[Fred Dello Russo]: La sexta reunión regular del Ayuntamiento de Medford, el 9 de febrero de 2016, saldrá a la orden. Sr. Clerk, por favor llame al rollo.
[Clerk]: Consejero Caraviello. Presente. Consejero Falco. Presente. Consejero Caballero. Presente. Vicepresidente Leclerc. Presente. Consejero Marcas. Presente. Consejero Scampelli. Presente. Presidente del Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Presente. Siete miembros presentes, nueve ninguno ausente. Por favor, levante para saludar la bandera.
[Clerk]: Ella reconoce al concejal Knight por la suspensión de las reglas.
[Adam Knight]: tomar los documentos 1602, 16021, 16022, 16023. Todos los documentos son elegibles para su tercera lectura en relación con la reorganización de las oficinas administrativas.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sobre la moción de suspensión de las reglas para sacar los documentos antes mencionados de la mesa para su aprobación, todos los que están a favor de los favoritos? Lo siento, 16-020, la enmienda del Artículo Cuatro, Oficiales y Empleados, División Cuatro, Abogado de la Ciudad, fue presentada para su introducción el 12, Pasado First Reading, 19 de enero. y anunció su segunda lectura el 28 de enero elegible esta noche para su tercera y última lectura. Esto es, uh, el restablecimiento de, uh, tenencia de tiempo, uh, una cita de la moción de pesas de la silla del abogado de la ciudad.
[Adam Knight]: Um, señor presidente, creo que esto, uh, importa que el s presentado el alcalde sea relativamente cortado y seco. Lo que hace este asunto es, uh, le da al abogado de la ciudad un código de cita de dos años Terminus con la administración. El periódico ha pasado por sus dos primeras lecturas, Sr. Presidente. Si hay alguien en la audiencia que le gustaría hablar, creo que deberíamos darles la oportunidad. Y si alguno de los concejales quiere hablar sobre ello, que así sea. Pero me movería para su aprobación.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Una moción de aprobación del concejal Knight. Secundado por el concejal Caraviello. ¿Es un asunto de una llamada de rollo? Sr. Clerk, por favor llame al rollo.
[Clerk]: Sí. Sí. Sí.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sí. Sí. Sí. Con un voto de siete, el afirmativo. Ninguno. La moción negativa se ordena 16 cero a una enmienda a los vitales para la división de funcionarios y empleados para un jefe de gabinete. Esto se produjo ante nosotros pertinentes a la creación del cargo de Jefe de Gabinete de la Administración. Fue antes que nosotros el 12 de enero. Fue presentado el 19 de enero. Después de la explicación, pasó la primera lectura. El 28 de enero, se anunció como su segunda lectura. Ahora es esta noche elegible para su tercera y última lectura. La silla espera una moción.
[Adam Knight]: Señor Presidente, nuevamente, esta legislación crearía el jefe de personal de posición y reorganizaría la oficina administrativa. Ha pasado por su primera lectura. Teníamos algunas preguntas. Si se respondieran las preguntas, me movería para su aprobación.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sobre la moción aprobada por el concejal Knight, el presidente reconoce al vicepresidente Hunko Kern.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Gracias, presidente Dello Russo. Con respecto a esta pregunta, creo que solicitamos solo una actualización con respecto a, creo que un par de nosotros investigamos algunas de las cifras para el jefe de personal en las comunidades circundantes. Y los 106,000 son algo que me sobresalió. Eso es casi tan cerca de lo que está haciendo el alcalde. Así que pedimos una comunicación del alcalde con respecto a, ya sabes, por qué esto, Esta posición estaba siendo financiada tan alta. Y luego tiene un director de presupuesto presupuestario de presupuesto de corte de Oficial de Adquisiciones, tomado en dos trabajos que están haciendo aproximadamente lo mismo, si no un poco menos que el Jefe de Gabinete. Así que me gustaría obtener una respuesta al respecto.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Creo que tuvimos una explicación del concejal Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Um, con el debido respeto al concejal, Sr. Presidente, si siente que el puesto está excesivo, esta es una legislación. Ella no puede enmendar la legislación mientras está en el piso. Um, lo hemos discutido. Creo que es un Es una buena posición, es una posición necesaria, es una posición requerida, señor presidente, y yo apoyo el asunto de todo corazón.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: No, me alegro de que lo haga. No es que no apoye la posición o la reorganización, solo creo que los 106,000, al igual que muchas personas, creen que podría ser un poco alta para una posición como esta en una ciudad como esta. Solo estamos buscando alguna explicación. ¿Esta persona trabajará más de 40 horas? We did get the job description. Creo que una de las descripciones de trabajo, ¿Fue que esa persona estaría frente al Ayuntamiento? Todavía tenemos que ver a esa persona en una reunión del consejo o incluso en un comité de toda la reunión. Entonces, ya sabes, ¿cuál es exactamente el razonamiento para los cien? Es una cantidad tan exorbitante de dinero. Una vez más, cuando tenemos personas que toman trabajos dobles y hacen menos que eso, simplemente no veo, solo me gustaría una aclaración al respecto.
[George Scarpelli]: Bueno, tal vez un punto de información, el concejal Scarpelli. Simplemente me estoy aclarando una pregunta, pero creo que fue el director de personal del personal del personal. Correcto. Entonces son dos trabajos. Correcto. Bien, eso es todo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Gracias. Gracias, concejal. Tal vez el Director de Presupuesto y Personal, Director de Presupuesto, Pro Tempore, que está con nosotros, que está con nosotros, puede arrojar algo de luz sobre este asunto. EM. Miller, Bonsoir. La pregunta del concejal fue una investigación. No sé si fue respondido o incluso se solicitó formalmente a modo de resolución, pero con respecto al nivel de salario para el Jefe de Gabinete, Lo que abarca el jefe de personal y la política para el alcalde, así como, como asuntos de gestión del personal. Um, uh, la pregunta que tenía el concejal era que, uh, sintió que, uh, el salario era alto.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: Um, el puesto es director de personal y director de política. Y, um, no obtuve una resolución con respecto a una comparación salarial. No sé si la oficina del alcalde, recibir eso. Respondimos las preguntas que recibimos, y no sé cuál sería la comparación aquí ahora mismo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Gracias. Bueno, tenemos una moción de aprobación que ha sido secundada por el concejal Caraviello. ¿El concejal Falco deseaba hablar sobre este asunto?
[John Falco]: No, en realidad, el Sr. Scarpelli hizo el punto de que iba a hacer básicamente que son dos posiciones. Creo que eso probablemente justifica el salario, al igual que el nuevo y nuevo puesto de adquisición. Son dos posiciones también que una persona está despegando. Por eso creo que esa es la justificación para la célula superior. Gracias.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sobre la moción de aprobación, Sr. Clerk, llame al rollo.
[Clerk]: Sí. Sí. No. Sí.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sí, con un voto de 6 en lo afirmativo, 1 en lo negativo, se ordena el asunto. 16-022, Enmienda al Artículo 5, División de Finanzas 2, Director de Adquisiciones. El asunto apareció ante nosotros el 12 de enero y fue presentada. El 19 de enero, pasó su primera lectura. Fue anunciado el 28 para una segunda lectura. y está antes que nosotros para una tercera y última lectura esta noche. La silla espera el movimiento.
[Adam Knight]: Nuevamente, Sr. Presidente, esta fue una reorganización de la oficina administrativa. Establecería un director de adquisiciones y también permitiría que el director de adquisiciones continúe en su papel como director de presupuesto. Me muevo para su aprobación, señor presidente. Apoya el papel.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sobre la moción de aprobación del concejal Knight, secundada por el concejal Falco. Sr. Clerk, por favor llame al rollo.
[Clerk]: Sí. Sí.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sí, con un voto de siete en lo afirmativo, ninguno en negativo, se ordena la moción. 16-023, Enmienda del Capítulo 66, Personal, Artículo 2, Compensación de no unión, apareció ante nosotros el 12 de enero, presentada el 19 de enero, pasada por primera lectura, 28 de enero, como se anunció para Second Reading, ahora antes que nosotros para la acción. Esto estaba en ... Estableciendo las clasificaciones de personal, creo en el puesto. Eso es lo que era, las clasificaciones.
[Adam Knight]: El otro con respecto al tiempo de vacaciones ya se aprobó. Entonces la silla espera una moción. Sr. Presidente, este era un documento que asignaría clasificaciones de pago de empleados para los puestos que acabamos de crear. El Sr. Presidente se mueve para su aprobación.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Moción de aprobación del concejal Knight, UH, secundada por el concejal Caraviello. Sr. Clerk, por favor llame al rollo.
[Clerk]: Sí.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sí.
[Clerk]: Sí. Sí.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sí. Con un voto de 70 afirmativos, ninguno en negativo. Uh, se ordena la moción. Felicitaciones, Sr. Solicitor.
[Mark Rumley]: Uh, sí, señor presidente, miembros del consejo. Solo quería agradecerte. Estoy muy feliz de que haya pasado por sus tres lecturas. Pensé que ese era un buen gobierno y, uh, Solo quería agradecer al consejo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Gracias. Gracias.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: Gracias también.
[Adam Knight]: Moción para volver al orden regular de los negocios.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sr. Presidente Sobre la moción de la noche del consejo para volver a la orden regular de los negocios. Todos los que están a favor, todos los opuestos llevan 16-cero 62 ofrecidos por el vicepresidente Lungo-Koehn se resolverán que la administración proporcione a este Ayuntamiento métrico con las actas de cada una de las reuniones públicas celebradas. Señora Vicepresidenta.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Gracias, presidente Dello Russo. Me gustaría ver si podríamos obtener las actas, si se toman minutos para todas las reuniones públicas. Sé que ha habido reuniones con respecto a la recreación. Sé que ha habido reuniones con respecto a Haines Square que se celebró en la Escuela Primaria Roberts la semana pasada. También sé que estás presidiendo un montón de reuniones tú mismo, señor presidente. Parece esto, Tres o cuatro reuniones se realizan por semana, que quiero felicitar al alcalde por hacer. Creo que es genial obtener información de la comunidad. Creo que es algo que los consejos siempre piden más aportes comunitarios o comentarios comerciales. Sé que en el pasado hemos pedido más aportes públicos antes de los estacionamientos y antes de firmar el contrato de gestión de residuos. Así que definitivamente es algo que creo que es un paso positivo. Es algo que obviamente no todos podemos hacer, los siete concejales no podemos hacer cada reunión. Yo mismo, es difícil, ya sabes, así que me gustaría ver qué está pasando, qué están pidiendo nuestros constituyentes, las preocupaciones, los intereses de, ya sabes, a todos los que asisten a esas reuniones y ven cuán detallados son las actas. De cualquier manera, ya sean detallados o no, aún sería muy útil para nosotros haciendo nuestros votos en el futuro y, ya sabes, descubriendo Esta noche tuvimos una reunión con respecto a los objetivos a las 6 p.m. Por lo tanto, nos ayudaría a promover esa discusión sobre los objetivos. Y, ya sabes, siempre es bueno obtener información pública. Entonces, ya sabes, los correos electrónicos y las llamadas telefónicas que recibimos son muy útiles. Pero si hay, ya sabes, varias personas que van a cada una de estas reuniones que hacen una serie de recomendaciones, me encantaría poder digerirlo todo, tenerlo en el paquete del viernes, ya sabes, después de cada semana para que podamos, ya sabes, ya sabes, Manténgalos juntos y descubra cómo vamos a avanzar. Por lo tanto, solicito que si hay minutos, si nos podían enviarnos semanalmente o quincenalmente para que podamos recopilar esa información y moverse en consecuencia.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Para su información, Madame Vicepresident, todos se publican de manera inteligente en la página web de la ciudad.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: ¿Ya?
[Fred Dello Russo]: Progreso.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: ¿Aproximadamente cuánto tiempo se tarda en publicar? No sé. Oh, no los he visto. Allá. Están ahí. Lindo.
[George Scarpelli]: Consejero Scott. Gracias. Es mi pregunta, señor presidente.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Gracias. Entonces, en la moción de aprobación del vicepresidente, todos los que están a favor. Soy solo todos los opuestos. Me encantaría un café. Felicidades. 16-Zero 63 ofrecido por el vicepresidente Lungo-Koehn. Mientras que, A la luz de la reciente amenaza de bomba en la Escuela Secundaria Medford y las numerosas quejas de los padres que no fueron notificados hasta después de que terminó el día escolar, ya sea resuelto que el Comité Escolar de Medford busque sus políticas y procedimientos, y si sucede en el futuro, que el departamento escolar alerta de inmediato, incluso si no se considera una amenaza baja de barra, por lo que cada padre puede decidir si no quieren que su hijo complete el día de inmediato, el día, incluso se considera que no se puede ver. El presidente reconoce al vicepresidente Mungo Kern.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Gracias, presidente.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Consejero Falco.
[John Falco]: Sé que este es un problema muy emotivo como padre, pero mañana por la noche habrá una reunión en Medford High School con respecto a esto aquí con el Superintendente, el Jefe de Policía, el Comité Escolar de Medford, que son las personas responsables de todas las políticas y procedimientos con respecto a la seguridad escolar. Y creo que es, me gustaría hacer una moción en la mesa porque creo que es importante que tengan su reunión primero Antes de seguir el camino de especular y debatir sobre lo que sucedió, cómo debería suceder. Hay protocolos en su lugar. Y creo que deberíamos saber de la administración escolar antes de seguir el camino de debatir esto. Me gustaría escucharlos primero y escuchar exactamente lo que pasó.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Estoy haciendo un gesto a la mesa. El movimiento de la tabla no se puede hacer.
[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.