[Fred Dello Russo]: A sexta reunião regular da cidade de Medford, em 9 de fevereiro de 2016, será lançada. Sr. Clerk, ligue para o rolo.
[Clerk]: Diretor de Caraviello. Presente. Diretor Falco. Presente. Diretor de Caballero. Presente. Vice -presidente de Leclerc. Presente. Marca conselheiro. Presente. Diretor Scampelli. Presente. Presidente do Russo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Presente. Sete membros presentes, nove, nenhum ausente. Por favor, levante a bandeira.
[Clerk]: Ela reconhece a conselheira Knight pela suspensão das regras.
[Adam Knight]: Pegue os documentos 1602, 16021, 16022, 16023. Todos os documentos são elegíveis para sua terceira leitura em relação à reorganização dos escritórios administrativos.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sobre a moção de suspensão das regras para remover os documentos acima mencionados da tabela para aprovação, todos a favor dos favoritos? Desculpe, 16-020, a emenda do artigo quatro, oficiais e funcionários, a divisão Cuatro, advogada da cidade, foi apresentada para sua introdução em 12, PAST PRIMEIRA READOR, 19 de janeiro. E ele anunciou sua segunda leitura em 28 de janeiro, elegível hoje à noite para sua terceira e última leitura. Isto é, a restauração de um tesouro do tempo, uma nomeação do movimento de peso do advogado da cidade.
[Adam Knight]: Hum, Sr. Presidente, acredito que isso importa que os S apresentem o prefeito seja relativamente cortado e seco. O que é esta questão é que o advogado da cidade oferece ao Código de Nomeação de dois anos com a administração. O jornal passou por suas duas primeiras leituras, Sr. Presidente. Se houver alguém na platéia que gostaria de falar, acho que deveríamos dar a eles a oportunidade. E se algum dos conselheiros quiser falar sobre isso, é assim. Mas eu me moveria para aprovação.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Uma moção de aprovação do conselheiro Knight. Destacado pelo conselheiro Caraviello. É uma questão de uma chamada? Sr. Clerk, ligue para o rolo.
[Clerk]: Sim. Sim. Sim.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sim. Sim. Sim. Com um voto de sete, afirmativo. Nenhum. O movimento negativo é ordenado 16 zero a uma emenda aos vitais para a divisão de funcionários e funcionários de um chefe de gabinete. Isso ocorreu diante de nós pertinentes à criação da posição do gabinete do chefe de administração. Foi antes de nós em 12 de janeiro. Foi apresentado em 19 de janeiro. Após a explicação, a primeira leitura passou. Em 28 de janeiro, foi anunciado como sua segunda leitura. Agora é elegível hoje à noite para sua terceira e última leitura. A cadeira aguarda uma moção.
[Adam Knight]: Sr. Presidente Novamente, essa legislação criaria o cargo de pessoal de posição e reorganizaria o Escritório Administrativo. Ele passou por sua primeira leitura. Tivemos algumas perguntas. Se as perguntas fossem respondidas, eu mudaria para aprovação.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Na moção aprovada pelo conselheiro Knight, o presidente reconhece o vice -presidente Hunko Kern.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Obrigado, presidente do Russo. Em relação a essa pergunta, acho que solicitamos apenas uma atualização em relação, acho que alguns de nós investigaram alguns dos números do chefe de pessoal nas comunidades vizinhas. E os 106.000 são algo que se destacou. Isso é quase tão perto do que o prefeito está fazendo. Então, pedimos uma comunicação do prefeito em relação a, você sabe, por que isso, Esta posição estava sendo financiada tão alta. E então ele tem um diretor de orçamento para o orçamento de corte do oficial de aquisição, tomado em dois trabalhos que estão fazendo aproximadamente os mesmos, se não um pouco menos que o chefe do gabinete. Então, eu gostaria de obter uma resposta sobre isso.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Eu acho que tivemos uma explicação do conselheiro Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Hum, com o devido respeito ao conselheiro, Sr. Presidente, se ele sentir que a posição é excessiva, isso é uma legislação. Ela não pode alterar a legislação enquanto estava no chão. Hum, discutimos isso. Eu acho que é um É uma boa posição, é uma posição necessária, é uma posição necessária, Sr. Presidente, e eu apoio a questão de todo o meu coração.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Não, estou feliz por fazer. Não é que ele não apóie a posição ou a reorganização, só acredito que os 106.000, como muitas pessoas, acreditam que poderia ser um pouco alto para uma posição como se estivesse em uma cidade como essa. Estamos apenas procurando alguma explicação. Essa pessoa trabalhará mais de 40 horas? Nós conseguimos a descrição do trabalho. Eu acho que uma das descrições de trabalho, Essa pessoa estava em frente ao Conselho da Cidade? Ainda temos que ver essa pessoa em uma reunião do conselho ou mesmo em um comitê de toda a reunião. Então, você sabe, qual é exatamente o raciocínio para as cem? É uma quantia tão exorbitante de dinheiro. Mais uma vez, quando temos pessoas que aceitam empregos duplos e fazem menos do que isso, eu simplesmente não vejo, gostaria apenas de um esclarecimento sobre isso.
[George Scarpelli]: Bem, talvez um ponto de informação, o conselheiro Scarpelli. Estou simplesmente esclarecendo uma pergunta, mas acho que foi a equipe da equipe da equipe. Correto. Depois, há dois empregos. Correto. Bem, isso é tudo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Obrigado. Obrigado, conselheiro. Talvez o diretor de orçamento e pessoal, diretor de orçamento, Pro Tempore, que está conosco, que está conosco, possa lançar alguma luz sobre esse assunto. Em. Miller, Bonsoir. A pergunta do conselheiro foi uma investigação. Não sei se foi respondido ou mesmo formalmente solicitado como uma resolução, mas com relação ao nível salarial do chefe do gabinete, Que abrange o chefe de pessoal e a política para o prefeito, bem como, como o gerenciamento de pessoal é importante. A pergunta do conselheiro era que, sentiu que o salário era alto.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: Hum, o cargo é diretor de funcionários e diretor de políticas. And, UM, I did not obtain a resolution regarding a salary comparison. Não sei se o escritório do prefeito, Receber isso. Respondemos às perguntas que recebemos e não sei qual seria a comparação aqui agora.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Obrigado. Bem, temos uma moção de aprovação que foi apoiada pelo conselheiro Caraviello. O conselheiro Falco queria falar sobre esse assunto?
[John Falco]: Não, na realidade, Scarpelli fez questão de que basicamente seria duas posições. Eu acho que provavelmente justifica o salário, como o novo e aquisição. Eles também são duas posições que uma pessoa está decolando. É por isso que acho que essa é a justificativa para a célula superior. Obrigado.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Na moção de aprovação, Sr. Clerk, ligue para o rolo.
[Clerk]: Sim. Sim. Não. Sim.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sim, com um voto de 6 afirmativamente, 1 no negativo, o assunto é ordenado. 16-022, Emenda ao Artigo 5, Divisão de Finanças 2, Diretor de Aquisição. O assunto apareceu diante de nós em 12 de janeiro e foi apresentado. Em 19 de janeiro, ele passou sua primeira leitura. Foi anunciado em 28 para uma segunda leitura. E está diante de nós para uma terceira e última leitura hoje à noite. A cadeira aguarda o movimento.
[Adam Knight]: Novamente, Sr. Presidente, isso foi uma reorganização do Escritório Administrativo. Ele estabeleceria um diretor de aquisição e também permitiria que o diretor de aquisição continuasse em seu cargo de diretor de orçamento. Eu me mudei para aprovação, Sr. Presidente. Apoie o papel.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sobre a moção de aprovação do conselheiro Knight, apoiado pelo conselheiro Falco. Sr. Clerk, ligue para o rolo.
[Clerk]: Sim. Sim.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sim, com um voto de sete afirmativamente, nenhum negativo, a moção é ordenada. 16-023, Emenda ao Capítulo 66, Pessoal, Artigo 2, Compensação da Unión, apareceu diante de nós em 12 de janeiro, apresentado em 19 de janeiro, aprovou para a primeira leitura, 28 de janeiro, conforme anunciado para a segunda leitura, agora diante de uma ação. Isso estava em ... Estabelecendo classificações de pessoal, acredito na posição. Isso é o que era, as classificações.
[Adam Knight]: O outro em relação ao tempo de férias já foi aprovado. Então a cadeira aguarda uma moção. Sr. Presidente, este era um documento que atribui classificações de pagamento dos funcionários para os cargos que acabamos de criar. O Sr. Presidente se move para aprovação.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Moção de aprovação do conselheiro Knight, UH, destacado pelo conselheiro Caraviello. Sr. Clerk, ligue para o rolo.
[Clerk]: Sim.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sim.
[Clerk]: Sim. Sim.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sim. Com um voto de 70 afirmativo, nenhum negativo. Uh, o movimento é ordenado. Parabéns, Sr. Parente.
[Mark Rumley]: Sim, Sr. Presidente, membros do Conselho. Eu só queria agradecer. Estou muito feliz por ele ter passado por suas três leituras. Eu pensei que era um bom governo e uh, Eu só queria agradecer ao conselho.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Obrigado. Obrigado.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: Obrigado também.
[Adam Knight]: Moção para retornar à ordem comercial regular.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Sr. Presidente, sob a moção da noite do conselho, para retornar à ordem comercial regular. Todos os que são a favor, todos os opostos foram oferecidos pelo vice-presidente Lungo-Koehn 162 será resolvido que o governo fornece essa prefeitura métrica com a ata de cada uma das reuniões públicas realizadas. Vice -presidente da senhora.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Obrigado, presidente do Russo. Gostaria de ver se poderíamos obter os minutos, se eles levarem minutos para todas as reuniões públicas. Eu sei que houve reuniões sobre recreação. Eu sei que houve reuniões com relação à Haines Square, realizada na Roberts Elementary School na semana passada. Eu também sei que você está presidindo muitas reuniões, Sr. Presidente. Parece Três ou quatro reuniões são realizadas por semana, o que eu quero parabenizar o prefeito. Eu acho ótimo obter informações da comunidade. Eu acho que é algo que os conselhos sempre pedem mais contribuições da comunidade ou comentários comerciais. Sei que, no passado, pedimos mais contribuições públicas antes de estacionar e antes de assinar o contrato de gerenciamento de resíduos. Então, é definitivamente algo que eu acho que é um passo positivo. É algo que, obviamente, nem todos podem fazer, os sete conselheiros não podem fazer cada reunião. Eu mesmo, é difícil, você sabe, então gostaria de ver o que está acontecendo, quais são nossos constituintes, as preocupações, os interesses de, você sabe, a todos aqueles que participam dessas reuniões e veem quão detalhados são os minutos. Enfim, detalhado ou não, ainda seria muito útil para fazer nossos votos no futuro e, você sabe, descobrir Hoje à noite, tivemos uma reunião sobre os objetivos às 18h. Portanto, isso nos ajudaria a promover essa discussão sobre os objetivos. E, você sabe, é sempre bom obter informações públicas. Então, você sabe, e -mails e telefonemas que recebemos são muito úteis. Mas se houver, você sabe, várias pessoas que vão a cada uma dessas reuniões que fazem uma série de recomendações, eu adoraria poder digerir tudo, tê -lo no pacote de sexta -feira, você sabe, depois de cada semana para que possamos, você sabe, você sabe, você sabe Mantenha -os juntos e descubra como vamos avançar. Portanto, solicito que, se houver minutos, se pudéssemos nos enviar semanalmente ou quinzenalmente, para que possamos coletar essas informações e mover de acordo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Para obter informações, a vice -presidente da Madame é publicada de maneira inteligente no site da cidade.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Progresso.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Quanto tempo leva para publicar? Não sei. Oh, eu não os vi. Lá. Eles estão lá. Legal.
[George Scarpelli]: Scott Advisor. Obrigado. É a minha pergunta, Sr. Presidente.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Obrigado. Então, na moção de aprovação do vice -presidente, todos que são a favor. Eu sou apenas todos opostos. Eu adoraria café. Parabéns. Zero 63 oferecido pelo vice-presidente Lungo-Koehn. Enquanto, À luz da recente ameaça de bomba na Medford High School e nas inúmeras queixas dos pais que não foram notificados até depois do dia escolar, se resolveram que o comitê escolar de Medford busca suas políticas e procedimentos e, se isso acontecer no futuro, que o departamento escolar alerta imediatamente imediatamente, o dia, é considerado que isso não pode ser visto. O presidente reconhece o vice -presidente Mungo Kern.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Obrigado, presidente.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Diretor Falco.
[John Falco]: Sei que este é um problema muito emocional como pai, mas amanhã à noite haverá uma reunião na Medford High School com relação a isso aqui com o superintendente, o chefe de polícia, o Comitê da Escola de Medford, que são as pessoas responsáveis por todas as políticas e procedimentos em relação à segurança escolar. E acho que é, gostaria de fazer uma moção na mesa porque acho importante que eles tenham o encontro primeiro Antes de seguir o caminho de especular e discutir o que aconteceu, como isso deve acontecer. Existem protocolos. E acho que devemos saber sobre a administração da escola antes de seguir o caminho de discutir isso. Eu gostaria de ouvi -los primeiro e ouvir exatamente o que aconteceu.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Estou fazendo um gesto para a mesa. O movimento da tabela não pode ser feito.
[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.