[Falco]: The regular meeting of June 9th. This is the 20th regular meeting of the Bedford City Council. Clerk Hurtubise, please call the roll.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears. Present. Vice President Caraviello. Yes. Councilor Knight. Present. Councilor Marks. Present. Councilor Morell. Present. Councilor Scarpelli. Present. President Falco.
[Falco]: President, all seven members are present. At this point in time, I'd ask everyone to please rise and salute the flag. 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. Thank you. Pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12, 2020 order suspending certain provisions of the Open Meeting Law, General Law, Chapter 38, Section 18, and the Governor's March 15, 2020 order imposing strict limitation 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 the general guidelines for remote participation by members of the public and or parties with the right and or requirement to attend this meeting can be found on the City of Medford website at www.medfordma.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 or 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 technological means. In the event that we are unable to do so despite best efforts, we will post on the City of Medford or Medford Community Media website an audio or video recording transcript or other comprehensive record of proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting. At this point, I want to recognize Vice President Caraviello, who would like to make a statement.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. I have a statement, a partial statement for myself and some of my other Councilors. And if you indulge me, I'd like to read it to you. Please. Good evening. We are angry and we should be. It is the natural response to a senseless and tragic and preventable act. This time, that senseless, tragic act tragic and preventable act was the death of George Floyd this time.
[Scarpelli]: In times of tragedy, it's so common there is offer of thoughts and prayers, and when the dust settles, the perpetual systematic failures continue without address. The conversation about race can no longer be a side issue.
[Knight]: We need to face the uncomfortable fact that Medford is not perfect. For those of you who feel you have no voice, we hear you. We are listening. We want you to feel and to be free, to express your opinion and to do so without fear of punishment or reprisal. We recognize the need to be better and we will work with you.
[Marks]: Topic is not something we cannot run from. It's something we need to address and embrace. And you have our commitment to do so. Respectfully signed by Councilors, Caraviello, Councilor Knight, Councilor Scarpelli, and Councilor Marks. Thank you. Thank you Councilor for your comments.
[SPEAKER_08]: Thank you very much.
[Unidentified]: I apologize Councilor Knight.
[Knight]: Motion to revert back to regular order of business. Thank you very much Mr. President.
[Falco]: Thank you very much for your comments. On the motion of Councilor Knight to revert to the regular order of business. Please call the roll. Seconded by Councilor Scarpelli.
[Hurtubise]: That's a bears. Yes. Vice President care of yellow. Yes. Council night. Yes. Council marks. Yes. That's a morale. Yes. That's a scrub Kelly. Yes. President Falco.
[Falco]: Yes. The motion passes hearings. This is a notice of a public hearing. Legal Notice 20-389, petition for grant of location, National Grid, North Andover, Massachusetts, joint or identical poll locations, Medford, Massachusetts, City Clerk's Office. You are hereby notified that by order of the Medford City Council, public hearing will be given via Zoom at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9th, 2020, on a petition of National Grid for permission to locate polls, wires, and fixtures, including the necessary sustaining in protecting fixtures along and across the public way herein named said poll locations to be located substantially in accordance with the plan marked Woodruff Ave, Medford, Massachusetts and filed in the office of the city clerk. Whoever prays that after due notice in hearing, as provided by law, it be granted a location for and permission to erect and maintain poles and wires together with such sustaining and protecting fixtures as it may be necessary said, poles be erected substantially in accordance with the plan marked Woodruff Ave. Medford, Massachusetts and available for inspection in the office of the city clerk, Medford City Hall, room 10385, George P. Hassett Drive, Medford, Massachusetts, 02155. also for permission to lay and maintain underground laterals, cables, and wires in the above or intersecting public ways for the purpose of making connections with such poles in buildings as each of said petitioners may desire.
[Marks]: I'm also going to suspend the remainder of the reading and have the petitioner give a brief synopsis, Mr. President.
[Falco]: Yes, on the motion of Councilor Marks to get approved, seconded by Councilor Bears. Do we have a representative on the line?
[Hurtubise]: Mr. President, I still need to take a roll call on this, I'm sorry. Mr. President, I still need to take a roll call on this, on the motion to waive the reading.
[Falco]: On the motion of Councilor Marks, seconded by Councilor Bears, please call the roll.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears. Yes. Vice President Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Morell? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Falco?
[Falco]: Yes, 70 affirmative, zero in the negative. Do we have a representative from National Grid?
[Hurtubise]: I believe I saw Socrates here earlier.
[Falco]: Oh, he is, I see him right here, okay.
[SPEAKER_06]: I'm sorry. I was trying to unmute myself. I was trying to unmute myself. I'm sorry. So yes, for this one is basically a simple pole that we need to install near Woodrow Ave in Medford. It's just for feeder monitor. It's just for our circuit to be more reliable. That's what we need it for.
[Falco]: So If I may go on further, this has been approved by the chief engineer with the following conditions. The engineering division recommends that this grant of location be approved with the following conditions. Number one, the grant of location is limited to this one JO poll described in the GOL document as follows. National Grid will install one JO poll on Woodruff Ave beginning at a point approximately 200 feet east of the center line of the intersection of Bradbury Avenue and Woodruff Avenue. Two, before starting work, the contractor shall notify DIGSAFE and shall obtain all applicable permits from the engineering division. The project must obtain a street opening permit pursuant to section 74-141A. of the city ordinances prior to commencing work. Number three, no other utility structures, conduits, duct banks, pipes, or any other appearances are adversely impacted. National Grid shall ensure that all sewer, water, and drain lines are marked prior to any excavation. Any disturbed concrete sidewalk panels shall be replaced in kind. Asphalt must be replaced with asphalt. Number four, the new pole location is located adjacent to granite curbing. Any disturbance of the curb or curb concrete backing must be repaired to the satisfaction of the city engineer. Number five, the new pole location is in a landscaped area with trees. The city of Medford tree warden should inspect the trees before and after construction. Tree protection should be required and coordinated with the Medford tree warden. That's approved by the superintendent of wire. So at this point, I'll declare the public hearing open, open to those in favor of the petition. Socrates, you're in favor, I assume?
[SPEAKER_06]: Yes, I am. Yes, I am.
[Falco]: Okay. Is there anyone else here in favor of the petition that would like to speak in favor of this petition?
[Unidentified]: Okay.
[Falco]: Seeing and hearing none, I declare this portion of the hearing closed. Anyone here in opposition of the petition? Anyone in opposition? Anyone in opposition? Clerk Cardavis, you see anybody in opposition?
[Hurtubise]: I don't see any. Okay.
[Falco]: Hearing and seeing none, I declare this portion of the hearing closed.
[Unidentified]: Thank you.
[Falco]: Thank you. Is there any questions for Socrates on this matter?
[Knight]: Consul and I. Mr. President, thank you very much. Socrates, good to see you again this evening, Phil. Good to see you too. A couple questions for you. Now this looks like it's a 200 foot trench. What's it going to be the typical trench that we used to see in a grounded in grounded inlay trench 18 inches right around the gutter the curb right along the curb? Yep. Okay, and is this you said it was for system upgrades for reliability circuit circuit or something?
[SPEAKER_06]: It's just to monitor the feeders that we have, existing feeders. It's just for a way for us to make it more reliable.
[Knight]: Okay. And 200 feet grounded inlay, 18 inches from the curb. And then it says also that some of this work is going to be done in a wooded or treed area. Is that on city property?
[SPEAKER_06]: I'm not too familiar with the area at the moment. I don't believe it's going to be any near that place, but I can double check.
[Knight]: I can double check. No, it looks like the tree warden's involved, so it looks like it is. Okay, I appreciate you clarifying some of those questions that I have for you. Thank you very much.
[SPEAKER_06]: No problem.
[Marks]: Any other questions from the council? Thank you, Mr. President. This is more of a general statement and no reflection on National Grid, although they sometimes are part of the problem in the community, Mr. President. But of recent, I've been receiving a number of complaints regarding utility work on our streets. Just recently, Park Street had some utility work and a giant trench was dug the length of Park Street, and the work to put back the tar was less than shoddy, Mr. President. and poses a safety concern for area residents. I would ask, Mr. President, at some point, I know we have a lot on our plate, but at some point that we set up a Committee of the Whole meeting to discuss utility work in the community so we can address and make sure that when utility companies come in, that they restore our streets better than they were, Mr. President, and that no safety concerns exist while work takes place.
[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Marks. We can organize that at some point in time. I think that actually would be a good meeting to make sure that we resolve any issues and make sure that any utility companies that are coming in are basically repairing our roads to the original condition. So I thank you for bringing that forward. Any other questions from the council? Clerk Hurtubise.
[Hurtubise]: Is Councilor Marks' request an amendment, or is it just a request for the Council to take up?
[Marks]: I don't want to do it on their petition, so I would just put in a request to the Council President to kindly set up a meeting regarding utility work in this community. Thank you for clarifying, Councilor. I appreciate it.
[Falco]: Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Marks. Any other questions from the Council? Any other questions from the public?
[Hurtubise]: No emails on this topic.
[Knight]: Mr. President, I am hoping we can add a condition onto the granting of this location that when the work is complete, the street will be swept. We've seen Park Street, as Councilor Mark mentioned, Stearns Avenue, Golden Avenue, where a lot of public utility work has been performed, trenching the length of the street to replace pipes and the like. And what happens is, You know, they dig a 200-foot-long trench, and they have a great system of doing it. I mean, they're very efficient. They take all the stone out of the ground, all the dirt out of the ground. They put it on the street. They do the work that they have to get done while the street's closed. They put all the sand and dirt back in the hole. They seal it up. But there is debris left over, Mr. President. There are rocks and stuff like that that kick up. especially on streets that are highly frequented. You know, if you think about Golden Avenue, you think about Park Street, the amount of cars that drive down the street, kicking up those little rocks do tend to damage vehicles. So that's something that I'd like to ask to be placed on it as a condition that the street be swept the length of the 200 feet for which the trench is being dug.
[Falco]: Okay. Clerk Bernanke, do you have that word? I've got it, yep. Okay. So, Shaka Teasy, is that something we can do?
[SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, I can send that information over. But I believe this one is an overhead service. I mean, it's an overhead run. It's not going to be on the ground, if I'm not mistaken. Because I was just looking at the sketch right now, and it seems like it's an overhead portion. It's not going to be on the ground.
[Falco]: So it's wires, it's not digging into the concrete or the asphalt?
[SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, no. I'm just looking at it real quick.
[Marks]: Okay. So, Mr. President. Councilor. I just want to concur with my colleague, Councilor Knight, that that is a great suggestion and much of the work involves trenching and digging in our community and sweeping up after, I think should be a standard part of the job. So I support that in future requests, Mr. President, as well.
[Falco]: Yeah, thank you console box I would agree as well. That is actually nice to add that in console and I for the purposes of.
[Knight]: This petition, Mr. President, I have reviewed it. It does look like it is a J-pole only. And the 200 feet is east of the center line as to where it's located. It's gonna be a 200 foot run overhead from what Socrates said. What I have in front of me looks like it's in line. So in terms of making that a condition on this petition, I'm not so crazy about it, but in the future, I think that that's something that we need to talk about. So I would ask that it be added to the agenda of items that we've discussed in the past relative to French work when we conduct this meeting with the engineer. but at this point I would withdraw the I would withdraw the restriction.
[Falco]: Thank you. Is there a motion on the floor? Motion for approval. Mr. President. I'm emotional to approve seconded by console and I caught her to be please call the roll bears.
[Hurtubise]: Yes. Vice President Caraviello. Yes. Councilor Knight. Yes. Councilor Marks. Yes. Councilor Morell. Yes. Councilor Scarpelli.
[Falco]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: President Falco.
[Falco]: Yes, 70 affirmative, zero in the negative, the motion passes. Socrates, thank you.
[Hurtubise]: Thank you, good night.
[Falco]: Notice of a public hearing. 20-075 City of Medford notice of a public hearing. A public hearing will be held by the Medford City Council via Zoom on Tuesday evening, June 9th, 2020 at 7 p.m. on a petition from Michael James Coleman of Sacramento Tattoo 475 High Street, Medford, Massachusetts 0215 for a special permit to conduct a body art establishment In accordance with the City of Medford zoning ordinances, chapter 94 of section 94-2 and section 94-148, use 14A to operate its business at 475 High Street, Medford, Massachusetts. The C1 commercial one zoning district petition plan may be seen in the office of the city clerk, Medford City Hall, Medford, Massachusetts, 7813932425. Zoom link will be posted on the Council agenda on May 29, 2020 on the City of Medford website. Call 781-393-2501 for any accommodations, AIDS, TDD, 781-393-2516. The City of Medford is an EEO-AA-504 employer. By order of the City Council, Adam L. Herneby, City Clerk, advertise a Medford transcript May 21st and May 28th, 2020. I declare this public hearing open, open to those in favor of the petition. Do we have Michael James Coleman with us tonight? We do. Okay. Mr. Coleman, welcome. If you could please tell us a little bit about your business and if you just, and then questions, I'm sure the councilors will have questions, but if you could just give us a brief overview of why you were in favor of the petition.
[SPEAKER_25]: Sure. So, I've been a professional tattoo artist for six plus years. I have family in Medford. This has been my business for, you know, doing it professionally, and I'm in favor of just opening up my own studio. won't be like a huge place, it'll be more of like a private studio, couple rooms in there. And I can answer any questions that you might have about it.
[Falco]: So you are in favor of the petition?
[SPEAKER_25]: Yes.
[Falco]: Okay, perfect. So at this point in time, is there anyone else that would like to speak in favor of the petition? Anyone else? Anyone else? Hearing and seeing none, I declare this portion of the hearing closed. Anyone in opposition of the petition? Is there anyone in opposition of the petition that would like to speak? It should make sure I'm not missing anyone.
[Hurtubise]: I don't see anybody, Mr. President.
[Falco]: Okay. Hearing and seeing none, I declare this portion of the hearing closed. And I'll call upon the Chairperson of Zoning, Vice President Caraviello. Councilor Caraviello, I have to unmute you, one minute. All right, I got it.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. Thank you. I see your paper here that says everything seems to be in order for this. As you know, we've received many calls from residents in the neighborhood in regards to your tattoo file. Again, you're a legal business. You're entitled to open. I see no problem here. My only question is, and maybe this might make it a little more amiable to some of the people in the neighborhood, is the name. You're a stone's throw from our three churches, and maybe if you could soften the name up a little bit, might make it a little more... amiable to the people in the West River Square and the three churches that are really right within, let's say, they're within a stone's throw of it. So that's my opinion. So I don't know what you feel about that.
[SPEAKER_25]: No, I understand. I'm brought up in an Irish Italian family, you know, religious, went to Malden Catholic, in no disrespect to, you know, the name being it somewhat of like a religious name. You know, the reason that I really chose the name for it was Sacrament and the sacraments that you receive is kind of like a ritual ceremony. So I kind of link that to like a tattoo between like an artist and a person and sharing a bond. Like I said, I don't mean any disrespect. I can talk to anyone that, you know, kind of isn't really feeling the name so much. But like I said, I can, I'm a person that can, you know, can be reached easily and very personable person I can.
[Caraviello]: I'm sure you are.
[SPEAKER_25]: Yeah.
[Caraviello]: Is it just a suggestion, you know, we have two other, we have two other similar type businesses. We have one in the residential neighborhood in South Bend that's similar to yours and they've been a good neighbor too. The people, I don't think there's been any complaints that I know of. And we also have another one on the Fells Way, which, you know, I don't think there's been any problems there either. But again, that was just my two cents into that. But other than that, you know, your license seems to be in order here.
[SPEAKER_25]: Thanks so much. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Vice President Caraviello.
[Falco]: Godfless Scarpelli.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you. And thank you, James, for applying. And hopefully this works. Some, some of the comments I received is some of the, the artwork that could be posted on the windows and some might tasteful some might be a little questionable and being in that area. That was some of the questions I got from some residents. Do you plan on putting, you know, some, I know artwork is important and people can see your artwork. I think that's important. I think you should be able to do that in a sense. But I think what the fear of some of those neighbors are that some of that artwork might be a little too provocative or risque to put in an area where kids are walking by to go to CB Scoops or to a sub shop. So can you speak to that a bit?
[SPEAKER_25]: Absolutely. Um, I wouldn't, I wouldn't put anything disrespectful or risque like in, in the windows or even from like street view. Um, I understand that tattoo work and religious art work and can get, you know, a little questionable sometimes, but, um, I'm a father of an eight year old myself. So, you know, nothing that I would do would. jeopardize my business. And I want everyone in that community, I know it's very tight knit in that in that row of, of businesses and whatnot, that I want to be able to be a good role model for for kids, you know, that are interested in artwork or interested in tattooing or, you know, anything else, you know. Right. Great. Thank you. Yeah, no problem.
[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Scarpelli. Councilor Marks.
[Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. The question I had was regarding how would you treat medical waste?
[SPEAKER_25]: So I know that's definitely something that is covered early on in like learning the tattoo process. Everything in the studio will be fully disposable. you know, we would be abiding by the big, you know, the COVID-19 pandemic that we're in right now with face shields, masks, you know, allowing certain amount of people in the studio when we open. But as far as like needles, cartridges, we have a service that's done weekly and monthly, and they come pick up everything there in sharp containers and everything is handled on hospital clean levels.
[Marks]: So at no time would you be using the local trash for needles or blood or any other type of medical waste?
[SPEAKER_25]: No, absolutely not.
[Marks]: Thank you. Mr. President, my good luck of being on the council for a number of years gives me some wisdom. And back so many years ago, we had a tattoo pile that tried to come onto Forest Street across from the Boys and Girls Club. It was called Lucky Tattoos. And at the time, Mr. President, the petitioners had, in my opinion, a lengthy record about border health issues and so forth and raised some concern. And I Voted against the petition based on concerns. I had with lucky tattoo. This has nothing to do with this petitioner and We mr. President ended up getting sued by lucky tattoo and they ended up winning a suit of I believe it was 25 to $30,000 against the city of method because we denied their special permit and and apparently we were being arbitrary and capricious, even though I felt we had valid concerns of this opening. On this particular petitioner, Mr. President, I don't have those concerns. It is signed off by the Board of Health. The Method Police has issued a statement saying that they have no public safety concerns. The petitioner seems to be a good business person, and I wish him well, Mr. President.
[SPEAKER_25]: Thanks so much for the kind words.
[Marks]: Thank you, Councilor Marks.
[Unidentified]: Any other comments from the council?
[SPEAKER_08]: Second. Motion to approve.
[Unidentified]: Second.
[Falco]: On the motion to approve by Councilor Knight, seconded by Councilor Bears. Does anyone want to speak on this in the public? Anyone in the public want to speak?
[Unidentified]: Okay.
[Marks]: Mr. President. Council Marks. I would also ask similar to many other special permit requests that we put a six month review on this special permit, Mr. President. Okay.
[Knight]: Also, Mr. President, that the special permit goes with the business and not with the address.
[Falco]: Do you have those amendments, Corker?
[Morell]: Hang on a second. I do see a raised hand, Mr. President.
[Hurtubise]: I've got the two amendments. I've got the two conditions. Councilor Marks has requested a six month review and Councilor Knight has requested that the permit goes with the business and not with the address.
[Falco]: Okay, we have, let's see. John Nicholas First, if you could please give us your name and address for the record.
[SPEAKER_27]: Sure. I'm John Nicholas First. I live at 32 Warren Street in Medford. So that's just a block or two away from where this is on High Street. I just wanted to voice my public positive support for this prospective institution. I think that they are doing a good thing for the community, and I look forward to them being approved by this council.
[SPEAKER_25]: Thank you so much, John.
[Falco]: Thank you very much for your comment. Would anybody else like to speak on this issue? Clerk Kurtabese, have you received any emails on this?
[Hurtubise]: I have not, Mr. President.
[Falco]: So on the motion of Councilor Knight, seconded by Councilor Bears, as amended by Councilor Marks and Councilor Knight. Clerk Kurtabese, would you please call the roll?
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Bears?
[Caraviello]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Vice President Caraviello?
[Caraviello]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Knight. Yes. Councilor Marks.
[Caraviello]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Morell. Yes. Councilor Scarpelli. Yes. President Falco.
[Falco]: Yes, 70 affirmative, zero on the negative. The motion passes. Thank you and good luck.
[SPEAKER_25]: Thank you so much, everybody. Thank you.
[Caraviello]: Have a good night. Mr. President, motion for suspension of the rules to take paper 2040. 2-0-0-4-0? 2-0-4-2-0. Mr. President, it's 2-0-4-2-0.
[Hurtubise]: It came in under suspension. I did not assign it a number until this afternoon.
[Falco]: I don't think I have the paper in front of me.
[Hurtubise]: OK, so on the- I can read my email and read it back if you need me to.
[Caraviello]: Mr. President, we can do this next one and you can come back to it when the clerk sends you uh, the paper. Okay. So we can move on. We'll do that next. So are we sitting by motion?
[Falco]: Okay. So we're going to continue on with the regular order of business.
[SPEAKER_25]: Thank you so much.
[Falco]: Thank you. Have a good night.
[SPEAKER_25]: You too. Congratulations. Best of luck. Thank you so much, everyone. Thank you.
[Falco]: Thank you. Notice of a public hearing 20-042, an ordinance amending the revised ordinances of the city of Medford zoning relative to adult use marijuana. Be it ordained by the city council of the city of Medford.
[Bears]: Motion to suspend the reading in favor of a synopsis.
[Falco]: Would you like to give that a synopsis, Councilor Bears?
[Bears]: I can try. I think it's easier than reading this whole thing.
[Falco]: I understand it's a 17-page document. It is the first time it's being read, so that's why I was probably going to read it in its full context, because it's the first time I think it's been out. So I think the public should actually be able to listen to this. I know it's long, but if the council sees that we should move forward with a brief synopsis, if someone wants to give it, that's fine. But I think there's a lot of detail in here that probably should, that should be read through.
[Marks]: Mr. President, just a point of information. Is it possible to table this till the end of the meeting?
[Falco]: We can do that. The meeting will never end if we table. Is there a motion to table?
[Bears]: Motion to table to the end of the meeting.
[Falco]: Okay, motion by Councilor Bears to table this, seconded by? Second. Seconded by Councilor Marks. Clerk Urbis, please call the roll.
[Hurtubise]: Is this to be tabled until the end of the meeting tonight?
[Falco]: You are correct.
[Hurtubise]: Okay, Councilor Bears. Yes. Vice President Caraviello. Yes. Councilor Knight. No. Councilor Marks. Yes. Councilor Morell. Yes. Councilor Scarpelli. No. President Falco. No.
[Falco]: Is that a four, three in favor?
[Hurtubise]: I have four, three.
[Falco]: Okay, four in favor, three against. This will be tabled to the end of the meeting.
[Caraviello]: Mr. President, do you have the paper now?
[Hurtubise]: I'm doing it right now. I'm setting it right now.
[Caraviello]: Mr. President, motion for suspension of the rules to take paper 20420.
[Falco]: Vice President Caraviello, does he suspend the rule, seconded by? Second. Councilor Marks, please call the roll.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Peters? Yes. Vice President Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Knight?
[Unidentified]: No.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Morell? No. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Falco?
[Falco]: No. Four in favor, three against, motion passes. The rules are suspended. Clerk Hurtubise, can you read the motion please?
[Hurtubise]: Yes, this is offered under suspension by Vice President Caraviello. Whereas the city of Medford is in a fiscal budget emergency, be it resolved that the mayor be requested to appropriate, with the city council approval, the necessary amount out of free cash to address the municipal and school budget deficits, and further, that the mayor be requested to replenish this account with any budget aid Medford receives from the federal government or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Be it further resolved that the mayor respond to this request by next Tuesday's city council meeting.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President.
[Falco]: If I may, Vice President Caraviello, this has been on under suspension and this year I don't think falls under the. the guidance that we've been given by the city solicitor. I mean, I tend to think of- Mr. President, Mr. President, where this is a number- Vice President Caraviello, and if I may, I believe that a paper that is requesting free cash should be coming from the mayor's office. It shouldn't be derived from the city council.
[Caraviello]: So that's- It's only a suggestion to the mayor, Mr. President, and this is an emergency situation.
[Falco]: And so what I would do is... I think that this is something that we should put on the agenda for next week, because I'm sure there's probably plenty of people that would like to chime in on this, and they're probably not on the call tonight, because they probably didn't know it was gonna come up. So as far as, we have some other, I think, budget-related motions afterwards, but I think as far as bringing this up under suspension, I don't think it's proper to bring this up tonight.
[Caraviello]: Whatever you think.
[Falco]: I want to make sure we're complying with the open meeting law, that's why.
[Caraviello]: Again, I felt this was an emergency situation. Notices of teacher layoffs have to go out by Monday.
[Falco]: And I know the administration is aware of that as well, as well as the school department. If you feel that it should be tabled to next week, then... I would ask you respectfully if you could please reintroduce it next week.
[Caraviello]: Whatever you say, Mr. President.
[Falco]: Thank you, Vice President Caraviello. Is there anything on the suspension that- Motion to revert back to the regular order of business. On the motion of Councilor Knight to revert back to the regular order of business, seconded by- Mr. President.
[Marks]: Councilor Marks. Just a point of information. I think the paper was offered under suspension. I still think we have to do something with it. Right, whether we receive it on file or do something. Motion to table. Motion to table. Rule the paper out of order.
[Falco]: I'm basically ruling the paper out of order. That's what I'm doing. So I'm asking, I respectfully ask Vice President Caraviello to reintroduce it next week.
[Caraviello]: I will reintroduce it next week, Mr. President.
[Falco]: Thank you, I appreciate it. Thank you, Councilor, Vice President Caraviello. So I have a motion to revert back to regular order businesses by Councilor Knight, seconded by?
[Scarpelli]: Second.
[Falco]: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Motions, orders, and resolutions. 20-394 offered by Councilor Knight. Be it resolved that the Manhattan City Council publish the scheduled pre-budget and regular budget meetings for the purpose of establishing a fiscal year 2021 city budget. Councilor Knight?
[Knight]: Yes, Mr. President. Mr. President, yes. Um, as I've stated in the past, I have a, uh, hostile desire that we get a fiscal year budget completed before the close of the fiscal year. Um, just last week, I believe we met with our paid outside consultant that said that we're, uh, in a difficult financial situation. We have about a $10 million deficit. Um, we have $183 million budget. Um, the consultant says that he feels as though we do have the ability to put out a fiscal year budget. The consultant says that there's no way that we want to get involved in a 1-12 budget. So I'm going to do my best Jerry Maguire here, Mr. President, and ask, where's the budget? Show me the money. Show me the money, Mr. President. Time that we get to the table and start negotiating this budget, debating this budget. It's what, June 9th? The fiscal year closes in 21 days, Mr. President. We've seen nothing, not one financial paper yet. Transparency, where is it? Where is it? Again, come on, Jerry, say it. Show me the money. Show me the money, Jerry. Where is the budget, Mr. President? Where is it? You know, we need to take the bull by the horns, schedule budget debates, invite the administration to come down and participate. And if they don't want to, they don't have to. But we got to do something here. We got to show some leadership that at the end of the day, the residents and the taxpayers in this community know that we're pushing hard to be sure that city services aren't interrupted during these difficult fiscal times. So with that being said, Mr. President, I ask that you work with the administration to publish a schedule as to when we're going to be able to meet in person to conduct budget debates. I think, you know, as we're seeing the phases of government and coronavirus to be allowed to start working again, I'm pretty sure that the seven of us plus the department head and the budget director can sit down in a room, be safe, and work out these very significant, serious issues in this community. So I'll say it again. Show me the money. It's time, Mr. President. That's time, June 9th, June 9th. I've never, ever, ever in my time working in government and working in this community ever seen a goal this long where we haven't had some sort of budget. We have a consultant. The consultant has given us our figures. The consultant has told us they're worth $10 million in the hole. Last time we talked, the plan was to level fund, to borrow money out of our free cash, to take money out of our free cash. But we're still going to have a structural deficit if we do that, Mr. President. So I know there are difficult decisions that need to be made, but that's what we get paid the big bucks to do. So quite frankly, we can't sit down at the table and start talking about issues of concern if we don't have a document in front of us to work off of. So it's very important that we get this budget book and we get it immediately. My frustration level at this point, Mr. President, is over the edge. I feel like I've been talking about this now for six, seven, eight weeks. Um, and we're still no closer to having any understanding as to what the administration's financial plan is to move this community forward. Um, so with that being said, I asked my council colleagues to support the resolution. I asked the council president to publish a series of meetings as to when we're going to be able to sit down and negotiate this budget. I'd ask that it be done in line with the recommendations that our paid outside consultant gave us, which says that we can complete the budget before the close of the fiscal year. So that's what I asked for, Mr. President. And I hope that the administration is willing to work with us and has been doing what they're supposed to be doing and preparing a budget for us based upon the forecast that our private paid consultants have given us. There's no point in having outside consultants if we're not going to listen to the information they've given us and use it to make informed data-driven decisions. So with that being said, I rest my case. I don't know any more lines from the movie Jerry Maguire. So with that being said, Mr. President, I ask my council colleagues to support this paper and I have all the confidence in the world that you'll be able to make this happen, Mr. President.
[Falco]: Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Knight. If I may, briefly, I did speak to the mayor earlier today and she did inform me that I guess the state has allowed is allowed the budget deadline to move from June 30th to July 31st. But she knows that we're looking for something sooner than later. I did tell her that I wanna make sure that we have, as last week I stated repeatedly to the chief of staff that we need to have a budget book ASAP. I agree with you a thousand percent. We need to have a budget book in front of us that we have a few days so we can actually go through the data, take a look and formulate, Good question. So when we meet with the mayor, we can have a very constructive conversation. This is a very important budget. I know that they're still working. From what I've been told, they're still working on the numbers. From what I have also been told is we won't get state aid until July. But I am working, or actually I did talk to the mayor. I think she's going to have something for us hopefully next week, but don't know for sure yet. So that's the update that I have from the administration. I know Aleesha Nunley, I think is on the line. She may want to talk to this a little bit more. I'm not sure if Jackie Peeks or Dave Rodriguez is on the line as well, but they may want to comment as well. We have a number of councils that want to talk too. So why don't I, let's see, Aleesha Nunley, would you like to speak on the matter? Sure.
[Nunley-Benjamin]: Thank you, Honorable City Councilors. Yes, we are still making cuts. I'm going to be completely transparent. This has been an extremely difficult budget. And like the councilor said, this has never happened before. We've never had COVID before. We've never had a shutdown. This has just really, really been difficult. So we've been trying to figure out the best way to do the cuts with each department head, trying to figure out everything that we can do. It is still a work in process, unfortunately. We have not finalized numbers, but we are really working towards getting there right now. We've had meetings, so we do want to get you a budget.
[Falco]: Thank you. We have a number of questions. Let's see, Vice President Caraviello, Councilor Villes, and Councilor Marks. Vice President Caraviello.
[Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, if I could amend Councilor Nice's paper to put down that we do meet in person. We had 1,000 people at Hall Mill Stadium last week. It was attended by many councillors. So again, I don't see why seven or eight or 10 of us can't be in a room if we could have 1,000 people in one spot and say there were councillors that were in attendance. So if I could amend that Councilor Knight's motion to make sure that we have a plan to meet in person.
[Falco]: Thank you, Councilor Caraviello. So, Clerk Hurtubise, do you have the amendment?
[Hurtubise]: I do, Mr. President. The amendment is that the council meet in person to discuss the budget once everything is scheduled.
[Falco]: Okay, thank you. Councilor Bears.
[Bears]: I'd be happy to meet outside on a sunny day, six feet away with a mask on, but just my actual point is, that it's incredibly frustrating that we're at this point. I understand the difficulty, I understand this is unprecedented, but people are really concerned about this budget and they have a right to be. And the fact that a lot of us, basically everyone feels in the dark is just gonna, the longer that we go, the bigger a problem this is gonna be with residents feeling in the dark. So I, next week is, it's late. I think we need something by Friday if we're gonna be able to do this right.
[Marks]: Thank you, Council of Affairs. Councilor Marks. Thank you, Mr. President. I think if we all recall, this may have gave us a commitment that we were going to get the budget in April. That would have been the earliest budget, Mr. President, I've been on 20 years on the council, that this council has ever received a budget. And then we had what we all know COVID-19 came into effect, Mr. President, and threw a monkey wrench into that. So the commitment was out there, Mr. President, to get us an early budget. And we're faced now with a $10 million deficit. And although some would like to see a budget immediately, I think it's only prudent that the mayor take the time, Mr. President, to wait to see the local aid, what we're going to receive, to see what local receipts may be coming in. We also waited, Mr. President, which we all know, because they extended the period to pay your taxes. So we wanted to see what revenue we had in order to put together a budget. So I appreciate the fact that my colleagues have concern, but I can tell you from experience, Mr. President, I remember getting the budget with one night to work on it. And I remember, Mr. President, in the past, there wasn't much outcry for many years, Mr. President. And now all of a sudden, in the middle of COVID-19, there's an outcry to get the budget, which we never got this early, Mr. President. So it's great people want to see the budget. I'm eager to see the budget. We need to move forward, Mr. President. But by no stretch of the imagination is this city administration holding anything back. They're trying to put together a budget that will provide city services, that will keep people employed, Mr. President. The last thing we want to do is send out a budget to alarm people that they may be losing their job, and then we get a federal stimulus. or we get a bailout. And guess what? When you were worried about your job for the last three weeks, you don't have to worry. The last thing we do is want to worry people, Mr. President. We're all going to have ample time to meet with the department heads. We're going to have ample time to go over the budget, Mr. President. And we're going to have ample time to make sure we have input. So don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The process has worked this way, Mr. President. And I feel comfortable that we're moving forward with a realistic budget. I don't want to see a budget that's not realistic, because I've dealt with one for the last 20 years. I want to see a realistic budget. And I think that's what this current administration is working on, Mr. President, in a time of emergency, in a time of a pandemic, and a lot more happening, Mr. President. Thank you.
[Unidentified]: Thank you, Councilor Marks. Councilor Layton.
[Knight]: I do think it's important to point out, Mr. President, that if we were supposed to meet April 1st, that would have been great. And government shutdown happened March 13th. And I do believe the administration had indicated that they had a working budget based upon the forecast at the time for fiscal year 21. And I do believe that we requested that that information be shared with us. And I do believe that the administration has refused to do so. I still haven't received that document that we requested, Mr. President, asking for a copy of the working budget that they had.
[Marks]: Mr. President, that was a preliminary budget that every mayor for the last 30 years works on, Mr. President. And if someone wants to create the budget, maybe they should run for mayor. Because it's the mayor's responsibility to create the budget and then pass it on to the council, Mr. President. So I don't know why we're putting the cop before the horse, Mr. President. It's never happened in previous years, and there was never anyone outspoken in previous years. But now, I guess in COVID-19, we have different expectations, Mr. President.
[Unidentified]: Thank you, Councilman. Councilman, I
[Knight]: I agree with the gentleman wholeheartedly. It's the mayor's responsibility to put a budget forward, and I certainly would love to see one, one that has, based on realistic expectations, like the ones that we paid for from our private consultant, the numbers that he gave us, that the private consultant provided us with, so that we were able to forecast accurately, so that we could put together a realistic budget. You know, Mr. President, I think that it's important for us to look at the circumstances that are before us. We're in a financial crisis. We've been in financial crises before, and we've been able to work our way out of them. But we've had to work to do it. So let's get to work on it. That's all I'm saying.
[Falco]: Thank you. Any other comments regarding the budget?
[Unidentified]: Does the public have any comments? Great.
[Falco]: Okay, hearing and seeing none on the motion.
[Hurtubise]: Mr. President, I see that Danielle has her hand raised, I believe.
[Falco]: I'm sorry. We're gonna let Councilor Scarpelli go first and then we'll go to Danielle. Councilor Scarpelli.
[Scarpelli]: Thank you, Councilor. I believe I was just letting you be aware that Aleesha Nunley had her hand up.
[Nunley-Benjamin]: Oh, I'm sorry. Alicia. Yeah, I just wanted to address that. Yes, it's true that we did start the budget process back in March. We had met with the school department gave them an estimate and then unfortunately, the COVID-19 hit and we were trying to kind of figure out how everything was going to work. I just want to be completely fully transparent. And as we were trying to get our numbers and I was trying to do casting like that I was affected personally by COVID-19. I'm a key contributor, to be honest, with your honorable body. I give the revenue figure to the mayor in order to budget, and I was not available, and they had to find a consultant to help them with that while I was away. I've been back, I've been working extremely hard on the front side, looking at each department's budget, looking at where we can cut, what we can do, analyzing the revenues with our consultant to make sure my numbers and his numbers are aligned So I just wanna let you know that we are working extremely hard to get you a budget.
[Falco]: Thank you, Alicia. Councilor Lange.
[Knight]: Alicia, was there a working budget for the city of Medford ever prepared?
[Nunley-Benjamin]: What we did was I came up with a projection based on the numbers that I saw. of what I thought we would have for revenues and where I thought the school could be. I gave that figure. I started looking at the numbers once the COVID hit, and we had to freeze everything. I started going back and did a 10 year analysis to look back to when we had other crashes in the economy and how we fared out and what to kind of expect. And then I got sick.
[Knight]: Okay, so when the chief of staff said three meetings ago that they had a working budget for fiscal year 21. That wasn't necessarily the case.
[Nunley-Benjamin]: I'm talking about back in March.
[Knight]: Sorry, me too. Yeah, I believe it was represented that the city had a working budget based upon the projections at the time prior to COVID-19. for fiscal year 21. And then Coronavirus hit. And then that's why they pulled on it didn't put it out.
[Nunley-Benjamin]: Numbers I had at that time were incorrect because we had to revise them down because of COVID-19. So that was that was no good.
[Knight]: So we do have a pre Coronavirus budget representing each department in this community.
[Nunley-Benjamin]: I mean, the ones that I worked on, I worked on some projections to come up with numbers for what to budget for the school and what to budget in general, but we didn't have every single budget set up, but yes, they would have had a preliminary of what the number would have been.
[Knight]: Okay. So there wasn't a working budget that was ready to be looked at and reviewed and debated in the two weeks coming up to April 1st. All right. Thank you very much for that. I appreciate it. You're doing an awful lot of work on the budget. And that's great, we appreciate it. I find it to be very, very intelligent and I've always enjoyed that conversation. But a silent voice in this has always been the budget director. And I don't know if the budget director is on the call. I'm not sure. But it's becoming increasingly frustrating. Do we have a budget director that doesn't come to budget meetings? We have people that, you know, the budget can't happen because certain people around certain people aren't, but we have a budget director that we're paying to coordinate this stuff. So with that being said, Mr. President, you know where I stand, I want a budget. And I want it as soon as we can get it, get as soon as possible so we can get down to work on it. I won't belabor the point. And again, I thank Ms. Nunley for all the work that she does here in the community. I rest my case.
[Falco]: Thank you, Ms. Nunley. Thank you, council. We have David Rodriguez, chief of staff and the mayor, David Rodriguez.
[Dave Rodrigues]: and just to be very, very clear, the mayor wants to give you a budget. This is not a question of will, this is a math problem we're trying to work through. Exactly right, based upon the revenue numbers that were given to us and that we've been working on, that we were very, and to speak to the point of transparency, we came to the council and to the school committee pretty early to say, this is the trouble that we think we're gonna be seeing in terms of the revenue side. And this is the number that we're working off of in order to craft and propose to provide a balanced budget. The mayor is required by law to provide a balanced budget to the council. Under statutory timelines, which thankfully have been extended, but we will be getting it to you as soon as we possibly can. This will be a responsible, balanced budget based upon these revenue numbers that Alicia and Tony Roselli have been putting together and working around the clock, trying to revise constantly. We had begun the work on the budget previously. Budget is a year-long process, and it needs to be recognized like that. Inside March and inside early April, we had begun work on the budget, and we effectively had to restart all that work based upon the current economic and budgetary crisis that we're facing. So it's been a challenging scenario from March 12th to now, but we're working through it. And thankfully we have a talented budget team that's working together as a team to pull this document together.
[Falco]: If I may Chief of Staff Rodriguez, thank you for dialing in. Do we know when we can expect the first budget meeting to be?
[Dave Rodrigues]: Basically, I was my understanding about a conversation with the mayor earlier today. And I think that that conversation was beginning the 20th. I believe that's the conversation that you and you and her had.
[Falco]: Okay, so if we have the 20th, so that would be a Saturday. What can we expect a budget book? The bigger question is the book. We really need the book.
[Dave Rodrigues]: Yep. And that's currently under development right now. We will give it to you as soon as possible ahead of time on the 19th or before. So at least that we'll be able to start chewing on it for 24, 48 hours ahead of time.
[Falco]: Thank you. Councilor Bears, you had a question.
[Bears]: Thanks. I don't want to belabor it, but you know, We didn't get much solid information early. I understand the circumstances are difficult, but, you know, I personally feel the communication hasn't been enough. And I understand that people can disagree about that, but I don't think we're going to get any further here. So I move the question.
[Falco]: Thank you. The motion of Councilor Peo, seconded by Councilor Knight, as amended by Vice President Caraviello, Clerk Carnaby, please call the roll. Actually, you know what, I apologize. Did you say there was one person that wanted to speak that I missed before?
[Hurtubise]: Yes, Mr. President.
[Unidentified]: Danielle has her hand up.
[SPEAKER_21]: Hi, I think I may be, you're seeing that I was clapping my hands for the opening statement about racism.
[Unidentified]: Okay.
[Falco]: Would you like to speak on the budget? No, thank you. Thank you. We just wanna make sure everybody gets their turn. Okay, on the motion of Councilor Bears, seconded by Councilor Knight, as amended by Vice President Caraviello, Clerk Herves, please call the roll. Councilor Bears?
[Hurtubise]: Yes. Vice President Caraviello?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Hurtubise]: Councilor Knight?
[Unidentified]: Yes. Councilor Marks? Councilor Marks?
[Hurtubise]: I'm gonna skip Councilor Marks and come back to him. Councilor Morell? Yes. Councilor Scarpelli? Yes. President Falco? Yes. And then Councilor Marks, we still don't have a vote. Yes. Thank you.
[Falco]: Seven affirmative, zero negative, the motion passes. 2-0-399 offered by Councilor Knight, whereas the Office of Diversity is established to provide oversight of laws and regulations relating to affirmative action, contract compliance, fair housing, disability, human rights, discrimination, hate-related incidents, and or crimes. We focus on outreach, inclusion, and education. We interact with other city departments as well as other cities in local, state, and federal organizations and agencies to ensure fair and equitable opportunity and access for all persons. And whereas the Office of Diversity is established to provide persons with disabilities equal opportunity to access to as well as participation in education, employment, the public and private services in the city of Medford through advocacy, awareness, and enforcement. And whereas the office of personnel is established to help city departments attract, motivate, retain, manage, and develop qualified and productive employees. And whereas the functions of the office of the disability and office of diversity have been consolidated under the director of personnel. And whereas the consolidation as a result in the elimination of the independent disinterested check and balance on personal matters once provided through the Office of Disability and Diversity. Be it resolved that the Medford City Council request City Solicitor Scanlon provide an opinion on the following question. Does the consolidation of the above departments create any conflict with the law or liability within the City of Medford? Councilor Layton.
[Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much, and thank you for indulging me in that very long-winded resolution that I put together. Ultimately, I've been concerned about this for some time, and I scratch my head sometimes and wonder if it's appropriate that we have a personnel director serving as judge, jury, and executioner on all matters related to personnel, disability, and diversity in the community. And the reason I say that, Mr. President, is because when the person that's responsible for personnel in our community wears so many different hats, that becomes a question and a concern as to whether or not he's serving the appropriate master and is in an appropriate role. So with that being said, Mr. President, if in fact we have the director of personnel that's serving on, let's say a hiring panel, and there's an individual in our community that feels as though they've been aggrieved based upon a disability issue or a diversity issue, course of action would be to go and speak with the disability director or the diversity director. Well, that person would also be the personnel director who sat on the panel, which made a determination that may have made you feel uncomfortable and maybe felt as though your rights have been violated. So that's the independent check and balance you go to to determine whether or not your rights are being violated and whether or not you're going to be advocated for. And it puts the personnel director in the precarious position of determining whether or not he's going to be defending the actions of the board he sits on. or advocating for the personnel that have come before him and asked for the assistance and the help. So, you know, it's really a structure of government, the consolidation, the government issue, Mr. President, but with a director of personnel has to wear so many hats and we already have made, you know, the recognition, the realization that there is a marginalized and underrepresented population in this community. The question is whether or not it's a best practice to merge these functions in underneath one umbrella in one person, number one, and number two, if by doing that, it creates a situation where individuals are being denied access to a resource and an independent check and balance that they had previously had that they no longer do. So with that being said, I'd ask my council colleagues to support the measure, to send the question to the city solicitor to see if it poses any conflict. Again, Mr. President, you know, it could be something as simple as an existing employee asking for a reasonable accommodation and the reasonable accommodation not being made. So you go to the personnel director, you ask for a reasonable accommodation, it's not being made. You go to the director of disability and you say, you know, this is my situation, I need someone to advocate for me. If that's the same person, it creates a situation and a circumstance where people might be less likely to come forward, less likely to seek help in advocating for themselves through these offices. So that's why I raised the issue and I'd ask for your support.