford. Mr. President, you know, you hear this a lot, but I happen to know the Andre family. I knew Frank and his wife, his lovely wife, and Chuck. And you couldn't meet a gentler, kinder man, would be the first, Mr. President, to extend a hand if he needed, would be the first to donate, and he did many, many times, keeping Method Sports going, Mr. President, and would be the first to step forward when this community needed. And I think that's evident in what he did, Mr. President, during his part after that awful fire at Medford High School on Forest Street. And he was one of the driving forces. There were other people, Mr. President, But it's fair to say he was one of the driving forces to make the revitalization of Medford Square happen once again, Mr. President. And I wish we had people like that around now, because we really could use the strong foundation, Mr. President, when it comes to looking at the revitalization currently of Medford Square and the vision that was had back some 40, 50 years ago that I think would still apply now, Mr. President. Hard work and vision. And that's what Frank Andre and his family was all about. So it's with great pride that I ask that this be sent to the administration, Mr. President, and that a plaque and a dedication be held in the very near future on behalf of Frank Andre in his commitment to the residents and business owners in Medford Square. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Councilor Marks. Outstanding rendition. Councilor Scott Milley.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you, Councilor Marks, for bringing this forward. What a litany of success that the Andre family has put forth, with especially their patriarch, This is why we love Medford. I think people, it's funny that you often get confused in lifelong residents in Medford and people looking negatively at that. And when you look at someone like the Andre family, The reason why Medford is such a great community and such a great city is families like the Andre family. And we can never forget that. I tell my kids all the time, you'll never know where you're going if you never know where you came from. And it's important that people like Mr. Andre are remembered of what they've done. I've known the Andre family for a long time. I was lucky enough to coach Collar and I conducted her into the Hall of Fame. And again, what Mr. Andre passed off to his son and then passed off to their children, you see the commitment to Medford, becoming teachers. working and volunteering for Little League. When I was on the board in Little League, if you needed something, Frank was sitting on his stoop watching every single game like a dedicated Mustang. This is someone that we should find, you know, that we see a lot of names that are deserving this community along the streets, street corners and different plaques and monuments. But when you talk about a person like Councilman Mach said, that really stepped up for his community and could have easily walked away and we didn't know where we'd be today. So again, this is, I wholeheartedly second the motion and congratulate Council Marks for really highlighting a true Method Mustang that should be never forgotten. So thank you. Thank you. Councilor Falco.
[Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I also want to thank Councilor Matz for bringing this forward. As I was preparing for the meeting, I was reading through the resolution and it couldn't help but bring a smile to my face because I remember the theater as a kid. I remember going and I actually remember seeing Jaws at that theater. It just brought back some memories of, you know, just being a kid and walking through Method Square and doing those types of things. And I never knew that Mr. Andre owned the theater. So I just wanted to thank Councilor Marks for bringing this forward and echo the sentiments of my colleague, Councilor Scarpelli. The Andre family has always given back generously in time and donations. And this is a very fitting tribute. And I would also second the motion. Thank you.
[Knight]: Thank you. Vice President Knight. Maybe we can get his grandson Michael to come over from Assembly Row and get to work on Medford Square just like his grandfather did. It'd be quite a legacy that he could leave behind if that were the case.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. And again, I want to thank Councilor Marks for putting this forward. The Andre family is synonymous with many things that meant for the generosity, the commitment, and the Mustang blue runs through their veins. And as many people know, that building is currently going under, it's under renovation. I will reach out to the owner of the property, who was a friend of mine. and ask him about putting a plaque on the building similar to they did for several other people in the community on different buildings. So that was something I'll do tomorrow morning and along with send this to mayor for a sign in front of the building also. On the motion, excuse me, Jane W. Jane W? You have your hand up? Jane W? Mr. Clerk, can you unmute Jane W.? Jane, I'm sorry, but we're not able to unmute you. If we can, give me a second.
[Marks]: Is she trying on her end, Mr. President?
[Caraviello]: Jane, can you try on your end to unmute yourself, please? All right. We have Andrew Castagnetti from East Medford. Mr. Castagnetti, name and address of the record, please.
[Marks]: It's great technology.
[Caraviello]: Can we unmute the fire tower, Mr. Castagnetti?
[Castagnetti]: Hello. Andrew Castagnetti. Thank you, Council President. I don't know if you can hear me with all this plane noise above me in East Medford.
[Caraviello]: East Medford, yes, we can hear you.
[Castagnetti]: You can hear me? Okay, the plane went by. I want to commend Councilor Marks for bringing forward to commemorate The gentleman and Dr. Graffield, for bringing, getting the cinema back into motion, from the ashes. It was wonderful. And Councilor Marks mentioned all the beautiful businesses we had, World War Western, Grants, et cetera, et cetera. He neglected only two. One was Joe's pool room below the cafeteria on High Street and Forest, and also the small ball bowling where Harvey Van Guyde is also. And it was great to have businesses doing some business. However, the city, the politicians made a huge mistake. Back in 1970, when my wife graduated, that was the last year of the old Medford High School. And unfortunately, they built the new high school and the so-called new high school in the West Medford Woods. And in my opinion, it devastated the Medford Square economically. And we've never, ever recovered from that. Hopefully we all learn lessons, especially our next cities around us. But it's wonderful that we commemorate him and have a plaque there for him because he did a lot for the city. Thank you for listening.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. Castagnetti. Okay, on the motion by Councilor Marks, seconded by? Second. Seconded by Councilor Scarpelli. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Scarpelli]: Councilor Peters? Yes. Councilor Condoco. Yes. Vice President Knight. Councilor Marks. Yes.
[Van der Kloot]: Councilor Morell.
[Caraviello]: Yes. Councilor Scarpelli. Yes. Councilor Caraviello. Yes. I move the affirmative, motion passes. 21376 offered by Councilor Marks being resolved in a moment of silence to be held for a long time before the rest of the spread of COVID-19. Councilor Marks.
[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I rise today for a very sad news, Mr. President. Fred Papa Calangeli, known as Papa, passed recently, Mr. President. Longtime Methodist resident, beloved husband of Joan Domenico Calangeli. And he was a family first gentleman, always with his grandkids, always with his wife, Mr. President, and his own kids. He was a very active member of the St. Joseph community. a longtime member of the Sons of Italy and the Elks, and he served in the Korean War. That's a mouthful, Mr. President. He lived many lifetimes, and he was a man of great stature. He owned and operated his own company as well, construction, and he specialized in masonry and underground pools. He was a man that was always on the move, was always willing to help out. If you needed something done, If you needed your cement stairs fixed over, it'd be the first thing you'd do with this little barrel and a cement equipment to help out Mr. President. Never looking for anything, but to help you out. That was the type of person he is, Mr. President. And he will be sorely missed. And I would ask that we dedicate this meeting in the name of Fred Papa Colangeli, Mr. President. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. On the motion by Councilor Mark, seconded by Vice President Knight. The question is called the road.
[Hurtubise]: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
[Caraviello]: 21377 offered by Councilor Falco will be resolved at DCI. Trim the grass at the corner of Webster Street and Fountain Street in the interest of public safety. Councilor Falco.
[Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I bring this resolution again tonight. I feel like I bring this at least once a year. And the grass at the corner of Webster Street and Fountain Street, there's a kind of like a median strip there. And as you come out, if you take a left, you can see that the grass is getting really high. It's probably over a foot now. And we can just have someone from the administration, please contact the DCR. And if we can have that mode in the interest of public safety, it's a problem that needs to be addressed. We should be addressing these things sooner than later. And we need to take pride in our community. We shouldn't be letting the grass like this get out of control. So if we could have someone from the administration contact DCR to have this cut as soon as possible.
[Caraviello]: Councilor Falco, if you wouldn't mind amending that to doing the whole circle on both sides, not just Webster Street, all four of those corners are a mess. So if you wouldn't mind adding that as an amendment to clean the whole rotary on both sides of the highway, because it's pretty high all around that. Do you mean the rotary at- On the Webster Street? So Webster Street and Fountain is like- On the other side of the highway, the grass is pretty tall over there and that whole rotary is a mess too.
[Falco]: Perfect. That's fine, I'm open to the amendment, sir, thank you.
[Marks]: Thank you. Councilor Marks. Thank you, Mr. President. I wanna thank Councilor Falco for putting this on and he consistently brings it up every year. A few weeks ago, I think we voted unanimously by this council to have DCI look at all the state areas in the community to pick up trash. I think we're at a point right now, Mr. President, we have so many roads in this community that involve participation from a state agency, which is DCR, that I think we have to bring them in. I really do. Today, I happened to take a walk in Wellington Circle across from Cappy's, and I wasn't going into the liquor store. I probably should have gone into the liquor store, but I wasn't going into the liquor store. And when I tell you, Mr. President, really take a ride by. It is so filthy and dirty. Think about everyone coming through Wellington. It's a disgrace with the trash and the objects that are just left out there and the overgrown grass. It really is a disgrace. And it's everywhere. that these state roads are, I hate to say it, that we're not seeing a consistent pickup and cutting and mowing and so forth of DCI. So I would ask respectfully, Mr. President, that we ask them to appear before the Medford City Council. probably be nice next week because the nice weather's here. Come before the Medford City Council and be able to address what is the schedule for grass clipping, for pickup, and let them explain in every section, as Councilor Falco mentioned, you mentioned, I know Councilor Scarpelli, everyone behind this rail has mentioned, Mr. President, and have them explain what is the process and what is the schedule that they're going by. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. On the motion by. I'm sorry, God helps the best. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Bears]: I know it's a lot of mirrors. I would just ask that we also invite mascot because I believe Webster fountain and the Salem Street Rotary are dot not DCR. Um, and it's a problem. The grass is a problem, but the trash is a problem too. And I don't even think those two state coordinate agencies are coordinating either. So it might be good to have everybody in the room, um, to, to try to iron this out. I live on a state road and it's a big problem. Thank you.
[Marks]: Also because these state agencies sometimes like to thumb their nose at local officials. If we can invite a state delegation as well.
[Caraviello]: Okay, on the motion by Councilor Falco. Seconded by Councilor Scarpelli as amended by President Caraviello, as amended by Councilor Marks, and as amended by Councilor Bears. And then Councilor Marks again. Did I get them all? Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears. Yes. Councilor Falco.
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Vice President Knight. Yes. Councilor Marks. Yes. Councilor Morell? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli?
[Van der Kloot]: Yes.
[Caraviello]: President Caraviello? Yes. Seven affirmative motion passes. 21378 offered by Councilor Falco being resolved that the administration provide an update with regards to the curbing that surrounds the McGlynn School Complex and the condition of Freedom Way. Councilor Falco.
[Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I was notified by a resident last week about the condition of the curbing down at the Freedom Way and McGlynn School. And they sent me a number of photos, I took a drive down by myself as well just to take a look. And I know back a few years ago, I believe the prior administration had started a project with regard to replacing the curbing at the McGlynn School and I believe It might be finished, it might be partway finished. I know that there is extra curbing that's on the side of the road, but there's still plenty of curbing around the school that some of it's completely obliterated. It looks like it's just dust on the ground. So I just wanted to get some sort of an update from the administration as to when that's going to be finished or if it's going to be finished. It doesn't look like there's enough curbing to finish the job. but it does need to be addressed and the company needs to be replaced. If someone comes from outside of the city and they see our schools like this, it's a disgrace. It doesn't say much about what we're doing about our city and how we're treating our buildings. We need to make sure we're safeguarding our buildings and our school properties for the future generations of the city. And this is a problem that needs to be addressed. So at this point, I'd just like to move approval. Thank you.
[Bears]: Mr. President. Thank you. I just want to second what Councilor Falco said here. I mean, the condition of the roadway itself and the curbing, and in many cases, the sidewalks is a disaster. I was down there three weeks ago at the McGlynn School, and it's a safety hazard in addition to being a shame on the condition itself. I can remember two years ago, a meeting at some point where someone was complaining about the cost of granite curbing. And I think this speaks to the larger issue that I think we've all been talking about for a long time, which is we need to find a way to make sure that our infrastructure is fully maintained on a reasonable schedule. Councilor Marks was talking about this in regards to road repair and replacement. 700 roads, we're doing six every certain number of years. I mean, it's a serious problem and we need more than status quo plans. So I'm really hopeful that someone in the administration will take this seriously and address this problem because someone could get hurt. Thank you.
[Marks]: Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. President and my two colleagues Council beers and Council Falco, I think hit the nail on the head. I just would say, Mr. President, this has been an ongoing issue. And if we recall, I think it was last year, maybe the year prior. that we had faculty members, we had parents come up to this very Method City Council. And we had a teacher, Mrs. Castagnetti, that called to light a number of the potholes and curbing. And then shortly after that, Mr. President, she actually tripped and fell on a pothole in the square and did some serious damage to herself, Mr. President. And these are very serious incidences in the community and deserve the utmost attention. So I would ask that we get a report back immediately as Councilor Falco and Councilor Bears alluded to.
[Caraviello]: So I'll call the motion by Councilor Falco, seconded by Vice-President Knight. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll. Councilor Marks, you want that? No, no, with Councilor Falco's service. Vice-President Knight seconded.
[Scarpelli]: Councilor Bears.
[Hurtubise]: Yes. Councilor Falco. Vice President Knight.
[Caraviello]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Marks. Yes. Councilor Morell. Yes. Councilor Scarpelli. Yes. President Caraviello.
[Caraviello]: Yes, I'm in affirmative motion passes. Petitions, presentations of the matter. 21379 petition to reverse sign denial by Gilmar De Silva for Prestige Car Wash 277 Middlesex Ave, Medford. Reason for denial, movement not permitted. Councilor Morell is the chairman of the sign committee. Councilor Morell.
[Morell]: I don't, I know this came before us. I don't think we actually, if I'm wrong, I don't think we had a meeting on this one specifically. I know this came before us, the multiple awnings, but I do not believe that this made it through our committee for this LED message center.
[Scarpelli]: If we can, Mr. President, point of information. I concur with Councilor Morell. I think what we'll do tonight is reference to send this to the subcommittee on signs. I know we've already met on this with the number of signs we've already allowed. So I'm really not in favor of really supporting it with all these lights. I don't know if the council would want to vote on it. If you'd rather send it to subcommittee to get more in depth, I'll support that too. But that's normally the course of action. So thank you.
[Morell]: I mean, I'm happy to vote on it tonight, unless Councilor Marks is also on the subject.
[Marks]: Mr. President, if I could. Mr. President, according to our sign ordinance, we don't allow movement on signage. However, this council over the years, at least as long as I've been on, we have allowed a few signs here and there. And for extenuating circumstances, if you have a tough location, if the visibility is difficult, this is not one of them, Mr. President. And if you drive by, you know, it's great that they give out free vacuums in there, but it looks like it is 45 octopus around the building. You got all these new signs. The awnings haven't even gone up. I don't know what else they want at that particular location, but I do not support movement, Mr. President. So if, you know, I mean, we can have a subcommittee meeting, but I will not be supporting this based on the fact that I do not support movement at this location, because I don't see any extenuating circumstance for that location, Mr. President, Mr. President.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you. And again, I think the extenuating circumstances that we discussed with the sign movement had to do a lot with churches and showing schedules for Christians at different locations. I think other than that, on this I think the Citizens or the Century Bank that's on 93, that really doesn't really hit any of our neighbors. But again, I'm prepared to vote. I don't think that this falls in any need whatsoever. Everybody knows that there is a car wash there. Everybody knows that there's free vacuuming. I know we've already approved the signage and the awnings that go all the way around it. So, you know, as one resident who's also a customer, I can't see what else you want to put there. I think everybody and their cousins know that that location's there and what it's offered. So I'm ready to vote and denial myself. So thank you.
[Bears]: Councilor Miss. Councilor Scarpelli just took the words out of my mouth. If you're driving down Middlesex Avenue, you know this car wash is there. unless the committee wants to send it to subcommittee, I would be comfortable voting to deny the reversal tonight.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. And we have Mr. Gilmour on the call. Mr. Gilmour? Yes. Would you like to speak please? Name and address on the record please.
[SPEAKER_14]: Technically, they already have the sign there. I'm at a sign company and he asked me to apply. I understand if he is not allowed, he is not allowed. I let him know. I'm sorry, could you repeat that please? I say technically, I'm the sign company and he asked me to apply. He want to put a middle center because you want to show up when they have some promotion. He don't have to put a band and put anything else, but if he's not allowed, not allowed. What can I do? Thank you, Mr. Gilma.
[Caraviello]: Councilor Morell, you're the chairman.
[Morell]: I would move to vote on this tonight. I agree with my fellow councilors that there's no shortage of signs at this location. It's pretty clear in our sign ordinance that movement is prohibited, which the business should be familiar with our sign ordinance at this point, considering the previous petitions for reversal. So I would move to vote on this tonight and I would move for a denial.
[Knight]: Vice President Knight. I think it's also important to point out, Mr. President, this application isn't just for a sign that has movement. The sign is 36 square feet. The ordinance calls for a sign that would be 30 square feet. This sign looks like it's about anywhere between 10 to 15 feet in height. And our ordinance says that signs of this nature should not exceed six feet in height. So I think that this is clearly an issue where the council should not waste its time going through the exercise of futility of sending a two-way subcommittee.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. So on the motion by Councilor Morell to deny the permits, seconded by- Seconded. Seconded by Councilor Scarpelli. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Knight]: Mr. President, I just want to clarify that a vote, a yes vote is to deny? That is correct. Thank you.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears? Yes. Councilor Falcon? Yes. Vice President Knight? Yes. Councilor Marks? Councilor Morell? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Carabiniello?
[Caraviello]: Yes. Assembly to the permit of the signed motion is for denial. Reports of committees.
[Bears]: to get a paper in suspension from Vice President Knight.
[Caraviello]: We have one paper under suspension.
[Bears]: Motion to take papers from the hand of the clerk.
[Caraviello]: On the motion by Councilor Bears, a second by Vice President Knight to take papers under suspension. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears. Yes. Councilor Falco. Yes. Vice President Knight. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Morell? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Caraviello]: President Kiriboy? Yes. Offered by Vice President Knight, be it so resolved that the Medford City Council commend Armstrong Gaming on their ongoing contributions to the city of Medford. Be it further resolved that the Medford City Council recognize May 16th through the 22nd as EMS Awards Week. Vice President Knight.
[Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. As noted in the resolution, May 16th through the 22nd is EMS Awards Week. And our friends at Armstrong Ambulance have been a great partner here in the city of Metro. From the amount of work that they do in community service, reaching out volunteerism, training everybody in CPR, the IEDs that they've, I mean, the IEDs that they've put out at local hockey rinks and parks and the like, Mr. President, Armstrong's just a great partner. And this week is EMS Awards Week. And today there's a celebration actually in Worcester, Massachusetts. It's called the Convoy of Champions. where they're going to be having a small parade and some MedFlight helicopters driving around to celebrate and highlight the work that our EMS professionals do in this community and communities across not only Massachusetts, but the state. This event is established by the Massachusetts Ambulance Association in coordination with its national partner. And Mr. President, if we look back, and we remember just a few years ago, this council congratulated Sean Main from Armstrong Ambulance for receiving the Star of Life Award And this celebration that's going on this week is where the Massachusetts Ambulance Association will award the Stars of Life. Two local individuals are receiving them, a gentleman from Ireland and a gentleman from Saugus this year. No one from Medford isn't going to be a recipient this year. However, I think it's important to point out and highlight the good work that Armstrong Ambulance does. They go above and beyond the call of duty, Mr. President, to be a partner in this community and a part of this community. And with that being said, I ask my council colleagues to support the resolution. Councilor Scarpelli.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you, Council President. Thanks, Councilman. It's funny that you bring this up. I think that my mom is going through some medical issues, and for a patient, they don't know who I am. My sister, Lisa, whose last name is Sharae, has been working with the Armstrong Ambulance, and the professionalism and the caring and the effort they provided for my family to make sure my mother is comfortable and has the transportation needed. And one thing we realized, how difficult it is for the common person to try to get in touch with healthcare organizations to make sure you can take care of your family members. And the assistance that was provided by Armstrong and people in their office was amazing. And it's not because of who I am, they don't know who I am. Um, but, and I'm sure that they've done this across the community and, um, you know, I'm glad that council and I brought this up because when you see that type of care and that type of specialism, you know, you want to, you want to scream on the rooftop and say, Hey, you need a pat on the back. So this is, I'm glad he put this forward. So there's a forum that I can say, thank you as, um, you know, as a relative that, uh, that they've taken care of and, I applaud what they've done. And again, it's another organization that during through the whole pandemic, they didn't take a day off, they were first person through the door and making sure that our citizens were taken care of and transported to local hospitals to make sure they they live a healthy life. So I applaud them.
[Bears]: And thank you, Mr. President. And I really appreciate that. And I bring this up as well. You know, every day, EMS professionals are saving lives in this community. And I think we've asked so much of them, especially over the past 15 months, that this is really the least we can do to thank them, not just for their volunteers and their professionalism, but for their sacrifices that they've made to keep us all safe and healthy. So I support this resolution.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. And I want to thank Council Member Knight for bringing this forward again, during this difficult time. Armstrong has been volunteering at the vaccination clinics, going to people's homes to vaccinate them. And again, they've been a good partner for the city for many, many years. I'll support this resolution also. So, Councilor Falco.
[Falco]: Yes, thank you, Councilor, for bringing this forward. And I would echo the sentiments of my colleagues as well. Cataldo has been a great, great partner. Armstrong. I'm sorry, I apologize. I'm trying to ignore it. It's funny, someone asked me all the time. They've been a great partner. Sean's done a lot of hard work there, and we thank them for all their hard work. Like you mentioned earlier, we talk to Marion every week with the COVID update. They're helping out, going to give seniors the vaccinations, and they're doing a great job. They've been a great partner, and I'd like to say thank you.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, so on the motion by Vice President Knight, seconded by Councilor Bears. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears? Yes. Councilor Falco? Yes. Vice President Knight? Yes. Councilor Marks?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Morell?
[Caraviello]: Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Caraviello? Yes. Seven in favor of the motion passes. Reports of committees, 21033, May 12th, 2021. Committee, this was in regards to the report of the parking commission that we talked about last week. Council Member Lozanda, would you like to give a little brief?
[Morell]: Sure, it was a highlight of the report, which had several charges from the mayor. We discussed a lot of policy, policy suggestions, some of which really conversation hinged on just simple enforcement of laws or statutes that are already on the books. And we also explored what it might look like for it to take things in house, as well as kind of another, several common issues which are mentioned in the report and we're waiting to see what the administration does in it and seeing also what, how we can act on this as soon as possible and not leave it as just a report.
[Caraviello]: Thank you Councilor Morell. So on the motion by Councilor Morell, seconded by, seconded by Councilor Scarpelli and Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears. Yes. Councilor Falco. Yes. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Morell? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Caraviello?
[Caraviello]: Yes, seven affirmative, motion passes. 2-0-5-6-8, May 13th, 2020, Committee of Whole Report. This committee, this is the ongoing zoning report with Attorney Brabowski, which will be having another meeting, hopefully the last one before we finish this up, which will be in two weeks. And again, so on the motion.
[Bears]: comes to this, Mr. President, if I may, I just really do encourage residents to take a look at the recordings of the meetings we've held, attend our next meeting, we put a lot of work into this. And you know, the process is out there. And I'm actually echoing Councilor Marks on a recent comment on another committee report, just to see the work that we've done. And it is out there. So if you haven't taken a look, it's worth a worth a watch.
[Caraviello]: This is something that was started on the on the car on the President Falco. And hopefully, You'll go to the next step before our summer, summer reset. So again, thank Councilor Falco for starting this and hopefully we'll get this done in the fashion. Chair with motion. Move approval. The motion by Councilor Falco, seconded by Vice President Knight. Please call the roll.
[Marks]: Councilor Bears.
[Caraviello]: Yes. Councilor Falco. Yes. Vice President Knight. Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Marks.
[Marks]: Yes.
[Caraviello]: Yes. Yes. Yes, 70 in the affirmative. Motion passes. Public participation. Joseph A. Biglioni, 446 Charles Street, Malden Mass, 02148. Mr. Biglioni, name and address of the record, please.
[Marks]: Joe Viglione, 446 Charles Street, Malden Mass, 02148.
[Caraviello]: Mr. President, Mr. Biglioni, part of this you spoke on two weeks ago, cannot come back for 90 days, from the first part, And on the second part, it does not pertain to city business, and I am ruling it out of order. I strenuously disagree, because I didn't write the first petition.
[Marks]: I'm ruling it out of order. I want to talk about political speech. We are ruling it out of order. You're retaliating against the Boston Criminal Court. And this man and the bank is public speech.
[Caraviello]: Could you please shut up the gentleman's microphone, please? Thank you, Mr. Bignoni. Thank you. Again, thank you. Yes. Have a good day. Have a good day. Thank you. Say whatever you want. Does anyone that we have, does anyone want to speak on the public participation? Public participation. Good evening. Let me address the record, please.
[Jean Nuzzo]: Can I speak on any topic?
[Caraviello]: I can't get you.
[Jean Nuzzo]: Can I speak on any topic? Yes. Okay. I'd like to speak if I may. My name is Jean. I live at 35 Paris Street. I was watching from home and I came in because you were talking about 40 B developments and the housing production plan. And I wanted to come for you tonight to just put a fine point on a few things that you all were speaking about. The first, that the 40B projects are on hold and causing tax revenue losses is inaccurate. We are in court because there is a disagreement on the calculation for GLAM and whether or not we qualify for safe harbor. And we are in court because currently the Baker administration appointees are declining all safe harbor applications. That's the first point I want to make. The second point I want to make is that the 40 bees that I mentioned in the housing production plan are referenced as being 100% counted as government algorithm affordable. They are not 100% affordable, by no means are not truly affordable by what the majority of Medford residents can afford. the units that are putting there that are affordable will either be 20 or 25%. So please, let's not walk away from today's conversation with the impression that we're declining 40 Bs that are 100% affordable opportunities for the residents of Medford and the greater area that we live in. I just wanna put a fine point on that because there seems to be that people speak about 4DBs with a level of expertise that isn't really present. And it's important that we understand the complexities of 4DB and how they impact development and how they impact potential affordability because this is an extremely nuanced topic. It's a political hot topic and it's a lot of discussion is underway about the right approaches to reach truly affordable solutions that target what the average person can, under a normal salary range, be able to afford to occupy, buy, rent, what have you. So please, I'd just like to make sure that we're not walking away having our residents think that if these 40 Bs are built, they'll be 100% affordable and there'll be housing that everybody can. Thank you for your time.
[Marks]: Good evening, David McKillop 94 Rockland Road I just wanted to make mention of a couple of things that we spoke about earlier, you spoke about earlier tonight. Just suggestions, the first suggestion is, even if it's doable Mr. President, if we are having issues with the state. making sure that their roads are clean. Is it possible that we could actually take the step to actually do it ourselves and charge the state? Is this something that can be done? Because why should the city be penalized for their ineffectiveness? Why can't we just get it done and then charge them? That's something that I think that we should look at and forcibly make that happen.
[Knight]: On that topic, Vice President Knight. It's not uncommon that the city and the state enter into what's called maintenance agreements. Sleepy Hollow being a perfect example of the Sleepy Hollow stretch along Route 16, leading up to the continent shells underneath the maintenance agreement, so the city methods responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of that area but they really have no control and direction. Other than that. So these maintenance agreements to exist. do we have the ability to stretch our already understaffed and overstretched DPW this much further to start taking on more properties when we quite frankly are doing a bad job handling the properties that we have right now?
[Marks]: Well, that becomes an actual administrative and budget issue. And that's a totally different thing. But speaking about budget issues, we're talking about schools and how their maintenance issues are a huge issue. And they've been a continual issue for quite some time. And there's no denying that. In fact, when the McGlynn was built, there was supposed to be money put aside for maintenance. And that obviously went into the general fund from what I understand. Are we going to hold the administrative accountable for line items to get that maintenance out there and really structure so we can get these things done. Those are some suggestions that I have. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. McKillop. Mr. President. Councilor Marks. Just if I could, Mr. McKillop brings up a great point. And in this city, we have an ordinance called the clean it or lean it ordinance. So the city of Medford, if they don't like how you clean your property or maintain your property, they can go in there, put a lean on your property and hire an outside contractor to clean your property. But here we have a state agency that can leave their roads in deplorable condition, can leave them unkept, Mr. President, and there's no recourse we have as a community. So I agree with Mr. McKillop that there should be something, some type of recourse that we have to say, you know, enough's enough. And the cleaner the cleaner, I don't know if the state would fall back on our local ordinance. You know, the residents are at our mercy, but I'm not sure the state would, Mr. President, He brings up a valid point and so does Vice President Knight about maybe in the spirit of cooperation, that we can sign some type of agreement that would enable us to do. I've said that for years. If you live on a state road right now and want your tree trimmed, you've got to go to the state. If you live on a state road, you want your sidewalk done, you have to go to the state. And it's an act of Congress to get it done. You're paying the same tax as someone else that doesn't live on a state road. So there's no benefit of living on a state road other than the fact that you have to chase the state to do stuff on your street. So, you know, I've been saying this for years. I would personally like to see the city take over all these roads, Mr. President. and have us accountable to the residents because the residents know us. They don't know these people in DCR or in these other state agencies. They know the people here and the local officials and the local government. And I think it's a much better approach to have us responsible rather than some state agency. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilor Marks.
[Caraviello]: Okay, any further discussion on public participation? Good evening. Good evening. Name and address of the record, please.
[SPEAKER_19]: My name is Tom Sutherland. I was married to Jean Barry. And I'm here to talk on behalf of the name of the Columbus School. Thank you. Me and Jean were married for over 22 years. And I just want to know how she was a dedicated teacher and an accomplished principal. I've learned quite a bit about Jean. She was very, very smart. I remember one time I came home from work, when we first got married, I came home from work at 4.35 o'clock, and she came walking in the house at 7.38 o'clock. So I said to Jean, Jean, you think we can get home a little bit earlier? And she says, why? Because I like to eat earlier. And she says, well, I don't know. I said, Jean, you're the boss. She said, I know I'm the boss. I'm also the boss here, and I'll get home when I can. You know? On our wedding day, We got married at St. Joseph's, and as we were leaving the church, I saw this big smile come over Jean's face. She looked over and she saw her entire fifth grade class sitting there. Smiling, waving to her, they were so happy to see her teacher get married. On the way to reception, I said to Jean, that was nice, was that your whole class? She said, that was her entire class that showed up to see her get married. Jean, had a real good sense of humor. She was a teacher with the fifth grade at the same school. And the last day of the year, she would get the biggest kid, the biggest boy in the class in arm wrestle. And she did it for 15, 16 years. So one day she was going to the last day at the same school and I said, you're doing arm wrestle today? She said, I don't know, I think I'm in trouble. I said, why? She said, this kid's awful big and he's been practicing. So she came home that night And I said, what'd you do? She said, I won. How'd you win? I told him we had to change arms. She was smart. She volunteered for the Polar Express. She also volunteered to have a theme day at the Columbus School. She thought that education should be fun, and she thought the kids really needed it. One day out of every month, there was a theme. It could be the Patriots, it could be the Bruins, it could be Halloween, but the kids would wear a costume. So Jean said, why should the kids have all the costumes? Well, it was her costume. It's a very elegant gown, all kinds of fancy ribbons on it, a tiara, and a wrap. And as the kids showed up, she told all the kids that she was the queen of the Columbus school. And she would walk around the school that whole day and go into the cafeteria and have a lot of fun. A lot of times, Jean was a famous walker, you know, and we'd be walking on buses or something like that. She would never be running to a, you know, a farmer student. You know, it always began the same way. They would embrace, they would have a great conversation, they would laugh, and the farmer student would always say to her, it was so great to see you, Ms. Barry. And she would come back to me and she would say, you know, that was, I had her over 20 years ago, She's married, she's got three kids, her husband's an electrician, and she's having a great life. I think that was Jean's reward, you know, that she was a part of this person's life. Excuse me. You know, Jean passed away about five years ago. You know, I had talked to Fred DeLaRusso, and he said, no, we should start the wake at three o'clock, because there'll be a lot of people. Well, we started the wake at three o'clock, and the wake didn't get over until about 9.15. The line finally stopped, you know. While I was standing up there greeting the people who came to pay respects to Jean, I looked down, her entire medical staff, Dr. Urban and his entire medical staff had shown up for the week. They came up, they felt so bad that they could have done more for Jean and told me what a great person she was. She was a patient of Dr. Urban's for about eight years. I think the one thing that really affected me the most was I looked down, there's a little guy standing, he was about 35 years old, you know, and he was standing by himself. So when he came up to me and shook my hand, he told me that he was in Jean's fifth grade class. I said, good. And he said, I talked to Jean quite a bit, but he moved out of state. He said, I talked to her by phone once in a while. I feel so bad that she passed away. She was one of the best teachers I ever had. He looked at me real serious and he says, the life's lessons I learned in the fifth grade with Jean, I still use today. You know, impression of being left with people was amazing. You know, I can understand, you know, I can understand, you know, people just love Jean. I know a lot of these newer, everyone is, probably everyone is knowing, you know, she always had such a, you know, positive attitude, you know, and a great personality. But anyway, you know, I know the school, it's a big thing to go on right now, you know, You know, I'm here to say, you know, I think the name Gene Barry School would be a great school, a great name for school if it's possible. But I'm sure there'll probably be a lot of qualified candidates to get it, you know. But, you know, I'll finish this by saying that, you know, I think Method was very happy and very lucky to have Gene in the community. I mean, she was a dedicated teacher and a great community worker, you know. I think, you know, all the accolades you guys were well-deserved. I'd like to thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Sullivan.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you, Mr. President. If I can, Mr. Sutherland, as one councilor that I could tell you that I was privileged to work for her on special occasions. Jean was a very dedicated and loving person to everybody that crossed that doorway at the Columbus School and the Dane. I remember when they first opened the new Columbus and And I was a phys ed teacher at McGlynn, and we had to teach the ever-growing class to the fifth grade. And Jean brought me in, and she says, George, at the time, there was a female phys ed teacher. She says, I need you to work with my young men in my fifth grade. And she gave me strict instructions, and making sure that was very delicate, and making sure that most of these kids came from single-family homes that, obviously, we all know that abuts the housing projects. She wanted to make sure that I spent extra time making sure that we gave the time that they needed if they had any questions, because a lot of those kids didn't have a male role model in their lives, as she felt. And that was her heart. And she was very caring to everybody that came in those doors. I remember when I was given the privilege of running the summertime programs. Principals are very, very territorial when it comes to their schools, even when it's not in session. And I remember Jean, when we went out looking for a school where we could do it, Jean stepped up and said, I would love to have that program, that summer program in our school, because it'll benefit that neighborhood and those kids most of all. And she wasn't shy when it came to tell you how she felt. And I respected that so much. And both her and the whole family, I think all of her, brothers and sisters can say that they really meant something. They really put forth a dedicated effort to the city of Medford. And I know there are other names on the list and that's a process in the school committee, but I want to make sure that this council made sure that someone who worked with her on a daily basis at times really understood the impact she made in that community, that South Medford community. I applaud you for coming up and sharing your stories about one of the greatest women around. And I tell you, I used to duck when I used to drive down Governor Zapp, because she used to fly or walk. I don't know how he kept up with that pace. But I was always embarrassed, because she had bigger biceps than me when I'd walk into the pizzeria. But thank you. Thank you.
[Knight]: Also, Mr. President? I think it's important, Mr. President, that as we look at this whole entire process of the name change, that we don't get overly emotional and start to make this a political issue. It's a political issue and the family should not be subjected to the politics of this process, right? Jean Barry Sutherland was nominated because she was someone that made a great difference in this community. And I think that, you know, going forward, she should be remembered for all the positive things that she did in this community and not be part of a political campaign to discredit her as they move forward in this political process of renaming the school. Because I didn't have the privilege of going to the Dame School. I went to the Brooks, but right around junior high, I got a lot of friends that were over there at the Dame School that had Jean Barry, my friend, David Topper, very, very successful. To this day, he says, it's all because of Jean Barry. She gave them the tools to succeed. So with that being said, you know, I just hope that the people out there in the community realize that Jean Barry has a family. Her family's here this evening. I don't think they're here this evening because the political process has been good to them. And as we move forward, I hope that we can move forward with some sensitivity because Jean's loss is still new and every day these people hurt. So with that being said, Mr. President, I thank you for your indulgence. Well said.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Vice President. Good evening, name and address of the record, please.
[SPEAKER_17]: Good evening, my name is Marion Barry Ravani. I live at 11 Thomas Street in Saugus. I am a former resident of the city of Medford for many, many years. I am Gene's sister, Gene's Barry Sutherland sister. And I am not here to defend my sister, Gene, by any stretch of the imagination. Gene's reputation stands alone. Gene was probably the best gift that my parents ever gave me. When I hear you Councilors talking about the Colangeli family and the Andre family, and the words that you said about community and giving back and respect and volunteerism, that's who Jean Barry was. Jean was the oldest of eight children. She took charge. She worked hard all her life. She ran the snack bar at the Medford Bowl Club. She was a camp Councilor. She worked at the registry when she was going through school. Jean stood up for the underdog. She always stood up for the underdog. She was fair. She said what was on her mind. She said what she meant, but she always had the caring words. Some of the young people that were in her class through the years, whether it be at the Waite School, she was at the Gleason School, she was at the Dame School, excuse me, and she finished up her career at the Columbus School. They are now police chiefs, firemen, masonaries, business owners, painters. Jean made a positive difference. Jean taught respect. She taught them when they came into her school, when they came into her class, they were not allowed to wear a baseball cap. They were up in arms, the parents were up in arms. But when all was said and done, those kids knew what respect was. She taught them to treat each other as ladies and gentlemen. Tom said how they had dress-up days, and Jean would have the kids, the boys, pull out the chair for the girl and hold the door. She was a positive influence in their life. There were a lot of families in a lot of situations. They were broken families. And she never, never pointed that out. She brought these kids together. She brought the families together. She loves the City of Medford. She truly loved the City of Medford. She loved being a teacher. She said not having any children of her own, all these kids were her kids. For those of you who never met my sister, Jean, I'm sorry you didn't. She was an outstanding person. And for all of you who do know her, I appreciate all the support that you have shown her. It has been a tough time. Jean died only five years ago in December, Jean died. But she never gave up the fight. She never gave up the fight. She was there till the end with, you know, the Jingle Bell Festival, the Polar Express, you know, she just showed up for life. So I appreciate your time. I appreciate your support. Thank you.
[Marks]: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. And I want to thank Jean's family for coming up tonight. You know, Jean's name made it to the final 18 because of what Jean did in this community and the number of people she impacted over the many decades. and her public service to this community. So it is a fitting tribute. And I think it speaks volumes that Jean is a finalist because of her past, Mr. President, and what made her such a great person in our community. You know, one thing I can recall, and this is going back many, many years ago, when I was first elected to the school committee, I was a real youngster at the time. And we had our first negotiations with the Teachers Association and the school committee. And we'd sit in separate rooms, I don't know if it's still done the same way, we'd sit in separate rooms and we'd go back and forth, volley back and forth with, this is what we're gonna offer you, this is what we want you to give up, back and forth. And it got so contentious, Mr. President, for several days, wasn't until Gene Barry stood up and said, why don't we meet in the same room together? You know, what a novel idea, bring people together, rather than have them in separate rooms. And you know what happens when you're in separate rooms, you're tougher in separate rooms, right? And you want to play hard guy when you're in separate rooms. And when we Gene brought us together, Mr. President, And the words still went back and forth. Guess what? It was Gene Barry that stood up and said, we need to do this, not just for the teachers and the administrators, but for the children. And that really struck home to a lot of people, Mr. President, because we said, let's put politics aside, right? And it was Gene that stood up and brought us together and made for a successful negotiation. And that was my very first, really, my very first introduction to what I'd say is politics in this community. And it was Gene that stood up to bring people together. And she did that over her whole career. If you ever saw Jean in the street, as Councilor Scarpelli mentioned, she'd be walking with her and her husband. They'd be out there in the community, Mr. President. She'd wave to you. She'd say hi. She'd take a second to talk to you, even if she was on a power walk. That was the type of person Jean was. It was in her heart. There wasn't a phony bone in her body. That's who Jean was. You couldn't change who Jean was. And Mr. President, I think what I'm hoping happens during this process is that the 18 names that came up, Mr. President, they'll probably be vetted out, they'll be looked at, Mr. President, and they'll be discussed on merit, Mr. President, not on other circumstances that may become political or may be used as a political tool, but from the circumstance of the person's life and what that person did. And clearly, Gene Barry, represents everything that this community stands for. And I think everyone would be honored if that's the case, to have Gene Barry's name on the school, Mr. President. Everyone would be honored. Thank you, Dr. Marks. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Caraviello]: Good evening. Name and address of the record, please.
[Marks]: John Petrova, 61 Locust Street. I'm honored. Longtime resident of Medford, Very proud to say that, I love the city. I can stand here and talk for hours about Gene. My wife, if she could make it tonight, would be doing the same. No one's gonna say a bad word about Gene. The only one that's gonna say something bad about Gene is on the committee to decide what the name's gonna be for the Columbus School. And I don't know if you are all aware of this. Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. We're all aware of it, okay? There's a couple of people on that committee.
[Caraviello]: Mr. Petrolla, if you refrain from mentioning anyone's name.
[Marks]: I will not mention anyone's name. I would never do that. Thank you. I would hope you know me better than that. Anyhow, there's a couple of people on the committee. I was like, it's just, I can't even begin to tell you. how frustrating and how depressing it is to have this committee that was put together by the school committee decide who's gonna have the school named after him. Because I'm gonna tell you right now, I'll be the bad guy. it's not going to be what the people of Medford want it to be. No one can tell me different. Nobody. What was said about Gene was disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. And I assume you guys all know, and you're saying about Facebook chatter, and this ain't about people disagreeing, and this ain't about politics, okay? It really isn't. This whole Columbus school is devastating, it's tearing the city apart, okay? It should have never happened, okay? It became an issue, it was brought up, regardless of all the signatures and the 1,200 or 1,300 people that didn't want the name change. I think I speak for a lot of people, Italian Americans, when I say that we would be honored, honored to have Jeannie. But how could we possibly believe after what was said by two members and the person that appointed them to that committee. How can we believe it's a fair process? I'm asking somebody, this whole process, okay, should be just, this committee needs to be, to just go away, all right? Because Gene would win by a landslide, but that's not the way it's gonna happen. I mean, look at the 18 finalists. Gene's got, I don't know the exact numbers, 130, closest person to her got 20 votes, 25 votes. but I can almost guarantee you that when, and it's unfortunate, but when it comes down to it, we all know what's going on with the school committee. I have nothing against nobody. I really don't. It's good to see you all here. And it's, you know, like I said, I love this city. I really do. And there's a lot of other things I wanted to bring up tonight, but this has got to be for Jean and Jean only tonight in the Columbus school. There was also comments made about white Italian Americans. Those were the only ones that voted for Jeanne. And we don't know how she treated black children. That's what was said. Okay, so. I'm just disgusted. You won't get a person anywhere in the city to say anything bad about her. Yet we have people on that committee had the nerve to say those words, to put them on a post. They need to be taken off that committee. That whole committee should be just completely You know, it just needs to be done. Someone's gotta stand up and speak for everybody. Somebody has to stand up. It has to be done. The Columbus School name change is a fuss. Everyone in Medford knows it. You know, in the old days, we'd call it a bag job. And that's what this is.
[SPEAKER_09]: If the school committee is gonna get the final three names, I don't care if Jean has 10,000 names, you can bet they're not gonna give it to her. So I don't know what you guys can do about it.
[Marks]: The mayor is silent, everyone's silent. Everybody, the human rights commission, denigrating the American flag, the police chief, The mayor... Okay, we're getting up. I'm just saying it's silence. It's silence. It's got to end. And this is where it's got to end with this Columbus school. Someone has to do something. I don't know who can do anything. But this committee needs to go away. It does. It needs to go away. And I'm sure you guys are all aware of what's going on. So I'll leave it at that. Nothing else I can say. Any further discussion?
[Jean Nuzzo]: Sorry, I just have the numbers in case anybody wanted to know. They posted during a meeting. I'm not sure, I don't have it notated in front of me, but I did take a screenshot. It's 114 people that submitted for Jean Barry Elementary School. The next one was 22 submissions for Mystic Elementary, and then they decreased by their significant one.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Jean. Councilor Falco.
[Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I also want to thank the Barry and Sutherland families for coming down today and sharing your personal stories. I had the privilege to know Miss Barry was a member of the school committee. And she was always positive, always smiling. I remember the smile, always smiling. And you mentioned she was a gift. And she was a gift to our community. She was always there, always giving back. I personally did not go to the Columbus school or any of the schools that she taught at, but my nieces and nephews did. And I always heard great stories about Miss Barry. and the work she did on a daily basis. And they would talk continuously about her. And during school community meetings, you'd always hear Ms. Barry's name come up and the great things that were happening at the Columbus School.
[Van der Kloot]: And I can't thank you enough for coming down and sharing your personal stories with us. I know they mean the world to me because I knew Jean and she was fabulous. And like I said, I never forget the smile and the positive upbeat attitude, which this community could use now more than ever. And I just want to thank you for coming tonight. Thank you.
[Jean Nuzzo]: Hi, most of you people know me.
[Moretti]: For the people that don't know me, I'm a Lockton, Medford resident.
[Jean Nuzzo]: Had a business here in town for over 28 years, Lister Insurance on Central Avenue. I've been very involved in the community for a number of years. I was a Little League, I'm sorry, a T-ball coach for the South Medford T-ball League, and the team actually won. twice. I was also a soccer mom. I also was secretary of the board of directors of Temple Shalom. I was vice president of the Salem Street Business Association, worked closely with Tom Convery. I also became president of the Salem Street Business Association for three years until we decided to break apart and merge with the Chamber of Commerce. I've done a lot of social work for the community, participated in DARE events. Also, personally, I know.
[Caraviello]: I'll bring the mic closer.
[SPEAKER_09]: Too much reverberation.
[Caraviello]: We appreciate all your services.
[Jean Nuzzo]: I have a big voice, I'm sorry.
[Caraviello]: Okay. If you could speak on the topic.
[Jean Nuzzo]: Okay, so the point I'm trying to get at is, done a lot for this community. My son went to the Columbus School. I loved this community. My heart hurts. It's torn apart. I have been ridiculed. I went to the police, support the police rally. I was called a Nazi. This Jewish woman was called a Nazi. And I was blamed for bringing Method Youth there.
[Caraviello]: Betsy, if we could stay on the topic.
[Jean Nuzzo]: appreciate me I thought the topic was public, but it's okay so upset about besides a number of things is that I feel the school committee is ramming their agenda down our throat. I really feel that the school children This is a farce, as John said, this whole rigmarole. And what's being left out is the most important thing of this community, our children. Our children are being pushed aside while we decide upon the name of a school. Please don't insult our intelligence. And we don't want to hear anything we say. It's like we get poo-poo. This is absolutely ridiculous. And I'm tired of the agenda that's being taught, which is Marxist and communist. And I said it. And I'm just tired of the attitude the school committee's got to go, because they don't benefit us. We the people are the people of this city. Not them. They don't rule us. They're supposed to do our bidding. Right now, they're not doing our bidding. Thank you.
[Knight]: Mr. President, I do think we're losing a little bit. I think we might be losing a little bit of focus here. I mean, ultimately this body is not responsible for the naming of the school, the renaming of the school, the process to rename the school. And I think that's important to point out. The only people that are responsible for the school committee chaired by the mayor, chaired by the mayor, the corner office, the corner office, Mr. President, not this, but this body has no ability to effectuate this change whatsoever. Thank you, Mr. President.
[Marks]: I don't disagree with Vice President Knight, but I think what you're hearing tonight is a sense of frustration. This council has always been the only forum that people can come up and speak. And over the last year and a half, Mr. President, the school committee, you can only see them on Zoom, Mr. President. Mr. President, and I think we have to maintain that this is the forum. There may be things said that we don't want to hear tonight. There may be things that go off topic, but this is the forum, this is the people's forum, and we have to allow people the ability to come up and say things that may rub us the wrong way, we may agree with, but they have the right to say it. And once we stifle that-
[Knight]: I have no problem with what anybody's saying. My problem is that there's nothing that we can do to fix it, right? I just want to make that clear. I agree a thousand percent. John, someone's got to do something.
[Marks]: You got to do this. We don't have the power to do it. I agree a thousand percent. But what I just want to make sure is that, you know, it's been a year and a half where people were unable to come up and address their public officials, Mr. President, face to face. And there's a lot said about being face to face than being on Zoom, Mr. President. And I think now what we're seeing is people want to get out, they want to voice their opinion. And I think this needs to be the forum, because if we stifle it, there is no other forum in this community. So we have to maintain this as the ability for people to have a mechanism to vent their concerns, Mr. President. And I agree with Councilor Knight. We have no bearing on a school committee vote. We have zero bearing. You know, if they want to rename the school and set up the committees, really, the only bearing we have is November. If people want to make change, November's the time to make change, if you want to make change.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. Name and address of the record, please.
[Cs57SkaizpQ_SPEAKER_07]: Patricia Brady Darty, 235 Winthrop Street. The people here tonight aren't so much here to ask you to do something, although some individuals may have said that to you. They are here because they're extremely upset about the comments made by the individual, actually written on, I think, Facebook. I saw a screenshot of it. denigrating the Italians who took the time to vote. And he said that they all voted for Gene Barry and they cheated. We forgot that important point. In print, he wrote, and they cheated. Well, you know, then the other thing he said, which was said earlier, he wasn't sure that Gene Barry had not treated black children badly. Now that's the equivalent of saying when was the last time When did you stop beating your wife? Those are disgusting statements. These people understand that you can't do anything about it. But as Councilor Mark so eloquently said, this is the people's forum. I learned that from serving with Councilor Mayocco. He said it over 30 years. It's the only public forum in the city. How did we get here? How did we get to this point from a great city of 58,000 people who have a reputation of racial harmony to the point where we're here because people who are on city commissions say the flag represents rape and pillage and that people that the Italians voted on, and maybe they did, and maybe they didn't, cheated, and that the person that they voted for may have mistreated black children. How did we get here? This is a city that in 1963 elected Madeline Duggar Andrews, the first black school committee person elected in the state of Massachusetts to a school committee. This is a city that in 1981 put Ken Holmes on the city council. That's not the mark of a racist city and we're sick and tired of hearing it. So how did we get there? Well, it started when the mayor decided we're a racist city and there was a proclamation that we are racist and it's a health crisis. No, we're not a racist city and we're sick of hearing it. So what happened in the past year and a half and I'll just do the topics. You all probably know what happened with the subheadings are. After that, the Columbus school name changed. Then we had the July 4th incident at Exchange Ave where over 200 people threw rockets and firecrackers at the police and they had to call in the state police and the firefight is to help defend them. And how did that happen? Because people had been marching through the streets of Medford, calling the police names and saying, defund the police. So then we had the rally here on the steps, as you all know, and at the end of the rally, very peaceful, loving rally, a group of teenagers who were holding Black Lives Matter signs very quietly, crossed the parking lot, stood on the steps, and were yelling, F the police. They chanted it for several minutes. We have it on videotape. There's no making that up. And then, two days later, the people at the rally and the organizers were condemned. And not one, were condemned by the mayor's office. And that gave ammunition for people to start the Racist of Medford website. I'm on there. You know why it says I'm a racist? Because I supported the rally. I was an organizer for the rally. Now, I've been a public figure, so people can call me whatever they want. They can call me a slut, it doesn't make me one. But you know what? There are people on that, site who never in their lives had their name in public print. And they were devastated. And no one in public office in this city came forward and condemned it. Then we have racial sensitivity courses at the high school that the teachers had to take this winter. Talking about white privilege, and how the fact that if you're white, you automatically do not like minorities. It's a version of the race theory, critical race theory, that's condemned by many states across this country. Now, we don't have white privilege, and we're really sick and tired of people telling us we're racist when we don't see color. Then we run into, The flag where a commissioner felt it was okay to get up last month in an official meeting and say, the flag represents rape and pillage to certain people. And the mayor shouldn't appear next to the flag in a meeting. And then we end up last week finding out that the city's asking the state to waive veterans preference when they hired the police. And now we're here because someone on a committee empowered to vote for the name change says the Italians cheated. I would suggest that's how we got there. That whole 18 months and no one's standing up for us, but ourselves in the background. Well, we're here to tell you we're not gonna stand for it anymore. We are all Americans. We are here. We're gonna stand in the breach and we're gonna work as a community, as Americans. And we happen to believe what Martin Luther King said, which is he didn't want his children judged by the color of their skin. He wanted them judged by the content of their character. And we do have something for you to do. We hope that you will take the lead and stop this madness. Please emulate Martin Luther King and speak up for us and stand with us. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Good evening, name and address of the record, please.
[Moretti]: Yes, sorry, I have to read from my phone. I'm Nadine Moretti, 126 Burgett Ave, and I've been a president of Medford for about 18 years. Good evening, Medford City Councilors and fellow citizens. Never in my life did I think I would be public speaking as many times as I have during this last year. Although with the exception of tonight, we're all on Zoom. I am not comfortable with it, but have to keep speaking for one reason, the school committee meetings. Attempting to censor Medford residents in the abuse of power and authority by some, not all elected school committee members. This stems from almost one year of angst for many Medford residents and parents of school age children who attended and spoke on Zoom committee meetings. And on a side note, it seems they should be back to person meetings at this point. Censorship by definition means the suppression of speech, public communication of words that are offensive. seeking to limit our very freedoms of thought and expression by imposing restrictions. For example, not being able to state how long we live in Medford. This is a direct violation of the First Amendment. A school committee member shouldn't believe they hold the power to even think this, nevermind propose it. Three months into this ongoing pandemic, the first emails were sent back in June, 2020, after having learned about the resolution to change the beloved Christopher Columbus Elementary School name after 90 years. Since that time, I alone sent 17 emails to the school committee and spoke at least six to eight meetings. 95% of my emails were regarding the Columbus name change, with a few other troubling topics concerning race in one way or another. Being a parent of two high school students, I was very eager for answers about in-person learning above and beyond the Columbus issue, but Columbus became the main focus of the school committee, even after hundreds of residents spoke and or emailed proving that more people were against this name change than for it, but it still moved ahead. May 2021, where we have reached a scary level of opposition in Medford. The villain and vehicle is social media, which has divided this city via endless posts that continue to defame names of citizens and worse. Moreover, we have the Medford Human Rights Commission who held a meeting specifically regarding one citizen and continue to slander him. Throughout this last year, not one thing has brought the residents of Medford together. This Columbus name change has been at the helm of the division with no end in sight. Nobody is putting an end to this uproar and it has reached its breaking point. That is why we are here tonight. When residents have to come to a city council meeting in droves, to speak about other elected officials attempting to violate our First Amendment rights, that is the breaking point, and it's unconscionable. Along with this, bringing to light a derogatory, racially-driven, and infuriating libel of our beloved teacher, principal, who for 40 years dedicated her life to teaching and leading Method students is disgraceful. June Barry Sutherland is one of the top suggested names for the Columbus Elementary, and a well-deserving one at that. I could go on and on, but you understand my point and my purpose tonight. To put a stop to the few people attempting to infringe on our rights as Medford citizens and Americans. To ensure the impact of our voices be heard after speaking up for a year but not being listened to. To remind people that we live in a country where inalienable human rights are protected under the Constitution of the United States. I just wanna say, I know you guys don't have any power to help really with this Columbus name change, we understand that. We've been pleading, you've been emailed. It's not, you know, it's not that. Nobody's taking charge of the bad that's going on in the city. And I mean, a few people have spoke to it tonight, but it's, I think we've reached the breaking point. Like I said, we come to you because we don't know where else to go. So that's the reason that we're here to speak to you guys tonight, you know, and thanks for your time.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Nidhi. Mr. Scogno, you have your hand up. Did you want to speak? And, every did you want to speak, Mr. Clay, you know, could you hear me now. Yes, I name an address of the record please.
[BrSC8V8no0E_SPEAKER_11]: Emery cuneo at 71 Felsway Medford. Um, I wasn't able to come down tonight and I had no intention actually of speaking, however, watching this meeting. I have to say how disheartening I am, not with not with the with the city council but in general, what's going on in our city. As a former school committee member. When I started years ago. The first thing I really challenged myself and making sure that we'd work on is bullying and the bullying one. the internet, and we had many forums with many people, whether it be students or adults, police chief, police, we had experts from Bridgewater, and really felt better about those, those, not those rallies, those conferences with everybody and those meetings with everyone. But I have to say, I feel like we've gone backwards. It's not the children that we have to worry about. It is the adults that we have to worry about. And unfortunately, we're the models for our children. So what we do, what we say, how we say it, how we act, how we attack people on Facebook or any type of social media, it's something that our kids see. Now, I don't plan on speaking on a lot of the things that everybody else has touched upon, but I will speak on a couple of things. And that is one, Gene Barry, Sutherland. Whether or not you know this person, which I did and I respected and I still respect. And now knowing her rest of the family still have the respect for, but that doesn't make a difference. The difference is, is that you have a person who has family in the city, who has given a lot to this city. No one has the right to speak and throw things out about someone. What kills me is the fact that people that are writing are the ones that are saying we shouldn't act like this. Now, with that being said, as an Italian, so far now, I've been called a cheater. I've been called other names. Growing up in this city changed a lot of that. because we became evolved and like we expected to respect everyone, we don't pick and choose which nationality we are going to respect. We respect all nationalities. From an Italian who was bullied when she was in school, where my name was changed because I was an Italian, and over the years finally get respect that we are all being treated equally, That was wonderful. And now to hear that if I'm Italian, I need to be quiet or I am now accused as a cheater. I would love to know that if I wrote something like that about someone else from a different type of culture or a different nationality or a different group, If it would've been just thrown under the rug, shoved under the rug, and hey, it is what it is. If we are going to advocate for diversity, and if we are going to advocate for fairness in this city, it has to start with all nationalities, all cultures. And you know, Heard something a few weeks ago, and I know but I think that I'm crazy but The thing that I heard was actually on It was on the Oscars and it was from Mr. Perry who received a humanitarian award and what I loved about what he said, and I truly believe this is that he said We, in our hearts, do not have room for hate. We do not have room for hate for Asians, or blacks, or whites, or police officers, or anyone. We need to come to a middle. Well, I believe there's someone else. I don't know why I have someone else on my screen. What we need to do is we need to get the city down. Not in the things of what we believe or who believes, but back in the middle to understand what the city's about. And I'm sorry, but I can't see the screen. I actually see someone else on it. But what I'm trying to say is we need to come to the middle, okay? We're not saying because you're here so many years that you have a right to speak above someone else. What we're saying is let's talk together. And it seems to me that the groups that are coming in contradict each other because they're treating each other like the ones that they're accusing other groups of being. It's frustrating. And now the latest I heard is for certain people that want to make sure that we, as when we present ourselves at a podium, are not supposed to say that we're lifelong citizens or residents of the city of Medford. I don't know about anyone else. But I'm proud of it. I have grown up here. I have chose to stay here. I have chosen to keep my children and raise my children here. It is not a disease. It is not a leprosy. It is a right. And I want to be proud of I am an Italian American. And yes, I am proud to say that I come from Fredford. But I am not proud of where method is going.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr.
[Marks]: David McKillop 94 Rockland Road. I did speak to the city council on zoom about this issue. I'm sure some of you might be might have been aware of it. And I found not sure shy of begging them to just table the issue. So we could have the time to absorb what was going on. And I was met with complete silence. Hence the reason why I came to the city council and spoke to the city council in a level of frustration which today I probably apologize for because I know you physically can't do anything about changing the name, but there is something you can do. There is something. If these schools are asking and pairing up with stop and shop or some of these other places for money to raise money for the school, and yet we are spending money on changing a name when we don't need to be doing that, it's a budget issue. and you folks sign off on the budget. So maybe there's an area there that you can hold the city council accountable for. Because if they're wasting money on changing a name, which could be tens of thousands of dollars or thousands of dollars, or whatever the cost may be, You folks could actually sit there and say, hey, put the brakes on. You got people out there begging people for, you're selling mattresses, you're buying cookies, you're doing this, you're doing that. These kids have no paper, they have no pens. We're begging everybody for money, but we can spend money on a change of a sign. Mrs. Cuno said, we need to bring Medford back. No, Medford's here. Medford's right here. Every single one of the Medford society citizens are right here. They're talking to you. They're begging. I'm begging. I mean, I don't even want to wear this mask. We need to stand up and say enough is enough. This community is a great community. These people are great people. Do we have differences? Do we have problems? What city doesn't? Listen, folks, there's no such thing as perfect. And anyone that tells you there is, they're lying. There is no utopia, no society in the history of the world in human beings has ever achieved utopia. There's no utopia. There are only really great people trying really hard to stick together, find a way to live together, to commune together, to have fun together, to grow families together. That's what a community is. And Medford is that community, and this is ridiculous, what we're allowing to happen in our city, and you folks should stand for it.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. If anyone else, if anyone else, did we already get anyone else?
[Marks]: I just want to follow up with what Dave just said. I sent an email. Name and address of the records. Name is John Petrella, 61 Locust Street, lifelong resident. Proud to say it again. I just want to follow up with David. I sent an email requesting information about the cost. I don't know what's going on with it, but I had to go through Captain Kress.
[SPEAKER_14]: Who by the way, I don't know about anyone else, but I don't, I refer it to the school committee.
[Marks]: She is in no way part of, as far as I'm concerned, she's spoken up and she's done, I think she's done a great job. Probably the only one. But anyhow, the message I got was, this was from Catherine and she got it from the mayor. John McLaughlin responded that a sign just the sign could cost upwards of $15,000. So I just thought I'd let you know that that's an email, you can have a copy if you want, but I've tried to get more information, but I guess they're not too concerned with, you know, what the total cost is going to be. And the only other thing, I don't know how, politics, city politics, what you can and can't do. I keep hearing can't, can't, can't. I guess you can't, but why can't we? I mean, do we have to go to the clerk? Can we get a petition? Can we get in the city something going to stop this proceeding with this Columbus school renaming committee to put an end to it? I mean, especially with what's happened, there's gotta be, can't someone do a motion? Can't something happen? You guys can't even do a motion. The same council of method can't put forward a motion to stop. You can't put it on the ballot. That's, even if it's non-binding, I'm asking a question.
[Caraviello]: We can't put it on, I'm not, listen, I understand. Point of information, Vice President Knight.
[Knight]: This council stated time and time again that this is a school committee issue and it's not something we're gonna interject ourselves to get in the middle of. I mean, we've all said that on numerous occasions since this thing has started. It's a school committee issue, all right? So let me finish, let me finish. The school committee's made their mind up, all right? The horse is out of the bind. It's already running around the track. Okay. It's already running around the track. The horse is out of the back. You're going backwards. You got to focus on moving forward. All right. The name is going to get changed. The school committee already voted for it. You've asked for reconsideration. They said, no, I'm not questioning their scope and their authority. All right. So, I mean, ultimately that's like the school committee coming and telling us every other week, do something different, do something different. You know, we got to let them operate in this, in this sphere, in their world.
[Marks]: I'm not questioning you. I'm not questioning. anything that you just said.
[Knight]: You know what I'm saying?
[Marks]: We're not looking to necessarily start the name change. You guys can't do it.
[Knight]: I mean, I don't think I mean, I don't think there's anybody that's going to agree that was a good process. The process was flawed from the start. It's been a disaster. Quite frankly, the city would be in a much better place if this was handled differently. I agree with you 150% and we have 150% this was a disaster. And we appreciate hearing that from you and I know a lot of the other Councilors agree with you. But I mean, I don't
[Marks]: I don't know, I'm at a loss here. I mean, to me, this is just, it's sad that this school committee and the committee that they assigned, is going to get away with this.
[Knight]: I mean, it's a- With all due respect, I share your frustration. When I think about frustration, I think about a $5 million structural deficit that we have coming up in the next year's fiscal budget. Those are the things that give me anxiety at night. Those are the things that I lose sleep over.
[Marks]: I'm not questioning you guys have a tough job. No one's questioning that. We know what's coming up. We know it's a tough year with the budget and we know everything else, but, you know, just to have this procedure, it's just that it breaks my heart that this is going to happen and that's all.
[Knight]: I guess what I'm getting at is in the grand scheme of things, out of all the issues and problems that we have in this community, this is one, but there are bigger ones. There are much bigger ones. There are much larger problems that we have in this community. Like are we meeting our new growth figures so that we can just meet the inflation and the contractual obligations that we have for collective bargaining agreements. These are big questions. These are big questions. Quite frankly, the process surrounding the school renaming did nothing to bring this city together to put us in a better position to answer them.
[Marks]: Let me get an argument from anyone in the city about that. We appreciate you guys. And like I said, we know what you do, but understand the frustration And us knowing that this is, I mean, it's a scam is what it is. They're pulling off a scam. I hate to say it, but that's what it is, you know? Horrible words to use, really. And I don't like using them. But that's basically what they're doing. So there's nothing we can do.
[SPEAKER_14]: Nothing we can do.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. Jean, your name and address on the record, please.
[Jean Nuzzo]: My name's Jean Nuzzo. I live at 35 Parris Street. I'm a proud lifelong Redford resident, a first generation Italian American. My dad came to this country with lint in his pocket and a recipe for rock soup. And he and my mom carved out a wonderful life for our family. And I'm grateful for that. I'm also Native American. You might not know that about me. So that is my background that I approached this issue with. I'm really saddened by what is going on in our city. and specifically with this issue, because although it may have begun as a political issue, we did have a moment when the committee was pulled together and brought together under their committee of the whole in their school committee meeting, where they could have risen above the politics of it and used it as an opportunity to join our community together, to look for opportunities to help the community learn about people like June Barry Sullivan. who I knew not very much about because I didn't have the privilege of attending any of her classes. And many of the other 18 plus people that were put forth as potential nominees for the position or the honor of having the building named. We could have had a situation where that committee crafted a schedule by which they could have provided us information about the candidates for naming. additional information about the 18 people who were selected. We could have had a lovely event and a lovely time period where we discussed it as a community. We voted on it, and we found a way to celebrate when we renamed the building. But we didn't do that. It remained political, and it remained political because a handful of people are using their political will, regardless of what they're being told by their constituents. And while I agree through the chair with Councilor Knight, that we have grave concerns about our budget, the essence of what makes our government, our government is that it is by, of, and for the people. Not five people on street, not seven people on city council, not one person in the mayor's office, but every last one of us. And unless and until we can find a way to come together to the middle and talk about what is best, what is right, what is fair, what is just, what is equitable, and what is equity in an honest and sincere way. Through empathy and compassion and trying to understand one another, we are never, never going to move past where we are. I'm going to be where I've always been, in the middle, trying to be the person that sees it from both sides. I would hope that you all do that. And I would hope that, although you may not be able to do something about it from behind this rail. you will talk to your fellow members of our municipality and have some conversations with them about a way to move forward in a manner that helps us to heal, because we still can do that. There is nothing about the date that was selected, other than the school committee decided that's when it needs to be. There is no reason why as a community, we cannot decide to pump the brakes on this and really find a mechanism to move forward where we rise up above it and use it as an opportunity to come together. Because what I can tell you about Italian-Americans growing up in Italian-American homes is that we would never want to do something that hurts another person. We would never want to step on another's right because we, in the past, have been considered non-white and treated badly. It's not the first time people have called Italian-Americans crooks and criminals, and it won't be the last time unless we all rise up together and demand better of this community. I thank you for your time.
[Hurtubise]: Thank you.
[SPEAKER_14]: Thank you, Mr. President.
[Bears]: First, I want to thank Mr. Sutherland Mr. Barry's family. Many of the stories you've told tonight remind me of my time at the Davenport, the Hervey the Brooks, and the educators I have had in my life they brought me where I am now. And then I've brought generations of students in this community to successful and wonderful lives. So, I don't want to intercede on the as a city council or the business of the school committee or make a statement on the renaming of the school because I think as my fellow Councilors have said we don't have authority on the matter. Separately, I do want to say something about one statement tonight, a timeline and a political statement about racism that was made tonight that wasn't related to what we're talking about around the school renaming that doesn't reflect the reality we face racism is a problem across the country. And yes, even here in Medford. You may not want to hear it, but when we deny systemic racism, we ignore and erase the daily experiences of many Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American people in our city. Dr. King was quoted, as has been quoted many times to justify not talking about racism. In that same speech that he made in 1963, he said, We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or taking the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Inalienable human rights were brought up tonight, and for some people in our community, they aren't being protected. The idea of being treated equally has come up tonight. And for some people in our community, that's not their reality. For people experiencing racism, it is a big deal. As Councilor Mark said, sometimes in a public forum, things are said that people don't wanna hear. I know some people don't wanna hear what I'm saying. I've sat here and respectfully heard what you've said, and I hope you'll take consideration of what I'm saying. We have an obligation to take action and an honest look at history and at racism. We will never have true unity without truth and reconciliation. It's not time to make national political statements like racism isn't a problem here. It is a time for us to be honest and true with each other and take action to address the problems that I hear about every day. And that deeply saddened me, I think in the way that many of you feel deeply saddened by what you are here to talk about. So again, thank you, Mr. Sutherland, to the Berry family. What I just said was not in relation to anything about that or the Columbus School, but to a specific statement I made about the timeline of what's happened in our community over the last two years. Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Beza.
[Caraviello]: Nicole DeMonica, do you have your hand up?
[Jean Nuzzo]: Yes, hello, how are you? My name's Nicole DeMonica.
[Caraviello]: Name and address, please.
[Jean Nuzzo]: Yes, it's Nicole DeMonica and it's 51 Burnside Street. And again, I'm a lifelong resident. I've been in Medford my whole entire life. I worked in the medical field in Medford for the last 20 years and I played sports. My children is in Medford. Everything is about me. It's been about Medford forever. First of all, I want to say is we do appreciate all what you have been doing and we know that it's not your job and this might be frustrating to you. So I do want to say that we really do appreciate your help in this. The reason why we did have to come to you is because we are hurt and we don't know what else to do and we're just coming to you because we want your help. You know, so much has happened over the last year and so much stuff has been disheartening that we're at the point where now it's causing such a roughness and people are being talked about, councilmen are being talked about, you know, people, deceased people are being talked about. that have done nothing but good to the community. It's just gone too far. But I do want to let you know that we really do appreciate your help and we know that it's not your job. What I do want to also point out is what Adam said, is that you said that the process of name change is happening and that the city, you basically have to let the city council do their job. I mean, the school committee do their job. And I understand that, you know, as much as I didn't agree with the name change and, you know, I don't want it. I agreed, I said, okay, it's happening, we're gonna do it. So I even, you know, signed up to be on the committee. I didn't get chosen. Other people got chosen, you know, that lived there for about a year. And that was fine. So we went on and people have voted, you know, multiple people have voted. It's not just the Italian community either. Self-Method is Multiple different nationalities. It's just it's italian community, but that doesn't mean just italian people live there So when you sit when people are now saying after you know, people have put the time in they voted now Even though we didn't want the name change. We said, okay, we're going with the process. We're letting the student council Do their job. I mean the school committee do their job, right? We're doing it. Like you said Now we all did that and now we're being called cheaters and we're being talked about the deceased and council members are being talked about as well. I mean, where do you what do you want us to do now? We've basically done everything that we can. I mean, look at Jean Barry, 114 to like two. I mean, I mean, why are we even still talking about this? It goes back to even the petition that we had signed up. You know, there was like over 1300 people that didn't want the name change. And then we had about 300 people that were okay for the name change and they weren't even from. So right there that was just one part. Okay, the name changed more than method residents didn't want it now this gene Barry 114 to like 4 and 20 and now we're being called cheaters and and scammers. I mean This is where we're asking you because now we've done our job. We follow the steps We've done what we need to do, but now they're still Basically trying to hurt us and now talking about our community. I come from my parents. I'm the first generation here I lost my parents when I was a child So when you have people now talking about the Italian community the way they are and It is, it is hurtful. So I just want to know what can you do to help us? Can you do anything? That's all.
[Caraviello]: This is a school community matter has been alluded to several times this evening.
[Knight]: I'm Nicole and I go way back. We went to high school together. I have a question, because I'm not following. People said something, this, that. I don't pay too much attention to the social media stuff. Well, Adam, you should.
[Jean Nuzzo]: said a lot about you a lot.
[Knight]: So you have to go on social media to find that. But with that being said, who made these comments? Was it a was it a member of the committee?
[Jean Nuzzo]: Was it someone as a member of the committee, and this the member of this committee, I'm not going to say the name. But this is a two people that Their husband in white they shouldn't have been on the committee in the first place. This is someone that's very biased and very one-sided and very Vocal very verbally vocal saying people have abuse problems have alcohol problems have addiction problems You know italians are racist and everything. This person has been very very vocal and very vulgar And he's the one machine They're now on this advisory board. So Adam, there's someone like me, you know me. I've been Methodist, please support Method, everything. I didn't get chosen. There's other people in Method that's been living there for a whole life. But then we have someone like this that's been chosen and his wife has been chosen just like other people. And now they're talking about us.
[Knight]: The reason why I ask is because if it's a committee member, a person was appointed to the committee, then they consider the city employee or a public employee. So that person would be subject to all the rules, regulations, guidelines, and policies that are in place. So if the school department has a policy for say, social media use, then the members of the committee should be subject to that. If the school department has say a bullying policy for online bullying, the members of the committee should be subject to that.
[Jean Nuzzo]: Great, that's what i'm asking. That's what I want to know. How can you what we don't know this we're not educated on this information But what can we do about it? Because this are there policies in there? I mean, uh, is this something that can happen? Because I think if any one of you sitting on that podium right now, no matter what you what politics you are What would you like whatever if you read what's been written? If you did not if you thought that this was normal and this is okay Then I don't know what to say about you, you know, because this this is not normal. I think anybody who reads it will know it's not right So I won't this what can we do? Can't that this committee obviously is not built trustworthy the people on it. It's very biased The way it was just pick was very biased. I mean, it's not it's the committee should be Torn down and start all over because it's not It's look what they're saying now now they're saying that we're stuffing you everyone here talks about jean barry I I didn't go to I didn't have jean barry, but I know jean barry, you know, and I know that she's a good student I know all that she's done done for this to the kid the community her per family has had to sit here and basically Been told that she's a racist and she basically saying that she hits black children Like, who says something like that about someone who's deceased that's done so much for the community? Like, that's just horrible. Don't you think so?
[Knight]: I, you know, warning was that I hate to see the family be damaged by this issue because it's becoming so political.
[Jean Nuzzo]: Yeah, I know.
[Knight]: Thank you. I appreciate it. Thanks for answering my question.
[Jean Nuzzo]: No problem.
[Caraviello]: Thank you. Thank you, Nicole.
[Jean Nuzzo]: No problem.
[D'Antonio]: Can you give me name and address of the record? Excuse me. My name is Anthony D'Antonio, 24 Hicks Avenue. I didn't want to come up here to speak. And I was enjoying some of the wonderful comments that were made about Sonoma, if I have the name right, and some people's concerns. But through you, Mr. President, I will not sit still. and get a lesson on racism. I'm sick and tired of that. Mr. President, I didn't say that. I'm tired of listening to people deny racism, Mr. President.
[Bears]: I'm tired of listening to people who I get a call, Mr. President,
[Caraviello]: Mr. President, I represent the people. I am. I am. We're not going to attack any council members. Mr. President, may I? No. Good. No. Point of information. There's no attacking any council members in this room. Point of information, Mr. President. Point of information, Councilor Bitz.
[Bears]: Thank you. I never said we're all racists, Mr. D'Antonio, and I think it is disrespectful to people in this community who have experienced racism to deny it. Mr. He said there's no racism in Medford.
[Unidentified]: One person at the real place. Thank you.
[Marks]: Thank you.
[Unidentified]: That's a lie.
[Cs57SkaizpQ_SPEAKER_07]: I didn't say that.
[Bears]: It's not a lie.
[Cs57SkaizpQ_SPEAKER_07]: And if Councilor Bears wants to misinterpret what I said, he's welcome to do that. But he'll stand as someone who's willing to put a verifiable truth out there. I did not say that. What I said was, the mayor said we're a racist city. And how did we get there? We are Americans. We don't look at race, we never did. And this city is a great city. We are sick and tired of being told that we are racist, you know we're not subjects were citizens. And that's why we are going to stand in the breach. This is a Marxist agenda. Someone said that earlier. It's called divide and conquer. And we're not putting it up with it anymore.
[Morell]: I'm just not sure what we're going after at this point. We're just engaging in open debate at this point. I'm not really sure what's happening.
[Cs57SkaizpQ_SPEAKER_07]: Through the chair, I can tell you what this is about. This is about the fact that we are sick and tired of listening to people who haven't experienced half of what most of this people in this room have due to their age or their inexperience. I happen to have had the great privilege to have lived for 30 years in Judge Brooks's house. We bought the house from his estate. He marched in Selma in his 80s. That's the type of people we come from. And so what's tonight about? We finally got sick and tired when we found out that this person on the committee put these statements in writing that the Italians cheated. That's what this is about. We want to be heard. We know maybe you can't do a whole lot. I have a suggestion for something you could do if you wanted to. Councilor Mayorko told me that four votes of this city council could put an advisory question on the ballot in November, asking if we want the name change. Yes, it may be too late, but at least people would feel like they've been heard. Now that's your druthers whether you wanna do it. So what are we doing here today? We're saying we're sick and tired. We're not gonna sit here when someone says that Jean Barry maybe mistreated black children. We're not gonna sit here when the Italians when a man wrote on that committee that the Italians cheated. Nope, we're done, we're sick of it, and we're gonna come back here every night if we have to on Tuesday nights.
[Bears]: Thank you. Mr. President, point of information. Point of information, Councilor, it is. The mayor said that systemic racism is a public health crisis. The mayor did not say this is a racist city. That is scientifically verifiable, and it is something we need to address, thank you. Okay. Yes, we said that.
[Caraviello]: We have other people that want to speak. Let's see, we have other people that want to speak first. Sharon Diesso, please. Sharon Diesso, name and address of the record, please. Mr. Clerk, can you unmute Sharon Diesso, please? Hold on, Sharon. Hold on.
[Deyeso]: Good evening, everyone. Can you hear me?
[Caraviello]: Yes. Name and address of the record, please.
[Deyeso]: Thank you. Sharon DSO 130 Circuit Road in Mass Ave in Medford. Sadly, some of the comments that are just so genuine and so sincere tonight, everything ends up again in this city, political. Let's get away from the politics for a second. I am in agreement in many, many people in the city with the piece that every fine speaker said tonight, a little bit from everyone's comments. Thank you all for attending tonight, and thank you, council members for listening to us. About four to five weeks ago, the Medford transcript in the Somerville Medford News gladly picked up and printed my article on the Columbus School, like the movie, Goodbye Columbus, Not So Fast in Medford. It even got picked up, and I was a guest on Howie Carr's show about two weeks ago. Howie Carr's assistant is working on getting me the name, Mr. Petrella. And if you'd like to get in touch with me, I know how he's very, very busy. He was quite concerned about the city of Medford. We do have long standing. Do people move here constantly? Is the price of real estate up? I ask you all, even those listening, of course, would they move here in a racist, typical city? No. Everyone stop this year in the events and examine their conscience. I'm sure I teach. I still help two marvelous principals in Medford. Besides being an adjunct professor at Bunker Hill, I helped Mr. Nicholas Tucci outstanding and also a principal at the high school, Mrs. Aleva. I ask you, when these working people worked through the pandemic, et cetera, What was the school committee doing? Chasing around, trying to get votes, and talking about Christopher Columbus with some facts that I'm sure none of you ever even heard about in the 40, 50, and 60 years of your lives. This is what Mrs. Brady is speaking about and why we're all frustrated. Mr. Carr's assistant will be looking, Mr. Petrella, for the name of the organization who helps pleas like this in other cities. It was the organization that replaced the Christopher Columbus statue in the North End. I am Sharon Diesso at yahoo.com. I welcome your comments and thank you all for listening to us. Bye bye. Go USA.
[Marks]: please.
[Bears]: Thank you for coming out of your shell.
[Marks]: Yes. No. Every, every, every, every listen, everything, everything that counts appears always says is to the extreme is to his opinion with what he is entitled to his opinion. Absolutely. So are we. He ends everything with white supremacists. He ends everything. You said that Bedford is a racist city. I will, I will, I will speak to the chair. Everything with him ends in white supremacists. I debunk everything he says and he never responds. Never. Okay. He puts things out there as fact. I find it extremely hard to believe that a 70 year old woman was pushed to the ground in front of 25 people and nobody helped. I don't buy it. I just don't buy it. Anything that anyone says is taken as word, put out there as extreme, and that's what critical race theory does. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Okay, is anyone who hasn't speaking this evening would like to speak? Okay, Betsy will be the last comments.
[Jean Nuzzo]: Okay, Betsy Rooster, Roth Street, Medford Mass.
[Cs57SkaizpQ_SPEAKER_07]: I wanna say that in a world where love lives, we don't see racism, we don't know racism.
[Jean Nuzzo]: This community used to be filled with love. It just seems that in the past 18 months that we have been divided. Comments have been made. Our wishes, our desires for this community have been set aside. All I've heard tonight is we can't do anything. We can't do anything. That's wrong. We can do plenty. Our numbers are great. We're a strong, loving community. We love Medford. We don't wanna see it be, and I won't name any communities that are falling apart. We don't wanna fall apart. We wanna come together. What it feels like with the school committee is that they are dividing us and they're losing their focus. Spending all this time on a school name change when our kids couldn't go back to school, and I forget who mentioned about pandering for go to stop and shop one week when the kids aren't even in school they want money for hand sanitizer the next week it's for something else. I mean, What is going on? The kids aren't even in school and they want hand sanitizer for the school. It's ridiculous. I mean, we're not idiots. We love this community. We want to know that the leaders that we chose care as much about this community as we do. I want to hear more. We can do something. We can get together. We can parlay. We can talk. We can share our ideas and share our love and not this division. That's all I have to say. Thank you. And hatred.
[Caraviello]: Thank you.
[Moretti]: I just want to read the excerpt that everyone's referring to just so you guys can hear it. That's all I want to say. So Nadine Moretti, Birgit Ave, Medford. A complete lack of information about local people that aren't historically significant, Jean Barry Sutherland received by far the most suggestions by the public. Also, had the most widespread cheating and was mostly made by people that didn't want the name to change. So we only got positive anecdotal information. We don't know if, for instance, she was awful to black students. The only supporters were white, mostly Italian American, that identified that way in their submission, and many who were known members and supporters of the Medford United. This is also then racism, and should come under the entire, you know, umbrella of it, that this is racism, by this renaming committee member about Mrs. Sutherland and white people and Italians. So that, I guess it just encompasses the entire idea of it. So I just wanted you to hear that's what was written, okay?
[Caraviello]: You've already spoken. Thank you. Thank you. Again, if anyone else would like to speak, if not, we'll finish the debate on this. I want to thank the Barry family who I've known for over 50 years for coming up this evening. Thank you for coming up and again, I thank you for coming. The records of the meeting of May 4th, 2021, the table records. We'll pass to Councilor Marks. Councilor Marks, how did you find those records? Mr. President, I reviewed the records, find them to be in order and move approval. Thank you. The motion by Councilor Marks, seconded by? Second. Seconded by Vice President Knight. Mr. Perks, please call the roll.
[Marks]: Councilor Bears.
[Hurtubise]: Yes. Councilor Falco. Yes. Vice President Knight. Yes. Councilor Martins. Yes. Councilor Morell. Yes. Councilor Scarpelli.
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Caraviello]: President Caraviello. Yes. Motion passes. The records of the May 11th, 2021 meeting is passed to Councilor Morell. Councilor Morell, how did you find those records?
[Morell]: I found them to be in order and with approval.
[Caraviello]: The motion by Councilor Morell, seconded by Vice President Knight. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll. Councilor Bears?
[Scarpelli]: Yes. Councilor Falco? Yes. Vice President Knight?
[Marks]: Yes. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Morell? Yes.
[Scarpelli]: Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. Councilor Caraviello?
[Caraviello]: Yes. Motion passed. Motion to adjourn. Seconded by Councilor Bears to adjourn. Seconded by Councilor Scott.
[Marks]: Mr. President, if we could. Thank you, Mr. President. We received in our packet our correspondence regarding resolution 21-336 from the mayor This is dated May 6th, and it's regarding my resolution that was offered two weeks ago about seeing if waste management could provide the residents a service of washing or power washing their recycle and their trash bin. And this is the response we received from the administration. It says waste management does not have the resources to perform the requested service of washing the cots. per waste management, they have not been asked to wash cots for any other community. Instead, residents are instructed to rinse their cots with a hose and let dry in the sun. Spraying the interior with a cleaner, like a simple green, before washing will help the cots that are excessively dirty, Mr. President. So this is a multi-multi-million dollar corporation, Mr. President, that doesn't have the whereabouts on a multi-multi million dollar yearly contract to assist residents on barrels that may, after many years, have a stink to them, Mr. President. And you're asking senior citizens, disabled people, and other people, Mr. President, in this community, to take a barrel that's four and a half feet tall, that weighs some 35 pounds, and flip it over and wash it out, Mr. President, I think is unacceptable. So I would respectfully ask that the administration, where they failed to convince waste management that this is a good idea on behalf of the 58,000 residents of this community, that the city now find a contractor, Mr. President, at their dime to find out who would come out and clean, Mr. President, go around like they pick up the trash, they can go around and clean these barrels up, Mr. President, on behalf of the residents of this community. And I would put that in the form of a motion, Mr. President, that the city seek out another vendor if waste management is not willing to do so. to clean the barrels throughout the community.
[Caraviello]: If you can say that, but next week, we got the motion to adjourn has already been offered.
[Bears]: Mr. President. Councilor Best. Will the cleaning service worker, the machine they used to pick up my trash has cracked the barrel in half.
[Marks]: Cracked the barrels in half.
[Bears]: We have a lot of stuff to do with waste minutes, but I appreciate you bringing this up.
[Marks]: I will hold on to it, maybe if the motion to adjourn. That's fine, that's fine, that's fine. Councilor Behr has offered a motion, Councilor Scarpelliic second. The motion to adjourn by Councilor Beall. Wait a second, Mr. President. We do have someone that just came up that wasn't in the room.
[Bears]: I withdraw my motion.
[Marks]: Excuse me. Good evening. Name and address of the record, please.
[SPEAKER_09]: Gwendolyn Blackburn. And I know that I'm very late getting here. I was late hearing what was going on at your meeting. I was appalled at what I was hearing was happening, talking about Jean Barry, someone that I worked with for about 40 years in the school system. And I couldn't wait any longer. I finally said I had to come down here. And my husband said, why? What are you gonna do? I said, I have to go because I think this is appalling. What has been apparently going on, I didn't hear anything about it. I don't know if you're finished your meetings, this issue on the school naming of the school or what, if there's gonna be another meeting on this topic, I would just like to know about it because I'd like to come and speak on it. Because I can't believe all the Jean Barry did in this city and everything that I'm hearing what I'm hearing at your meeting. So all I wanna say is, didn't sound like it was over. I mean, the issue had not been decided upon. And I would like very much to be on your agenda if you're going to bring it up some more.
[Van der Kloot]: Because I am hurt to think of all that Gene Berry did in this school system, in Medford, and some of the rest of us.
[Marks]: Mr. President, if Ms. Blackburn would be willing to speak tonight, if you want to speak tonight, I'd be more than happy to suspend the rules. We are up here and allow you to speak. It's up to you if you want to speak on that issue. Well, I want to know, is this issue all settled now? We just heard from residents, we have not settled anything.
[SPEAKER_09]: I'd like to come back. I don't want to take up your time. I know the meeting was ending, but I have a lot of things I'd like to say, as much as I worked with Jean Barry and so many people in this school system, teachers, administrators in almost 50 years. And to hear what I was hearing, I just feel like I'd like to come back when you have the time and say what I have to say. I don't want to take up your time, because your meeting is over. But I would like to come back.
[Scarpelli]: Ms. Blackburn, you know my respect for you is to the moon. So you're welcome at any time during public participation, even next week, if you'd like to come. We can sponsor you to come up and share your remarks. I know that I worked for you and with you. Yes, you did. And I know you know the ins and outs. So I know that at the end of an agenda, having the forum with someone with your background and your knowledge of what goes on and what people have done in our school system. I think it's important that they hear what you have to say. So what I could request or recommend to you is next week during public participation, we reach out to the clerk and add Ms. Gwen Blackburn to the public participation section to speak on behalf of Jean Barry Sutherland. So thank you.
[SPEAKER_09]: I'd appreciate that very much. Thank you, Ms.
[Scarpelli]: Blackburn.
[SPEAKER_09]: Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Thank you for taking the time to come down. On the motion by Councilor Bears to adjourn. Seconded by Vice President Knight. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears. Yes. Councilor Falco. Yes. Vice President Knight. Yes. Councilor Marks. Yes. Councilor Morell.
[Morell]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Scarpelli.
[Morell]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Caraviello. Yes. Meeting adjourned.
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