[Fred Dello Russo]: The sixth regular meeting of the Medford City Council, February 9th, 2016, will come to order. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Councilor Caraviello. Present. Councilor Falco. Present. Councilor Knight. Present. Vice President Leclerc. Present. Councilor Marks. Present. Councilor Scampelli. Present. President Del Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Present. Seven members present, nine none absent. Please rise to salute the flag.
[Clerk]: She recognizes Councilor Knight for suspension of the rules.
[Adam Knight]: to take papers 1602, 16021, 16022, 16023. All papers are eligible for their third reading relative to the reorganization of the administrative offices.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for suspension of the rules to take the aforementioned papers off the table for approval, all those in favor? I'm sorry, 16-020, amendment of article four, officers and employees, division four, city solicitor, was tabled for its introduction on the 12th, past first reading, January 19th. and advertised its second reading January 28th eligible tonight for its third and final reading. This is on, uh, the reestablishment of the, uh, time tenure, uh, an appointment of the, uh, city solicitor chair weights motion.
[Adam Knight]: Um, Mr. President, I think this, uh, matter that the S the mayor's put forward is relatively cut and dry. What this matter does is, uh, it gives the city solicitor a two year appointment code terminus with the administration. The paper's been through its first two readings, Mr. President. If there's anybody in the audience that would like to speak, I think we should give them the opportunity. And if any of the councillors want to speak on it, so be it. But I'd move for approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: A motion for approval by Councilor Knight. Seconded by Councilor Caraviello. Is it a matter for a roll call? Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. Yes. Yes. With a vote of seven, the affirmative. None. The negative motion is ordered 16-zero to one amendment to vitals for officers and employees division for a chief of staff. This came before us pertinent to the creation of the position of chief of staff in the administration. It came before us on January 12th. It was tabled on January 19th. After explanation, it passed the first reading. On January 28th, it was advertised as its second reading. It is now tonight eligible for its third and final reading. Chair awaits a motion.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, again, this piece of legislation would create the position chief of staff and reorganize the administrative office. It's been through its first reading. We had some questions. If the questions were answered, I'd move for approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion approved by Councilor Knight, Chair recognizes Vice-President Hunko Kern.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. With regards to this question, I believe we asked for just an update with regards to, I think a couple of us did some research on numbers for chief of staffs in the surrounding communities. And the 106,000 is kind of something that stuck out for me. That's almost as close to what the mayor's making. So we did ask for a communication back from the mayor with regards to, you know, why this, this position was being funded so high. And then you have a, you know, chief procurement officer slash budget budget director taken on two jobs that is making about the same, if not a little less than the chief of staff. So I just would like to get an answer on that.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I think we had a explanation of councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Um, with all due respect to the Councilor, Mr. President, if she feels as though the position's overpaid, this is a piece of legislation. She can't amend the piece of legislation while it's on the floor. Um, we've discussed it. I think that it's a, It's a good position, it's a necessary position, it's a required position, Mr. President, and I support the matter wholeheartedly.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: No, I'm glad he does. Not that I don't support the position or the reorganization, I just think the 106,000, as do many people, believe that might be a little bit high for a position like this in a city like this. We're just looking for some explanation. Will this person be working more than 40 hours? We did get the job description. I think one of the job descriptions, was that that person would be in front of the city council. We have yet to see that person at a council meeting or even a committee of the whole meeting. So, you know, what exactly is the reasoning for the hundred? It's such an exorbitant amount of money. Again, when we have people taking on double jobs and making less than that, I just don't see, I just would like some clarification on that.
[George Scarpelli]: Well, maybe a point of information, Councilor Scarpelli. Just so I'm clearing up a question myself, but I believe it was Chief of Staff slash Personnel Director. Correct. So it's two jobs. Correct. Okay, that's all.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you, Councilor. Maybe some light can be shed on this matter by the Director of Budget and Personnel, Director of Budget, Pro Tempore, who's with us right now. Ms. Miller, bonsoir. The question from the councilor was an inquiry. I don't know if it was answered or even formally requested by way of resolution, but regarding the level of salary for the chief of staff, which encompasses chief of staff and policy for the mayor, as well as, uh, matters of personnel management. Um, uh, question the Councilor had was that, uh, she felt that, uh, the salary was high.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: Um, the position is director of personnel and director of policy. And, um, I did not get a resolution regarding a salary comparison. I do not know if the mayor's office, receive that. We answered the questions that we did receive, and I do not know what the comparison would be standing right here right now.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Well, we have a motion for approval that has been seconded by Councilor Caraviello. Did Councilor Falco wish to speak on this matter?
[John Falco]: No, actually Mr. Scarpelli made the point that I was going to make basically that it is two positions. I think that probably justifies the salary, just like the, uh, the new, um, procurement position. That's two positions as well that one person is taking off. So that's why I think that's the justification for the higher cell. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes, with a vote of 6 in the affirmative, 1 in the negative, the matter is ordered. 16-022, amendment to Article 5, Finance Division 2, Chief Procurement Officer. The matter appeared before us on January 12th and was tabled. On January 19th, it passed its first reading. It was advertised on the 28th for a second reading. and is before us for a third and final reading tonight. Chair awaits motion.
[Adam Knight]: Again, Mr. President, this was a reorganization of the administrative office. I would establish a chief procurement officer and also allow the chief procurement officer to continue in her role as a budget director. I move for approval, Mr. President. Support the paper.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval by Councilor Knight, seconded by Councilor Falco. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes, with a vote of seven in the affirmative, none in the negative, the motion is ordered. 16-023, Amendment of Chapter 66, Personnel, Article 2, Non-Union Compensation, appeared before us on January 12th, tabled January 19th, past first reading, January 28th, as advertised for second reading, now before us for action. This was on... Establishing the personnel classifications, I believe in the position. That's what it was, the classifications.
[Adam Knight]: The other one regarding the vacation time was already passed. So the chair awaits a motion. Mr. President, this was a paper that would assign employee payment classifications for the positions that we just created. Mr. President move for approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Motion for approval by Councilor Knight, uh, seconded by Councilor Caraviello. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. With a vote of 70 affirmative, none in the negative. Uh, the motion is ordered. Congratulations, Mr. Solicitor.
[Mark Rumley]: Uh, yes, Mr. President, members of the council. I just wanted to thank you. I'm very happy that it went through all of its three readings. I thought that that was good government and, uh, just wanted to say thank you to the council.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: Thank you as well.
[Adam Knight]: Motion to revert to regular order of business.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. President on the motion of council night to revert back to the regular order of business. All those in favor, all those opposed carry 16-zero 62 offered by vice president Lungo-Koehn be resolved that the administration provide this metric city council with the minutes from each of the public meetings being held. Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. I would like to see if we could get the minutes, if minutes are being taken for all the public meetings. I know there's been meetings with regards to recreation. I know there's been meetings with regards to Haines Square that was held at the Roberts Elementary School last week. I also know that you're chairing a bunch of meetings yourself, Mr. President. It seems like this, three or four meetings going on per week, which I want to commend the mayor for doing. I think it's great to get community input. I think it's something that the councils always ask for more community input or business input. I know in the past we've asked for more public input before the parking meters and before waste management contract was signed. So it's definitely something that I think is a positive step. It's just something that obviously we can't all make, all seven of us councillors can't make every single meeting. I myself, it is tough, you know, so I would like to see what's going on, what our constituents are asking for, the concerns, interests of, you know, everybody that's attending those meetings and see how detailed the minutes are. Either way, whether they're detailed or not, it still would be very helpful for us making our votes going forward and, you know, figuring out Tonight we had a meeting with regards to goals at 6 p.m. So it would help us to further that discussion on goals. And, you know, it's always good to get public input. So, you know, the e-mails and phone calls we do get are very helpful. But if there's, you know, a number of people going to each of these meetings making a number of recommendations, I would love to be able to digest it all, have it in Friday's packet, you know, after each week so that we can, you know, keep them together and figure out how we're going to move forward. So I request that if there is minutes, if they could be forwarded to us on a weekly or biweekly basis so that we can gather that information and move accordingly.
[Fred Dello Russo]: For your information, Madam Vice President, they are all smartly posted on the city's webpage.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Already?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Progress.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: About how long does it take to post? I don't know. Oh, I haven't seen them. There. They're on there. Nice.
[George Scarpelli]: Councilor Scott. Thank you. It's my question, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So on the motion for approval by vice president, all those in favor. I'm just all those opposed. I'd love a coffee. Congratulations. 16-zero 63 offered by vice president Lungo-Koehn. Whereas, In light of the recent bomb threat at Medford High School and the numerous complaints from parents who were not notified until after the school day ended, be it resolved that the Medford School Committee look into their policies and procedures, and if it happens in the future, that the school department alert parents immediately, even if it's deemed to be no slash low threat, so that each parent may decide whether or not they want their child to complete the day Chair recognizes Vice President Mungo Kern.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: I know this is a very emotional issue as a parent, but tomorrow night there's going to be a meeting at Medford High School regarding this here with the superintendent, the chief of police, the Medford School Committee, who are the people that are responsible for all the policies and procedures regarding the school security. And I think it's, I would like to make a motion at table because I think it's important that they have their meeting first before we go down the road of speculating and debating about what happened, how it should happen. There are protocols in place. And I think that we should hear from the school administration before we go down the road of debating this. I'd like to hear them first and hear exactly what happened.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I am motioning to table. Motion to table is undebatable.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I would ask him to withdraw so that I could speak on the resolution. There's a lot of people that have been complaining to me. And I think it does need to be discussed publicly. It's being thrown out that, you know, no discussion hasn't made. I'm very happy that there's a meeting tomorrow, but there are people here to speak on it tonight. And people have asked me. I think it's a disservice to the city to not publicly broadcast.
[Fred Dello Russo]: All those in favor, say aye. Mr. President. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: If we could reverse the tape. I'll reverse the table to hear from the resident, but I firmly believe that this here should be addressed by the school system before we address, this is not our jurisdiction, really. I mean, the way I look at it.
[Fred Dello Russo]: You're withdrawing your motion, Councilor. I'm withdrawing my motion. Point of information, Vice President-Elect O'Connor.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I think, as one Councilor, I was getting the complaints two weeks ago, the day after this happened, and I went a whole week without saying a word because I agree. should have been brought up by the school committee. It was not, and people were on me to bring it up, and I don't disagree with them. I think people need to be able to hear what we have to say about it, what the school committee has to say about it. We're the ones that decide on the budget in June and decide whether or not the safety budget is enough. There's a reason why we should be able to talk about it. People are here tonight, and I just feel like it's definitely needed.
[Fred Dello Russo]: To take point of clarification, Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Has there been any communication between the administration of the school department and the council to date, prior to the filing of the resolution? I'm not in possession of anything.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The motion for tabling has been withdrawn. The chair recognizes the presenter of the motion, Vice President Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you and I appreciate Councilor, I understand where Councilor Falco is coming from and I appreciate the withdrawal of the motion. I learned about this bomb threat through Patch. I read it online and as a parent, I didn't even think of it as a parent, I actually called my mother who works for the school system and said, did you know there was a bomb threat three days ago? Yeah, I found out after the end of the day. So I had my mother in the building with a potential bomb threat, whether or not it was low or no threat, you know, I was concerned. And then I thought, after I started getting the complaints, I thought, you know, I have one child in the school system, soon going to have two, and then eventually have three. And whether or not it was a threat or no threat, I truly believe, and I think it's where a lot of people are coming from, I think that as a parent, I think I should be given the choice And I think a lot of parents do believe the same thing. They should be given the choice because it's not something that happens every day. This is actually the first threat of something like this that I've heard of happening ever in the Medford Public Schools. So I think parents are looking for me to come out and say they should have been notified whether that was through a phone call or some type of communication rather than after the children left school. And I think that's important to say. I think it's important. I have the right to voice my opinion. And that is my opinion. Parents should have been notified in a non-emergency fashion, but a phone call should have went out and said, this is the situation, this is what we're dealing with, and we just want to let you know, there's nothing to be concerned about. But, and parents, I have a number of parents that have called me upset, saying they would have, even though it was low threat or no threat, parents would have went and picked up their children. I know it's happening all over the state. It's unfortunate. It's something that was completely out of control, out of Medford's control. I don't think Medford did any, you know, there's nothing Medford, City of Medford could have done except probably better communication. So I'm very glad it's being addressed tomorrow night. And maybe one of the reasons it is being addressed tomorrow night and not last week is because we did put the resolution on. You know, we are going to talk about it tonight. So I think that it needed to be put on and I think people need and avenues to be able to speak and give their opinions on it. And obviously, that's going to be in a lengthy meeting tomorrow night. But if people want to voice their opinions now, or people looking to other politicians, not just the school committee, to speak out on it, then that's our prerogative. And I think it was wrong the way it was handled. And I hope that new policies are put in place after tomorrow night.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Madam Vice President. On the motion, you wish to present yourself, welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[2pAQFYhyG5g_SPEAKER_24]: Robert Candy, 128 Grant Avenue, Medford.
[SPEAKER_04]: Monique DeVos, 128 Grant Avenue, Medford.
[2pAQFYhyG5g_SPEAKER_24]: Thank you. You may speak one at a time. Thank you. Well, Councilor, thank you for the motion. And Councilor Falco, thank you for withdrawing it for the time being. I don't think either of us is in any way opposed to the meeting itself or to working things out. There's been zero information other than what was in the transcript. To our knowledge, the bomb threat occurred somewhere around 9 a.m. when kids were in school. Neither the kids nor the teachers knew about it, to our knowledge as well. We don't know if any sweep was done or conducted, and in that regard, we trust the police and we trust that the school has our children's best interests in mind. That said, how dare they not call us? How dare they not give us the option of deciding what to do? And loco parentis, from a legal perspective, does not mean they get to make that decision. And they could be challenged on that, and we're thinking about that. It's very distressing to know we've had three children in the school system, currently one in high school. to know that he's sitting there hoping they got it right. If we wanted to take him home, that should be our option. Let us tell you a little story. We came in to have a meeting with one of the personnel on the third floor. There's an elderly gentleman who sits at the front desk of the high school. Very nice gentleman. He gives you a pass, and you walk up. Doesn't ask for ID. You could be anybody. Off you go. We've seen him before, so he knows us. On our way out, this gentleman was traversing down toward Mr. Belson's area, I guess to go to the men's room. There was nobody there. Anyone could have walked in that high school, and anyone could have done damage. That needs to change. So when they tell us they looked at the videos, really? That's the extent of determining whether or not somebody was doing some harm in a school that size? It's unconscionable. And I think it is your jurisdiction, because one, you approved the budget. Two, as Ms. Cain pointed out, the school committee did nothing. They didn't even raise the issue, and it is something they should be talking about. So I'm just going to say I think it's unconscionable we weren't called. I think we should be given that opportunity. And I think it would be a sad day if you folks did not act on this, if you determine after that meeting. that proper steps have not been taken. Remember, the resolution itself says parents may decide. That's what we're here about. We're not here to question the police or to question Mr. Belson or Dr. Perrella, whom we have trust in. We're here to say we wrote a call. Do you have anything else to add?
[SPEAKER_04]: Just the fact that I support everything you said and that absolutely People need to be informed. You can't make any decision without being informed, period.
[2pAQFYhyG5g_SPEAKER_24]: Thank you for hearing us. Thank you for being here tonight.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: I can wait. I can wait.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The chair recognizes the citizen at the podium. Please state your name and address for the record. Welcome.
[acqgxK4yhEM_SPEAKER_28]: Thank you, good evening. Jay Spaulding, 3610 Mystic Valley Parkway. As a former teacher in a public school district where we had bomb threats and active weapon reuse and a student was shot on property, I know that this issue is terrifying to both teachers, staff, students, parents, administration. And I understand the desire to have this resolution. However, School policy regarding safety and security is something that we cannot address here at City Council because the people who have the, in my opinion, the expertise, the knowledge on creating safety plans and security plans are not in this room tonight. In this room are parents who are scared. in this room are citizens who work in various areas of both city involvement and private industry. But the chief of police, the superintendent of the school, the principal of the high school, they're not here. Tomorrow night, as Councilor Falco said, a serious conversation where things can be addressed will happen. I will state as a former teacher that the worst thing, in my opinion, one can do during an active, whether it be an active weaponry incident, an injured student, or a bomb threat, is to have Parents show up on site and try to remove their child. That is a great way to cause chaos, to increase injury, and to cause further damage. Whether the bomb, whether the threat is real or not, the rush of parents to remove students from a building because they're making a decision based on emotion, and I understand that emotion. I've worked in those buildings. at those times, and I would like to leave myself. That's chaos. That further endangers everyone in the building. And in my opinion, again, having lived through this, the reason that staff, students, teachers are not informed right away or even that day is, again, chaos theory. We don't want people running through the hallways. We don't want teachers saying, screw this, you guys, I'm out. Good luck, kids. I don't wanna die. That's the reality of the situation. So I am disappointed that this has to come before city council tonight when the issue is coming tomorrow. I think it honestly is a waste of time when we can address this tomorrow with the actual stakeholders. Thank you.
[Robert Cappucci]: Good evening. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record. Thank you, Mr. President. I'm Bob Capucci, 71 Evans street. Uh, I too am a former educator in, in, in Massachusetts and, uh, there are definite ways and orderly in, in, constructive way for parents to come in and retrieve their kids can happen without it breaking down into chaos. Uh, you know, school could be put on lockdown. Everybody stays in their room. And as parents showed up, you know, they're notified where their kids, uh, they communicate and they get them out in an orderly fashion. Now I went to, uh, chief Sacco of the method. Police holds a informational town hall meeting every first Wednesday of the month. And this was the main topic. The police got this threat and the threat was an automated robotic threat to the school. So that was one of the things that they used to determine the legitimacy of the threat. It came at a very inopportune time around 10 in the morning. The police did go through the school and make a search. But some of the things that they brought up that I think makes it pertinent for this council to talk about was that something like half of the cameras in the school don't work, not every single door is locked and being looked at. Another thing to consider is that it wasn't the police department's decision to put out the information about this bomb threat at six 30 at night, uh, hours after it happened. Uh, uh, I believe that was on, uh, the superintendent of schools, his decision, uh, and, uh, going forward. I, as you do consider the budget budget in, in June in, in the police department that we have, I mean, there's Metro police officer, that was up there on duty that day also has two kids in the school. So they did sweep the school. They did do a search. I don't know the full extent of that. And they did pass on the information of the call to the state police to try to track where this robotic call came from. But in considering the budget in June with our police department, I think it would be pertinent to do what you can to get uh, uh, enough police officers on, on the method police force. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Capucci.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Good evening. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Cheryl Rodriguez]: Hi, my name is Cheryl Rodriguez. I live at 281 Park street. Um, I heard about this bomb threat online as well. I have a student in the Roberts Elementary, but I pretty much get all of my information about the school online because my school doesn't notify. I know other schools call for snow days. So this call coming in at 630 for a bomb threat is no surprise. There's no clear policy in how schools are supposed to notify parents. I thought this was possibly the PR person's job to kind of unify us because at my school, we've had power outages, we've had heat being out, we've had issues where they can't clean things because there's no hot water, there's no parent notification. Somebody needs to unify this because everyone should know. We had the lockdown drill at my school and nobody notified. We had children having anxiety attacks because their parents couldn't prep them for this. This is just a larger issue that we need as parents. When I drop my child off at the school, I don't give up my parental rights. I found out about the power outage last year because I was volunteering in the school building and had to cancel a program for 100 children with less than two hours, walked in the school and found out they had no power. So something needs to be done on a systematic level of notifying parents. We're still the parent, and I need to know what's going on for my child. I don't want her to come home and give me this wild story of we had no heat and had to wear our winter coats, because I don't know to believe that. School didn't tell me that, so it's probably not true. So I think it's bigger than just bomb threat, and we really need to think about that. It's a bigger issue. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Chair recognizes Vice President Scarpelli. Vice President.
[George Scarpelli]: I'm sorry, I took over. Thank you. Again, I understand why this is put forth, but again, like my fellow colleague, as a former school committee member, these are issues we've vetted. And this is why it's important that we let the due diligence of our elected officials present what needs to be presented tomorrow evening, because it is important. These, as a school committee member, we can list out a litany of answers to all these questions, but it's the job of the school committee to inform everybody tomorrow at their meeting that then would be processed through us, and then we could have that next discussion. But I think right now, putting the cart ahead of the horse, I understand the questions that you have, the parents have. I got the same calls and one of the biggest questions was the notification issue. Well, there's a lot of security issues when and why notifications have to be given. So that's not for me to tell you that right now, that's for the chief of police and the superintendent to talk tomorrow because I have questions too. I have questions about the presentation of the PR. and PR person, and when that was done. But again, we want to make sure that we're not, you know, putting our school base in a frenzy right now until we really know what has transpired. So I think that's very important. So thank you.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank my consular colleague, Mr. Scarpelli, as well. The point that I was trying to make earlier was basically that we should hear from the school administration. They can give everyone the rundown as to what happened, what time it happened, why they made the decisions they made. If we're gonna comment on things tonight, it's purely speculation, and that is not safe for anything or anyone. So therefore, the important thing is, if you have questions, I think, please, I urge everyone, go to Medford High School tomorrow night, at the library, seven o'clock PM, the superintendent's going to be there. The chief of police is going to be there. All of the decision makers are going to be in the room and they will be able to go right through the timeline as to what happened and when and why they made the decisions they made. And that's what I was trying to put point, uh, put across. I mean, I am a parent of three children in the method public schools. I mean, I completely understand, um, you know, the notification issue. I mean, I have the same concerns, but I think that the administration should at least give us the information so we can, make decisions and ask good questions. So that's the point I was trying to get across. Uh, thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes the citizen Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Uh, thank, thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank a council longer current for putting this on the agenda for tonight. Um, you know, it was mentioned, I think that this is the first time this has happened in the city and by far that's, this is not the first time there's been, a threat of this nature in the Medford Public Schools. But needless to say, I think Councilor Falco just mentioned about speculation. The reason why there's speculation is because there's no communication. And I think that's the main concern. I have two children in the public schools, and when I received the call that night, the first thing that came to my mind was, geez, I would have liked to have a little more information, and maybe I would have liked to have it a little sooner. And I realize it's a delicate balance because you don't want to create pandemonium. How do you release, you know, if the high school wants to release 800 kids, how do you release them? And how do you go on to do it in a safe manner? I understand that. And I think these are the issues that need to be discussed. But if there's a policy in place, why does it take eight days or tomorrow's nine days? Why does it take nine days to say this is our policy? This is what we implemented. This is what we found out. It shouldn't take that long. And I think that's the concern that I'm hearing. And then as a parent, when they tell me part of the reasoning why they consider this a low threat was they went through 18 hours of videotape. You know, anyone that goes up to the high school and the gentleman that spoke is right. If you had to go up and bring your student a book, say they forgot a book, they used to have you just sign a sheet of paper and you'd go bring the book to the main office. So they'd let you into the school. Just recently I was up there and now they are asking for ID. They've changed their policy. So the policy before was just sign a sheet. You could sign a John Lennon and walk in because really there's no check and balance. The second point I'd like to make too is that high school is open constantly Saturday and Sunday. Hundreds of people going in there. I go out myself, Saturday night, and watch my son play basketball. Every door up in the gymnasium is open. It's a free for all. There's not one security person up there. There's not one security person going on. So the public schools really have to take, you know, I'm not sure who's looking at 18 hours of videotape. But first of all, the back of the school, it's pitch dark out there. So I'm not sure what you're going to see with those cameras in the back. And secondly, the whole school's open. We have the Japanese program that's been up there for a number of years. And the city of Medford makes a fair amount of money for renting out almost the entire high school. But there's thousands of people that literally have been up and watched the program. They take over all the classrooms in the high school. They have other classrooms that are under lock and key. They come in with wheelers. And we don't know what they're bringing into the building. And these are the things. And I'm not saying that this program's a bad program. I'm just saying, how do you keep a sense of security when the building is open to everyone? There's really no security up there, especially after hours and on weekends, which is a real concern of mine. And I hope it's addressed tomorrow. But I think the issue that I've been hearing from parents is not whether or not they wanted to pull their children out was the lack of communication. Be open and upfront with people. And it shouldn't take eight days to figure out what's going on. And if there was a breach in policy or the policy wasn't followed, let us know. That's how we improve. This is how you improve upon policy and regulations when something like this happens. And to just brush it under the rug and then come up with a meeting. You know, I've been calling for two years. for a public safety summit, Mr. President, in this community. And it's not just on the city side, it's in general. It's to bring the police department, the fire chief in, the mayor, the council, and anyone else that wants to be part of it, Mr. President. And for two years, I just called for another one recently, that this council voted unanimously. We have got no response at all regarding a public safety summit. It's almost like people in this community don't want to discuss what's happening in the community. They don't want to discuss the robberies that are happening in our local drug stores almost daily, the bank robberies, an incident like this at the high school. And the list goes on and on and on, drug activity on our streets. And we've been asking, Mr. President, to get together, like any good community would, and discuss some of our shortfalls and maybe why we're seeing an increase in this particular activity in our community, and what we can do better to provide security. You know, so I'm glad that this was discussed tonight. We're not talking out of school now. We're not letting any secrets out about safety at the high school, you know, ways someone could breach the high school. We're saying that we believe there's a concern, and the concern has to be addressed in a much quicker fashion, so speculation doesn't get out there, and people start thinking, oh, my God, what's happening? So we hired a $90,000 PR person. I didn't see one communication from that PR person. Not one communication. If you can't address an issue of this nature, what are they addressing? Honestly, I don't know what's going on, Mr. President. This is a concern that parents should be upset about. And maybe this is not the best forum, but guess what? We're an open forum. People can come up to the podium and speak. And the day we start censoring what can be said at that podium, you might as well close the light and lock the door here at City Hall, Mr. President. I just want to thank Councilor Longo for bringing this important issue up.
[George Scarpelli]: Point of information, Councilor Scarpello. Just to clarify, I believe that this council, not to censor anybody, but the idea of systematically going through and understanding. Now tomorrow evening, I'll be there and I will ask those questions about communication and the protocol that my fellow councilmen and myself helped write and understand why that wasn't done. And then bring that forward in the following week. But what I think that at least this council's — this council's questioned issues are — Point of information, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Point of information, Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: I'm coming to the — I'm sorry. There you are. Councilor Scott Pillow just mentioned that the protocol wasn't done.
[George Scarpelli]: How do you know — No, I'm sorry. I misspoke then. Understanding if the protocol wasn't followed through, we'll know tomorrow when we ask that.
[Michael Marks]: But why does it take eight days to figure that out?
[George Scarpelli]: Well, that's what I'll ask tomorrow.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. You've both made your points of information. Chair recognizes Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: Thank you. And this is the point I guess I was getting at before. I feel like we're speculating as to what happened and when, and I'm not trying to censor anyone, but what I'm trying to say is I think it's best that we have the decision makers present so they can, so they can be asked the questions by the people. People have questions, but there's no one here at this meeting that can answer any of the questions. That's what I'm saying. There's, I mean, to me, I understand the concerns about communication, I'm completely on board with that. But there is no one here tonight that can answer any questions with regard to what happened, when, and what they did, and why. And those are the key questions that need to be answered tomorrow night. Once again, Medford High School, 7 PM, the library at Medford High School. And I believe all the questions will be answered and everyone that should attend. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The chair recognizes the citizen. At the podium, please state your name and address for the record. Welcome. Thank you, City Council.
[Joe Viglione]: Joseph Villione, 59 Garfield Ave., Medford, Mass. I'm going to defend Medford a little. My first night at WinCam, Winchester Community Access TV, they asked me to videotape the basketball, which I obliged. I love helping out. No one knew who I was except for the TV station, and I'm an older person myself. Anyone could have walked into that high school as well. I was the videographer, as you may know, for Winthrop, for the football, for the hockey. Again, I'm watching that anyone could have entered. So this is a problem across the Commonwealth, maybe across the country. With all these shootings, with crackpots everywhere, our safety is at risk. Now, this is a great forum for this. So I thank Councilor Lungo-Koehn. I thank Michael Marks. You make this is the people's forum, and we have a really good city solicitor here who has said in the past he would find censorship repugnant. So many times this microphone shuts off on us for this reason or that reason, but it's not fair because this is a public forum. The first individual and the woman who came up here, very, very good points. I take issue with the second individual who works for the Disability Commission, who has said to me personally, they want to have openness, they want to be able to speak freely. But then that individual is up here tonight saying, we shouldn't be talking about this. I don't get the hypocrisy. We need to have an open forum here at the Medford City Council, especially with two new councilors. It's a new year. The bomb threat, I've heard all sorts of rumors that there was a bomb threat prior to the election. We know that there were problems prior to the election with theft at the McGlynn School, yet Somehow, it only got on the news station that had their investigative reporter emceeing the great debate. It only got on after the election. We know that one of the city council was in the Boston Globe, Front Page, one of the new city councils that was a school committee person. There's this lack of transparency in Medford that the rest of the world gets to read about, but the voters don't even know there's something on the back of a ballot because, gee, I got an email because of Barry Clemente's new 9-1-1 call saying that there's going to be an election. But there was nothing about question one on the ConnectCTY reverse 9-1-1 system before a very important election, a historic election. This is the People's Forum. This issue has to be brought to the attention of the public because as the city solicitor can confirm, I've been asking about this in public records requests for months now, months now. So it's insane to have no one discussing this at the People's Forum. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Good evening. Welcome. Please state your name and address.
[Robert Penta]: My name is Robert Pantor. I live at Zero Summit, Rome. I'm a member of the Sarkis party that's deliberating here tonight. On the outside, I'd like to thank my colleague, um, strike that council Lungo-Koehn. I would consider a colleague forever because I think she's doing what she's supposed to be doing and that's the people's work. You know, you folks are sitting here as Councilors like I did for, for many years. Your most important job is to protect, to protect the students, the children of this community, because that's what our budget's all about. That's what our school department budget's all about. And that's what public safety is all about. Sure, there's adults and there's businesses to be concerned about, but it's the children. That's what we're trying to do here is educate our children. And how do we educate our children? By teaching the difference between what is right and what is wrong. And as they grow up to be youngsters and teenagers and adults, that's supposed to transcend into their everyday working operation. We've just had three incidences take place here in this community. One that took place in November, where there was a bomb threat, allegedly a bomb threat. Medford police went to the high school, and their dog sniffing dogs were not allowed into the building. That didn't even find a response. Then you had the incident five days before the election this past November, where at the McGlynn School, somebody broke into the school, ransacked through, I believe, eight teachers' bags, and you didn't hear about that until five days later. And now you have this incident that took place most recently, and as Councilor Marksley alluded to, eight days after the fact. You have a responsibility because when you do that budget each and every year, you're being led to believe by the school department and the school committee that everything is going properly. You have a superintendent of schools whose primary responsibility, over and beyond educating the kids first, is the safety of those kids in every single building that they are in here in the city of Medford. And that safety cannot be transcended by waiting days and days and days. Now I understand what Councilor Falco was leading to, that tomorrow night there's a meeting, but there is a yes answer to this meeting tonight. And the yes answer to this meeting is to let anybody who wants to talk about it come up, and the answer would be yes, allowing them to talk and speak about it. Because if they can't make it tomorrow night, becomes informational for those who didn't know about it to be at the meeting tomorrow night. But more importantly, it's the public safety that really has not been addressed by the at-present school administration. And if you said, Councilor Scarpelli and Councilor Palacio, the two of you put together some kind of a program and the protocol hasn't been met, then so be it. Then somebody has to be held accountable and maybe their job should be put on the line. Because if it was their kid and their child was threatened with a bomb in the school and they weren't told about it until six or seven hours after the fact on a robocall, that doesn't satisfy or suffice the purpose. On January 18th, you had Groton, Ayers, Arlington, Tewksbury, Taunton, Salisbury, Weymouth, Newton, Brighton, Boston, Swampscott, Lexington Minuteman. A bomb threat was over there. Two things took place over there. They either evacuated the building or there was a lockdown. What's the difference between the two? Needs to be explained. Does a lockdown complete the service of saying that the school is safe or not? I don't know. But this forum, this is the only forum that you have this opportunity to let the people come and have their opportunity to speak. about what is happening. Now we talk about transparency and the public relations person. Where has all that been going? Where's the public relations coming out on this? And if it truly has been eight days after the fact, why are you having a meeting eight days after the fact if in fact the consultation took place between the school administration the state police, and the area surrounding police departments to find out the protocol, whether it's high level, low level, or no level. Who are they to make that decision? The school committee, the school department should have some type of an ember alert that addresses itself, like they do when they come out to mass, when a child disappears, or a senior citizen is missing, or a person in general is missing, for whatever the reasons might be. You know, we're living in a day and age today that is not the same as 1950, 60, 70. It's not even the same as it was five years ago. We're living in a world that's talentious. It's crazy with people. And it has a deep concern that everyone's child that goes to a school should be considered to be safe. and in a safe place. But when you're talking about something like this tonight, it's not in a safe place because the protocols weren't met. And if the protocols aren't being met, then there is something wrong. There's a breakdown in the system. That's why we're paying a superintendent in excess of $160,000. You have two assistant superintendents, well in excess of $120,000. They have a responsibility to this community, whether it's your kids, my kids, grandchildren, or someone else's children. And that's to ensure that when they go to that school, barring any unforeseen circumstance, and if something were to happen, the parent should be advised ASAP. I wouldn't want a superintendent or a teacher to say whether they make the decision whether my child should be there or not. It's kind of like interesting. If you follow the whole idea about testing and MCAS and everything else and Common Core and draw the correlation to it, if the child or the parent doesn't want the kid to take it, they can opt out. magnify that to a bomb threat in a building and not tell the parent for eight hours after the fact. There is no correlation. There is no justice to this whole thing. And whatever comes out of this meeting tomorrow night, I hope it just proves one thing that those who were responsible, who didn't do their job are charged for not doing their job. They're replaced. And we have a system in place that you don't have to have this type of a conversation. I applaud you, Councilor Longo, for bringing this forward because this gets to the very heart of the citizens of Medford, its children, its core, its future for tomorrow. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of Councilor Knight that the paper be received and placed on file, Vice President Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. I'd ask that the paper be voted on. I think it's something that can be discussed tomorrow night. I'm making a recommendation. It truly, and I feel bad, a lot of Councilors, a couple Councilors are upset that it's been even brought up. But at the same time, it truly is coming from the fact that the complaints are real. They're coming from parents who wish they knew and wish they knew sooner. And I try to always put myself in somebody's shoes when I get a complaint, and this time I actually can. And I would be irate if there was a bomb threat at my child's school and I didn't know about it immediately. I'd be irate. So I understand where they're coming from. And I think parents should be notified, even if the first words that come out of a robocall are, there is no threat. But parents have that right, and they should have that right. And I'm making that recommendation to the higher-ups, which would be the school committee on this situation. And I agree with Ms. Rodriguez. There's just a lack of communication. And we do need some uniformity. I know some schools do it right, and others don't. things that need to be improved upon and stepped up, and obviously security is one of them. So I'd ask that the resolution be voted upon tonight, just making a recommendation to the school committee, superintendent, that if anything like this happens again, that parents are notified.
[Adam Knight]: There's a motion already on the floor. Councilor Knight. Mr. President, until I go to that meeting tomorrow night and find out exactly what happened and where the failings were and where the system failed, the students and the residents of the city, I don't feel comfortable making any recommendation as to a course of action. Therefore, I'm not going to be withdrawing my motion.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Well, we have two contravening motions here. So the first motion is before us.
[Adam Knight]: I'd be happy to withdraw my motion if the council would be willing to table the matter until the meeting can take place tomorrow.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Does the council wish to table the matter?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: No, I'm actually making a recommendation that hopefully the school committee will get by tomorrow night that, you know, something should, protocols should be in place so There's better communication with parents, especially on such a serious event as a bomb threat. There should be better protocols, or other things need to be discussed on how parents can get notified without an issue.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes Councilor Falco on the motion of Councilor Knight. Thank you, Mr. President.
[John Falco]: I would like to hear from the school committee first. I hear from the residents, and I think it's great that they came and they, they, they spoke up on the issue. And, uh, but at this point, I'd like to make, like to make a motion to table. I think we need to hear from the school committee and what they hear about what went wrong and what we need, what needs to be done to improve the situation. What would, what did we need to hear from law enforcement? We need to hear from the superintendent. Like I said, we need to hear from the decision makers before we make a decision here. So I'd like to make a motion to table.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The motion before us is to receive the paper and place it on file. On that motion.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: No, motion to table. Motion to proceed.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Does the motion so proceed and cancel the two out? Motion to table is undebatable.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Roll call.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Motion to table. Motion to table. All those in favor.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Roll call, please.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Roll call has been requested on the motion to table. Mr. Clark, please call the roll.
[Clerk]: Yes. Yes. No. No. Yes. What's that for? Yes. With the vote of three.
[Fred Dello Russo]: In the affirmative, four in the affirmative, three in the negative, the motion is tabled. 16-064 offered by Councilor Marks, be it resolved that a complete assessment on the condition of city street signs be completed with recommendations for replacement where necessary. Councilor Marks, thank you.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. Many of our street signs are fading away and not legible. And that includes stop signs and traffic signs, as well as street signs. And I would ask that a complete audit be done of all our signage with recommendations. I had a brief conversation with Mayor Burke recently, and she mentioned to me that she directed uh, acting DPW commissioner, Brian Karen's, uh, to look into, uh, the assessment of all street signs. So I guess that is ongoing right now. Uh, but I would still ask through a formal request of this council that, uh, there'd be a complete audit and a replacement of signage. Uh, what I did not put on this, Mr. President is sometime back. I offered a resolution to have the markers on hydrants. And I know the city purchased a number of markers, but it fell short of the number of hydrants in the community. So I ask also that- Excuse me, Councilor. Please continue, Councilor. Thank you, Mr. President. And I ask also that the hydrant markers be part of this request, whereas public safety is of utmost importance in this community. Thank you, Mr. President. Councilor, thank you for that good motion.
[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Caraviello. Oh, thank you, Mr. President. On this motion, I'd like to see, along with the assessment, I think some areas are over signed with this confusion. So I think that aspect needs to be looked at too. So maybe we can consolidate some signs. So the people have a little better understanding of what the signs mean, rather than seeing half a dozen signs, especially in the parking areas, where there's 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and people just don't know what the sign means, or any of the signs. And there's certain streets that have several signs on them, Mr. President, that are unnecessary.
[Adam Knight]: As amended by Councilor Caraviello. Councilor Knight. Mr. President, this is a great resolution, a great resolve, Councilor Marksley. I commend you for bringing it forward. It deals with public safety, it deals with infrastructure, they're vital keys to a strong quality of life here in Medford. I support the resolution wholeheartedly, Mr. President, that I move for approval.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval, all those in favor, as amended? All those opposed? Motion passes. 16-065 offered by Vice President Lungo-Koehn, a long one. Be it resolved, be it ordered, that the city clerk be, and he is hereby authorized and directed, to notify and warn such of the inhabitants of the city of Medford as were qualified by law to vote for candidates at the presidential preferential primary on Tuesday, March 1st, 2016, to assemble at the polling places in their respective wards and precincts, then and there to give in their votes for presidential preference, district members of state committee, one man and one woman for each political party for the second Middlesex Senatorial District, members of the Democratic Ward Committee, members of the Republican Ward Committee, members of the Green Rainbow Ward Committee, members of the United Independent Party Committee. And the polls have said presidential preferential primary shall open at 7 a.m. and remain open till 8 p.m. Be it further ordered that the following named polling places be, and they are hereby designated, for use at the state election on March 1st, 2016. That's a Tuesday, Mr. Clerk? Tuesday. Ward 1, Precinct 1, Andrew Middle School. Ward 1, Precinct 2, Firefighters Club, 340 Salem Street. Ward 2, Precinct 1, St. Francis Power Center, Fellsway and Fulton, Ward 2, Precinct 2, Roberts Elementary School, 35 Court Street. Ward 3, Precinct 1, Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Ward 3, Precinct 2, Temple Shalom. Ward 4, Precinct 1, Tufts University Gansher Center. Ward 4, Precinct 2, Walkling Court, Auburn and North Street, Fondacaro Center. Ward 5, Precinct 1, Columbus Elementary School. Ward 5, Precinct 2, Columbus Elementary School. Ward 6, Precinct 1, West Medford Fire Station, Engine 2. Ward 6, Precinct 2, Brooks School. Ward 7, Precinct 1, Mystic Valley Towers, North Building Entrance. Ward 7, Precinct 2, McGlynn K-8 Public School. Ward 8, Precinct 1, Senior Center, 101 Riverside Ave. Ward 8, Precinct 2, Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall, Post 1012. 114 Mystic Avenue. On the motion approval by Vice President Lungo-Curran. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? So carries. On the motion of Vice President Lungo-Curran to take papers under suspension and in the hand of the clerk. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries. 16-066 offered by Councilor Knight be it resolved that the Public Works Subcommittee investigate staffing levels in RDPW, Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much and I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to bring this resolution forward under suspension. I filed this resolution in an effort to further investigate the staffing levels at RDPW. As we go through our agenda week by week, many of the items that are on the agenda are actually related to basic city maintenance and city service issues. With that being said, I think it's important and imperative for this council to take a look at the staffing levels at the DPW to ensure that there's enough help to ensure that they have safe staffing levels so that we can have safe streets and strong infrastructure. Mr. President, I think part and parcel with a strong DPW will be strong downtowns because we'll have clean streets, we'll have repaired sidewalks, we'll have repaired potholes. which will be something that's going to bring people to our squares. We'll also have better lightage, because when lights go out, we'll have more people there that can help fix the lights. So I bring this resolution forward, Mr. President, to continue to look at and examine the staffing levels in our DPW. Presently, I believe there are 46 members in our DPW unit, and we are a community of about eight square miles. If we go right next door to Somerville, we have a community that's four square miles who have 65 members just in their highway division alone, Mr. President. So I think that this warrants a long, hard look. I'd ask my council colleagues to support me in this endeavor. The motion approved by Councilor Knight.
[Michael Marks]: Councilor Marks. Thank you, Mr. President. And I want to thank Councilor Knight for putting this on. This is a very wise and prudent resolution, in particular because of the implementation of the 3-1-1 system that's going to happen next month. This council has been on record asking that additional staffing levels, in particular the DPW, to address uh, some of the, uh, three one one complaints that are going to start filtering through electronically. And, uh, I think this is a wise resolution and I support it wholeheartedly. Mr. President. Thank you. Councilor Marks. Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Again, I thank council for bringing this, you know, in our earlier meeting, I think this was a discussion that we're all pretty much agreement on that. Um, the DPW needs, uh, some more people to do the work of the city. Um, you know, um, it's, it's, it's, it's hugely understaffed compared to other cities. So I would hope that our subcommittee could make a recommendation to hire more people. Very good. On that motion, Councilor Scarpelli.
[George Scarpelli]: If I can, if I can add to that, I appreciate Councilor Knight bringing this forward. As we talk to DPW employees, one of the other issues that came about is not only the staffing level, but also their equipment and what their needs and what we have for aging equipment. And if we can add to that, get a list of any equipment or inventory that they might have needed to ask for in the past, We should be looking forward as it comes to budget time. Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: minimal, I'm knocking on wood here, but minimal complaints, um, these last two storms and just want to thank them for their hard work through the nights.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you on the motion. All those in favor. All those opposed. The motion carries 16-0 6 7 off by council night. Be resolved. The director of veteran services provide the council with the number of veterans living in the city of Medford. We have received the welcome home bonus broken down annually from 2001 through 2015. Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. The welcome home bonus is a bonus that's given to veterans who are coming home from service, Mr. President. And if they reside in the city of Medford, they're entitled to a cash bonus by way of application. But what this welcome home bonus does is it allows us the opportunity to begin to quantitate how many veterans actually reside in our city. The date of 2001 was post 9-11 when the welcome home bonus was re-implemented and through 2015 will be the last fiscal year, Mr. President. As I stated earlier in our subcommittee meeting, the city of Medford's about the 15th largest community in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and our general population has somewhere between 7% and 9%. of people that self-identify as veterans, Mr. President. So I think it will be very helpful for us as we continue to ensure that our services delivered to our veterans are top of the line, that we see if there's been any growth there, if we can make an argument for more help in the office, Mr. President. We have a 20-hour-a-week clerk working in that office. That was a zero-hour-a-week clerk. a couple years ago, and before that, it was a 40-hour position. So we've seen the office go down from a 40-hour-a-week clerk to a zero-hour-a-week clerk, and back up to a 20-hour-a-week clerk, Mr. President. I'd like to continue to advocate for more help in the Veterans Service Office, because I feel as though our veterans deserve no less. With that being said, I'd ask my colleagues to support this resolution.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Marks. Thank you, Mr. President. This is a great resolve, and I'd be remiss not to mention the fact that I believe it was two weeks ago, Councilor Caraviello offered a resolution to create a veteran service advisory board. And we just got notification from Mayor Burke that she is going to implement the veteran service advisory board. And I think it touches upon what Councilor Knight just mentioned about providing services that might otherwise go unnoticed in having a board that oversees what veterans should be getting and if they're getting their fair share. and to make sure they're responded to in a timely fashion. So, I want to thank, on behalf of all the veterans in this community, thank Councilor Caraviello for his resolve, Mr. President. And thank Mayor Burke for her quick action also. Thank you. Thank you all. Councilor Caraviello.
[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. Again, I want to thank — I did this to thank the veterans of our community. And I thank the mayor for acting quickly on this. And hopefully, this will bring in some of the younger veterans who've come back from since post 9-1-1. And because the World War II guys are sort of getting thin, and the Korean guys are getting thin. And even I'm a Vietnam era person. We're starting to get old. And then there was that gap in between Vietnam and the Middle East crisis. So it'll be good to bring some of these younger people in and help out the newer veterans coming into the city. And also give help to Mr. Lindsey, whose office is understaffed. Very good. Vice President Longo-Curran.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I just too want to thank Councilor Caraviello for putting forward the Veterans Advisory Committee, and thank the mayor for such a quick turnaround. I think that was two or three weeks that we now have, are going to implement an advisory committee, and I think it's great. I know there's a number of veterans who are interested in serving on that committee, and it's only going to improve the quality of veteran services. in the city of Medford, so thank Councilor Caraviello and thank the mayor for doing it so quickly.
[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion for approval, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Offered by Councilor Marks, be it resolved, I'm gonna need your help on this, be it resolved that the tree located on Princeton Street, roughly 10 feet from the corner of Princeton and Dartmouth.
[Michael Marks]: Oh, I didn't finish it off. That's, I was going to offer the second half next week. Thank you very much. That tree be removed, Mr. President, I apologize. That the tree be removed, Councilor Marks. In the interest of public safety. This tree, Mr. President, is in poor condition and although it may produce leaves during the summertime, it really is hollowed out and needs removal and I'd ask that the Tree Warden, Aggie Tudor, who does a tremendous job, go out immediately in the interest of public safety, especially with the snow and the wet, heavy snow, Mr. President.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. So on that motion, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Finally, offered by President Del Russo, whereas the federal and state election will be held on Tuesday, March 1st, and Tuesday, November 8th, 2016, be resolved at the council meetings of March 1st and November 8th, 2016, be canceled. Be it further resolved that the summer calendar be Tuesday, July 19th, Tuesday, August 16th, Tuesday, September 20th, and Tuesday, September 20th, 27th. Yes, I'll try it better this time. Tuesday, July 19th, August 16th, Tuesday, Tuesday, September 20th, and Tuesday, September 27th. These are the consistence of past practice over the past several years. The clerk has made this recommendation. So on the motion for approval by Vice President Lungo-Koehn, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Records. of the meeting. Who's calling? Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: I actually have an adjustment to the records.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Okay. We're going to call for the records. The records of the February 2nd, 2016 meeting were passed to Vice President Mungo Kern. How do you find those records, Madam Vice President?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Obviously, I think we might have a correction there, so I review the records. I find them in order.
[Fred Dello Russo]: All right, we have a request for amendation to those records, Councilor Falco. Thank you.
[John Falco]: Under 16-053, it was an amendment that was made to include the minutes from each of the board and commission meetings on the website after, at the conclusion of the meetings.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. So Councilor Lungo, you make that, recognize that request for correction. and otherwise recommend the approval of the minutes as amended. All those in favor?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Aye.
[Fred Dello Russo]: All those opposed?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Announcement?
[Fred Dello Russo]: An announcement by Councilor Lungo-Koehn. The records are accepted.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Madam Vice President.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Just want to announce that on Saturday, February 13th, which is this coming Saturday, the Medford Family Network is holding their annual fundraiser. It's an ice cream social for families. I think we've all been invited as Councilors to scoop ice cream for a couple hours from 1 to 3 p.m. That's at the McGlynn Middle School. It's always a great time. They have arts and crafts and dancing for the kids, and they put on a show. I think it's $5 per person, $15 for a family. Just urge and encourage everybody to attend the wonderful event for a great cause.
[Fred Dello Russo]: I scream, you scream. On motion for adjournment?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Do we have a citizen? Sorry. Yeah, did you want to speak, Valerie? Sorry.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record and the topic of your presentation.
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: Yes, Valerie Washburn Geiselman, Medford, Massachusetts. Okay, I'm here to give us an update. Let's see, I have 10 minutes? I have 10 minutes?
[Fred Dello Russo]: You have 10 minutes.
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: Okay, I don't have a watch with me to time myself. I'm sorry, I was late tonight. My ride wasn't able to make it, so I came by bus. I want to give an update on our death care. our concern for cemetery issues, our Cemetery Oak Grove, which borders our beloved Brooks Estate. This afternoon, I was told about a meeting that the seven churches clergy had at the sanctuary building in West Medford. Clergy from seven churches, including two from Temple, Shalom, made a resolve to promote the acceptance of green and natural burials and to create an advisory board to help their parishioners and the cemetery trustees and the manager to resolve disagreements and help with conflict negotiations. Also, my understanding is that they very much want other uh, other groups and, um, other interested citizens to participate such as the conservation energy groups and, um, our new committee on, um, conservation and anybody who'd be interested. And of course, the funeral directors in our town and, um, other towns that serve our citizens. Uh, some citizens suggest that we also invite various departments from self test university. which is also partially located in Medford. There are several departments that would help qualify, engineering departments and some of the science departments and even some of the psychology departments that have actually given talks on the benefits to people who participate in natural burials. And I actually have a relative who studied at Tufts and he now does um, groundwater testing. And, um, that might also be a concern. I wanted to discuss briefly a meeting that I attended last week, the Cemetery Monthly Meeting, which was held over here in Room 201. There were several other citizens there. And we listened for two hours to a discussion, which was already preplanned, with civil engineers discussing the the possibility and the perhaps need for something called a mausoleum in which people would be buried above ground and they would be buried in caskets and or niches or it could be both and the niches would be for cremation. This is something they are looking to for the future, as they expect in 10, 20, 30, or 40 years. They may run out of land. And we all realize, of course, that this is a possibility. However, we also feel that we need to deal with the issues at hand and the citizens' needs at hand. And so although you have to always plan for the future, there's still a lot of land in Oak Grove to be used. And there are some citizens that really want the discussion of natural burials to go forward, and we will do that through the clergy and other interested groups that would like to participate. I wanted to say at that meeting, we listened for over an hour to this discussion with the civil engineers, and some of the proposals suggested that there are various types of buildings that could be constructed, depending on the need and how they wanted to start the process, and the projected amount of money was going to be $1 million to $2 million, depending on the kind of buildings and whatever various types of construction they wanted to do, including building a new office building, a garage, and other things that can be included in a mausoleum. At the end of that meeting, several of the people interested in green burials were on the agenda, and we were told rather abruptly as the other meeting ended that the meeting had been adjourned. And we made our point that we had already signed up to be on the agenda. And so one person spoke and asked questions about a certain type of green burial. And there were three trustees. And one of them had not been at the previous meeting, so she seemed really confused and was asking the person, the other trustee beside her, questions. I don't know what she was asking. And then the other trustee, asked us questions and said that we needed to find if this was legally possible and if there were any diseases that could be transmitted in this kind of burial, which we had actually gone over the previous month. And also our attorney, Mark Rumley, had clarified that under Mass General Laws, there's absolutely no reason to prohibit natural burials. And of course, that wouldn't mean, of course, that there's no worry about disease. And he just confirmed that with me out in the hallway as we just spoke, as he was leaving, that that is absolutely true. This seems to be an issue that's brought up over and over again. And anybody who reads enough information on it, and you don't have to read much to understand, that that is not a concern. And obviously, Mass General Laws would not allow it if it was a concern. uh, as I said, um, it was rather distressing to be told that, um, the meeting was adjourned when we were on the agenda. And then, um, I asked a few questions and, um, uh, I felt, uh, really, um, I can't quite think of the right word to say, but, um, I didn't feel that we were listened to very carefully. I didn't feel that people had done their research that they should have done from the previous month. They had months to look things over. I didn't feel that we were dealt with politely. That was very discouraging. I was trying to think of what I wanted to say about it. Anyway, there was just one person asking questions and it was not a very pleasant meeting with our cemetery committee. And I understand there's even some people in this room right now that have had some difficulty with the cemetery and that there needs to be a way to resolve this. There was one case recently that wasn't settled with the way other people feel it should have been in a humanitarian and carefully analyzed situation. And it seems that there's no appeal process, which is really hard to understand when it's this kind of a situation. I understand there's other things. I mean, you can even appeal a parking ticket. So I just don't understand why there's no appeal process. And obviously, you don't want to go back to the same trustees unless you have new information. And if you have new information, you certainly should be able to appeal. And even if you don't have new information but have a good reason to want to challenge their decision, that should also be a possibility. So those are some of our concerns. Basically, just being able to participate as a citizen who's respected. for the things they're trying to bring to a committee. And, you know, we'll all have to deal with this someday. We all have to bury our loved ones. And it's going to be something that we need to be able to have a choice in. And I think the cemetery committee needs to be able to be more compassionate and do their research before they start Um, you know, challenging and asking questions have already been answered many times. One minute left. Okay. Um, all right. I'm sorry. I don't feel terribly well prepared tonight, but, um, I guess I'll have to finish there. Thank you.
[Michael Marks]: Councilor months, just so I can understand this issue a little bit of maybe if miss Washburn weren't mine, I just had a question. do you know what date this was first before the cemetery board? Do you know when this was first presented?
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: The last last meeting was the second meeting. We discussed this situation.
[Michael Marks]: So when was the first, do you remember?
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: It was, well, the last, the last one was last Tuesday. So it was a month before the month before it's once a month. They meet in room 201 is my understanding. So that would have been eight weeks ago. Now, now it would have been nine weeks ago.
[Michael Marks]: So it was back in January?
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: Yes.
[Michael Marks]: And at the time, it was what, postponed or laid on the table? What happened to the issue when it first got presented?
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: The issue with the family that was looking for the extra grade that we took.
[Michael Marks]: Oh, so the green burial wasn't on that nine weeks ago?
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: It was discussed. And there again, the issue of a disease was brought up and, um, you know, that they had to research it. So for two months they had known about the issue of disease. Yes. They have known about that and that it's not an issue as according even to our attorney.
[Michael Marks]: Okay. Cause we all received in our packets like we do for most boards of commissions, a copy of, uh, their minutes. And these are dated February 3rd. And the last page states, after discussion between members of the Board of Trustees, it was unanimously agreed that green burials are somewhat new to cemeteries and will require much more research. And it says the policy of Oak Grove Cemetery is for casket burials to be interred in sealed cement liners. Therefore, Ms. Washburn's request has been denied. They denied it based on the fact that apparently they want to do more research and the fact that their policy states that it has to have a casket in turn with sealed cement liners. Did you ever offer any type of?
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: We brought up different alternatives, yes. And we brought them up again on Tuesday, the last Tuesday. And there again, the one person who did speak, the trustee who did speak, brought up the issue again when we brought up alternatives to the cement burial vault, which is not a green burial, basically. There again brought up the question of disease.
[Michael Marks]: Just so I understand, I know you've done a lot of research Mount Aubin Cemetery currently does green burials?
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: Yes, they do. They do. We actually brought a speaker to the first meeting that we had, which would have been now nine weeks ago, of the woman who's Candace Curry, who's head of their green burial. She's a horticulturist. And they have many meetings over there. They have a waiting list when they have meetings. They constantly have people coming to purchase an area for green burials. They're a private cemetery. And their — my understanding is their lowest-cost burial site is 8,000, and it goes up from there. And I don't even know if there's any 8,000 available. And they have various types of green burials. But, yes, they do it without a burial vault — without a cement vault. Yes.
[Michael Marks]: The President So there are local cemeteries currently, right now, that can accommodate a green burial? Ms.
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: Washburn Yes, there are.
[Michael Marks]: The President Okay. Mr. President, just if I could, because Ms. Washburn has done a lot of research have attended the meetings along with Adele Trevisano, another well-respected resident of this community. And I think it would be interesting maybe as a council if we can find out from the Board of Trustees, Cemetery Board of Trustees, how many requests have been made over the past year of the board for a green burial, if they keep any record of that. And to urge them, I as one member of the council would urge that the board do their research, do their due diligence, their homework on this issue, and not leave it open-ended. Because I think at the very least, Valerie deserves an answer on this, as well as the other people that are concerned about green burials in the community, Mr. President. And I look forward to a response back from the Board of Trustees on this.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. Clerk, often bound to suspension by Councilor Marks that the Board of trustees of Oak Grove cemetery respond back to the city council by answering the following question. How many requests for green burials has the cemetery received in the past year in the past year?
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: Could I just add something to that?
[Michael Marks]: And also if they, if they could, um, do their due diligence in their research. And at least because from what I read this, they didn't say we don't want green burials. They're saying that it requires more research. And they're saying that their policy right now calls for a casket with a cement liner. So they're not saying we're not going to do it. They're just saying this is what our policy is, and we have to do more research. So I would ask, through the council resolution, that they do their homework and due diligence, Mr. President, and on behalf of all the residents of this community, come out with a recommendation.
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: Could I just add to that?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Be it further resolved, as Council Member Matz just said, Mr. Clerk. Ma'am.
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: Yes, I'd just like to add something. Actually, having a vault like that is not green burial. Some places have a vault that they turn the vault upside down so that the body is next to the earth. Because the whole purpose of the green burial is to have the body close to the earth with as little encumbrance as possible. But that was brought up at the last meeting. And I don't recall any. There again, the question of disease was brought up. If the body was next to the earth, is it going to be spreading disease? The other issue that I had was, it should be a separate area, because there could be people who don't want to be near people for whatever reason, who want a natural burial. And honestly, we would like to have a little section just for ourselves, or it could be the way Mount Auburn does it, which is in between other graves. That's another possibility. And we do have an old section that Mr. Brogan brought up when we had our representative from Mount Auburn Cemetery. when she said that they do green burials between other graves as one alternative. And he did mention something about the old area and whether or not that could be a possibility. And I don't know where that thought process went from there. But that would be another possibility, such as the way they do it at Mount Auburn, to do it in between the older area of the cemetery. And the whole concept of green burial is also that it's a more natural setting. And psychologically for people that prefer that, and obviously going to the cemetery can be a big part of the grieving process, is that that would be a healing process for people that really appreciate that concept.
[Michael Marks]: Mr. President, I believe it was three weeks ago that this council voted unanimously to send out three questions to the city solicitor. And one of the questions was, how do we go about setting up an advisory board, similar to what Councilor Caraviello did with the Veterans Services, an advisory board to the Cemetery Board of Trustees. And tonight, I bumped into the city solicitor in the hallway, and he mentioned to me that that could be done as a legislative uh, prerogative, uh, through a city ordinance. So that is the response I got back from at least one question. So it would be up to this body, uh, if they felt fit to put a, create a city ordinance that would create a cemetery advisory board. So that may be another option.
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: That'd be very much appreciated.
[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President, vice president.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Just move the question. I'm sorry.
[Richard Caraviello]: Move the question. Councilor Caraviello. Valerie, if I could ask you a question. You've obviously done, you know, a little more knowledgeable of this than I am. Um, you said that Mount Auburn, I understand Mount Auburn does this and they put them in with everything. They mix them in with other, other graves.
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: They do that and they do other, they do other things as well, but that is one option.
[Richard Caraviello]: Do they have a separate section there?
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: You know, I'm not 100% sure about that. I think so, but I'm not 100% sure. They don't have a big area anyway.
[Richard Caraviello]: Now, you said that turning the casket over and putting the vault on top of it, is that an acceptable?
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: It's one alternative. Is that an acceptable alternative? It's not a preferred way. Other than that way, what is the other alternative?
[Richard Caraviello]: The basic alternative is nothing other than the shroud.
[mex41hYCPiQ_SPEAKER_14]: Well, it can be a shroud. It can be a pine casket. There's all kinds of natural caskets. disintegrate. And that's the purpose, to bring the body back as close to the earth, dust to dust, and in a natural way, without encumbrance. And also, the other point of it is, without adding pollution. And so cement eventually is a form of pollution. Rocks and stones would not be, but cement is. But for some people who you know, are unable to find a cemetery that will allow a real green burial, the compromise is to have the casket upside down so the body is next to the earth. And then, not the casket, the cement vault would be upside down so the body is next to the earth, yes. And of course, in many Jewish cemeteries and Muslim cemeteries, the body is next to the earth. They already practice natural green burials. And so it's not an uncommon practice. It's just not being done in a lot of public cemeteries. It is being done in Amherst. Actually, I have an uncle who is a funeral director out there, and he's buried in that cemetery. I just forgot the name of it. And there's one in Maine. and one in New York, but people have been going to Maine or other places instead of being buried in their hometown, which everybody wants. Even Candace Curry said, she's doing a lot of research on this. She's a big promoter of green burials. We had a meeting at the public library in green burials, and we had people that came from other cities to hear about it after they saw the movie, A Will for the Woods. which was made by Tony Hale, Adele's son, made a movie, A Will for the Woods, about a man who knew he was dying and wanted to have a green burial. And he had to go to another state because his state wasn't doing it. And this is the effort that people are making to have something that will give them comfort when they know their past, when they've passed, and it will bring their family comfort.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. So on the motion of Council Marks, all those in favor? Aye. All those opposed?
[Andrew Castagnetti]: On the motion for a adjournment. I understand you, uh, you, you approved it. Um, I just wanted to say, uh, I don't know much about the green burial, um, but I'm sure it should be investigated. So there will be no future, uh, indecisiveness in the future. And also she mentioned something about the cemetery was thinking about building a mausoleum of sorts. I was curious if there may be a better capital idea to build an actual type of church structure or chapel there. And you could have a one-stop burial situation, such as you could view the body there. You could, uh, have a prayer said, or at the same time, you could just walk to the burial hole and we'll have to worry about the elements at three different locations. Just a thought. It's been done. Other parts of the USA.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Um, motion for a German to all those in favor. Meeting adjourned.
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