total time: 9.71 minutes
total words: 853
[John Petrella]: Hello everyone and welcome to Method Happenings, a show for and about the city of Medford. I am John Petrello and the purpose of this program is to give Method citizens facts and information to help you make informed choices. But before I do introduce today's guests, I just want to take a moment, I want to extend an invitation to any member of the Medford City Council, or any member of the Medford School Committee, who is a council member, school committee member, or running for re-election, we're giving you the opportunity once again to appear on Medford Happenings to share your positions and your thoughts on current issues facing the city of Medford. It's very simple to do. You can reach us at MethodHappenings02155 at gmail.com. Once again, MethodHappenings02155 at gmail.com if you'd like to join us on the show. Now we'll get to the important stuff. I want to give a warm welcome, special guests, they've both been on the show before, both know Method inside and out, Milva McDonald and Ron Giovino, who are members of the Charter Study Committee, and we thank you for that.
[Ron Giovino]: Thank you.
[John Petrella]: We're going to get right into it. So question one, here we go. Proposed charter has gone through required city and state review processes, and it will be represented to the citizens of Method to vote on in this coming November election. So can you tell the audience, are there any updates to the proposed charter And also, will the proposed charter be reviewed regularly going forward?
[Ron Giovino]: Thanks, John, for that question, and thanks for having us here. As you know, this is a very, very important piece that'll be on the ballot. There are a lot of updates, which hopefully we'll get to as we continue our discussion today. But as far as review, the committee thought and the council and the mayor agreed that four decades of waiting for another review is unacceptable. So written into the charter is a requirement for the charter to be reviewed every 10 years, same way this one was. And also, just because it's brand new and because we want to encourage people to really adopt the use of the charter, the first charter review is mandated to happen within the first five years once the charter has been established. So there's definitely a lot of emphasis on making sure that this is a living, updatable document.
[John Petrella]: Okay, Ron, thank you for that answer. Another thing I keep hearing, I'm sure you are hearing it, everyone's talking about, I guess there's an expansion in the number of Councilors going from seven to 11 members. Can you like sort of dig into that, let us know, let the people know exactly what's going on with that?
[Milva McDonald]: Yeah, sure. I'll take that question. Thank you. Um, so, uh, we currently have an all at large council of 7 members. And the proposed charter would switch that to hybrid ward representation. Since the city has 8 wards, that means we would have 8 ward Councilors, 1 from each ward. and three at-large Councilors. Hybrid ward representation is standard practice. We're actually one of the only cities in the state not to have it. And our council is also the smallest council in the state for a city of our size. So that switch to hybrid ward representation will bring the size and composition of our council in line with other councils in the state. Also, we looked at a lot of things when we had this discussion, but some wards of the city have been significantly underrepresented in recent decades. In fact, two wards, wards one and four, have had no Councilors come from them. And what's interesting is that voter turnout actually often correlates with the most highly represented wards. So ward representation will ensure that every ward has a representative, and hopefully open the door to more people running for office, because running for office at large is very difficult. And it's more manageable to really focus on a ward and focus on that number of people.
[John Petrella]: Yes, it's a lot easier. It's going to cost some people, if you don't have a lot of money, it's going to give you the ability to actually run and maybe even for a ward.
[Ron Giovino]: John, if I could just add quickly to that. I think that one of the focuses of what we heard from the citizens, and that's really what we were, the listening board for the citizens, There are a lot of neighborhoods, a lot of wards who are underrepresented and don't really get engaged in the process. So we think that giving them the ability, not only does it allow for, you know, when folks want to campaign, they have to decide that, first of all, the job's going to take a lot of their time. Secondly, it's very expensive to run a campaign citywide. This affords them the opportunity to talk to their neighbors, gives the neighbors a chance to say that, you know, hey, look at that. There's my city council walking down the street saying good morning to me. So our hope is that this not only improves the efficiency of the city, but allows us to energize those in the community who just I'm not engaged. So we're hoping that this is a very important issue. This is an issue that people talked about. This is one of the priorities. This was the most battled of all the issues. And I personally think it's really built with everybody in mind, caring for everybody's opinion, and also will energize the community. Thanks.
[John Petrella]: I'm going to throw this in there. I'm not trying to throw a monkey wrench in. I thought at one time the current city council, as it sits, was very much in favor of this and pushing it. But now it seems like, I don't know, I'm hearing that they're not in favor anymore. I mean, can you comment on that? Or is there anything you want to add to that? I mean, am I correct in saying that?
[Milva McDonald]: Well, I think the current city council voted for it. I mean, all the ones that are running for re-election voted yes. So I take that as a support.
[John Petrella]: OK. All right. That's all. Just wanted to make sure. All right, so will the city council, another subject that keeps coming up, will they have or what new powers under the revived charter will they have?
[Milva McDonald]: Yes, so the actual form of government, which is a mayor council form is not changing. So, but there are a couple of things that will shift. For example, right now, the mayor has sole authority to appoint members of Medford's boards and commissions. The boards and commissions that are mostly volunteer bodies, but they're really important for the vibrancy and the operation of many aspects of the city. The city council will have a chance to be involved in that process, and that will make that process a little more collaborative. That's one thing.
[John Petrella]: That makes sense. That sounds good. I guess the next question, Can you tell us about how the new charter, how will it impact the office of the mayor?
[Ron Giovino]: Let me see if I can't address that. I think one of the key things that came about from almost three years now of listening in meetings and negotiating and debates, we voted to have the mayor's term go to four years. And that's what, you know, that's what we heard back from everybody, that a mayor has to run a lengthy campaign. They have two years to put together an administration. And, you know, during those two years, they're building up for the next campaign. So we thought it was fair to say that the four years gives the mayor a chance to build an organization. uh, that, uh, supports her agenda and what's best for the citizens. It also allows her, in my opinion, to hire staff members who are not worried about a two year term, a two year job. I think it will, I think it will increase the quality of the candidates she'll have to choose from. He or she will have to choose. Um, but you know, also the mayor has, um, During the negotiation, she's stepping down as the chairperson of the school committee. She'll still be a member of the school committee, and that clearly came from the subcommittee meetings on school committees. And I think it was a big step. It was actually a key negotiating point to get this thing passed. But that's certainly the four-year term. And also the term limit now for the mayor is 16 years. So it's four terms is the maximum. So those are two major, major issues.
[John Petrella]: Okay, that sounds good, four-year term for the mayor, but there's still a term limit, 16 years. For that, you're not gonna be able to run again. All right, so we got the council, we got the mayor. Does this charter have any changes involving the school committee? What's that?
[Ron Giovino]: Yeah, it does. And the subcommittee on school committee was one of the most engaging with the citizens in terms of being part of the debate. The attempt to go ward representation didn't work for the school committee because of the size. The ward, so we've compromised to create four districts. So they're combined districts, they're listed on the charter. It'll allow a similar attitude that we had for the ward representation, but we clearly heard that seven members is the maximum they wanted to have to function in the best interest of the schools. They have a two-year limit, but this is the same theory behind getting the neighborhoods energized, but you have to remember too that all wards don't have schools in them. So there was a lot of differences that would happen. Again, the mayor stepping down as a chairperson was a very important person, and I think it's It's a very key point to remember that during all of this with the Collins Center by our side, we were constantly reminded that much of what the school committee does in terms of their guidelines is governed by the state and the Department of Education. And there's a lot of things that would have duplicated what's already in the law. and things that we couldn't change because we don't have that control. So it's important to note that a lot of the school committee stuff is already in place statewide. So we didn't have the opportunity to change that. But for the most part, there's some things that they asked for and we gave them in terms of procedures and budgets and being involved the next review, the next charter review. So, uh, there definitely was a lot had to do with the school committee, but most significantly is the districts, uh, uh, how they're going to be voting.
[John Petrella]: Okay. Good answer, Ron. I like that. Thank you. Very good answer.
[Ron Giovino]: I've been writing that for three years, John.
[John Petrella]: Like I said, I've said a lot on the shows. I'll say it again. Work this inside and out. I know the effort. I watch the effort. It is really You know, the people of the City of Method, this is their document. That's the bottom line on everything. But like I said, you guys did tremendous work. And you are the experts, so that's why you're on the show. So, all right, so the next question now, you know, you have a new charter. And people are asking, you know, what about does it affect, you know, the city budget, the school budget? You know, is there going to be any changes to address the city and the school budgets? And I don't know, Milvi, you want to take that?
[Milva McDonald]: Yeah. So, you know, the way the budget, city budgets are created and decided upon is really outlined in state law. We can't really determine that in the charter, but There are some timelines that we can determine, and one of the things that we added that we hope will improve the budgeting process is that every year on or before February 15th, so right at the beginning or before the budgeting season gets going, the mayor will call a joint meeting of the city council and the school committee. Before the process gets going, Those three bodies, our elected bodies, will get together to review the financial condition of the city and share relevant information. So this hopefully is going to create a more collaborative budget process that will better reflect the needs of all areas of the city.
[John Petrella]: Great answer. Thank you, Milva. Let's get into, you know, we're having city elections. They're coming up. And we're hearing a lot of talk about the city elections. And thank you for running, Milva. It takes a lot. No, it does. It takes a lot to go out and do that. And I really appreciate, we all appreciate what you did, putting yourself out there. Are there any changes in the charter about the election process in Medford?
[Ron Giovino]: Yeah, there are a few changes. Obviously, the biggest change is the ward representation and the district representation piece, and that will happen at the next election, not this one. So once it's put in place, one of the key issues that were brought up was the actual ballot itself, which, by the way, the ballot, we've seen the specimen ballot, and it's already out, and it's nice to see the ballot question about the charter is on the front page, so that's good news. But beside the fact that we're changing boundaries for the next election in two years, they're also looking at, you know, incumbents have a natural advantage on the ballot because they are the incumbent. What will happen now is there'll be a random placement on the ballot of each candidate's name. And that process will be done by a random drawing for where they're positioned. And, you know, it may sound like a very simple piece, but, you know, I guess the, election people understand it a little bit better as placement can, anything can be an advantage and certainly placement could be one and that's one of the ones that was voted into this new charter plan.
[John Petrella]: I like that. I think that's a, I think that's a good point. You know, everyone's the luck of the draw. That's the way it should be where you get placed. A lot to say about that. And thank you for that answer. All right. So, you know, we're covering quite a bit here. Does the new charter offer anything? And this is one of my big things. It's one of all of our big things in Medford. Is it going to encourage citizen participation in Medford city government? Will it help? Will it do anything? I mean, how do you feel about that?
[Milva McDonald]: Well, we have a, we don't have, we have a whole section of the new charter, a whole article, article eight that's titled citizen participation mechanisms. And that's something that our current charter does not have. Um, so, uh, and there are different levels, um, of, of, um, actions that people can take under the, this proposed charter if it passes. Um, the first is, what's called in the charter a group petition, where if you want to put something on the agenda for the council, you can get signatures to have it put on the agenda. Obviously, probably the first thing that people would try is to contact their Councilors. But if that doesn't work, it might not always work, citizens will be able to get 100 signatures. And then the city council has to take up discussion of the measure. Yeah, yeah. Other things that people would be able to do is if if they get together and get the signatures, they can put a measure on the ballot. For residents to vote on, that's definitely a lot more signatures, but it's possible. Yeah, also overturning a measure passed by the city council. If there's enough opposition to it and residents can get the required signatures, they can put on the ballot and ask the voters whether they want to reject that. And the last one is a recall of the mayor. So again, it's not something that can be done frivolously. It takes a good bit of work to get the signatures. And then it would also go on the ballot. But it's something that residents will be able to try or have the option of doing, which we don't have now.
[John Petrella]: And I think that's a great thing, I really do. And, you know, I don't think anyone's going to do it frivolously, but it's nice. And we never had the ability to do that. So that might think that's going to go a long way. That's all getting people more involved. So, you know, the last couple of questions here, you've covered a a large amount of the changes and you really made it clear. A lot of people have a lot of questions. I think you answered them here. But is there any other significant charter updates that we haven't covered or I haven't asked the questions to? I mean, you can both answer this one if you want. I just get a feel for You know, is there anything else we should be covering or anything else you guys want to discuss while we have? Yeah.
[Milva McDonald]: Yeah, I would do you want to go 1st round or should I go?
[Ron Giovino]: No, go ahead.
[Milva McDonald]: Okay. So, um, I, the 1 thing 1 thing I do just want to point out sort of. Generally speaking, our current charter is. It's two pages. There's many things that are not in it. When we first started our committee process, one of the memos that the Collins Center wrote up for us, and that's the Collins Center for Public Management. They help a lot of cities and towns with charter review, and we were really lucky to have them. They wrote up a memo on the complexity of Medford's charter that basically, because it doesn't cover things, you'd have to go through state law, figure out, oh, what do we do about this? And so it's also makes it inaccessible for residents to understand how our government works. So, for example, there are no vacancy provisions in our current charter for mayor or school committee, and there's a 1 for city council, but it's not it's incomplete. So, when we had a school committee member step down a couple of years ago. there was some confusion and it was figured out, but, um, there was a period where it was like, what do we, what do we do about this? Um, if we had that situation with the mayor where a mayor had to step down or a mayor couldn't serve, I feel, you know, that could be a crisis for the city. What do we do? Um, so we have vacancy provisions. That's just an example of one of the ways in which our current charter is lacking.
[John Petrella]: Yeah, so that's a good one. I like that. That's very important, by the way. And I think it's great people know about that now. Ron, anything else you want to add?
[Ron Giovino]: Yeah, to Milva's point, I think that there are a lot of details that are in this charter that when people are deciding, if they have a question of why it isn't there, to go to the charter and take a look at the new charter. It's all listed out there. And I think that what we all have to remember, and it's a very difficult thing to remember, is when the charter is written, It's not written with Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn in the charter. It's the mayor. This is a living document that moves on. It doesn't have personalities in it. So, you know, the guidelines from the Collins Center and the ability to make a plan that's a blueprint for the future is not so easy when you have an existing operation running. But I think, you know, Melville led a great committee to make sure that we have those details. And I know she is as well as I am. And the whole committee is grateful to the Collins Center and very proud of the product that we put out. So it's pretty comprehensive. I encourage people to read it.
[John Petrella]: There's no doubt it's comprehensive. And like I said, I'll say it again. I said at the beginning of the show, it was a couple of years of hard work. You guys did a great job. That whole committee did a great job. And you really reached out. The communication you had was exceptional. That's what I want to add to this, to the program. I really did. No, you hit every, I mean, while you were doing this, the communications out to the city were tremendous. A lot of people have lessons about communication. getting the message out, what you were doing, why you were doing it. It was all there. And a guy like me, it made it easy for me to follow. That's all. Thanks, John.
[Milva McDonald]: Can I add one more thing? Sure. So, I just wanted to add, you know, we've talked about ward representation and it makes sense that we're talking about it a lot because it's really been kind of the major issue even before we got this charter review going. I've been hearing it for years. I meet people who just moved here from other cities and they say, what's what's going on? Medford doesn't have wards. That's weird. But I do know also that there's some concerns about, well, what are we going to do? That's four more people. How are we going to pay for that? I just wanted to say that you can't put a price tag on better government. We're going to if we have more Councilors, we have more people to do work for the city. So we'll also get that back. We'll get it back with a better system of government. We'll get it back with more people actually working for the city. And as far as the salaries, the charter itself doesn't say what salaries are. There's nothing that says the salaries have to be the same or more or less. So these are all things that can be worked out. They're really like small potatoes in the big picture.
[John Petrella]: Well, that's good to know. And I think it's very, very important that, and you said it up at the beginning of the show, Milva, about the representation. And I think it's important that everyone in the city has the same or similar representation. And that's what I like best about this. I think that's great. All right, so I want to thank you both. We're down to the last question now, okay? You know, a lot of people are talking about it, which is a good thing. Go have a cup of coffee. People are talking here, there, everywhere you go now. They know what's coming up. It's a simple yes or no vote. But, you know, if someone, you know, they have questions, they wanna know more about the charter, or they wanna get in touch with, and I'm being honest, they wanna get in touch with either one of you, or someone on the committee. Is there any way, or is there an easy way, simplified way for them to, you have anything set up where they can get in touch with you, ask questions, get a response, or how is that working out?
[Ron Giovino]: Yeah, it's true. There's a lot of conversation, which is very exciting. There's a lot of questions out there, which is even more exciting. Social media does its job with discussions out there. And even though our committee has been dissolved, there's a new committee out there, some of us are involved with, to help move this ballot question. And basically, it's about further education. When people are now engaged, the charter is submitted, can't be changed. The governor signed off on it, so it can't be changed. But there are questions, and I see a lot of, unintentional or intentional misinformation on social media. And I try to, and I know Milva does as well, without influencing too much, but giving the real answer based on the research we've done, you know, there are things out there that are just wrong. They're just wrong and misleading. And I don't know if it's intentional or not. So there is a website. It's www.medfordcharternow.com. which will be an ever-growing website over these next 30 days. It shows you the old charter, it shows you the new charter, it shows you information. We'll be answering questions and coming up with frequently asked questions section of the webpage. So it'll be a great resource for folks to go to, to see what people are asking. And not that we're the definitive ones, Uh, but certainly we have a good idea because we've done the research and we've done the backup and we know the limitations of what we could and couldn't write. Uh, so we, we, we do have a little bit of experience, uh, with. The questions that people are asking, we're asking, we asked. Um, so it's going to be a great resource for people. It's medfordcharternow.com and, you know, We're on social media and if you want to look me up in social media and send me a message and happy to either tell you what I know or find out from Milva who is my resource. But, you know, we're happy to get what we don't want is people going into that polling area, not knowing what the reasons for why they're voting for or against it. But the document can't be changed. It is what it is. It's a document that in five years is going to be reviewed again the same way. So I think it's time to give a little culture change to the city and get more people engaged. this charter is the tool to do that. So I encourage people to go to that website. It is up now, it is live and it's impressive. I'm sure they'll put that up there, but it's medfordcharternow.com.
[John Petrella]: Okay, thank you very much. Melvi, you're all set. Anything else you want to add?
[Milva McDonald]: Yeah, I just wanted to, you know, just Ron, you made me, you reminded me of something that there's been a little bit of confusion about in terms of the city council because the charter says that the city council can hire staff subject to appropriation and they might get necessary expenses. But the key phrase there is by appropriation and the reality is that it's exactly the same as the system we have now. They can't hire a staff member or get expenses unless it's appropriated in the budget. That's really not a change at all. It's just laid out there.
[John Petrella]: So people aren't needing to buy appropriation, that's what's going on. Because that also, so it hasn't changed. Yeah.
[Milva McDonald]: It's really not changed. They do have the clerk, which is already an employee of the city council. And there is an assistant, which the city council has always had a city messenger. So they just changed the title of that, that's all. So it's really pretty much, it's exactly the same. It's just, yeah. And I also just want to say we have lawn signs. If you want to support the charter with a lawn sign, you can go to the website or email us at info at medfordcharternow.com. And to get those lawn signs, and we have literature, we'll be dropping all over the city. If you want to get involved in doing some lit drops, you can contact us. And we have donation buttons on the website if you want to, you know, support us that way, because it all costs money.
[John Petrella]: No, it does. It's always important. And Ron, I'm not one to correct anybody, much less you, but I am going to correct you on one thing.
[Ron Giovino]: Okay.
[John Petrella]: Who in Milva are the definitive people to go to for the charter? That's it. There's no, you know, your committee, you do, you have the answers. And the thing is, you have the right answers. And as usual, there is this misinformation and you guys cleared up a lot today. And I really do. That's why we had you on the show. Our purpose on this show is, you know, to get the truth, the information out. And you guys did a great job today. I thank you very much. I really do.
[Ron Giovino]: Thanks, John. Thank you.
[John Petrella]: And we'll be pushing this along with you. So it's that time again. Thank you both for joining us.
[Ron Giovino]: Thank you very much.
[John Petrella]: Thank you both. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. There's a lot of information out there. I think it's going to help us. Thank you.
[Ron Giovino]: Thanks. Appreciate it. Have a good day, everybody. Thank you. Take care.
[John Petrella]: Well, it's that time again. I want to thank Melvin McDonald, Ron Givino for taking the time to inform our audience with facts and information about the new charter, because without facts, people are prevented from making informed choices. And before we close, I want to let our audience know we are looking for Method residents to appear on a Method Happenings show to share their views on what they expect from the members of the next city council. And if you're interested in appearing on a show, call us or contact us at Method Happenings, 02155 at gmail.com. And of course, I wanna thank everyone who has been watching. Thank you for all the positive feedback we've been getting. And yes, we're, you know, we're getting a little negative too, that keeps us on his toes. So we welcome negative comments as well. And if you would like to share a comment, you're opening a new business, have an organization, an upcoming event, you know, anything you can think of. and you want to appear on a future show, you can contact us once again. It's methodhappenings02155 at gmail.com. I want to remind everyone you'll be able to see replays of this show on Method Community Media, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. There's a lot going on with the elections and candidates. That schedule may change a bit over the next couple of weeks. You really do need to go visit a great website, and you guys are the one making it a great website, because we are getting more views than we ever imagined. So I want to thank you for viewing the website. It's been very successful. And, you know, we feel like we're doing a good job. So our website that you can get all this great information, see all these shows, and generally everything you need to know about Method events, everything is on there. You can contact us at methodhappenings.com. I'm going to say it one more time. MethodHappenings.com. I want to put a special thanks out there to Bruce Patterson, who's really done something, I think, quite amazing with the website. And you can also find us on YouTube at Method Happenings as well. So for the Method Happenings team, I want to thank Paul, Marco, Bruce, Margaret, and James for all your work. And that's it. Have a great show. And remember, MatFed, stay informed. Thank you all.
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