AI-generated transcript of Medford City Council - March 3, 2015

[Fred Dello Russo]: The seventh regular meeting of the Medford City Council will come to order. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.

[Clerk]: Councilor Camuccio? Present. Councilor Caraviello? Present. Councilor Knight? Present. Vice President Leonard Kern? Present. Councilor Marks? Present. Councilor Penta? Present. President Dello Russo?

[Fred Dello Russo]: Present. Seven present, none absent. Please rise to salute the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Chair, I clarify, is this Councilor Camuso?

[Paul Camuso]: I'd like to move suspension of the rules, Mr. President. Rule number 33, to take a petition from Amici, as well as Ms. McAbrek, who has a presentation.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Very good. On the motion of Councilor Camuso to take those papers out of order. All those in favor? All those opposed? 15-085, petition by May McEbrech, 16 Glenwood Ave, Medford to address the Council about Chevalier Theatre's 75th anniversary concert, Saturday, March 7th, 2015. Ms. McEbrech. And for the benefit of the viewing public at home and those present here tonight, I've just been reminded by Councilor Penta that we're under a snow emergency right now in the city of Medford. Ma'am, if you would, please state your name and address for the record.

[May Marquebreuck]: Yes, May Markeybrook, 16 Glenwood Ave., Medford. Good evening, President Dello Russo and members of the council. Tonight I'm here representing the committee who is organizing the 75th anniversary of the celebration, and the celebration of the Shroudier Theatre. Members of the committee are Tom Kozachek, Ken Kraus, John Kostas, and Cindy Watson, and out of town at the moment is Susan Fairchild. First of all, I wish to extend our condolences to Joe Grandi and his family on the recent passing of Geraldine Grandi. Jerry served as chairperson of the Shrouded Commission for 35 years and loved the theater. In this time, she worked tirelessly to rehabilitate the building, to bring it to the present first class, theater that it is today. We'll be thinking about Jerry on Saturday when we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the dedication of the Method High School Auditorium. On March 7, 1940, city officials and citizens came together to name the auditorium in memory of Lieutenant Commander Godfrey Chevalier, who, remember, was a pioneer in naval aviation. and a war hero from Medford. One of his most important accomplishments was when he was the first aviator to land a plane on a moving ship. About a month after that event, unfortunately, Godfrey Chevalier was in an accident, a plane crash in Virginia, which resulted in his death at age 33. That was in 1922. We're proud of Godfrey Chevalier and of the history of the Chevalier Theatre. It has played an important role in this community. For 30 years, high school graduates walked across its stage to receive their diplomas. I can still remember my graduation. The auditorium was also a host to many civic events, pageants, and especially wonderful stage performances by the Medford-based Mystic Players. When the high school was relocated to Winthrop Street in 1970, the history and condition of the building changed dramatically. It was vacant, ignored, and fell into major disrepair. It was not until 1980 when the city of Medford the property owners of the building, upon receiving a $1.2 million grant from the State, established a Civic Auditorium and Convention Center Commission. Under the direction of this group of volunteers, major improvements such as an elevator, new lobby and restrooms, and a stair tower and stage right were made in compliance with ADA regulations. Additional funds from the Friends of Chevalier and Gene McJim, the City of Medford, have contributed to the rehabilitation, along with major funds secured by Representative Paul Donato, to replace the original wooden seats with comfortable cushion seats. The Chevalier Theatre is now a first-class performing arts center for the community to enjoy. For this 75th anniversary of Chevalier, several groups have collaborated in organizing and presenting a tribute to the theater. The Friends of Chevalier Auditorium and Gene McJim, City of Medford, the Chevalier Theatre Organ Society, and the Chevalier Auditorium Commission, and the Canadian American Club of Massachusetts. On this Saturday evening, a special concert will be presented at Chevalier to celebrate the history and survival of this important landmark in Medford. It will feature the music and magic of the Baron MacNeil Ensemble, Canada's Celtic ambassadors. Their performances include superb expertise of many instruments, beautiful singing in harmony, and step dancing. This talented musical family has been on tour extensively in Canada and on the international circuit. There will also be local talent in the concert, when students of the Jackie O'Reilly School of Dance will perform step dancing with Barbara McNeils. The doors will open for patrons at 6 p.m. to enjoy concessions with cash bars serving the famous Medford rum and South Boston Irish whiskey by our major sponsor, Grand 10 Distilling. Wine, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages will also be available until showtime at 7 p.m. This celebration could not happen without the generous support of the community, especially our sponsors, Grand Tent Distilling, Remax Realty Services, Members Plus Credit Union, Wynn Resorts Everett, Prioto Lane & Associates, and the Medford Arts Council, and all the businesses, groups, and individuals that purchased advertisements in the program book. We're most grateful to everyone who has made this event possible, especially to all the volunteers. I invite the community to join in this celebration by coming to the concert. Tickets can be purchased online at www.chevaliertheatre.com or at Medford Electronics, 25 Salem Street. Tickets are reasonably priced at $26 and $19 for students and seniors over 60. If you're planning to dine out before the show, local restaurants are offering discounts when you show your theater ticket. That will be at Carol's Restaurant, Snappy Patty, Ninja All-You-Can-Eat Sushi, and Salvatore's Restaurant. This will be a great evening of entertainment, so we hope you will join in this one-time milestone for this great asset here in our city. Thank you very much.

[Krause]: Thank you, May. If I could, Ken Krause, 50 Mystic Street, also a member of the committee. I'll be brief. Um, I was researching an article about the 40th, uh, the 75th anniversary of the, and, uh, the dedication and actually researching the actual dedication ceremony. And in my research, I was reading the Medford high school yearbook of 1940. And, um, I was struck by a paragraph that was written by the three members of the senior class, um, about the year, uh, actually their career at Medford high. And, um, in particular, the, um, opening of the new auditorium and gym. And I'd just like to read you that real quickly. It says, if you have ever moved into a new home shining and bright, you will understand our elation as we learn that the latest addition to our school is ready for occupancy. Of course, there are the usual classrooms, but the selections of the building which draw our attention are the completely equipped gymnasium and the magnificent auditorium. How proud we are to be the first class to hold our commencement exercises in that hall. I have often wondered if the citizens of Medford realize how appreciative we are of their efforts. At any rate, we feel sure that the sacrifice has not been made in vain. as testified by the goodly number of students with high scholastic standing." I was just really moved by how profound that sentiment was by three 17 or 18-year-old students who wrote that. And I think it just made me mindful of how appreciative we need to remain to be of those people 75 years ago that got this auditorium built and also of the citizens 35 years ago that made sure that it was preserved as an auditorium when it was this close to being converted into condos. So I just wanted to share that and encourage people to come to the theater if you've never been there or if it's been a long time since you've been there. And I'm sure you'll enjoy the concert, and I'm sure you'll come away with an appreciation for this gem of a facility that we have in Medford. Thank you. Thank you, Ken.

[Cindy Watson]: I'd just like to add one thing. Cindy Watson, 65 Valley Street, Medford. And I'm going to speak from the heart. As Ken said, Chevalier is a hidden gem. We've been to this podium a long time now. It's a 75-year anniversary. And if people don't get it, there's something wrong. It's the sixth largest theater in New England. It's huge for Medford. We generate a lot of revenue. And one of the things, too, that we really... We've been working on this since November. One of the things we thought it might be a nice prelude to St. Patrick's Day for Obviously, I'm Irish, but for those, you know, everybody celebrates St. Patrick's Day. So please come. The tickets are reasonably priced. We want people to be there, and people have worked diligently. So particularly the city councilors, we're asking you to really market this event. We're on the countdown. Saturday is around the corner, all right? So if we can't dazzle you with our brilliance, we'll baffle you with our blarney, okay? Come.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you very much. Yes, briefly, Councilor Marks. Thank you.

[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. And I'll be brief. I just want to thank the friends of Chevalier. I actually am a recent board member of Chevalier. And I can tell you firsthand the amount of time and effort that all these volunteers give to that organization, and to Chevalier, and to the fact that they've been working on this for the past four or five months to bring the Barry McNeils into the City of Method to have a great Celtic performance in this community, and also have it a night which people can go down and enjoy the fine dining in the square, enjoy the entertainment, and really bring some vibrance back into the square, You know, it's largely in part of the friends of Chevalier who keep the funding in to support that magnificent building. And I just want to personally thank them, Mr. President.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor Marks. And on the motion of Councilor Marks that this paper be received and placed on file. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. 15-087 petition for common vigilance license by Angelo Federico, president for Associazione Amici, Incorporated, 21 Reardon Road, Medford, Mass. Sir, your name and address for the record.

[SPEAKER_09]: Good evening, Mr. President, members of the council. John Guarnara, 130 South Street, Medford, representing the petitioner, Association Amici, Incorporated. By way of background, ladies and gentlemen, the organization is a very small cultural and social club, which is a nonprofit. Its club facilities are located at 21 Reardon Road, Redden Road, I found out after they contacted me, runs off Mystic Avenue between the Portland Group, which is a plumbing supply house, and the Nissan car group. So you've probably gone by it a million times and never realized it was there. It's located in an industrial area on an unaccepted street. There are two or three businesses in there currently. The organization inhabits a boat. 1,200 to 1,300 square feet, which was a build-out for them. As I indicated, they are very small in size, less than 100 members. Their primary function, actually, from what I understand, is that's a dining club. And once a month, the members will get together, a group will cook, and they'll enjoy an evening. And that basically comprises the extent of their social activities. At some point, we will be seeking a liquor license. And at that time, I'll come back before you to extend the hours. beyond that of a common patrol's license. I have three members of the board of directors and officers with me this evening. If you have any questions, I'll be more than happy to answer them for you. Thank you very much. Councilor Camuso.

[Paul Camuso]: Thank you, Mr. President. Just before I make a few comments and just in the interest of full disclosure, not only the attorney representing the clients this evening is a friend, but also my former employer for about two and a half months, about four years ago in 2010. November to roughly January of 2015 in the interest of full disclosure. And if I may, I think this is a real good organization. It's going to add to the diversity of our community. The gentlemen that are on the board certainly have been very enthusiastic about this over the past few years leading up to this great endeavor. And it's before us this evening. And this is something that I support wholeheartedly. Thank you.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Consular.

[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Caraviello, Chairman of the Licensing. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I have reviewed the papers and I have found everything in order. I've had the opportunity to speak with some of the members of the club. I've gone down there and toured the club and they've expressed their intent to get involved in the community, but with maybe some scholarships and be a real community organization. So I welcome them to the community. Thank you, Councilor.

[Robert Penta]: Thank you, Councilor Caraviello. Councilor Penta. Two questions, John. The first one is, you said there's about a hundred members?

[SPEAKER_09]: About a hundred members? There were 50 charter members, Councilor, and I believe now there are approximately 30 associate members, but well under a hundred. And you're going to have this get together once a month for this dinner or whatever it might be? Their main function will be a meeting and a dinner meeting once a month.

[Robert Penta]: The question I would have, where are they going to park their cars? Where are they going to park their cars? Are they going to infringe upon the neighborhood?

[SPEAKER_09]: On a Friday evening, the road is such that there'd be a very adequate space to park cars. There is one business in the area that is a dance studio that fronts on the parkway. There is a metal fabrication business that's open regular normal business hours. And at the other end, there is an electrical contractor who holds business hours. The road itself, which I indicated is non-accepted, provides a very vast area for parking at non-business hours, which would be typically the hours that members would be at this particular organization.

[Robert Penta]: And is this a reintroduction of the old Italian club that used to be on Up and South? Pardon me? Is this a reintroduction of the Italian club that used to be up on South Method? No, not at all.

[SPEAKER_09]: It's quite separate and distinct. Councilor?

[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor Penta. Lungo-Koehn on the motion of approval by Councilor Caraviello, Councilor Lungo-Koehn.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, President Dello Russo. If you can enlighten us, what else is involved in the membership? I'm sorry, Councilor. What else is involved in the membership? Why are they a non-for-profit?

[SPEAKER_09]: They receive non-profit status from the Internal Revenue Service after filing as a non-profit with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. And as you well know, Councilor, filing your article of organization with the internal revenue after about a 10-month period of time, if they deem you qualified, they will give you a non-profit status. Nobody has a pecuniary interest in the club. There is no profit to be made by any one individual in the club. Any monies that are generated will be used for charitable purposes.

[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you.

[Robert Penta]: Thank you. If that is all Councilor Penta. And one last thing, John, uh, on your page that you have coming back from the department of revenue and the letter of compliance, I'm sorry, on the letter that came back from the department of revenue that was submitted, the indicate you have no withholding, no sales and no room occupancy. Yeah.

[SPEAKER_09]: You have, you have the, you have the, uh, copy from the IRS and revenue. I filed it with my papers. Right. Yeah.

[Robert Penta]: But in that pipe that you filed, you're not being responsible for withholding sales in room and room.

[SPEAKER_09]: There are no employees.

[Robert Penta]: But what are you going to do if, in fact, in the future you said you folks are going to be applying possibly for a liquor license? Now, somebody has to pay for that. So are the members going to pay for that?

[SPEAKER_09]: Well, as I indicated, 500 members put up $500 was put up by 50 charter members to generate a flow of cash.

[Robert Penta]: I don't know. If you were to get a liquor license from the City and your members go there for an event, are they going to charge for the alcohol that they are going to be serving? Yes. Okay. Then you would have to come back and reapply for a sales tax provision as far as that part goes.

[SPEAKER_09]: From what I understand, a nonprofit pays a tax once a year. I know from other nonprofits that I have been involved So they would pay once a year, but that would be up to their accounting. I would never presume to give accounting or tax advice to a client. I'm not qualified. But it's my understanding that on the sale of alcohol, even in a nonprofit, they are required to pay a very small portion to the Commonwealth once a year. If, in fact, there were a hall rental, and this facility is not of the size to be rented, they would be required to pay it once a month. Okay, yeah.

[Michael Marks]: Thank you, if that's all, Councilor Matz? Yes, John, is the red, is that accessible by public safety vehicles?

[SPEAKER_09]: Yes. Yes, it is, Councilor. Okay. And I think the, I know we filed with both, as you're well aware, we filed with both the fire chief and with the police chief. And I believe they both signed off favorably on a petition.

[Michael Marks]: Okay. And the, uh, the original charter, uh, where, where was the original location for this club?

[SPEAKER_09]: This, this is, this is the original. So this is, this is the original. Yes. The, the articles of organization were filed, I believe in, uh, March of, uh, 2014, uh, with the, um, uh, Commonwealth of Massachusetts secretary of state corporations. It was a new group of people who got together and, uh, they filed a new corporation. And they got their response back from the Internal Revenue Service, I believe in October of 2014, giving them non-profit status. So this is a group, an original group in and of itself. It's not a successor group of any other.

[Michael Marks]: Okay, the reason why I ask, and I'm not sure if Councilor Penta was referring to that, is next to the old water and sewer building, the Italian American Club was there, as you probably are aware. for many years until it burned down. And, um, many of the organization members were trying to relocate back in the city here because their original charter was a method charter. And, um, I'm not sure if this organization, uh, if you have any affiliations with anyone from the Italian American club, but, um, I know there was a great interest to come back into the community. So I don't know if maybe at some point, There could be some discussions.

[SPEAKER_09]: Well, I'm sure, Councilor, if some of those members contacted the association or the club, they're more than happy to discuss that with them. They say the quarters are not very large, and there are under 100 members currently, but I'm sure they'd be amenable to talking to anybody interested in joining. I wish them well. Thank you. Thank you very much.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. On the motion of Councilor Caraviello for approval, all those in favour? All those opposed? Passes, congratulazione. Thank you, Mr. President, members of the council. 15-086, petition by Janelle Rocco, 17 Cobb Street, Medford, to address the city council about Medford overcoming addiction vigil, substance abuse community group. Ms. Rocco, please state your name and address for the record.

[SPEAKER_21]: Janelle Rocco, 17 Cobb Street of Medford. Good evening, council members. My name is Jean Rocco. I'm a proud, lifelong Medford resident. I attended Medford public schools all the way through my graduation from Medford High back in 2010. I have a lot of love for my city, so much that I recently started a community action group named Medford Overcoming Addiction. I started this group after I began researching what kinds of addiction resources and education Medford has to offer. To my disappointment, I found very little. There is nothing posted on the city's website about substance abuse or who to call if you have any questions or concerns regarding this issue. The site doesn't mention anything about Families Anonymous, a support group that has met weekly in Medford for many years. This is important information for the public to know. This information should be easily accessible for the community. To be honest, I wasn't entirely shocked by this. I feel like when it comes to substance abuse, everything tends to be swept under the rug. It's easier to ignore than to deal with the issue. After researching, I decided I wanted some answers. I sent a couple of emails to the mayor and then also to the same emails to the secretaries in his office. I did get a response from Lisa Evangelista, who was very helpful and forwarded my email to Penny from Team Medford. That is when I had my first meeting with Penny. I told her all of my concerns and what I would like to do in Medford to help raise awareness, educate the masses, and break the stigma. Our first event was a community meeting where over 30 people from Medford and the surrounding cities came to share their stories and to find out what they can do to address the issue in Medford. Many people in Medford have been affected by this disease, including myself. It's everywhere, and it does not discriminate against age, gender, race, or income. No one is exempt. Whether people choose to believe it or not, Medford does have a drug issue. It's time that it is brought into light, and we do something about it. The entire community, city officials, law enforcement and its members must work together on this issue. We can do better. We feel the first step in this battle is to heal those wounded hearts amongst us who've lost loved ones to addiction. We must say to them, your loved one mattered to this city. So I'm here today to invite you to a truly community-oriented candlelight vigil being held by Medford Overcoming Addiction in partnership with Team Medford. The vigil will be held on Sunday, March 22nd from 5 to 7 p.m. right here in these very chambers. We've been working very hard planning this event. Prior to the vigil, we will be holding a nasal Narcan training and presentation for anyone in need of this life-saving drug. The vigil program will include, most importantly, the names of those lost to this disease of addiction. We will also have some Medford residents that are living in long-term recovery share their stories. Local resident and recovery-based poet Matthew Ganim will be sharing one of his hope-inspiring poems. Families Anonymous will have two families from their group speaking as well. Many people from the community have volunteered their time to help with this event, and we would like it if you could all attend the vigil in support of our community group, the Fight Against Addiction, and of those families who have lost a loved one to this disease. With me here is Medford resident John Garrity. John and his family have been tremendously affected by this disease. This is a very difficult time for the Garrity family, for Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the death of their son, Jay, who lost his life to this disease at the young age of 30. I would like to take the time and express our condolences to John and the Garrity family. John would also like to say a few brief words.

[SPEAKER_02]: John Gavity, 61 Clifton street, Medford. Um, the comments that Janelle made are profound and honest. I think there is, uh, within this council, I see, you know, people that I know are good people, good Councilors. My family's been here for almost 150 years. I know the politics of the town. I know the people of the town. Uh, Frederick Dello Russo's a legacy is Frederick Dello Russo senior was here in the seventies. He served on this council. He served admirably. Robert Penta has been here 35 years. I remember him when I was 15 years old, dedicated to the public. Here's a guy who he can show you the scars, uh, for the things he's fought for, for the city. The Camuso family I know well. It's a good family, homegrown. He's a star. His star's on the rise. Mr. Marks and Mr. Calviello I don't know well. Brianna Luongo I know has a very good reputation and is fighting for good things for the city. Just to mention some people from the other side, from the school committee. School committee member George Scarpelli is a dedicated guy, an honest, good person for the city, a mentor, a great coach. Robert Skerry, family's been here forever, another homegrown person. So there is a lot of caring in the city, although it doesn't look like it. And the reason for that, I believe, is there are blind spots here. So if we took the cemetery and the white stones that mark the graves of veterans, if we went up and said, okay, we're gonna put blue stones for the citizens who've died from heroin overdose, you'd be shocked. Driving through there, you'd be horrified. And it's not because this council doesn't care. It's not because Mayor McGlynn doesn't care. He's a great leader also. He's a legacy, been here 25 years or whatever. It's not that Chief Leo Sacco doesn't care. He's a tremendous, you could not find a better chief of police if you search the entire nation, a more committed professional. But what does happen is the deaths of these people are not communicated to you. You don't know. If we brought in crash dummies and piled up the bodies, you would be shocked. How many of you know how many people, how many kids in the city have died in the last 18 months from heroin? Does anybody know? Because you haven't been told and you look callous. What you need to know is that I've lost my son. These people have lost people and we all vote. We all know what's going on and we know what's not going on. So it does have an impact on you eventually. And believe me when I say this, I don't blame any of you. I know that you don't know. It's a blind spot in the system. It's a blind spot with the police. It's a blind spot with the school committee. It's a blind spot with you guys. But there are a lot of dead people in Medford from this one drug. And I'm going to say to you that these are not, although heroin and drug abuse affects crime, it affects public health, it affects all of these things, what you don't realize today is that this is, there are functioning heroin addicts. This is a drug now that people function every day. One of you could be a heroin addict, and the other people wouldn't know it, not for a long time. And this is a disease, I guess, that I take great umbrage with the word addiction, because that's used politically as a way to say your fault. and it's really not that way, and it's done that way whether it's gambling or anything that they want to put on the individual. These are not addicts, they are dependent. People will say to you, I had a man say to me, I bought some balloons for my son's event, and he said to me, well, you know, he made a choice. Well, let me tell you, the choice that you make with heroin is the first one, okay? Because what this drug does is it hijacks the part of your brain that you use to eat. How long do you think you could go without eating? It's not a just say, no, that's an addict. He should stop. He made choices. And recently, I'm going to tell you about the word choice. Recently, I walk my dog in the woods every day and there's a lot of community in there. And recently I've heard things like when a police officer gets shot or the Ferguson situation comes up, people saying, well, that guy's not a hero. He made a choice to be a police officer. So that's his job. Tough luck for him. That's what happens when you start saying, well, He made a choice or she made a choice. Be very, very careful of the word choice because then we start to put it on everybody. And as far as addiction as a word, if you look up the definition of addiction, and I don't mean this to be fresh or funny, but Mr. Penter could be an addict for politics. He's been doing this a long time. He keeps going back no matter how much he suffers. And others could be. But my point is that there needs to be a mechanism and a liaison, maybe another committee, where you are kept up to date and monitored how many deaths are happening from these drugs. Because what you have is an epidemic, or what you have had is an epidemic. And I could make the argument, pretty convincingly, that They're not victims of heroin. They're victims of manslaughter at best, and at worst, premeditated murder, because these drugs are mixed with something that's going to kill them that they have no control over in a premeditated way. So what happens in Europe and Canada is they offer injections to addicts or dependent drug users, and they come into a clinic and they get an injection of the heroin or whatever they were, you know, they use different types of morphine. But the point is it becomes controlled. So when you have an epidemic and you have bodies in the streets that you don't know about, and you have devastated families in your own community while you guys sit here and, you know, look at issues about water, sewers, and these kinds of things, There has to be a mechanism to say, OK, we've got an epidemic, and we need to set up a way to get these addicts to stop buying street heroin. And whether you use that mechanism or some other, most of the remedies that are out there now have not worked. But because you guys don't know, you simply don't know. I mean, how do you feel? You have students, you have members of your community dead, families devastated. That's why I'm here. And you don't even know. And I feel for you guys because I can see it on your faces. I can see the question mark saying, why don't we know? It's not Chief Sackler's fault. It's not your fault. It's not the public's fault. But these things have to be known. It's something that has to be monitored. It has to be reported. And there has to be something in place to say, OK, we've got to save some of these people. And the people that 50% of the heroin users inject heroin. So you have a program in place for methadone, for example, that they drink. Well, it does no good. Because if you've injected heroin, there is nothing like this. Nothing. Nothing. It's like going back to the womb. So there's no other program that's going to help. So what they've discovered in Europe and Canada, they have to inject them. You need to fight heroin with heroin while you try to make them better. But nobody can fight anything if the leaders of our community, and I know you guys are dedicated, I know you are, but you don't know how can you help. That's how I feel about it. I have, you know, I found out I was speaking today, just last night, so forgive me for being unprepared. But I'm going to close, and I thank you so much for your time, with a simple maxim from addiction. And it is, I'm not telling you it's going to be easy. I'm telling you it's going to be worth it to your community. Thank you so much.

[SPEAKER_18]: My name's Deborah Garrity, 61 Clifton Street, Medford, and Jay Garrity was my son, is my son, and he'll be gone for one year, in two days. And I just want to ask you to please help us, because I don't want any other parent to go through what my family has gone through. And his disease was just such a small part of who he was. And he hated it. He hated it. And he would say to me, Mom, I hate this. What am I going to do? And he tried to do everything. And he was working in his program, and he was clean, and I'll never know why he relapsed. But as my husband said, heroin is something that Once you make that first choice, it's no longer a choice. And I'm here just to ask for your help so that other families don't feel the agony that if you've never lost a child, and I hope none of you ever have or ever will, it's unbearable. And I'm praying that no one, no mom ever has to again. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_20]: Hi. My name is Diane Butler. I live in Medford. And after that, I have to thank my parents. I am the face of a mother whose son, who struggles with addiction, And let me tell everybody, it is the worst thing in the world. I have seen the highs of it, and I have seen the lows. Recently, I was the top story my son was. Addiction and crime go together. But I am the face of what it looks like. I have three great daughters. I have a great husband, great foundation he had, great school, scholarship, lost it all. Nobody knows what it's like when you have a son or a daughter who's addicted to drugs, what it's like to pray that you don't get that phone call that your son or daughter is dead. Or from the police saying, you know what? We picked him up because he committed a crime. And then you're reversed, too. Thank God he's alive. And my condolences go to the Garrity family. It's a stigma that goes along with it, the shame, the guilt, the sadness, the sleepless, many, many sleepless nights. I believe we need to educate this, starting from the law enforcement. And I'm sorry. I have been on both sides of the spectrum. I've watched my son almost to the point where he was dead. And there were times, dear God in heaven, where I said, you know what? If this is the life he's going to live, So be it. Nobody knows. We all sit up here, and if I was to bet nine out of ten of you know someone in your family who struggles with addiction or someone who is affected by this disease, it destroys everything in its path. And we as a community need to come together and do something. The junkie stigma, everything that goes along with it, it's not always the case. There are families, brothers, sisters, mothers who sit back and pray. And when I tell you, for me to sit up here, people say, you're so strong. I'm strong because someone needs to be. I love my son. And I would do anything for him. And if it means we as a community come together, then we need to. If it's not, can. Do you know a firefighter said to me, we don't go to calls anymore. The majority of our calls are due to, because the kid's overdosing. And I'm sure if we had this into play, we could save a life. It's true. We all have this blank stare on our face. And it's like, you know, I could walk away I'm just going to be that junkie's mother to many. But I can tell you, I'm the lucky one. He's alive right now, and I know where he is. And I will keep fighting, and I will keep fighting till every last breath that I have to make sure that someone, and I commend Janelle. She's a 23-year-old young girl taking a stand to do this. 23, and we're all sitting here. Come on. This is no secret to anybody. We know about what's going on, and we need to come together. We need to band together and do something, because I am tired of sitting back and watching not only myself, but my family just going through a living hell. And that's what it is. And there are success stories here, too. So it can be done, but we need to work together on this. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_22]: I just want to thank you all for listening to these stories and to what we all had to say tonight. And I hope to see you all at the vigil on March 22nd. Thank you.

[Paul Camuso]: Thank you, Mr. President. And first of all, I want to applaud Janelle for really taking a leadership role on this. As we all look around this community, People are struggling out there. People are in pain. You know, this is coming from someone that's an alcoholic in recovery. I struggle every day not to pick up a drink so I can be a better father, a better husband, a better wife. And I know the pain people are in, Mr. President, because at the end of my drinking, the choice was the booze and not the family and everything else out there that an average person would realize and hit head on. These people are out there, and they're using because they're in pain and they're suffering. And this is a disease. You put it in your system, you put it in your system, and it calls for another. And this is in my particular matter of alcoholism. It's not a normal person just having a drink. It calls for another and another and another and another. And a few weeks ago, when I brought the task force commission forward, for the city of Medford to actually get behind this and take a leadership role. Many people ask me why I was so upset with Mayor McGlynn over calling a press conference just to stump the council and to put it ahead of the council. And I think you can all see why, why I was so upset. Knowing what I go through on a daily basis when I try to do a meeting every single day when I don't have stuff going on. I got people right now texting me that I consider my friends from my AA meetings right now. telling me this takes a lot of guts to do this right now. But you know what? I'm not proud of being an alcoholic. I'm proud of being someone in recovery. It's not what we chose. It's not what we chose. On any given day, too, I'm a firm believer this city does not want to look at the facts, like Mr. Garrity said. Go to any AA meeting around here, and it's full of Medford people, good Medford people, good Medford families. Evidently they watch the city council because there's people texting me, as I said, just right now. And I just think as a community, we really have to step up to the plate and be there. Because as these folks know, and as I know, and as my family knows, no one's gonna make you stop using your substance of choice until you are ready. And when you are ready and you surrender to this awful disease, we as a community have to be there with resources in place for the families, for the individuals that are looking to become part of recovery. This is something we have to take a serious look at. And you know, until I developed my problem with alcoholism over the past four or five years, I never thought that marijuana was a gateway drug. I used to hear that and laugh. But you know what? People are using just to numb their feelings. And that's why, in recovery, they say, if you're an alcoholic, don't pick up the marijuana, or pick up this, or do that, or do that. Or if you're an intravenous drug user and you stop doing that, don't pick up the Budweiser, because you're just substituting your problem. These are the things no one wants to talk about. But I got nine, 10 months left on this city council before I retire. And this is something that I'm going to follow through on and make it my mission to have the city step up, have the city put funding behind this, not just press conferences, but actual places that families and substance abuse users can go to when they're ready. Because no one's kidding anyone, until you are ready, until you are ready and surrender, You can have anything in front of you, and all these families out here can relate, anything at all in front of you, and you're gonna choose the booze, the heroin, the pills, whatever it may be, you're gonna choose that, because ultimately it takes control of your life, takes control of your life. And I wouldn't have believed this until I confronted my disease, because it's awful easy to look outside and throw glasses and use the word junkie or a drunk, I wrote my wife a nice letter. You know what I always thought the alcoholic was, the drunk? The guy at Harvard Square sitting there with a brown paper bag, with a brown paper bag, drinking and collecting cans to go and buy the next bottle of booze. I didn't think it was someone that was a city councilor for 16 years. I didn't think it was someone that worked for the Sheriff's Department for 18 years. You know what? It doesn't discriminate. does not discriminate. We have members of this community that are suffering so much that end up killing themselves. Killing themselves because they're in so much pain. Pick up the obituaries. Not everyone says alcoholism or drug abuse or this or that. But we know people that have committed suicide and were struggling with this very disease. And they took that route rather than letting everyone else down. Because when you're in a state and you feel like your disease got you by the grip, guess what? You'd rather be dead. You'd rather be dead. And I'm speaking from experience. So we have to do something as a community. We have to actually get out there and fund some programs. Because like I said, when the substance abuse users are ready, We have to be there to meet them with open arms and give them guidance. Right now, the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, the 12th step is giving back. It's giving back. I'm working with other people, other people that are alcoholics, to try to give them hope, you know? And I just hope, I just hope that the city administration takes a long look at this and look that since 2003, 2003, in this community, people were overdosing, on heroin, overdosing. A baseball player for the Florida Marlins overdosed within the seven and a half miles of this community several times, several times. And that was in 2000, early 2000. And here we are today. So, uh, like I said, let's actually put our money where our mouths are and fund this something. And I know councilor Dello Russo called me today cause he knows I've been on his back about calling a committee of the whole meeting on this particular matter. And I don't know if you chose the date yet, but I thank you for being very active on this.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor. Councilor, thank you for sharing your experience, strength, and hope with us.

[Paul Camuso]: And that's what I hope.

[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Caraviello. Thank you, Mr. President. I commend the Garrity family and the Butler family for having the courage to come up here this evening And you're right, people don't know what you go through unless they have it in their own family. I've lost three members of my immediate family to the same type of thing. And just this weekend, a high school classmate, 61 years old, passed away. I mean, not a child, 61, passed away from drugs. There's multiple forms of addiction. It's not just heroin. It's prescription drugs, alcohol. And let's say I commend my colleague here for wanting to step forward and actually do something that meaningful, not just have a committee, just a bunch of people talking, but coming out there with professional people that actually know what they're talking about, and possibly helping a lot of these people. And people say to me all the time, you have good kids. I said, there is no formula. for having good kids. It's strictly luck. I mean, you see those people from good families that suffer from these addictions. And I hope that this group can come together unilaterally and do something for these families in the city of Medford. Because we're not blind. We do know what's going on. Thank you, Mr. President.

[Adam Knight]: Thank you, Councilor. Councilor Knight. Thank you very much, Mr. President. First of all, I'd like to thank the Garrity's and Ms. Butler, and I'd like to let you know that you're going to make it through this. And the reason you're going to make it through this is because you have people like Janelle Rocco, who are here to help you. And it's a reciprocal relationship. Janelle, you're going to make it too, because you have people like the Garrity's and the Butler's that are here to help you. But I think that we as a city government need to take a look at the way that we are approaching addiction addiction recovery and The punitive approaches that we take, I don't think we're looking at this as a public health crisis. I think we're looking at it as a public safety crisis. And until we really change our focus and our efforts on treating addiction as a disease and not as a public safety issue, we're going to see a lot of the same problems repeat themselves over and over and over again, Mr. President. I think that we've had a lot of discussion about addiction here in this council, and it's something that's very close to a number of us. And one of the things I'd like to see is Medford Overcoming Addiction be invited to our Committee of the Whole meeting to provide us with some input and insight and maybe a little bit of direction as to what they see working in other communities and other places. And more importantly, Mr. President, to identify the voids that we have here in Medford. And to come up with an action plan to fill these voids so that in the future, families don't feel like they're left alone, that they're out there hanging around on a vine by themselves, Mr. President. So I'd like to move that this Committee of the Whole meeting be set up as soon as possible, and that Medford Overcoming Addiction be invited, Mr. President, to share their stories and to share their successes and to point us in the right direction.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor. And just so you're aware, what Councilor Camuso and I have been talking about is trying to The resolution was so broad in the scope of people that were requested to be part of this. We're trying to work with that broadness to contact people and then set up a date that's mutually convenient within the realization that this is a matter of urgency. Thank you for your recommendation, Councilor. Councilor Lococo.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Thank you, President Dello Russo. I, too, want to just thank Janelle for coming and having the courage to come forward and, I think, fight for a real lot of people, whether it's families, those who are suffering. What you're doing is huge. The power of a story can move somebody, can touch somebody. And you did it in front of all these people and people watching from home. Mr. Garrity lit a fire under our butts, to say the least. It's courageous for Mrs. Garrity and Mrs. Butler to come forward, and I thank you. This council has been talking about it, and we haven't been talking about it for long enough, but the last few months, it seems like it's a crisis. It's an epidemic. It's across the state. It's what was mentioned before. Something that's in this heroin is killing people, and it's breaking my heart, obviously. I hear of somebody, like I said, I think last week or the week before, almost every week you hear of somebody passing away. And we need to do something. I agree with what my council colleagues have said. You know, we discussed a task force. We discussed committee meetings. We've asked the mayor for help. We really do need to move forward on this and be proactive and get something done, get help for people. And the biggest thing Janelle said, is awareness, raise awareness. Just coming here tonight, you're raising awareness. We've talked about it four or five times in the last few months, and we're doing our part, but to have actual stories, the awareness level just rises that much higher. And like you said, Councilor Camuso, if you can save one person from each time we speak on this, or help one family, it's worth it. And I hope that Mayor McGlynn does get behind this on a compassionate and sincere level because that's the only way we can move forward. We need the administration's office. We need this council, the school committee. We also need public health. We need a doctor or we need somebody from the health department in the city on that task force. I mean, prescription drugs are a huge problem, and it's sometimes what leads to this heroin addiction. So I think the right people, a great deal of people, need to step forward. go to the city council meeting, attend this vigil. I mean, the more awareness we can bring forward to this, this city, the better, and I hope it saves lives. And I thank you for being here.

[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. And, um, you know, those, those statements were very powerful that were, uh, mentioned here tonight. And as I'm aware and many people are aware, the first step to recovery is to admit that there's a problem. That's the first step. And I don't think that this community, and when I say the community, the residents, the elected officials, the public safety officials, have taken the first step yet to admitting there's a problem in our community. And I, as a member of the council, would like to see us as a council tonight send out a message as a council stating that we believe that there's a major concern with drugs in our community, and there's many addictions. We heard some stories here tonight, and I thank my colleagues for sharing them. I shared a story that I had. My father was addicted to gambling and tore our family apart when I was a youngster with four kids in the home. And, you know, it's a different addiction, but Many people experience many different types of addictions, whether it's drug, whether it's womanizing, whether it's gambling. There's a lot of different addictions out there. And I would like tonight for us to take a vote, Mr. President. I know we voted to set up roundtable discussions, but I think we should, as a community, because as the gentleman mentioned tonight, and he really put it forward that, you know, When he looked at members of the council, he saw blank stares. And I'll be the first to say, I wasn't aware of how many people have died over the last few years from overdoses. I've heard about it. I've known people, absolutely. But I wasn't aware of the epidemic that was going on in this community. And I think tonight was a real eye-opening. Tonight was a real eye-opening. when you hear firsthand accounts of what's taking place in our community. And we can no longer turn a blind eye anymore in this community and pretend that nothing's happening because we're the city of Medford and, you know, we're a great community and things like that don't happen in Method. As we heard tonight, it happens in every socioeconomic, on all different levels. No one's immune to this. It's evident, even when you turn on the TV and see famous movie stars that are going through the same addictions and have passed away. And this is not to any particular class, not to particular to any ethnicity. This impacts everyone, Mr. President. And I really would like to take a vote tonight of this council going on record, saying that we believe there's an epidemic in this community. that needs to be addressed. We may need to call in state officials in this also, state delegation, you know, and to this, Mr. President, whatever it takes. But I think it's about time that we put the same emphasis, as was mentioned tonight, on fixing potholes in our roads, on making sure that we have public safety and making sure that the community is operating well. And in one aspect, we have a part of the community that many people aren't aware of. It's almost like an underground thing that's going on that many people aren't aware of. And I think we have to raise it up and maybe make it a front-page story. I know the transcript's here tonight. Make it a front-page story. Let people know what's going on. And maybe we can bring this community together and fight this very deadly disease, Mr. President. And I would move that we take a vote. by this council to say that there's an epidemic in this community and that emergency attention is needed to fight this war on drugs and narcotics in this community, Mr. President.

[Robert Penta]: Go ahead. Let him speak.

[Michael Ruggiero]: Go ahead. Oh, Michael Ruggiero, 18 Pembroke Street. I've been doing some research on heroin addiction. The numbers are staggering. Currently, right now, in America, about a million people are believed to be addicted to heroin, not mentioning the lives that have lost, the stories that we've heard today. But $20 billion have lost in crime that's generated. It's obviously a problem that Medford needs to deal with. One thing I want to bring up, however, that has only been touched on the periphery tonight, is how methadone is one of the most proven treatments to handle actual long-term heroin abuse. It is often believed that methadone clinics will increase crime in a community, but there's no evidence of that. If anything, there's evidence that long-term treatment facilities actually help. So I just wanted to bring to the Council's attention, perhaps, while committees are certainly useful in uncovering solutions, perhaps one thing that needs to be considered is methadone treatment in the country.

[Robert Penta]: Councilor Penta. This is one of the very few times that I guess I'm lost for words because it's maybe Councilor Camuso, maybe you hit it right in the head. The fact of the matter is, I look at this as the evil empire of a disease that apparently has come into our community and it's been neglected. And it's roared its ugly head to such a point that this demon of a disease now has brought folks who are dealing with this on a daily basis to the city council. And I think we all are. I'll speak for myself. In the family, yes, there is. So I'll just leave it at that. I have an understanding as to what's being said. But my opinion would be this. I think the city needs to make a full-fledged financial, educational, and social, and a budgetary commitment that if we're really going to be serious, we're going to take this right down to the lowest level of education, starting with the kids who are in nursery school, not nursery, what's the next level? First grade, and all the way up, and let them understand the danger of what this disease is all about. You know, Councilor Caraviello talked about his friend, 61 years old, Councilor Camuso, his age just a little bit younger. There's other folks even younger, and there are adults, mothers and fathers who sometimes become addicted. For why it happens, I don't know. But if this city has the good fortune to go out of its way to raise over a million dollars for a brand new peace garden, they can go out of its way to find the necessary tools to have a budget appropriation that's going to deal with this. as part of the medical justification why the city of Medford does care about its inhabitants, its students, its families, its mothers, its fathers, and anyone who might have an addiction. I think tonight is a big wake-up call for this city. For the folks that came up there and spoke, was it hard to do? It certainly was hard, but I think you're really relieved that you came up here and said it. because you've now got the entire council, I'll leave Councilor De La Ruza to himself, you've got at least six councilors speaking right now, and I think we're all in your court. New Governor Baker, his second commitment was the opiate problem here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. So right from the governor's office all the way down, there is going to be nexus as to how this city and where this city should be going. I not only concur with you, Councilor Marks, I just think it's, you know, it's been laid under the rug for so long And how do you say it other than the fact, you know, enough is enough? The police department, I'm quite sure, can come up here and tell you case after case, story after story, arrest after arrest. It does have an impact in this community. And why should anybody be afraid to say that particular house or that particular part of the city, you know, there's drugs over there more than another part. There should be no drugs at all. There should be no drugs at all. And to get to no drugs at all, friends like Janelle, if you know someone that's on it, you've got to just turn them in and that's it. It's the only way you're going to save their life because no one else is either going to do it or they want to get involved. You know, we're seven adults here behind this rail. And I'm quite sure they will all agree on this one here. Do we want to see this continue on? No. Do we want to see it corrected? Absolutely. And the first step is, as Councilman Marks has his resolution going forward, but I honestly think it should be stepped up even further. I think a dollar amount should be put into the budget. I think there should be a social, educational, and a financial commitment. And you know something? The newspaper is here right now. And I'd like to have the newspaper report and make this its headline story as it relates to the Medford City Council recognizes the drug problem in the city of Medford, and they're going to demand from the city administration that action takes place to protect those that are either in the program or having drugs, and to protect the families that have children, unfortunately, who are addicted to this, because they need help just as much as the person that's addicted in the program. So with that being said, Mr. President, I would hope that you, as leader of our council, conclude by offering not only your support to Councilor Marks' resolution, but let's have the folks walk out of this audience here tonight and recognize they came here with a true and honest and a just purpose, and they did get results tonight. They didn't get lip service, they didn't get a press conference, and I thank you for Councilor Camuso. You did bring that up a few weeks ago. The mayor tried a jump shot, but he didn't do it. You beat him to the punch because you were legitimate. The issue was legitimate, and that's where it belongs. It has a smack of legitimacy that needs to be addressed. It's not a phony, come on. It's a true reality in life here in the city of Medford. And if drugs are out there, then the first thing to do is you have to recognize it, Address it and work to get rid of it slowly. And the only way you're going to do that is you're going to have to bring it to the attention of every single person, and starting with just your children at the youngest of age, to let them know that this is not good for their health, their mind, their body, and their spirit. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_05]: Good evening, Council. Leo Sacco, 100 Main Street. Right now, I work as one of the drug detectives in the city of Medford. I go to the overdoses. I've actually witnessed firsthand what heroin does to people. There's not one person sitting here tonight in front of me, I have not made a drug arrest anywhere near your house. It affects every socioeconomic, I mean, the middle class, the lower class, and it's out there. And the heroin's not coming. It's not coming from the city of Medford. It's being brought in from other people. I'm sure there's people here now that know that. We have done our best, day in and day out, to try to combat that. The statistics speak for themselves. There isn't a week that doesn't go by in the Medford transcript where I haven't personally arrested somebody for the distribution of heroin. Just this past two weeks ago, Mr. Garrity, I'm sorry for your loss. My brother played hockey with Mr. Garrity's son. I grew up in North Medford. I do take this very, very personally, okay, because it hits home. Two weeks ago, the Medford Police Department did a search warrant at a house in North Medford. Very well known. I don't want to get into the particulars, but we got over 20 grams of heroin, substantial amount of cash, But all of that was coming from outside the community, and we're allowing it to happen. I work with the state police. We just got 6,000 Percocet pills right off of the Fellsway, over $47,000 in cash. We're doing our best. I understand that as a police department, we should be doing even more to educate the community. And we try, day in and day out, to talk to those people that are addicted. I know that there's people sitting here right now in this forum that have their own personal opinion of me and the way I am. But it's because of how close that disease hits home that I am the way I am. So we will do everything in our power as a law enforcement community to help out the city of Medford. But we need help. When I talk to somebody, the biggest thing is they don't want to snitch. They don't want to rap. We need help. The community needs to pick up the phone and call us. I mean, and you have to be persistent. You may not get us in the first time, but you have to call us. If there's a problem, we have to be, we have to know about it. I have so many contacts. I have probation officers. I have people that can get people that are addicted to this disease in the right, that we can steer them in the right direction, but I need their help. So, I'm begging that the community picks up the phone and calls us. And then I'll do what I can to get those people the help that they need.

[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: What's the best phone number to call? I mean, who do you ask for? I mean, for people that are watching or because a lot of times, you know, even just other issues, whether it's drug related or people trying to report a house, they think drugs are involved and they say they get, you know, kind of turned off by the main office. Where do they call? Do they call the detectives?

[SPEAKER_05]: There is a hotline, 781-391-6767. And for anybody that's serious about picking up the phone, I'll give them my business card. They can call me 24-7. I live in the city. It won't be the first time I got woken up about something like this. I do. I take this very personally.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Now, we know how busy you are. bust right in front of my house. I've seen you working right near my office. I saw another one on Millsex Ave. This is in the last year. So we know how busy you are. Now, are there, do you have detective committee meetings with regards to how, you know, whether it's communication into the police department, how it's documented, how you can better improve like documentation or your response? I mean, is there ways that, or is there ways the city can help you make it more effective?

[SPEAKER_05]: I know that Team Medford has been implemented to help out. I have been in touch with Penny and Brooke, Officer Lokowicz. They're instrumental. All the heroin overdoses right now, they're all cut with fentanyl.

[SPEAKER_19]: Before I gave it to them, I looked at it. I told them who this killer was. I told them who to call. They knew. When I got this phone call, I called the killer. I called him. I said, give me Gary, Jay's mom. He knows my son. We spoke. They could have called me. They could have. They knew me. They didn't.

[SPEAKER_05]: Does he live in Medford?

[SPEAKER_19]: He's dead now. No one knows. And I'm sorry for you some here, but what we're saying really, really annoys me. Two weeks ahead is long. One day, I have, we've had a conversation. You know, how long does it take to come up to talk to you and say, what's happening to you? Come on. That's it. Right there. There it is. Don't be afraid. Don't be scared. Don't be, you know, scared of all of them.

[SPEAKER_05]: I apologize. I can't speak for the officers that went that day. There is a policy that is implemented. Any cell phones that are seized at the time of an overdose death get turned over to the state police. We don't have access to those phones. Any death that's suspicious, the state police get called in on. It doesn't come to my office. I don't get to see those phones. So I wish I did.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Just to end, I would like to personally ask you, on behalf of the council, to be involved with this with us. We're going to have committee meetings. I'm not sure. Did you decide when you're going to set that up? Can we hold you to the fire and announce it now?

[Fred Dello Russo]: We don't have a day yet, because we have so many people to bring in on it. That's what we're working on.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Well, we ask that you be involved. I mean, we need people who care, and we can tell you care.

[SPEAKER_05]: I will wholeheartedly. Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Capiello.

[Richard Caraviello]: You know, like he says, they make arrests. I read the transcript every week, and you see three, four, five arrests. It doesn't stop at the police. These guys are arrested, and they're back out on the street the next day. It's the judges that let people off with just slapping wrists, come back in 90 days, and they never come back in. So I mean, maybe it starts with putting the DA officer back in the high school. I mean, it's been years since they've been out of there. I mean, a small step, but I say it starts in high school. If there's someone there that these people, these kids can talk to, right then, I say, if there's officers out there, they could all rotate as a DARE officer at the high school or at the different schools. So this way, these kids will know they have somewhere to go to. Everybody sees something, say something. Well, if these kids, if they have a personal interaction, at school with an officer, maybe they won't be afraid to say something.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you.

[Richard Caraviello]: Sorry.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: If you're going to move that as an amendment, I just asked that Dea would come back and grade school. So if I could add, you put that as amendment. Every school. I think we asked the school committee to implement this within our school system. My daughter is six and a half years old, and I already tried to teach her about drugs.

[Richard Caraviello]: Start right in the middle schools. The elementary schools, as I said, we have enough police officers. They can rotate a different day, a couple days a week. Whether they want to volunteer, it's time everybody in the community steps up.

[Fred Dello Russo]: On the petition of Janelle Rocco, I see that. On the petition of Janelle Rocco, amended by councillors Knight, Mox, Caraviello, and Penta. Ma'am, you wish to speak?

[SPEAKER_04]: Yes, just quickly. Hi, my name is Linda Ciccolo, and I live on Ravine Road in Medford. And there's been three overdoses on my street, two fatal. My son was one that survived. And the reason that he survived is because the first responders carried the Narcan. So I just wanted to mention how important I think that it is for the fire department and for the police also to carry the Narcan, because again, he's eight months clean, and it saved his life.

[Fred Dello Russo]: I believe, and I stand to be corrected, are knockout police officers or a fire department being trained on the administration of the process?

[SPEAKER_04]: I think so, yeah. I mean, we as parents, we have the knock-in. We have them. We take classes. We're from Families and Arms. We're trained to use the knock-in. And so I just believe that it's real important that the police and the fire carry the knock-in. Because again, my son wouldn't be here if it weren't for the first responders. Thank you.

[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll. Mr. President. Councilor Penta.

[Robert Penta]: A question. I want to go back to Councilor Caraviello. You talked about the D.A. program. Where did you want the D.A. program to go? Every school. Starting from kindergarten up?

[Richard Caraviello]: Starting from the elementary school right to the high school. We don't have that many schools. I'd like to make it specific. Yes. Kindergarten up. From the elementary school right to the high school.

[Fred Dello Russo]: As amended by Councilor Penta. Councilor Knight.

[Adam Knight]: I was just going to suggest, Mr. President, that due to the fact that we're having a committee meeting on this stuff, we'll have a lot of good ideas and a lot of suggestions.

[Fred Dello Russo]: A lot of it will come out of this, especially since we'll be aided with people with expertise on the matter. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.

[Clerk]: Councilor Camuso? Yes. Councilor Caraviello? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Vice President Long and Kern? Yes. Councilor Marks?

[Unidentified]: Yes.

[Clerk]: Councilor Penta? Yes.

[Fred Dello Russo]: President Del Russo. Yes. Seven in the affirmative, none negative. The motion passes. Thank you all for your presence, for your involvement, and for your willingness to share yourselves and your personal lives to make a difference in our community. Thank you all. While we're under suspension, Motion of Councilor Caraviello to take two papers off the table. 15-075, 15-076. Oh, I apologize. 15-029, commendations. Commendation for John McGonigal for his work for achieving assistant coach of the year award and to Lonnie Hilson senior Commendation first community service award Councilor Knight Thank you very much.

[Adam Knight]: Mr. President. I'd like to invite Andrew Cronin up to help me present coach McGonigal with this award Mr. Cronin is One of the star athletes here at Medford High School. He's a great student, and he's also a great sportsman, Mr. President. And he gave a great presentation at the Friends of Medford Baseball's annual fundraiser on behalf of Coach Maggs. And I'd like him to come up behind the podium and do it once again.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Well, why don't you both come up here and take the chair?

[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. Several weeks ago, Two of Medford's own, one Lonnie Hilson Sr. and John McGonigal, who's here with us, were bestowed awards by the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association. Coach McGonigal was awarded the Assistant Coach of the Year, and we have a commendation here for him, which will read, the Medford City Council takes pleasure in awarding this council commendation to John McGonigal, Assistant Coach of the Medford High School Varsity Baseball Team. in receipt and recognition of being the recipient of the Assistant Coach of the Year award. Coach, I'd love you to come up here and accept this award. And Mr. Cronin's going to talk a little bit about how much you mean to him and how much you mean to this team.

[bq-gVu-g8qk_SPEAKER_00]: First of all, I'd like to say congratulations to Coach McGonigal. He's a role model for every athlete within the program. He's with us day in and day out, always pushing us to improve on not only our game, but also our life skills. Coach Maggs is a great baseball player, coach, and even better, individual and baseball mentor. Thank you, Coach.

[Adam Knight]: John, congratulations. Sean, it's an honor to present you with this award, and it's an even greater honor to call you a friend. If you'd be willing to say a few words on behalf of the city of Medford here, it'd be great. We got a chair right here for you in case you need to. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_07]: I'd like to thank the council for this. This is very nice of you guys to do for me. Andrew is going to be late night talk show host now. He talks to me all the time now. my show, but I'd like to thank our athletic director, Bob Maloney, who got me to come over here. The head coach down there, Mike Nestor, who is, he programs in very good hands with Mike here. And I'd like to thank these kids, my two senior captains and a couple of other seniors out there coming down here and sitting, through that was just amazing what they were just saying there. It shows you how insignificant this stuff is here when that stuff goes on in the city too. So I just want to thank you all and have a good night.

[SPEAKER_17]: I think, Mr. President, it's important to point out that Mr. McGonagall was a golden tornado at one point in time.

[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_17]: And he's come over here to Medford now, and I think he might even have a little blue and white in those veins. So if we could have this tape sent over to the city of Malvern to be aired on their local access television show, Mr. President, I'd appreciate that. It was really tough putting that hat on the first time. And I think you forgot to thank one more person, Sean.

[SPEAKER_07]: Oh, my wife. Plus, I always think of you. Thank you, Janine, my lovely wife, and my kids too. Thank you.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you all. Congratulations. On the motion of Council Caraviello can take two papers off the table. All those in favor? All those opposed? 15-075, taxi operator license by Mr. Marvin G. Alvarado Castro. Mr. Castro, are you present?

[SPEAKER_26]: Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro?

[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro?

[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro?

[Fred Dello Russo]: Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro?

[Richard Caraviello]: Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro? Mr. Castro?

[SPEAKER_26]: I got blacked out. I got so nervous. I've never been in front of something like this before. And you guys were talking about, like last week, you were talking about some important stuff, and like today, too. And then I come across, and I was like, ugh. So I fell. And it's like, this thing kind of taken some time. I applied like two months ago, something like that. And I've been contacting the city clerk, and then they put me in contact with the police. And at first, the lady was on vacation or something. Then she came back, and I've been contacting her looking for my application. And with the snow and everything coming, and she couldn't talk to the chief because he was so busy. And finally, they found out that my application was lost. And then she said, a couple of weeks ago, and then she said to me to contact the city clerk to ask Sylvia to fax it over. And that's why. And I know where the place is. I know the guy, the owner. We have a motion, Mr. Chairman.

[Richard Caraviello]: Again, as I said last week, you know you're only allowed to pick up MedFed. Yes. Where do you get your cab?

[SPEAKER_26]: At 121. Thank you.

[Richard Caraviello]: Motion for approval, Mr. President.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello. All those in favor? All those opposed? Councilor Penta is opposed. Motion carries.

[SPEAKER_26]: All right, thank you very much.

[Fred Dello Russo]: For this reason that he has used in the past, that we have yet to revise the cab ordinance. And please also mark Councilor Marks in our position too for similar reasons. Motion carries. Congratulations, sir. You have your license. See the clerk tomorrow. 15-076, taxi operation license by Mr. Mamadou Balde. Mr. Balde, are you present?

[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Caraviello. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I reviewed these records and I do have a question and I think I spoke to the gentleman earlier. The gentleman has outstanding moving violations that he has not paid. And I explained to him earlier, that he said he's gonna pay them. I will make the motion of approval with the stipulation that before his license is given to him from the clerk, that he brings back a receipt showing that his moving violations have been paid.

[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of Councilor Caraviello, all those in favor? On that motion, Councilor Penta.

[Robert Penta]: I believe also, Over and beyond the moving violation, there's another one in there. Unpaid parking tickets. What about them?

[SPEAKER_01]: No, it's the big snow. Parking? When there was the snow, the big one, my son was sick. I went to the 313 or HS3. I was parking. The guy came, he said, move in there. I said, OK, I'm going to move. I was trying to move, but the car was stuck. But no, I try, I try, I cannot move. Now, I wait to see my son before I came. I get the thing.

[Robert Penta]: Sir, you made your application out on December 4th of 2014. Yeah. And the question was asked, do you owe money for any parking fines? And the answer is yes. And do you owe money for parking tickets? And the answer is yes. I don't owe. No, but he's trying to, this was in December. You haven't paid since December. This is now March. And what is the traffic violation for?

[SPEAKER_01]: That's what in Medford, Boston Medical Center. Boston Medical Center. I was coming back. It was not red. It was the truck in the front side to me. I was coming. I was coming. It was red. It was traffic. But now the yellow was coming. I was here in the traffic. Now the police came. I said, OK. He told me to try. I said, no. It's not here. It's here. It was not red. I told him, I'm going to do IPA. He said, OK.

[Robert Penta]: Did you pay that fine?

[SPEAKER_01]: No, I don't pay. No, I'm going to pay for this. How much is that fine? No, I told the police, I'm not going to pay because I'm going to go to the court because it was not red. It was in the traffic. It was before the yellow one. Then I was coming.

[Robert Penta]: Which city was that, sir?

[SPEAKER_01]: It was in Boston Medical. Boston Medical Center. Boston Medical Center, yeah.

[Robert Penta]: So you made your appeal to the city of Boston? Yeah. Did you have your hearing? Please? Did you have your hearing? No.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, I'm not doing it.

[Robert Penta]: Next week?

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[Robert Penta]: Next week.

[SPEAKER_01]: I already did everything. I think I'm going to be there maybe, or I don't know, because they're going to send me the data for this one.

[Robert Penta]: And what about the parking tickets? What about those? How many parking tickets do you have? I think I have two. Mr. Chairman, before the license is granted, tickets, and if he's going next week for the hearing, can we hold that off until we get the results?

[Richard Caraviello]: I say I'll approve the license and the clerk can hold it until he comes in with proof that he paid these. Seems to be a fair stipulation.

[Michael Marks]: Mr. President. Councilor Marks, please. Mr. President, as part of the paperwork, it asked the petitioner to answer a question whether or not they have any outstanding violations. And that is incumbent upon the petitioner to state whether they have any violations or not. The Corey check checks for criminal offender record information and doesn't look, I don't believe, and maybe Councilor Camuso would know this better, I don't believe it looks at outstanding tickets, does it? the, the, the Corey, um, maybe it might be a good idea to have along the process somehow, uh, the petitioners of all taxi licenses to submit to the council. In addition to the paperwork, um, uh, a record showing that, uh, they are free from any type of liability when it comes to tickets.

[Fred Dello Russo]: If I was just instructed, uh, counseling marks by the clerk that, uh, uh, the chief examines all aspects of this before he makes his recommendation. of moving it up to us. So those items would be included under the quarry, under the quarry check.

[Clerk]: If the clerk would like to answer that perhaps. So is it safe to say that he met with, uh, individuals on, uh, any violations, you know, and he, you know, to his satisfaction that they had, uh, told him what he wants to hear. We'll make his recommendation, but he goes a little bit beyond.

[Michael Marks]: So the chief signing off.

[Clerk]: So the chief signing off, Mr. Clark would, uh, I don't have the paperwork, but the chief might've said on his, uh, did you see a letter attached from the chief on there, which is beyond that. when he originally filed his application, whatever the chief's recommendation is, but he goes out and looks at everything.

[Fred Dello Russo]: And if I could introduce from the chair to the record, February 19th, 2015, from the chief, I have reviewed the application for a taxi operator's license and the quarry reports on the following individual and find no information that would render applicant unsuitable for approval.

[Michael Marks]: I would just say if that's correct, what the chief is telling us, and we go based on the chief, then those two questions within the application itself are meaningless then because the chief is telling us he finds no fault.

[Fred Dello Russo]: He finds no reason not to give a threshold of acceptability.

[Adam Knight]: There may be 30 days between the two documents, between his application and the chief's signing off, which might have been rectified in the middle. But we were uncertain. I don't think that there's any harm in granting the license with the stipulation that- I mean, if a gentleman's going to be driving people in Medford, what if he gets tickets to Medford?

[Richard Caraviello]: Is he just not going to pay them? I mean, I'd feel more comfortable if he paid his tickets. And I can't speak for my other colleagues here.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Um, so on the motion of council caviar, let the license be granted with the stipulation that, uh, uh, evidence be presented to the clerk before the issuance of the license, uh, that the, uh, parking and moving violations be paid. Yes. On that motion, although councilor Penta.

[Robert Penta]: The Corey check is basically for criminal background check. It's not for licenses and it's not for a ticket. So what the chief is saying is correct. And I think, as a city clerk has questioned seven and eight strike that. Well, six really wouldn't come up under the query, but seven and eight definitely would not come up under the query. And I think those need to be, uh, as council max alluded to, I think they need to be addressed. And I agree with council Caraviello, um, to hold us in the dance until both of these are resolved. But don't forget this application was made getting everybody. The chief responded on February 19th and this fellow made his application on January 16th. This is what I don't understand. He filed on January 16th, 2015. The last fellow that was up here put his application on December 4th, 2014. Why is there such a spread in time before these things get approved?

[Clerk]: December 14th and January 15th?

[Robert Penta]: No, December 4th. December 4th. The last gentleman applied December 4th. This gentleman applied January 16th.

[Clerk]: the, the holdup, uh, I mean, they fill the application out and then it has to go to the police chief, but we got both. So, so we don't, we don't place it on the council agenda until the police chief signs off on it. Well, we've got both. So, so the police chief, and I don't know, I don't, I'm not, I'm not, I don't have the police chief's recent, uh, letter of authorization, but that's the trigger date for me to put it on the, put it on the agenda. So, I mean, what is the, uh, is the date that the chief responded back on his February 19th? February 19th is this report. Okay. So he wrote the report. So we're taking us, you know, uh, we, we might not, he wrote February 18th. We probably didn't receive it till last week, even though he dated it February 19th. And then we go and proceed to put them on the agenda.

[Robert Penta]: I understand that. But I don't understand the, both of them came back at the same time. to be presented before the council, and there's almost a month and a half spread between both applicants.

[Clerk]: It's still the police chief. It's in his hands.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Point of elucidation, Councilman. I spoke with Mr. Castro before the meeting, and he passed in his paperwork.

[Adam Knight]: Individual was on vacation when he passed it in. Individual got back from vacation. His paperwork seemed to have gone missing. He had to resubmit the paperwork, was what the story was that he told me. I think it would be safe to say that the reason there was a delay was because of a paperwork error administratively, and that it was rectified. But at this point in time, the gentleman's before us now.

[Fred Dello Russo]: We have a motion with stipulations before us. Move the question. So the motion, question has been moved. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed?

[Michael Marks]: Opposed. Opposition.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Opposition. The clerk, the chair is uncertain. Mr. Clerk, will you please call the roll?

[Clerk]: Councilor Camuso? Yes. Councilor Cavillo? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Vice President Lungo-Koehn?

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.

[Clerk]: Councilor Marks? No. Councilor Penta? No. President De La Russa? Yes.

[Robert Penta]: A vote of five in the affirmative, two in the negative. Let the record reflect the reason why I, and I believe my council colleague, voted no was because of the impending review of the traffic law, I mean the tax.

[Richard Caraviello]: Councilor Penta, so noted. Next week, you'll see in your package here,

[Fred Dello Russo]: We'll be meeting- I'll call the vote with the five in the affirmative, two in the negative. License is granted with the stipulations agreed upon. Councilor Caraviello, you have an informational piece for us? I'm sorry? Councilor Caraviello.

[Richard Caraviello]: I'll wait for that Mr. President. Thank you.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Motion of Councilor Caraviello to resort to the regular order of business. All those in favor? All those opposed? 15-081 offered by Councilor Marks. Whereas council resolution 15-043 amended by Councilor Marks requesting that the city solicitor report back to the council if a change to the current parking plan allowed 15 to 30 minutes free parking and all business districts would fall under the purview of the traffic commission and Whereas the city solicitor's opinion stated, it is within the jurisdiction of the Traffic Commission to change the 15 to 30 minute free parking and also to change times of enforcement. Then be it resolved that the Medford City Council seek a letter, send a letter to the Traffic Commission requesting that 15 to 30 minute free parking be implemented citywide in the interest of addressing resident and business owner concerns. Councilor Marks.

[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. We received a letter in our packet, a legal opinion from City Solicitor Rumley, and last week's packet dated February 17th. It was in regard to paper 15-043, and the resolution that I offered, which many members behind this reeling have offered in the past, was to allow for 15 slash 30 minute free parking in our business districts. Um, at the time, uh, when it was mentioned by many members of this council and supported by this council unanimously on several occasions, uh, that, uh, we, uh, weren't aware whether the traffic commission, because there is contractual language that exists right now between the city of method and Republic, which does our, uh, parking program, um, whether or not we needed to amend the contract or whether the traffic commission, which is a city commission, had the authority under its jurisdiction to vote for 15 or 30 minute free parking in the business districts. City solicitor responded back in the letter and quite clearly stated it's under the jurisdiction of the traffic commission to change the 15 to 30 minute free parking and also the times of enforcement. And as we all know, several weeks back, the Traffic Commission voted to change the enforcement times from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

[Robert Penta]: When was that supposed to become effective? Because that's the calls I'm getting. When does the 8 to 6 become effective?

[Michael Marks]: I honestly don't know. I assume once the vote was taken, it becomes effective and they did take the vote on it several weeks back. I mean, we'd have to get a clarification from the traffic commission. Um, but so that the hours of operation has changed and I'm requesting, um, that, uh, we provide, uh, free parking at least 15 to 30 minute free parking in our business districts. Many business members that I've spoken to, I've heard them loud and clear that this would alleviate a bulk, not all concerns, but a bulk of the concerns for people running in and doing the quick errand, people running in and getting a sandwich in a sub shop, people running in and doing business in their insurance company, people running into the corner store and maybe playing a number. A lot of different reasons, getting a newspaper. This would alleviate a lot of the people that are just running into the stores for a quick time, and there's no need to feed the meter. For those that want to stay for an extended period of time, 30 minutes or over, then there would be a need after that to feed the meter. I think this will help businesses. I think it will help residents that I've been hearing from also that would love to be able to go down into any of our squares, park briefly, do their business, and move on with their daily lives, not having to worry to go up to the kiosk and feed the kiosk, Mr. President. So I would ask that we take a vote in this simple request, requesting that the Traffic Commission at their next meeting take up the issue of 15- to 30-minute free parking. The reason why it was worded 15 to 30 minutes, I know the resolutions before this council, I know Councilor Lungo has offered it, I believe Councilor Camuso, Councilor Penta, and, you know, we've all mentioned different times, 15, 30 minutes, but ultimately they're going to make the decision. So if they decide, you know, they might want to do 45 minutes, but I think at least if we put a time in there, 15 to 30 minutes, it gives them a starting block, Mr. President. So I would request that this be sent to the Traffic Commission for their immediate review and hopefully approval, Mr. President.

[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of Councilor Marks, all those in favor, Councilor Knight.

[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. Councilor Marks, thank you for bringing this resolution forward. I think that it's appropriate, directs the question to the proper forum, the proper board and commission that is the authority to make these decisions. Thank you very much for bringing this forward. I'd like to amend the paper, Mr. President, by way of a B paper. And I would also like to make a request that the convenience fee of $0.35 be waived on all online transactions. I've said from the start that that's been a sticking point of mine where you could actually pay for $0.50 of parking and have $0.70 of fees associated with it. So, no question, $1.20 to park for a half an hour and $0.50 worth of parking, Mr. President. So, I'd ask that the paper be amended by way of a B paper. that would request that the Traffic Commission look into waiving the convenience fee of $0.35 for online transactions when using the park mobile app.

[Michael Marks]: Just a quick point of information. The convenience fee, is that contractual or is that something that's not? We got word on that already?

[Adam Knight]: I believe the convenience fee was something that was arranged between the third party vendor and Republic. It's passed on to the consumer, but it's outside the contract with the city. That's my understanding. Yes.

[Michael Marks]: So I don't, I have no problem asking. I think it's a good suggestion, but as long as it's not part of the contract. Thank you. Councilors.

[Robert Penta]: Councilor Penta real quick on the convenience fee. I think it was, um, uh, mighty Walsh, the mayor of Boston who was trying to, um, and I believe they have the same system that we have there. They're negotiating for 12 and a half cents. I believe rather than 35 cents that's presently out there, but that's neither here or there. I believe we're dating back to January 16th of this past year. One of the members on the commission, um, Mrs. DeLorenzo, I, you know, I think it was subsequent to the council's request to change this to eight to six. And that was sent to, um, uh, council, you know, Mr. Rumbly on February 3rd, a solicitor did render an opinion and he did run her opinion basically saying that it falls within the purview of the traffic commission. But he makes a very interesting note on the second page of his, of his opinion. He states, as to the effect of the regulatory rate changes on the contract, quote, substantial change, that impedes or enhances enforcement may result in a negative or positive impact on percentage payments that may be due under the contract. The same is true for substantial reduction or increase on parking spaces. So, and I believe, again, the argument that was brought up, or our issue was brought up in discussion, And that from 7 to 7, you're going from 8 to 6. That's a substantial change in the contract. And I believe it was you, Councilor Caraviello, I believe, who asked for the review after the first 60 days. And within that 60 days, we're going to have an idea just where they're going, what revenues or lack thereof with the change of this. And if they consider this to be a substantial change in the contract, this is going to have to be reviewed a step further. I'd like to just bring one other attention to this whole issue. During this past week, I received the following points of concern from residents. There is a lady who walked in Medford square in the CVS and she went to go put the money in the meter and she fell down and she had to be rushed to the Lawrence Memorial Hospital because of, because of just trying to get to the meter where the snow bank was. Also in an area that we were told that Republic was going to be apprised as to what's going on, I believe during the past two weeks, There was a funeral that took place at St. Joseph's Church on High Street. And when the folks came out that went to the funeral mass, their cars were all ticketed and tagged. And apparently the good father over there had to go down to the police department or Republic to get that resolved. The subsequent concern that came out of that, because they do operate on a Saturday, the priest's concern was, what if there's a wedding? Are those people going to be tagged? that go to church on Saturday on a wedding. And I believe we were told by the Republic that once they knew what was going on, none of these people would be tagged. And here it is, they just got tagged two weeks ago. And then during this past Sunday, in the bulletin of the church, there is a notation as it relates to the collaboration of the churches between St. Joseph's and St. Francis. And because of the collaboration, they're going to use alternate dates, especially for the Feast Easter, but he indicates over here, we plan and underscore that the fact that we are now in a collaborative, but we also need to work around each parish's schedule and as well as the parking meter times that have become an issue of late. Now, we were told that this was not going to be a problem for the churches and for them to put it into the bulletin, having not only a problem already exist, it's obvious that Republic just has not gotten the message. Once again, last week I introduced pictures of Republic driving down the street, not having properly marked notices on their car, supposed to be in the back. All they had was, all they have now was just a P on the door. There's no telephone number, there's no identification of who they are or what they are. So I really think there are some serious infractions in this particular contract that they have here with the city of Medford.

[Fred Dello Russo]: And also- I don't want to interrupt you, but my question, if I could from the chair, as I'm going through our, replies, I see nothing of the concerns you raised last week were not replied to. Right. Am I correct?

[Robert Penta]: Yes. I have not seen anything there yet either. So why? I don't know. But the fact of the matter is now, I think it's now been bumped up and escalated. If you have one of the churches in our community expressing not only a problem, not only a problem with a funeral, potential problem for a wedding, and now putting it in the bulletin that addresses a community of over 9,700 people, which make up the parish of St. Joe's, and relative to the meat is becoming an issue, the lady falling down in Medford Square having to be taken by an ambulance. I just really think that this program really is not business friendly, it's not friendly to the community, and hopefully Councilor Caraviello, when the 60 days are up, we will have numbers to work on, and as far as I'm concerned, I would make a determination that we opt out of this whole program. It'll be the best money the city ever paid, and bring a city back to some sense of normalcy. Thank you, Councilor. Councilor Caraviello.

[Richard Caraviello]: Thank you, Mr. President. I know that this doesn't go to the paper that we're talking about, but a few weeks ago, we asked about posting of the times on these meters. I mean, they're not shutting off. They're supposed to shut off at a certain time. But these machines are going all night. People are putting money in there on Sundays. They don't know when. And they said they were going to come and put the hours of operation on every meter. And as of now, nothing has been done. And it's like, I see people at eight, nine o'clock at night, putting money into the meters and it's taking it. Sundays too. We've had a storm recently every other day here and they're out there tagging.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Then if we could make that an amendment to council Mark's paper as an inquiry, to receive a response. These were things that have been brought up weeks ago that we need to hear back on. Councilor Knight to the floor next.

[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. Another issue that's been brought to my concern that the Traffic Commission should be able to help us out with would be the fact that Republic, when they were here, they represented to us that they'd be more than willing and happy and ready to go over to the Senior Center. and to conduct trainings with the patrons thereof. And it's been brought to my attention that although they've been over there once or twice in the past, they've yet to come over actually with the kiosk and do an actual virtual training with the kiosk there in front of people to touch and feel and get comfortable with. So I'd also like to amend the paper further and ask that a training be set up at the senior center within the next 30 days, Mr. President, with a virtual kiosk present and available for the people to for lack of a better term, play with.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Thank you. So on the motion of, uh, Councilor, uh, marks, uh, amended by councilor care of yellow and councilor night councilor Penta.

[Robert Penta]: I would like to have my resolution on there also to, I mean, my amendment to that as it relates to the churches. So whether it's for a funeral and now for a wedding during the hours that they said that they weren't going to, uh, you know, and it's, it's obvious, you know, for them to put it in the bulletin, it's, it's presented itself as a concern. Also, Mr. President, you know, We were also told that at the parking commission, maybe three, four weeks ago, that all the city's parking lots would be three hours. Nothing has been changed. No signage has been changed to three hours. And you still have signs. You can go down Main Street. Signs are bolted to the trees. It's ridiculous. This company is just not doing what it's supposed to be doing. It's quite obvious that the mayor doesn't care. He just signs a contract. He really doesn't care what the impact is, and it's obvious. But I just really think that there is something wrong with how this whole operation is basically taking place. I had a lady turn around and tell me, I believe on Governor's Avenue, they changed, by Carlene's over there, they changed the two hours to a 30-minute parking spot. The Traffic Commission approved it in their minutes. A lady went out there, and the guy was coming around the street and was going to give her a ticket. I said, what are you doing? She's only been in. She's only inside for 10 minutes. No, no. Don't tell me. I mean, I'm watching. I'm right there with her. So how do they make this arbitrary decision of who's going to be there if there's no way to determine it?

[Fred Dello Russo]: So as amended by Councilor Penta for those inquiries. You're close. Councilor Caraviello. Thank you, Mr. President.

[Richard Caraviello]: We did ask one more thing, too, a few weeks ago. I was with Councilor Petra a few weeks ago at the MMA show. They have a white screen. The backlighting. These green backgrounds you can't see. And the gentleman from the company said it's not a big deal to change it. It's a little bit more money to change it. Put the white screen out there so people can see it. I can't see the screen, even during the day, never mind at night.

[Fred Dello Russo]: As amended by Councilor Caraviello,

[Paul Camuso]: Councilor Penta, Councilor Camuso.

[SPEAKER_19]: Thank you.

[Paul Camuso]: Thank you, Mr. President. And, uh, I do support the main resolution and then Councilor Knight's, uh, amendment as well as, um, Councilor Penta's. Yeah, I know we're getting to the point where it's, um, we're getting some time under our belt with this new program, but we still really don't have good data. As the councilor mentioned, we've been on a snow emergency now for a couple of months. You know, people aren't parking. Once the snow's away, we can really look into making major changes to this program. But at this point, I don't see anything wrong with revisiting the 15 and 30 minutes free parking or something in the middle. And if they have to do it at the end of the parking, if that's the only way that the system in place will work, then it's something they should look at. But I just don't know how you're going to enforce the 15 minutes. But you know what? This is what you get paid for here at City Hall to figure it out, and I support the council. And make it work for the people.

[Robert Penta]: If we could, Councilor Pater. On the same thing, what Councilor Camuso just alluded to, whether it's 15 minutes or 30 minutes, you have spots in the city that's an hour or two hours, and there's no kiosks or anything there. So how do they make these judgmental calls by going down there and, you know, they're going to take the time and write every number down? You know, I saw something interesting the other... It's all in the sky. Yeah, I saw something interesting the other day. I was on Boston Avenue in the morning, and we saw the car going down the street. He was going down, how can you say, going towards Somerville on Boston Avenue. He was probably going down there to check out the people, and all of a sudden, he must have got a call, and he whipped his rear around, and he blew through that intersection at least 40, Councilman Marks was there, 40 to 50 miles an hour. He gave no credit, because going right back to what you said, they probably got a buzzer that went off, that the person in the two hours was already over and beyond, This makes no sense how they run this operation that there was no consistency and you know How do you give out a ticket to someone when it's not even? When it's a snow emergency these people should know what's going on They should read the newspaper or they should be tied into the weather report that talks about a snow emergency in the city It's just unfair On the motion of Councilor Marks as amended all those in favor.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Oh Roll call has been requested

[Clerk]: Councilor Cavillo? Yes. Councilor Knight? Yes. Vice President Lowell-Kern? Yes. Councilor Marks? Yes. Councilor Penta? Yes. President Del Rosio?

[Fred Dello Russo]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, none negative. The motion passes. 15-082 offered by Councilor Marks. Be it resolved that the Federal Management Company, which oversees the management of the Riverside Towers, located at 99 Riverside Ave, be contacted requesting the heat in the hallways be turned up due to resident complaints. Councilor Marks.

[Michael Marks]: Thank you, Mr. President. I received two calls from residents of the Riverside Tower. They were concerned that the hallways seemed to be very cold. The residents called the management company and the management company told them that it's their protocol to keep the hallways between 62 and 68 degrees. The woman at the Riverside Tower asked me to go down. I went by on my own. I went into the building. I stood near, as we all know, the front door, which is accessed a lot, the Riverside Tower. And it was absolutely freezing after the second set of doors in that particular lobby area. Do they manage this chamber as well? I don't know if they manage this chamber, but it's about the same degree. And I did go on to a couple of the floors, Mr. President, and it seemed to be, I had a coat on too, and it seemed to be somewhat cold in the building. I contacted, I looked online and contacted the management company, federal management company, and I have to say, I got an email back immediately from Joseph Moscarello. He is the senior property manager for the building. And he also responded via email and phone call back to me. And he mentioned to me that he sent his maintenance person out to each of the floors. And they did notice that some of the floors were actually below 62. And they're going to try to rectify some of the concerns they're having with the heating system in there. He also mentioned to me, which I found interesting, was the front door. stays ajar when it opens automatically for 40 seconds. You can imagine every time someone comes and goes, and that door stays open for 40 seconds. Needless to say, they're going to look at the duration of the cycle on that particular front door and see if they can get it closed quicker without also providing some concerns with residents trying to access the building. But I do want to report, Mr. President, that Mr. Moscarello seems to be on top of the issue. He said that there would be improvements in the temperature in the hallways, throughout the floors, and assured me that if there were any concerns that the management company, like I said, Federal Management Company, would be more than happy to seek some type of a remedy for residents of that building, Mr. President, so.

[Fred Dello Russo]: So your motion is?

[Michael Marks]: My motion is actually to place this, why don't we just receive and place on file.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. For now. And seconded by Councilor Camuso. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you for that good work, Councilor. 15-083 offered by Councilor Penta. Be it resolved that the city of Medford requests the federal EPA that since the proposed MS4 stormwater sewer system permit would require communities to institute more advanced stormwater testing, monitoring and management programs, but is completely silent on funding or mitigation of the additional costs to communities. And since there is no flexibility in the compliance portion of the requirements, And since communities are grappling with these huge financial challenges with preliminary projections to be in excess of $800,000 plus per year, per community, we asked the EPA to defer action on the submission of NOIs until municipalities have had the opportunity to engage the regulatory agencies in an open dialogue regarding these onerous and unaffordable permit requirements. The aggressive schedule that the EPA proposes for implementation of the MS4 program is unrealistic to provide permittees only 90 days to file their Notice of Intent, NOI, after their permit is finalized, and equally unrealistic to dictate that the Notice of Intent of the Stormwater Management Program must be complete within one year. Communities such as Medford would be forced to hire expensive environmental consultants for assistance to complete numerous elements of the program because of lack of staff and technical expertise from years of both state and federal cutbacks in granting grant funding and local aid. Hiring these consultants would require compliance with statutory procurement requirements and could be extremely time-consuming as well as costly. In the absence of EPA leadership on this issue, a number of Massachusetts communities are already combining messaging by forming stormwater coalitions. There are at least five such coalitions in eastern Massachusetts, serving over 58 communities, 85 communities, combining resources and expertise, trying to reduce the individual burden anticipated for communities. Whether Medford joins a coalition or not, it needs to urge the EPA to amend its approach and incorporate goals that are more realistically attainable and within the financial constraints of the current economic climate, or wait until adequate federal funding is available to ensure that these requirements do not translate into another harmful, unfunded, mandate on cities, towns, and taxpayers. Councilor Penta.

[Robert Penta]: Mr. President, I have a whole folder here on this whole idea of this MS-4. This has been around for maybe the last couple of years or thereabouts, maybe 2011 when it first came up. This mandate would put an absolute tremendous cost upon the city of Medford. And as a result of that, especially as the whole resolution recites itself, They're giving no help, no assistance. You're on your own. Whether the city of Medford, again, whether they want to join a coalition or not, it would be up to them. But I just think an $800,000, $900,000 hit on an annual basis for every one of the cities and towns to have to be looking at this right now, especially when we have unfunded retirement benefits that need to be paid. Just as tonight, just looking at the problem with the drugs and that's impact here in the city of Medford. But this is something I really think that the city of Medford needs to do, as other cities and towns are beginning to do. Send letters to the EPA. And they have an address in Boston. It's 5 Boston Square. But I also think that our federal state representatives, Catherine Clark, and Markey, and Warren, need to be on board with this. They're the first ones out there saying, oh, we've got to help the people and stuff like that. You can't help the people by giving unfunded mandates such as this. Absolutely, totally unfunded. And they have taken grants away that normally could have been used or would have been used for things such as this matter. So with that being said, Mr. President, I have no problem. It probably would be even more helpful if our city engineer was on board with this or our Department of Public Works. But I think at the outset, as a legislative body, as these other 85 cities and towns are doing, they're sending in these letters. And basically, you're just asking them to delay it until you're ready to put a practical program in place that cities and towns can take a look at and can see. The way this thing is set up right now, if you have a street sweeper that goes down the street, you can't even have that street sweeper anywhere near a gutter because of what it's going to be able to go in there, because that's part of the stormwater drain. So there's a whole host of things that are implied with this, like I said. This has been going on. I have all this stuff here. Uh, but this is really, that's the issue of the resolution is, is the gut of the matter. And, um, the point person, uh, well, the point person for the city would be the city engineer. Cause they're, and, and, uh, Paul gear, who happens to be the director of public works, but it's, it's an issue that the city just cannot handle. They don't have the personnel and they don't have the expertise. Um, they may be expertise enough to understand what needs to be done, but we don't have the tools to implement this thing. And we don't have any resources. that the federal government are now imposing upon cities and towns, where the federal government should be having these workshops, should be having cities and towns go there to understand it. And when you get your notice of intent permit, have it in more of a reasonable way, not 90 days. And then you have to have the whole program complete within a year. It's a cost. It's huge. It's 900,000 or thereabouts.

[Fred Dello Russo]: This is a major federal administrative overreach of power, which is typified, I must say.

[Robert Penta]: Yes. So I have no problem to take the resolution. We can work with it, add or subtract to it. But the EPA is in Boston at 5 Post Office Square in Boston. And I believe that they are and they will accept comments as it relates to this. And I believe the more comments they get, They'll have an understanding that we can't go forward with this. But I think it's also beneficial, again, that our federal delegation becomes on board with this, too, because they can say, well, it needs to be done. A lot of things need to be done. But we've had so many unfunded mandates. Leave No Child Behind is one, which is an educational mandate. But this is something that's really huge. And this isn't just a one-shot deal. This is every year. You're going to have to deal with this thing every single year. And you're going to have to buy the equipment and the tools and everything that goes with it. I'd like to, um, I don't know. What do you want to do with it? I, I would just like to send the letter off to the EPA and then just refer it upstairs and hopefully that the city administration does what they're supposed to do.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Well, perhaps we should have a report back from the city engineer.

[Robert Penta]: You could do that.

[Fred Dello Russo]: And then refer it to the mayor's office if it needs to go out under the aegis of the city of Medford.

[Robert Penta]: So if we could, uh, legislative bodies, administrative and legislative bodies, we have a mayor, other cities and towns have city managers, but they have been soliciting, um, commentaries from legislative bodies, which is councils as well as the administration. So it just adds to the impact of recognizing that there is a cost involved in getting to that cost. There's just no preparation. It's onto the cities and towns.

[Fred Dello Russo]: So, uh, if we could then have, uh, the city engineer report back to the council as to the progress of this while at the same time, the council sending out its a request to the EPA Councilor Knight.

[Adam Knight]: Um, thank you very much, Mr. President. I think it's a great idea to have the city engineer report back to us as to where we are in terms of compliance, what the cost is going to be for the taxpayers here in the city of Medford. Um, I think it's also important to take a look that if in fact this program is delayed, what effect it's going to have on our watershed. I think we have a lot of questions that need to be answered, Mr. President, and I certainly don't have a problem asking those questions. However, until those questions are answered, I'd be opposed to sending a letter off to the EPA.

[Robert Penta]: Mr. President, the Watershed Association has nothing to do with this. This is an EPA mandate as it relates to our wastewater disposal and how it's going through, and whether it's through the – just how it's leaving the city, or all cities and towns. And this is something where 85 cities and towns have now, either through a coalition or independently, are asking the federal government to put a hold on this and waiting until appropriate federal funding is available to ensure that these requirements don't translate into a financial burden. There's no workshops being held up on this. I'm quite sure that our city engineer is aware of this, but like I said, this is now coming through after meeting and having this discussion and reviewing what 85 cities and towns are now doing. So it's just, you know, we're not going to be novel on this. This is a direct approach of an unfunded mandate from the federal government.

[Fred Dello Russo]: So then the answer to the question is that we're going to refer this to the city engineer for report back to the council. And then having heard that we'll then take further action.

[Robert Penta]: So on that motion and or the city council can take its own independent action after whatever she does.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Excellent. On that motion, all those in favor. All right. All those opposed unanimously. Uh, past 15 Oh, 84 offered by consulate Penta be resolved that the method that method resident Andrew Sano, a realtor with remax Andrew realty services of Medford and Stonium be congratulated on being named the 2014 Massachusetts realtor of the year by the Massachusetts association of realtors. This highly recognized professional business honor was bestowed upon Mr. Sano at the Massachusetts Association of Realtors' annual professional awards reception, which was held at the Massachusetts Realtors' annual meeting in North Falmouth.

[Robert Penta]: Counsel Penton? In June of 2014, Mr. Sano had his name placed in nomination for Retailer of the Year after he received the award of the Greater Boston. And the competition to become the Realtor of the Year put him into 15 real estate associations, and in competition with 20,000 individuals whose name came up for review for the particular purpose. If anybody does know Mr. Sano, he works at Remax in Medford Square, Remax Andrew Realty. He's completely dedicated not only to his job, to his family, but the whole idea of being a professional in this particular job. And I believe anyone that knows him, especially in that office, They will tell you on a daily basis he lives, sleeps, and eats, being a good real estate person for whoever his client might be. Also, he's also well known in the regional area of realtors and the greater Boston leadership because of commitment to doing this. So with that being said, Mr. President, I'd like to have Mr. Sano come before the council, receive the award, for which was given out, I believe, this past December by the vice president of, I guess, the State of the Professional Awards reception this past December. And it would be nice. You know, we seem to be blessed having certain business folks in this community. You know, most recently we just had Dr. Lepore receive a piece of legislation that was passed long overdue as it relates to wind instruments and helping to protect people not to get any diseases from using it. We have Victor Garrow, who made national acclaim by defending a person for 30 years and bringing justice to someone not being found guilty for a crime that he didn't commit. And here we have now a local realtor here in the city of Medford. We have three people from three different walks of life, and I just think folks like that need to be recognized. and let people know that in our city of Medford, there are many citizens of the year, and they come from many walks of life. So that being said, I'd like to have Mr. Clark, we can get in touch with Mr. Sano and have him come to a future council meeting.

[Fred Dello Russo]: to congratulate state representative Paul J. Donato on being promoted to second assistant majority leader. Councilor Camuso.

[Paul Camuso]: Thank you, Mr. President. As we all know, state rep Donato has done a great job delivering for the community here. And once again, he has been appointed a higher position. It seems like every two years, representative Donato has been moving through the ranks. So he just We've got one more promotion in the ranks of leadership, and for that I want to congratulate him. And hopefully this will allow him to bring more funding to Medford for all the projects that are so important to the quality of life here in our community.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Congratulations to Representative Donato, who's undoubtedly one of the hottest working men or persons on Beacon Hill. Absolutely. On the motion of Councilor Camuso for approval, all those in favor? Offered by Councilor Caraviello, be it resolved that the City Solicitor and Code Enforcement Officer report back to the Subcommittee on licensing if all taxi owners and companies are in compliance on the City of Medford Vehicle for Hire Ordinance, Section 90-37, Owner's License. Councilor Caraviello, and I notice you've also called for a Subcommittee meeting, if you want to share with us.

[Richard Caraviello]: All the owners are all going to be coming up for renewal, I think April 1st. So along with the help from the clerk and the solicitor, every two weeks, I mean every week, the committee will bring in two different taxing companies along with some way bills in the form of the new rules that we'll be having. And hopefully we'll get some rules in place and move on with this.

[Paul Camuso]: Thank you, Councilor. Councilor Camuso. Yes. I think this is something we should also have Bill Timmons get involved with. This is actually a part of his job he should be doing. So if maybe we could get him there for, um, for this very important meeting, uh, I'd like to make sure he's part of this cause we all know, uh, he can issue fines as well as he's the person that certifies the meters every April. Uh, so he's a front and center and more importantly, he's had dealings with all these, companies and licenses, so we want to get some input from him on the way they're doing their business and if he feels that they're a reputable business to continue within the confines of our community. Thank you for a good council. Councilor Knight.

[Adam Knight]: Mr. President, thank you very much. I'd like to commend Councilor Caraviello on tackling this issue. In my time on the Council, we've had a lot of discussion about taxi licenses, about the ordinance that's in place, about whether or not it's outdated. And I think that an appropriate first step would be auditing these companies to determine where they're in compliance and where they're in non-compliance so that we can move forward and develop a comprehensive ordinance and make some changes. The city clerks work very hard on putting something together that mirrors what they've done in Brookline, which seems to be a rather extensive and comprehensive ordinance. I think that Councilor Caraviello's course of action is an appropriate one where we'll meet weekly or bi-weekly in order to hash this out and get it wrapped up hopefully before the end of the legislative session, Mr. President.

[Fred Dello Russo]: But I stand in full support. Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Knight. And on the motion for approval by Councilor Caraviello, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. Do we get everything? Records.

[Robert Penta]: Councilor Penta. In that packet, we received a letter from the mayor uh, dated February 27th, as it relates to the, uh, um, the GIC situation that we discussed last week in the letter, um, they may have make some mistake on the right in the beginning, uh, plan design rest for GIC. There will be a voting on the rates on their upcoming March 3rd meeting. It isn't March 3rd, it's tomorrow, March 4th. And for those who might be interested in this March 4th meeting, which is tomorrow, and I believe it's at eight 15 or between eight 15, eight 30, You can attend the meeting, but they're not going to allow public comment. So that unfortunately seems to set another tempo here. Also in the letter, basically substantiates, I think, what we discussed last week, at least what I said. The unfortunate part of the GIC program, it's been intentionally underfunded for the past three years, and they never took it into any consideration. And when they were doing their budgetary process, the prior administration, They never took into consideration the additional people who were joining GIC and that the end of federal funds were not being forthcoming to the Commonwealth of Mass. So the cost of approximately $162 to $197 million is the cost right now, unfortunately, that GIC is going to be held accountable for to make whole this whole idea of those cities and towns that are in the GIC program. Another thing, another major change that they have made, it's going to go from an annual January to December to a fiscal year, which will be July 1st to June 30th. And one of the keys in here is as follows, and I think it just segues itself into what we talked about last week, which is the following. It states, the GIC members can only change from an individual to a family or a family to an individual coverage with the qualifying event, which is marriage, birth, adoption of a child, change in the dependent eligibility, divorce, pursuant to subject matter chapter 32A, eligibility requirement, death of a spouse, dependent or a spouse, or dependence and voluntary loss of coverage elsewhere. Now, by having that, that one-time event, and coupling that with Harvard Health and Tufts going from a PPO to a POS, the next part that seems to be an unqualified issue is the fact that anyone who's in PPO and goes to a POS, whether it be in Tufts or Harvard, if you have a particular doctor in a particular hospital that are not in it, you cannot go to it. You lose that doctor. You lose that hospital. So what was said before is, while the 85-15 might stay the same, there is a huge, there will be a 6% to 12% increase. That's what it looks like. The projection is going to be at tomorrow's event for them to take the vote. This administration, the Baker administration, I believe, is committed to offsetting by a supplemental budget, getting close to that $192 million, which appears to be the magic number right now. But also, with that being said, the issue of whether, in fact, monies are going to be forthcoming in the future as it relates to offsetting that, that's going to be another issue unto itself. I think what needs to take place, and if I understand the gentleman who came here last week and indicated we're locked in until 2017. Now, the only thing that we're locked into is the percentage rate. We're not locked into keeping the rates what they are. The city of Medford, as well as each subscriber, is going to have to wind up paying for this in some shape, manner, or form. So if you're a current employee, you're a retiree, a survivor, a school teacher, a policeman, a fireman, a municipal employee, are going to pay for this effective July 1st with the rates that will be forthcoming. One of the things that were brought up in discussion, and it was a point made really applicable by the Mass Teachers Association and the American Teachers Association, and their claim is quite candid, that they honestly feel that this whole health care cost, which is an outrageous cost, is being driven by insurance companies because The driving of these rates are going up because of the claims. And the claims are being predicated by people going to more expensive either hospitals or more expensive doctors. Now, when the program and the problem was being introduced, strike that, when the whole insurance issue was being introduced, I believe in 2011, for which the city of Medford jumped on board, effective July, January 1st of 2012, the whole idea was to reduce our insurance cost here in the city of Medford. Let's just talk about the city of Medford. And that would have worked very well, and I think everybody recognized the fact that their co-pays and their family costs were going to go up as part of joining this. But the city of Medford indicated that they would be saving approximately $25 to $26 million over a four-and-a-half, five-year period of time.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Is this your presentation from last week?

[Robert Penta]: No, this is the presentation of today, attending the meeting that the governor was at, and we had this discussion. You don't mind, do you? It's information that is forthcoming. And as a result of that, This information is very important. So anyone who was on GIC here in the city of Medford, Unicare, that seems to be the difference between Tufts Health and what's the other one? I just forgot it. And what is the other one? I just forgot the other name. Well, anyway, Harvard Health, Tufts Health and Harvard Health. So the tradeoff is going to be your fees and costs are going to be higher in Tufts Health and Harvard Health, but Unicare may be at an issue where they might either be the same or they may go down. But the real major concern is anyone who has their PPO is going to go to a POS, you are going to lose If you lose your doctor or the hospital associated with it that you had before, and the PPO, and it's not found in the POS, then you cannot go to that doctor. You're going to have to find another doctor in another hospital. So these are one of the diminishing things that are taking place. And now we're up to 60 communities, 60 communities that seem to be ready to jump on board. We were at 50 at the time. Now we're up to 60 cities and towns. And again, the argument is the larger the numbers, the lower the cost should be. But it's not working out that way. And one of the big stumbling blocks The Patrick administration, for three years in a row, underfunded intentionally the liability that was necessary to be paid in that GIC program. And that's where we're at right now. So what started off as a $320 million deficit, when the Patrick administration said they were passing a budget that's current and it's level, it's now up to, I think, almost $900 million, a shade under a billion dollars. And these are one of the areas, unfortunately, that are being taxed. Hopefully, the mayor who was the negotiator in behalf of this can recognize the wherewithal to do something that offsets before 2017 no further increases that we would have to pay here in the city of Medford. I don't know what the relationship is between Harvard and Pilgrim with employees, retirees, and survivors as compared to Unicare, but that does and that will have an effect upon the city of Medford.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Councilor. The records. Wait a minute, Mr. President. Tabled. Records.

[Robert Penta]: No.

[Fred Dello Russo]: I want to leave the records for this week. Records of the tabled records of the February 17th, 2015. That's not me. Were passed to Councilor Caraviello. Did you have a chance to inspect those? I have not. We'll get that done next week. Then the motion to retable them. All those in favor? All those opposed? February 24th. Records are retabled. Records of February 24th were. pass to Councilor Knight for inspection.

[Adam Knight]: But if Council President, Councilor Penta has an issue, I'll be happy to sit with them and talk about it and we can figure it out. So we'll table them until next week.

[Fred Dello Russo]: On the motion of Councilor Knight to table those records as well. Records are tabled. And on the motion of the Vice President for Lungo-Koehn, motion to adjourn.

Fred Dello Russo total time: 16.85 minutes total words: 1149	Paul Camuso total time: 10.08 minutes total words: 439	Michael Marks total time: 14.57 minutes total words: 1004	Richard Caraviello total time: 6.04 minutes total words: 637
Robert Penta total time: 32.19 minutes total words: 1877	Breanna Lungo-Koehn total time: 4.29 minutes total words: 235	Adam Knight total time: 6.93 minutes total words: 712	Michael Ruggiero total time: 1.02 minutes total words: 89