[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you, Gene Martin, 10 Cumming Street. If the mayor listens to me on this, she's going to get a lot of hard phone calls and some emails. Unfortunately, she has started a bad precedent for the city. While I appreciate the intent of public awareness of certain city-sponsored events, posting them on City Hall's outside wall is an inappropriate place to display such information. City Hall is the seat of our government, not a billboard for city-wide information. I find it cheapens the city in a few ways. One, it unknowingly sets up favorite versus non-favorite groups. While some are vocal, There may be other groups that feel intimidated to speak in opposition of the quote, favorite group, which has already attained preference in City Hall. This unseen bias can create unnecessary resentment. It can pit one group against the other. Eventually, we may have two groups who will oppose each other in concept, wanting to be represented on City Hall, i.e., pro-life versus pro-choice. This is a dangerous practice. It detracts from the visual image of the building itself. Our City Hall was built in a time of magnificent architecture. The banners detract from the U.S. flag, which should be the only thing on a person's mind as they pass City Hall. Yes, the MIA flag is there as well, for a reason that you should already also be thinking about. Three, the banners are distracting to drivers. Four, and most importantly, it detracts from the true purpose of City Hall. to be the people's house, the building which holds the right of everyone to enter and express their views in the way that they would like to be governed. We should revere this building as peoples all around the world would die to have a building such as this, where their voices could be heard, not to be an advertisement space. I understand why the gay community wanted to see the rainbow flag up on City Hall. It was simply for affirmation, which is an understandable goal. So since I am asking the mayor not to put up the flag in June, I feel obligated to make at least three other suggestions to affirm the gay population in Medford. They are as follows. We can interview people who are gay on a TV show through the new access station We can write a book on gays who live in Medford, and I would recommend Carl Seberg to top the list. We can rent the Chevalier Theater and hold a celebration of gay life through a musical. We can organize a pizza night for gays at a certain restaurant and invite straights who want to support them, et cetera. I hope that these other avenues will be received in the spirit that I offer them. If the city would like to sponsor something, they could hold a night at the library in June where they have readings on gay material or have gay speakers. These are actually more grassroots methods and require the gay community to advocate for themselves. And seeing this, it will commit more people to participate in the rest of the community. And by example, they will lead and be better received. In conclusion, I am therefore respectfully asking you to take down any and all ads for future events or community communications. For they disrespect the purpose and solemnity in which this building deserves. This is not to say that any of the causes are unworthy of respect. This is just not the place for it. Thank you for considering my request.
[Jeanne Martin]: Gene Martin, 10 Cumming Street. Thank you very much for listening. My question is, why would they be being pulled away? It is a public safety issue. All DPW issues are a public safety issue, whether it's snow removal, whether it's trash removal, whether it's manhole covers, whether it's those rain drain things. If they're not set right, somebody can get into a car or an accident or something like that. So the DPW is definitely interwoven with public safety. There is absolutely no question about it, that if you can't drive down the street safely, then it's a public safety issue. And it has to do with that whole overview that I stated and I implore the mayor to look at. The whole city needs to be evaluated for traffic flow, sidewalks, bicycles, buses, trucks, the whole nine yards, everything, including striping. And I think that striping, and I agree with Mr. Knight That it's absolutely, it's absolutely a basic function of the city that we have proper striping, proper signs so that everybody knows where they're going. But I wonder, the question that comes to my mind is, why are they being pulled away from the sign department in the first place? And that's because we are understaffed. So we need to look at that, but we can't look at staffing until we understand and assess the entire city. You have to look at it from the entire city's perspective. If you don't assess the whole city and all of its needs, then you're just playing a little game patch here and patch here. And why are they being pulled away? So they're going to be pulled away, and then some other part of DPW is going to go unresolved. So we have to look at it. I think it's a great idea, and I absolutely urge the city to hire more workers, especially for sections in the city, the squares. They can be the eyes and ears for the police in Haines Square, Medford Square, all the squares, South Medford. We can have section people all over the place cleaning them up and keeping them up, even if it's only Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So you have to look at it from a whole perspective. And I think that that's, you know, I asked the mayor to look at it from a whole perspective. And if they get pulled away, then there's going to be a hole someplace else. There's going to be a lack someplace else. So, putting them in their own division helps the signage, but it's going to cause a problem someplace else. So, thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Hi, Michelle Lawler, 5 Rose Lane, Boxford, Mass.
[Jeanne Martin]: Yes, it has. Yes.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Jean Martin, 10 Coming Street, and thank you very much for bringing this up, because I think that the one thing that I'm concerned about with any rule changes, and I will be at that meeting, and I encourage all to be at that meeting for method, because that could change the way that this body makes votes, does decisions. This is huge. This is the way our government is run. This is the basic core of how our government makes the decision-making process for the city. So what you do in this rules committee affects the entire city, and how we do business, which is huge. Secondly, our First Amendment right, I just want to remind everybody that this is the one chance that people get, and I remember being in some heated heated discussions in the city council hall, right here, this chamber, back in the days of Mr. Miyako and everything. And, you know, back in the old days. And as heated as they got, it was cathartic and it was helpful to hear from the public. And the one thing that I don't want to see is any kind of rule change that might alter the public's ability to have participation in the process. So I just want to make that perfectly clear. And I will be at the meeting tomorrow night. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Gene Martin, 10 coming street. And I hope, uh, I just hope that the mayor is going to listen to me and I'm not being antagonistic at all. The city needs, and I'm trying really not to be antagonistic, I'm not yelling at her, I'm not doing anything. When the city doesn't look at it from a city perspective, it's gonna cost money, it's gonna be painful to people, not everybody's gonna like it, but I agree with Mr. Knight tonight, I agree with Mr. Falco, and Mr. Marks is always talking about traffic calming measures. It's all the same theme all night. And unless you look at the whole city and you look at the flow patterns and you get a professional in here to do the traffic calming measures, get the traffic engineer, and the parking needs to be done at a city level. It does. Otherwise, you're going to have this constant drip, drip, drip, drip, drip. And I'm not trying to be, I'm not yelling at her. I just, I really want her to look at the whole overview, hire somebody, take the political hits because you're going to irritate people. when you tell them that they can't park there anymore or whatever, it's going to cost. But in the long run, if you don't take care of it, it comes down on the bottom, and I have talked to some of the safety people that cross, and they see the sun in the eyes because it's certain times of day, and the people don't respect the guards. You're right. They don't respect the crossing guards. not considered really, you know, they gotta get to work, or they gotta get their kid off to school, or whatever, and the mindset has changed. And so they don't respect it. So if we don't have a slower moving system, and yeah, it's gonna back up, and yeah, there's gonna be complaints, but yeah, you have to do something about it because somebody's gonna get hurt. One of the traffic people, a kid, and who can't feel sorry for kids getting hit? I mean, there's, you know, I mean, there's no, and the other thing is elderly. Because when you're talking about the Fellsway, I know some elderly ladies that go to St. Francis and they walk down there, and they go down to the senior citizen center, and they walk, some of them actually walk down there. So it's very, very dangerous for seniors as well, because they can't scoot. So I'm begging the mayor to really take a good look at the overview of the city, because otherwise it comes down to the bottom, and those people at the bottom get crushed. And if we need to hire more, auxiliary for the crossing guards, then we have to find the money to do it. So that when there's a sick call or something, that there's a replacement for that person, because you can't use the police, unless you're going to use the police for crossing guards, period. But you can't use the police, it doesn't make sense. There's a reason why we have the police, why we have the crossing guards. The crossing guards are there to cross the children. And so if you pull them, we don't have enough to pull off the police. Because what if there's an actual emergency? Now you've got to catch 22. It's one thing when they're on a site for National Grid, they can be pulled away because, you know, but how can you leave, abandon a site where it's a crossing guard for an hour when you have a robbery or something or something more important? Now you have to, the cop has to make that decision. And he shouldn't have to or she shouldn't have to be in that position. So I really, really, really, I hope that she looks at the whole thing. You need a city engineer, you need to do this, and it's not gonna get any easier. Thank you so much.
[Jeanne Martin]: I will. Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street. The macro The macro picture of this is that it starts from the top, and it starts from the mayor's office on policing. You can't talk about policing without talking about the government structure, including you guys. You're not gonna like this, but with no accountability at the top, with no term limits, simple things like term limits, no turnover, there's no incentive to do things. And that's just the top, that's just the macro view. Also, we have 58,000 people in this city, going to grow even more. Wait until this casino comes in. Wait until some of these developments in Malden come in. You can find out how many cars we have because everybody pays an excise tax. Everybody is registered in the city of Medford. You can find out literally how many cars are on the city streets. We need, Mr. Falco's right, We need a traffic engineer. If you don't put in a traffic engineer, it doesn't matter, because you're just doing this. You're just plugging this hole. You're plugging that hole. You're plugging that hole. You're plugging that hole. And you're just going crazy, just playing whack-a-mole. stop them here, stop them there. There is no flow pattern to the city. And this includes, and before you talk about policing, you really do need to look at the macro picture. And the macro picture is, is that we, we have been, we have no regular scheduled street sweeping. Cars are up on sidewalks, seriously. Drive around, you'll see them parked up on sidewalks, half on sidewalks. Fulton Street, places where you can't get through. Riverside Ave, where you can't get through. These are two lane, Highways with the two yellow lines, these are not like little side streets. So you have to look at the big picture. If you don't look at the big picture, then you're just throwing good money after bad. That's all you're doing. And so, priorities. I'm gonna get to the facts about what the police are up to, but you have to talk about priorities. I don't like it when people say, well, we should ask the people what they want out of their government locally. No, you don't. There are certain mandates that a government, a local government, a state government, or a federal government must provide before you get into any of the offshoots, any of the luxuries. And if you don't get in, and if you don't provide those basics, then you have no luxury. You can have all the cupcakes you want. Man, if you don't have any spinach, you're going to die. It's that simple. And so you really need to look at, what the city needs as opposed to what the city wants. So I don't like the idea of sending out a survey. They want this, they want that, they want that. Sure, they want the sky, but they can't have the sky, because there's only so much money in the bank. So I just wanted to put that out there, because if you don't look at the macro, then you can't even get to the policing issues. The police, we have a total of 103 budgeted. We're going to have four more come online to 107. We're budgeted for 107. This is a city of 58. 8,000 people. We are close to Logan Airport. They put on seven new lines, airlines. We have Somerville. I just talked to a guy. They have gangs, official organized gangs in Somerville. It doesn't take much to come over here, folks, okay? The city ourselves have social ills. We have people who they call the police because their son is acting out. They can't take care of their son, so they call the police on their son to get him hauled out of the house. I mean, they're not just doing, they're doing fraud, right? They're doing social, they're doing stupidity. Somebody puts a pizza box in their oven to heat up the pizza, sets it on fire. I mean, they deal with stupidity, they deal with real crimes, they deal with murder, they deal with rape, they deal with all of the ugly issues that we don't want to deal with. Okay? I'm going to talk pros and I'm going to talk cons because, you know, it needs to be talked about. We have two civilian clerks and one halftime clerk. And one of the things the chief told me is that he used to have more civilians working for him, but when the budget cuts came and they had to delete and they had to delete, they deleted from the civilian population because they needed the officers. They need the officers. But they also need the civilians. Because we're farming out everything else. We're farming out DPW. It's completely gone. So why not farm out some clerical, too? We need to increase the budget for the police department. In so many ways, it's not even funny. The DPW used to do snow removal, used to do garbage removal. Now they don't even do a stupid sidewalk, cement, little square. They can't even do that. What else are we going to farm out? Where else? Where does it end where we farm out? You need a government. You need an elected body. Then you need a police force to enforce the laws. And then you need a DPW, even before a fire station. Why? Because if you can't get down that street, because there is no street, no access through the street, you can't get to the house on fire. And that is exactly what's happening. We are not looking at the priorities in this city. You don't have to like me, but you have to listen to me. That's my right. And that's the First Amendment, and God bless it. 911 dispatches, we have nine with backups. Patrol officers, 75. 75, now this is three, this is around the clock, people. This is around the clock, seven days a week. That is Monday through Friday, seven days a week, 75 patrol officers. You do the math and tell me if that's enough for a city this size with as many problems as we have. So close to Boston, I know, I'm lecturing, I know, but it makes me feel good. Get it off my chest. We have 14 detectives. Computer crimes are up, in case you hadn't noticed. There's all kinds of cyber crimes. Sergeants, 16. Lieutenants, nine. Captains, three. The recommendation, be a minimum by the chief, is 115, which I think is way too low. I absolutely think 115 cops, and that's like a huge, they would be excited to get that many. And I think for 58,000, this close, we've got a six-mile radius of people congested. Some certain neighborhoods aren't congested, and others are loaded down, absolutely loaded down. Total vehicles in the department, including unmarked of 45, suburbans have 50,000 to 60,000 miles on average. The Crown Vics have 100,000 on average. And I asked him what recommended, if he had a Christmas list, what would it be? And of course, he said a new building. That's absolutely pie in the sky at this point. Because the city has not recognized that the police should come first. They have not recognized that the police has come first. And that comes from the top, and that comes from you. I know you guys say it. But the people also need to talk. The people out there need to demand that police come first. And as bad as it is, if it wasn't for these accidents, especially in the neighborhoods that they were in, we wouldn't be talking about this tonight. And I'm so grateful that people that actually have political pull in this city are coming forward and talking. As far as training, they need to be doing training. We need to build up their self-esteem. I have issues with the police. We all know that, OK? I don't think they're perfect. But I will tell you that if you want a better police force, you have to train them. You have to give them respect, and you have to train them. And as far as the overtimes, yeah, you have to do overtime. But as far as those details, we are all culpable. Every last one of us are culpable. We make a kickback. We make this salary, they don't make a good base salary in this city, but where they make their money is on those details. And we don't have to pay it out, so we are happy, because then we get another little cupcake someplace else from not paying them out. And we get a kickback, which makes it worse. We get, not only do we rent out our cops to agencies like National Grid, that's what we're doing, we're renting them out for pay, and then we get money for renting them out on top of that. So not only do they pay us, pay our officers their actual real pay, their really hefty pay, We also get a kickback. We get 15% on that. We need to get rid of that 15%. And that's something you guys can vote on. Of course, you're not going to because it's not politically to your advantage. You'll have to find that money someplace else.
[Jeanne Martin]: OK, thank you. But training, they need to train. We need to get them trained. We need to get them trained for active shootings, bombings, everything else under the sun, because they're not ready. We need to equip them. We need to get them ready, because the world is changing. And standing out over a hole is a waste of their time, unless it's on Riverside Ave or, you know, some major thoroughfare. It's a waste of their time. They can love me or hate me. That's okay. But I really believe I'm not here because I want a Christmas card from these people. I'm here because I believe in this. Because this is the center issue of the city today. And until you get this right, you can't get anything else right. Yeah, you can make some people happy. Some people. Meanwhile, other people will be getting hit by cars. Other people will be getting mugged. Other people won't be able to kick out their son out of their house. Because, unfortunately, the police officer turns into the discipline. The disciplinarian in a family, single mother. She can't control her kid, she calls the cop on him. That's what's going on. I know that for a fact. So, you know, until you deal with that reality, good luck to you. You don't have to pay attention to me. You don't have to listen to me. But when it hits, I'll be there to say, I told you so. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you, Gene Martin, 10 Cummings Street. Thank you for letting me speak and announce this. There will be a breakfast on November 11th at 9 a.m. at the First Baptist Church, 29 Oakland Street, Medford Mass. And let me just tell you a little bit briefly about it. The church bell tower was first dedicated to 13 men and one woman who died in World War II. from the congregation of the First Baptist Church in 1948. The bells have been recently refurbished, and the congregation would like to once again honor veterans with the patriotic music from these bells. A short performance of this music will occur as veterans congregate on the steps of the church at 9 AM, followed by an honorary breakfast. Please join us. That's right here in Medford. There's no reason why everybody can't be there, veterans and their families, and especially any widows or spouses, family members, because kids suffer too. Especially with this generation, I hear a lot of kids that have to move from place to place and change school to change school when their fathers and mothers are in the service. If you're a child of a veteran, please come too. And then the DAV 5K, if you don't mind, it's a run to honor veterans and you can go to DAV5K.org and you can find out all about it. One of the things that they want to stress is if you have a track team in your high school, so Medford High, get the track team involved, go to DAV5K.org and get signed up on it. If you can't run, Like me, I'm going to volunteer, but you can sponsor somebody with money to run. And it's going to be advertised. There's going to be an RKO spot the whole day before. There's a lot of money being poured into the city for it and everything, so you'll hear about it. But just so that you can sign up early, it's the DAV 5K. It's going to be at Castle Island in South Boston.
[Jeanne Martin]: I'm sorry. Yes, absolutely. That's November 11th at 9 a.m. And I know that they're going to have something at the VFW at 11 as well. So you can go, you can hop from one to the other.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street, and you saved the best for last. Our emergency workers are so much more to us today than they were prior to September 11, 2001, and we as a city need to recognize them as the exceptional people they are. Their sacrifice has not been recognized by the city in deed or material. This needs to change. Starting with September 11, 2001, 411 emergency workers were killed trying to save the lives of those in the Trade Center. This included 343 firefighters, of whom two were paramedics. Of those who were killed, seven firefighters were black men. And yes, this needs to be pointed out, race matters. Thirty-seven police officers of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey 23 police officers of the New York Police Department, and eight emergency medical technicians in private emergency medical services. Of all police officers killed on September 11, 2001, 11 were women. And of those women, four women were of color. Yes, this needs to be pointed out. Yes, gender matters. Also of note, 12 police officers were men of color. The National Guard, whose job it once was to defend the homeland, are now being deployed to the current wars in Iraq and Syria through Operation Inherent Resolve, and in Afghanistan through Operation Freedom Sentinel. Using the National Guard more as the reserves in regular army has forced our police departments to become literally the front line of our national defense. They have been used to stop terrorists in their tracks whether it be Little Rock, Arkansas in June 2009 at a recruiting station where one soldier was killed and another wounded, or whether it was Fort Hood where 13 soldiers were killed and 31 others were wounded. By the way, the cop who stopped the rampage was a female and took a bullet to her hand from the shooter. Or April 15, 2013, a day Boston will never forget. Or whether it be July 16, 2015, in San Bernardino, where 14 people were killed. Or Orlando, on June 12, 2016, where 49 were killed and 53 were wounded. Or this weekend, in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, where 29 people were injured. The first called to the scene are our police personnel. and they literally put their lives on the line for us. And we need to recognize them for their new role and appreciate them for it. The fire department has played the first responder role as the medical team, very much the way the Army medic traditionally has during a battle. They are the triage unit. They are saving lives by being on the front line during an active mass event. I would also include EMS workers with these two groups. They are under-respected for their service and sacrifice by this city in policy and material. While there are many ways to thank you, one is with a statue or a monument. I'm gonna suggest the statue of my dreams, but I know we don't have the money for it, but I'm gonna, then I'll tell you what I really want. But if I had my druthers, I would, that's right, that's right. If I could, and indulge me in this, I would knock down the dance hall outside, I'd pay for it and knock it down, put a green grass area up there, and I would have life-size monuments of a police officer, saluting a flag with a flagpole standing nearby, and a firefighter doing the firefighter's carry of a civilian. And I think that would be cool. And I would put a park bench near there, and I would have that so that civilians can sit there and contemplate those that protect us. But we don't have the money for that. So in lieu of that, I would settle for a large boulder with a brass plaque. But it needs to be centered someplace very special. It needs to be in an area that's very well kept and a boulder with a brass plaque. And I know it costs money, but I don't care if we have to have a bake sale for it. We know that we're not going to do a whole lot of other things in the near future. We know, unfortunately, I don't see any building going to be put up for a new station. We can talk about it, but we know that's not going to happen in the next two years, sadly enough. So it's a small token of I would love to see more training. I would love to see the detailed whole system gone. I would like to see a lot of things, and I'll talk about those later on in the year. You know you'll hear from me. But one thing that we could do, because I don't think that there's a plaque for the police and for the fire in the city of Medford. And I've seen them in other communities. I saw one in Plymouth, Mass, and it was really nice. And it was just along the walkway, It was in a special place along the ocean. And it was a place that was, it has to be a very nice place. If you're only going to give them a boulder with a brass plaque, don't put it in between two parked cars. You know what I mean? It has to be in a very special place. And so that's what I would recommend to whoever the people are in charge of that. And it's not asking too much, because our police and our fire are taking it on the chin. We need to prepare them for mass events, because they are literally the front line. The National Guard has been depleted, and they're overseas. So when you call for help, the people coming are going to be the police and the fire. So I just want to point that out, and hopefully we can get them some kind of recognition. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street. Thank you very much for bringing this up. The people that abutted Locust Street didn't receive letters when they put up the smaller buildings. But nobody complained because those buildings weren't as large as the complex that's going down in 61. And also, the 61 Locust Street, they were not notified, not even the abutters, not even the physical abutters were not notified. They did not receive a letter. So just to put that out there that there may be a falling through the cracks issue here. So thank you very much.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you very much for all this work to refine the schedule.
[Jeanne Martin]: Ms.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Jean Martin, 10 Cummings Street. And I was going to keep my mouth shut. I really was. The council does vote, and they don't always agree either, OK? They have a two to five split vote. They can do that. That's their right. I do respect the councilors who vote in the minority who explain why they vote in the minority. But it is their right to vote into the minority. And that's their right. And it's the same way with the Supreme Court. They have split votes, too. So I understand that you want to go in with the United Front, but it's not obligated. They're not obligated. They can have a minority vote. So I just wanted to put that out there. And you will be respected more. if you explain why, I agree with you. Because those that explain why they vote in the minority, when I'm at home, or actually not home, I'm here all the time, but when I listen to it, I have respect for that person because they gave me the explanation. So I just wanted to say that. And it's, but, so, well, just to add to that, you don't have to put pressure on the people that voted in the minority If that's their choice, they don't have to explain it either. That's their choice. But they will be perceived as having an ulterior motive if they don't explain it.
[Jeanne Martin]: Gene Martin, 10 Cumming Street, Medford. First of all, thank you for letting me speak tonight without Ms. Cohen and Mr. Marks. We wouldn't be here. able to speak at an open meeting like this, so I thank you for that. Normally, I speak for myself, so the weight of what I say doesn't carry a lot. But today, I have been asked by many of the abutters to speak for them, because they are just regular people. And they don't get up here, and they're not public speakers. And so they've asked me to speak for them. So I'm very nervous, because it's an awesome responsibility that I have to speak for these folks. I hope that after I speak, they'll feel more comfortable coming forward. With that, let me introduce you to the people of Cumming Street, the small scale residential neighborhood that the developers called these people. This is them, and they're all along Riverside Avenue, but most of them are for Cumming Street, but they're all along Riverside Avenue. Meet my neighbors. They're all over here, okay? So these are people, and this is wonderful that they've come out. Just their presence here, they don't come out here every day. They got jobs and lives, not like me, but you know, they have jobs and lives. They can't be here every day advocating for themselves. They don't know what's going on all the time. And so it's important that they're here tonight. And so their presence should speak volumes. We also have literally direct abutters to the Shaw's project tonight. literally, without question, literally direct abutters here tonight. Okay? So I want that to be known. And I thank Mr. Marks and Ms. Cohen for bringing this to everybody's awareness. And I think that it's very interesting that today they approved this appeals thing, whatever it is. This is a complex situation. And most of these people, this is over their heads. You have to be a lawyer to figure this out, and land lawyers, and this and that, and the other thing. All they know is that this project's too big for their neighborhood. That's what they know. They know it's too big. They don't care. No offense, city solicitor. They don't know that stuff. This is intimidating. This process is intimidating for regular people. So I just wanted to put that out there. I think they passed it so that the suits didn't have to sit here and look at the people tonight. That's what I think. I think they passed it today so that the suits didn't have to show up from New York, Park Street, or whatever that is. And if they didn't do this in the dark of night, we wouldn't be here, and it wouldn't cost the city a dime. You're talking about $15,000. Well, if this was done right in the first place, We wouldn't have to pay a dime to a lawyer if they had asked for the city's, for the neighborhood's input ahead of time. This is what happens when you try to slip something under in the dark of night. This is what happens. Let's get this passed. 11 different violations of code violations or whatever. If they had asked for this, and yes, maybe if they had asked, maybe three people would have shown up, you know, but you don't know that. We don't know that. Maybe there would have been 20 people that showed up, maybe 25. But now look at us. Where we are, we shouldn't have to be here tonight. We should not have to be doing this tonight. This is because it wasn't done right in the first place. And we have 20 days. The other big thing is that we have only 20 days to do something about this. So when you talk about getting counsel, I don't care what you have to do, but we have to do it tomorrow. We have to do it 9 o'clock tomorrow morning. I want you to work with these folks here. I want you to get the director butters, get their names, get them on paper because they don't, they've asked me to speak for them and I don't know how to speak for them, to be honest with you. I want them to speak for themselves. They're intimidated. This is a very, very arduous process. You guys do this every day. This is what you do for a living. This is what you get paid to do. They don't do this every day. They're not up here. They don't know you. They don't know the routine every day. So this is important that you get this done. And just because something's hard does not mean it shouldn't be done. So when you say, we have to have this done and we have to have that done, Don't, no offense, Mr. Solicitor. He knows me. But just because it's hard doesn't mean we shouldn't go forward with it. So don't say that just because, you know, well, we might have to this, that, and the other. But I do like what he said about coming up with the reasons. The solicitor said we do need to have reasons. We shouldn't have had to come, we shouldn't be here where we are today. But we do need to come up with those reasons now because the horse is out of the barn. The horse is out of the barn now. It shouldn't have been that way. It should have been that the horse should have stayed in the barn, and we would have been fine. You wouldn't see these people here tonight. They don't want to be here. I want to be here. I love coming here. This is my thing. But these people, they don't want to be here. This is not their normal Tuesday night. They have people to take care of. They have things to do. And so I just want you to recognize that. I hope that they can speak for themselves now. I hope that I've given them that much encouragement. Thank you very much.
[Jeanne Martin]: Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street. And so I'm a direct abutter to this project. So thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak. I went to the meeting last week, and the residents, first of all, I want to humanize the residents in that small scale residential neighborhood. that abuts this project, that's how they referred to us, the small-scale residential neighborhood. That's what Cumming Street was. Four of the direct abutters down the street were there. They're all women, all senior citizens. Two of them have been in that neighborhood. They were second mothers to me. I take one of them to their doctor's appointments. I just want you to know that these people that directly abut this property, You may have opinions on me, that's fine, but they all showed up, these four women at the bottom of the street, all senior citizens. They're intimidated to speak. One of them didn't speak at all because she just, the process just intimidates her. So I'm going to try to get them to come down to this open meeting next week if we can, so that they can have a voice. We had each three minutes a piece to speak on the issue and that wasn't enough time. This is 490 units. It's too big of a scale of a project in my neighborhood. I'm having a not in my backyard moment here. This is directly in my backyard. And they designed it so that they could maximize the lot to put the most units in to get the most money out of this. It's clear because they go all the way to the boundaries. They said that they were going to put in retail space. They said that they were going to have 7,000 square feet or something. And they are going to keep my bank, which is great. I go to Eastern Bank. They're going to keep the bank. But outside of that, they're going to have one or two more stores. It's not going to be completely storefronts on the bottom and then condos on top. That would benefit me as a neighbor. I wouldn't have as much of a problem with that. Put in a CVS or a Rite Aid or something that can be used by everybody. Put in a coffee shop. That would be good. maybe 150 to 200 condos above it. I know that that's gonna blow their minds and that it impacts their bottom line, but they are business people, they are developers, and they're looking out for themselves and their bottom line. It's up to the zoning board to look out for us, the people of Medford that are here now. This is just too large of a project. Now, if you put in 200 units, maybe it... I don't mind businesses on Locust Street. I've lived on Cumming Street all my life, and I have no problem with the businesses that are on Locust Street. Businesses don't bother me. They bring in money to the city. If they want to use it for business, please do. I mean commercial business. I have no problem with that. I've lived with it all my life. They bring in income for the city, and there's not as much traffic. But that aside, if you're going to put in condos, please make the whole bottom floor retail spaces and make it friendly for us to walk in and walk through. They want to keep the entrance to Cumming Street open to this project, and that's because they are going to have pedestrians and they are going to have bicyclists that need a safe road to go up to Riverside Ave. And we are very convenient for them to go up to Riverside Ave. So if I wanted to, I could talk to my residents, my people, and have them block it off with a fence, because it's legally their property. And they could fence it off. We could gate that off if we want to. I don't want to. We actually fought when, not Shaw's, but the Star Market went in there. And we fought to keep that pedestrian walkthrough so that it would benefit us to get to Shaw's, to get to the Star Market. I don't want to block it off. But if they're going to block us off, why not block them off, just to not be nice neighbors? If they're not going to be nice neighbors, why should we? And so that's a lousy way to look at it, but that's how I feel. I feel like this is being rammed through, rammed down my throat, and I'm going to be living with the consequences on Riverside Ave and Locust Street. The traffic is crazy. As it is, they should take out a couple of the businesses on Riverside Ave just so the buses and the trucks can get through. That is a trucking zone. Trucks and buses go down Locust Street from Riverside Ave, and they can hardly make that corner now. Okay. So when you have all those cars, it's going to be backed up to, to, to, and wait until the casino comes in. It's just going to get really fun. But, but, but that aside, that's casinos, you know, we, you don't have any say over the casino, but you do over this project. And I want you to scale down this project. I want the powers that be listen, these women that live down the street have been there for all their lives. They cook for me. I cut their grass. They cook for me. I love them. They are people. They are people and they're not a small-scale residential neighborhood. I mean, you can have arguments with me all day long, but you can't argue with them. They've been in this city forever and they deserve to be respected. They came out. without my prompting. They got the letters, and they came out without my prompting. Now I'm going to let them know so that they can come down to speak and hopefully talk. But remember, these are old school people, and they're very intimidated by the whole process. And they're intimidated, and they might not speak. They might be here, but they might not have the gumption to speak. So I hope their presence alone makes a statement. So thank you very much for listening.
[Jeanne Martin]: Jean Martin, 10 Cummings Street. And I do appreciate Ms. Hunt and all the work that she does. And if I can, if they make it affordable, I'll put solar panels on my roof. I'd be the first one to talk to her if I was going to put solar panels on my roof or do something like that. But the government is in my life too much as it is. Believe me, they're in my life. And the CPA has required me now I had to go and get the exemption for low income, and I had to present my birth certificate. I had to present my tax return. I had to present, which I never had to do, just for this one little thing in the city, just for this one little thing. I had my tax return. I had to put in—I get rental income. They never had to know what my rental income was. Not that I care. I don't overcharge my tenant. In fact, I undercharge him. That's not the point. It's nobody's business if I charge them $1,200 or $2,200. It shouldn't be their business. But it is now because for the first time, I have to give this information out to the city just for my taxes. And I mean, everybody knows everything about my economic status. I mean, it's not news. But it's an invasion of privacy. And back to the city and how they do business. The water and sewer business is what you're in. which is a commodity or it's a mandated thing, the water and sewer. And look at the situation that the city is in with water and sewer. And that is a, and I'm not against the saving money and the electricity and all of that, but we don't need one more layer of bureaucracy in this city for the reasons that Mr. Caraviello pointed out. And, um, the water and sewer pipes need replacement and we can't demand from the government that they get replaced under the ground. We can't, we can't get them to move on that. We can't get the city government to run properly now. whether it's a fire department, police department, there's a lot of areas that are insufficient in the city government now, especially water and sewer. And it's comparable to what this issue is, which is electricity. which is something you need in your house right now. And I'm all for, if I can afford to put solar panels on my house and go, you know, renewable, all the more power to me, right? That's awesome. There's other also complexities. At one point, I needed National Grid to give me a cut in my electric bill because my income was low. before I got my disability check. So I needed that extra money. So that was another thing. I had to go to the National Grid and I got a break in my electric bill when I had a very, very low income. So would I be able to negotiate that with the new provider or whatever? It's just too complicated. So it's just one more layer of the local government. And again, I want her to work here. I want her to save money for the city and put up solar panels and wind farms if it's doable. In fact, the wind farms should be going towards putting this city electric bill on wind farms and on solar. More power to her if she can figure out a way to do it. That's what she should be doing. And so I just think that there's enough government in my life. Trust me on this. I live inside the government. The government lives inside my head. So we get enough of that going. So anyway, thank you for listening. Bye-bye. Name and address.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you, Gene Martin, 10 Cumming Street. And this is a very, very sober topic and we should discuss it. We should discuss it a lot, but we also should have action on it. And I would definitely hope, not hope, expect that the mayor turns this into a priority. Whether it's the police building itself, whether it's to tear down the old one and put up a new one, whether it's to put a second floor or third floor on the existing structure, whatever it takes that's acceptable to the police department themselves. The morale of the police department in the city has got to be terrible. I know I get mixed reviews. I'm sure they love and hate me at different times, and that's fine. They're allowed to do that. But we don't have enough police officers. And a few factors is that, first of all, we pay them through details. And that structure, we're not paying them what they're worth. And number two, we get a kickback from that. So we don't want to give up the details because the city gets a 15 percent kickback on every hour that an officer works. That system is archaic and it needs to go. We need to free them up for training. And when I mean training, I mean they need to be doing exercises on sweeping buildings, which also brings us into the school department issues, because there's no building that's better to sweep than the high school. But if the high school is being sold on the weekends to private entities, then we can't use it for exercising. for exercises for the cops to sweep a building or to practice for an emergency situation, whether it's the fire department or the police department. This has to become an absolute priority for this new mayor, and I'm going to expect that. There's nothing more important than the police department. And like I said, and the other factor is a lot of police officers, I'm doing Memorial Day at the Oak Grove Cemetery, and I'm focusing on police officers that were veterans who became police officers. and police officers who belong to the National Guard and Reserves who have died in action, whether overseas or on the street. I'm going to be focused on that this Memorial Day. We have police officers that might get pulled away from their duties as a Medford police officer to go into the National Guard and Reserves. We need to also have more officers available for that. If we're down to 104, then we don't have enough officers. And we need to have 130 recommended. This is a city that's huge. It's a very compact, small city. And if we don't do something about it, it will be too late. There is a point at which it becomes too late to do something. And a crisis will ensue. Then you will have an overreaction. But if you plan it out, then you can move forward. And also, practicing the traffic calming measures. are absolutely essential for the police, because it'll cut down on the speeding. It will absolutely cut down on the speeding. And wait until the 490 units goes into Locust Street, and wait until Wegmans comes into Locust Street, wait until Riverside Ave becomes, you know, absolute gridlock. Wait until all of this stuff happens, what are you gonna do? You can't expect people to do more than what they're capable of doing. And while I criticize the police at times, I'm more their advocate than not. I don't see too many people up here over and over and over again. I'm grateful that that woman spoke today, Ann, because they need an advocate in the city. And I know that you guys say that you want the police building and you want police officers. Do something about it. Make your voices heard loud and clear that this is a priority in the city. And until, because you know when they want money for parks, they find it, no offense. When they want money for certain things, they find it. But the city as a whole doesn't appreciate the police department. And they need to start. And they will when the crime goes up. When it affects them in their backyard, believe me, the citizens will be in here. And by then it'll be too late because you'll have a lot of angry men and women in here. And they'll be saying, I want this and I want that. And where's the money going to come from then? They'll find it, but it's going to cost on some other level. Some other service in the city is going to have to pay for it. It's going to have to take the hit. And so thank you very much for listening.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street, and I agree with you that this is a wonderful idea, and I think it's great. Bring the show on the road, and bring it to the neighborhoods, and You know, you'll get more participation, hopefully. Hopefully. Some neighborhoods you still won't get a response, trust me. But you can always try. And that's right. But my point is, is that we're asking for the police to come out again and do something for us. What are we going to do for the police? And I'm not pointing fingers at you. No, no, no. I'm saying as a body, what are we doing for the police to motivate them? Because we keep asking for them to do you know, patrols and community organizing and community policing and everything else. But like Mr. Pender said, if the place that you guys can show your voice is not to approve the budget unless there's more money for the police department, whether it be for the police building, whether it be for more police officers, then that's when we can show that we're willing, even if it's two officers, it doesn't have to be 20 all at once. And things like cruises should be on a regular budget anyway. We should get two new cruises every year no matter what because they're always on the road and they're always working. You know, what are we going to do? But cruises are small potatoes because we really do need personnel and we need a new building. So what are we doing for them? Because again, we keep asking of them, but I don't see the hand going back to the other side. And I'm not pointing to you because I think it's a great idea.
[Jeanne Martin]: Absolutely. I think it's wonderful. but I just wanted to make that note.
[Jeanne Martin]: And I'm going to ask the public, what are we willing to sacrifice to have these new police officers? Because it's going to have to come out of some fund someplace, whether it's the bubble or the skate rink or a park. What are we willing to sacrifice to have this happen, unfortunately? And there are certain things that shouldn't be questioned, like we need another teacher for English. I heard we had a shortage of that. So that shouldn't be on the docket. But there are other places where we can come up with funds. for two officers for this year. It's not a big ask. I don't think it's a big ask. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Jean Martin, 10 coming street. Thank you very much for having me and letting me speak tonight. Um, I'm going to ask you guys first to, to not be defensive, you know, um, and it's, it's hard not to get defensive because you feel like you're being undermined and you know, your authority is being undermined. Um, It's an overarching concept that with the new mayor, the old mayor did things very, very differently and things were around for a long time. And people just went on automatic pilot. And this is the first time that questions are being asked of leadership. And with Mayor Burke, they're actually not getting pushed under the rug. So that's a good thing. So the dialogue between the council and the mayor needs to improve, as I pointed out to her. And the people need to dialogue with the school committee more. And there's nothing wrong with challenging the leadership, challenging authority. There's nothing wrong with asking questions, and I thank her for asking that question. One of the reasons why it got overlapped is because the people weren't feeling that they weren't getting their answers from this body. And that's why they went to the council, and that's why I pointed out they're calling the Councilors, because they don't feel that their needs are being heard here. So there's a breakdown in communication. So that needs to be said. And I just wanted to say that whether he stays or goes, it doesn't matter. I don't have children in the school system, no offense. But I do know that you've been around long enough not to take anything I say personally. I do know that. He knows me too well. But anyway, I just want the process to happen. It's the same thing with the charter review. It's the same thing. And there is overlap. I don't have children in the school systems, but I do have a tenant who has a daughter in the school systems. So you're always around kids, and kids are always everywhere. They're always everywhere. And so a kid in the school system is my kid in an extended version. But what was I going to say? I did, I don't know. I just think that more communication and more openness, it's not a bad thing. The new mayor has a new start. She's got a long way to go, a long way to go. And it's not bad to review. Oh, and the overlap. If you have the TV3, and I don't agree with having it up at the high school, you all know that. But if you do, I'm a person, I'm a citizen, I'm now going to be in that public building. I'm going to be in the school system. There is overlap between, even if you don't have kids in the system, there's an overlap between the schools. and the city council. And that, oh, go ahead. I just want to say, Jean, you're a taxpayer.
[Jeanne Martin]: That's right.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. So I just wanted to say that There's nothing wrong with asking the question. And I think that every five years, somebody should be judging you. No offense. Every year.
[Jeanne Martin]: But it should come from some higher authority and not yourself.
[Jeanne Martin]: Oh, you hire him. OK. All right. OK. Yeah, but he's evaluating himself. I don't get it. He should. He submits it to the body. Yeah. OK.
[Jeanne Martin]: Well, that needs to happen, and it needs to be. And I'm all for having it open. The Charter Review, I'm all for open government, and I want to thank everybody for the transparency. It's a new day is dawning. You got a job in front of you. I don't envy you. And I'll see you guys later. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Martin.
[Jeanne Martin]: Absolutely, because they're in charge of the budget. So I totally agree with that. But I want to just say, instead of just one-on-one and cherry-picking, you know, that it needs to be body-to-body. We need to have the whole body of the city council sit down with the whole body of the school committee and maybe under new leadership we can do that. If you're doing the right thing, you will do that. Thank you very much.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you, Gene Martin, 10 Cumming Street. And I'm sorry, Indy, that was my bad. I didn't know you were sick. This could be an energizing battery for the city, for the business community, for the schools, for everything. But I wanted to break down some of the money issues involved because not everybody wants to talk about it. For every $100 that I pay in my cable bill, whether it be Verizon or Comcast, $5 gets taken off the top. The deal that the mayor made in 1988 or whatever it was, was that out of that $5, $3 goes to the general fund of the city of Medford. Now, I was hired on the arts community last week But if they were to seek that money from the general fund back into the arts community for AXS TV, then I would be a proponent of that. That's not what the city wants to hear, but I would be a proponent of having that money go back to what it's supposed to go to. Because when you tell me that Somerville hires nine people, they have to be using all 5% of that money. And so we only receive 2% for our peg, which is public, education, and government access. And 1% is used for, only 1% is used for the public access. The other 1% is split in half, the government channel slash high school channel or education channel. And so people need to be aware that there is more money in there. We're paying that out of our cable bills. It's not coming out of the tax base. So it's not the taxpayer's money. It's the rate payers' money, but it goes to the tax base. So there's a little bit of a mix up there. I know it's hard for people at home to figure that out. It took me a while to figure it out myself. So I just wanted to clarify that that's where the money comes from. And I want to know, if I could ask through the chair, is the theater has a cable drop? It has the ability, the theater, our Chevalier Theater currently has the ability to have a station in that building, it's cable ready. So if it's just because of the Boys and Girls Club, if we move the Boys and Girls Club out of the basement, we could automatically, without even renting a new space, just put the station in the basement of the theater. Because otherwise it's a cumbersome process to go through the square, find a spot, and it would take longer to do that. We could do that in the future or whatever, but if you wanted to have it done today, they're cable ready. The man that's in charge over there, he said that they had a cable drop, so it's cable ready. So thank you very much for letting me speak.
[Jeanne Martin]: Hi, Jean Martin, 10 Cummings Street. So much for transparency, right?
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. To answer Mr. Knight's point through the chair, that was the old administration. And yes, you're absolutely correct that under the old administration, he decided that. But anyway, one of the problems that I see is that the high school There's many, many problems with the high school, public safety being one of them, of having strange adults wandering those halls. Also, senior citizens, and you're absolutely correct, Gwen, I've talked to 75-year-old ladies that say, if I got off the bus, I would never make it up that hill. And then when you make it up that hill, it's very dark, and it's just not a good place. What is, who benefits from having it up there, unfortunately, and this is not going to be popular, is the school system. The school system gets all those fundings. They get that whole bucket of money. to put into their art system. But as far as feeling like it's a community center, it's a ghost town over there. And so it's not going to seem like it's a community center. But I do agree. Somebody pointed it out to me. Handicapped accessibility and shame on me. Shame on me. Because I didn't think about that when I suggested the theater basement. I don't know if it would be wheelchair accessible. So shame on me for not thinking that through before I suggested it. But it needs to go down the Method Square for everybody's benefit, for the community to feel like it's their thing. Because if they don't have kids in the high school, they're not going to feel, it's just not up there. It's just not a good spot for the hype. So I would recommend, oh, and one more point. We have an arts council in this city, right? So they need to be involved in the process. And we have the money right now to hire somebody for $500,000 to direct this process. And it doesn't have to come from the mayor's office. So it doesn't show any bias of who they want to pick. There's an arts council. And that's what they should be doing is focusing on hiring somebody so that they can oversee this process. And they could go to a Malden or Melrose or someplace else. This has been done before. We're not reinventing the wheel. We already had that committee and that commission. And that went nowhere. That went into a drawer someplace. So we need to hire somebody to get it done. And we have plenty of money in that draw now. And the Arts Council needs to be on top of this. Is there or is there not an appointed Arts Council for the City of Medford through the Mayor's office? There is. So why not invoke them and get them to start this process? Because in any city that I see the community access, it's the arts community that does this. It's their ball. It's predominantly their ball. They invite everybody else to sports. In Everett, they have three cameras on every football game. Three cameras. They are wicked into football over there, and they have three cameras over there for every football game. Why don't we have that? And we're missing out on all kinds of stuff. So I just wanted to thank you very much for listening to me rant on. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street. This city needs to formulate a cohesive plan for the resources we already own. We have a group of committed people devoted to the arts, but lack a concept of how the current institutions can be linked together. We have everything backwards. The Chevalier is built for the arts. While it started out as a school theater, it is now an adult theater. Yet we have a boys and girls club in the adult theater basement and adults meeting in schools, buildings designed for kids. To state the obvious, schools are built for kids, but not for adult meeting spaces to be purchased to pay for school programs. Taxes are paid to pay for school programs. For money, we have turned our public theater into a church and our schools into community centers for adults. Maybe if we said it out loud, it will sink in. When does it stop? For example, we make $500 off of one rental for the theater. Two rentals at $500 even starts to sound better. The same could be said for the schools. When does it stop? then the infighting of who gets what time and for what price. These buildings are not businesses, and they were not designed to be businesses. We have a breach of the Constitution with the Chevalier by renting it to religious groups, and we have a breach of security by renting a child-rich environment to strange adults in the schools. The library needs to become fresh with a new concept for the millennial generation and the generation that is following. The Chevalier is a gift from heaven that most communities would die for, yet we have to rent it to religious groups to keep the doors open. Well, if those two buildings aren't enough, we have money available through the community access station. It's the goose that lays the golden eggs. The money is not produced through the tax base, but our cable bills, but gives generously towards both the general fund and the arts community. The city apparently still has a bad taste in its mouth from the last community access station. But this city's arts community is going to have to step up and do something with it. Don't ask for money when money is sitting in unused accounts just because it is hard to work out the details. I have news for you. Life is hard. This city is missing out on recording its history, sports, arts, news, and culture. You, the arts community, with your infighting, are not stepping up to the plate you have been assigned to by virtue of your talents and status in the city. It may not be popular, but it needs to be said. Many of you enjoy the Boys and Girls Club in the basement of the Chevalier. Why not put the Boys and Girls Club in a school, a designated kid's space, and release that basement for a community space or the community access station. And now, you have the community preservation fund, which many of you thought was a good idea. I now count that on your ledger for the arts. You have three existing entities to express yourselves through. Come together and maximize what we already have. Don't ask for yet another building when we are neglecting the ones we have now. The West Medford Community Center and the South Medford Fire Station have community space available for meetings. Point of fact, Springstep, a non-profit in this city designed for the arts, went out of business. It folded. Why should we create yet another building for the arts when we have two already, and three with a TV station in the square? Plus, the pot of money you just created through the CPA. Use what we have, build on them, and be grateful you have what you do. I am. And for my blue-collar and pink-collar fellow citizens, you're not off the hook either. You all were up here demanding bonding for new sports arenas and got every one of them. You got the swimming pool, Hormel, and the Field of Dreams by borrowing into your kids' future. While it is easy to pick on the new primarily white-collar class moving in, I don't see you all asking for bonding for police cruisers, asphalt for the roads, or demanding the water sewer money be spent on water pipe replacement right under our feet. The blue and pink collar people in this city have been looking out for what they value too, which are sports and recreational facilities. While everyone can get behind kids, these facilities are also luxuries, though you may not see it that way. We need to focus on building maintenance in this city. I know, I know, it's a deep sleeper. but it has to get done. This city is not making the mayor's job any easier. She knows full well what needs to be done in Medford and where the financial resources need to go, but she hears from you with your hands out, we want more, please. We all need to accept that government money is not a part of endless cash. You want it all, but I have news for everyone, you can't have it all. Start applying pressure on the mayor to take care of the buildings we currently own, including the schools, which I know you all care about, blue-collar, no-collar, and white-collar alike. To the white-collar newcomer, please realize you have more disposable income than others in this city, and those without your excess dollars become resentful of you because you are increasing their standard of living, actually pushing them out of this city. They resent you because you have the luxury of being able to think beyond the necessities of life. And for you blue-collar guys, I don't see you protesting in the streets for systematic reform of the way business is done here. It is time you, too, step up. Stand out in Medford Square with a sign for scheduled systematic street sweeping. You can't, can you? Why? Because how can the DPW do its job if the streets are littered with cars? The working class has priorities, too, that do not always coincide with the city's ability to take care of itself. It is easy for everyone to get behind kids, and parks are important, but they are not the only need in the city. Start thinking about what doesn't automatically pop into your head. Sports facilities are not mandated by government, and you, too, should appreciate what we have. I know many of you want to tell me to go pound sand right now, but someone has to speak truth to power. The city is slowly receding, in spite of the spike in property values. The city's diagnosis is in, but the remedy is painful to all. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: I reviewed the records, found them to be in order and move approval.
[Jeanne Martin]: Your name, please. Thank you. Jean Martins on Cumming Street. I'm not going to win this argument because the love of money is the root of all evil. But schools are built for kids, and that's my opinion. I just want my opinion on the record. So if a city near us, Melrose, Malden, their kids want to use our facilities for basketball practice or whatever, and they want to pay us for it, I'm good with that. I personally am against having adults from strange groups I'm just, there's too many corners. I have a concern. I know I'm not going to win. I know that you're going to rent out the schools, but I want it on the record that I don't agree with having outside groups, especially if they're religious groups. in public buildings, and I just want that to go on the record, that there's a lot of issues, and I can't agree with Ms. DiBenedetto-Born and Ms. Coutinho. These concerns are real, and they need to be addressed. And so I just thank you very much for listening. I don't like the idea of outside groups of adults milling that we don't know anything about, milling around these schools, unsupervised, it's bad enough when the kids come in, what they could possibly do, you know, terrorize the school, graffiti, whatever, you know, it's bad enough when the kids are doing it. So we don't need to add fuel to the flames. And that's my opinion. So thank you very much. Thank you. On the motion.
[Jeanne Martin]: I want to make sure that I tell you. Thank you. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you, Gene Martington, Cumming Street. Thank you for bringing this up, Mr. Caraviello. And I would just like to add that this is, generally speaking, a nighttime activity. So we can beef up patrols in the business districts, usually. Usually it's mailboxes, signs, public or private store buildings. It's usually not houses, generally speaking. So we need to beef up security. But also, lighting can be added. We need to talk to the people that own these buildings, because if you add lighting to it, people are less likely to do it. And again, if the area is clean, it's not as contagious. It is a contagious activity, absolutely, without a doubt. If you see one beer bottle or one Pepsi can, you're likely to see another one and another one and another one. Same thing with graffiti or trash. So if we keep the area clean too, which is part of our responsibility, That would help, but also I think the arts community could be brought into this and we can work with those people and if the business is okay with some kind of mural, that would be good too. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Ms. Martin-Tencombe Street. This is a very, very, very complex issue, and it involves a whole host of issues. It's not as simple as, you know, let's just put some people on the street. It is very complex, and it needs a summit, Mr. Marks. You're absolutely right, because we need to look at police reform and We do have too few officers, and it involves overtime, it involves details, it involves the numbers that we don't have. But it also involves police taking responsibility for themselves as well. And they're not gonna like what I'm saying, but it's true, they need to be more proactive in this city. But they get mistreated, so it's easy to, they feel a little bit defensive. That said, and I agree, and I'm an advocate for the police, you know that, I'm up here every week. One thing that I would like to recommend is, and they're not going to like me for this, is putting a device on each cruiser that tracks where they go throughout the city. Because sometimes, and I've seen it myself, I know they're not going to like me, cruisers can be found behind buildings for a long period of time. They're just chilling out someplace. So that behavior needs to stop. They're exhausted. You know, there are reasons why they are not proactive in this city. There are reasons why they are not as proactive as they need to be. But at the same time, we do need to hold them accountable. But we can't hold them accountable till we give them what they need. So it's both. It's a balance of giving them all the resources they need and then lifting up their spirits so that they'll want to be more proactive and not so, oh, well, I'm not going to answer that call. I hear from people in stop and shop, I'll call the police, and I never hear that go over police scanner, that call that I just called in for a parked car that's been there for three days, it never goes out. So there's somebody filtering the information through the station. And it's because if it's not dire, it doesn't go out. And that's the way that the police respond in a lot of positions in a lot of conditions. But again, it is a complex issue and it requires a summit. It is, I'm not bashing the police. Please do not misunderstand. that I am not bashing the police. The police are under a lot of stress and duress these days. But it is a give and take. And when we step up, they need to step up too. But we need to have that summit so that everybody's working on the same page. Thank you very much.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Jean Martington, Cumming Street. And I actually don't have a comment. I have a question. I know that's news for you guys. I always have a comment. But anyway, is the Chief of Staff going to be the liaison between the Mayor's office and this body? or is that going to be somebody else?
[Jeanne Martin]: Okay. That's all I wanted to know. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Hello, Jean Martin, 10 coming street. And I went to that same meeting that Mr. Caraviello went to on constituency, constituency services. Um, And you're absolutely right, Mr. Marks, if you do not have more people in the areas that were most discussed. And I kind of wonder, because now you've set up this expectation. These people came out, and they didn't just come out from West Medford. They came out from all over the areas of Medford, and they came to this meeting. And now there's a belief system that things are going to change. And I hope that things change, because now you've set up the expectation that things are going to change. And the only way that they're going to change is if you hire more DPW workers and more police. Because the two biggest issues that came up were, one, parking enforcement, street sweeping, plowing, especially plowing in the winter, and all of the car issues and all of that. And also the DPW potholes and you name it. So if we do not hire more DPW workers and more police or reutilize our police so that they're in enforcement mode, then the 311 system is going to be absolutely useless. It's going to set up the expectation that I'm going to be heard. And then if they're not heard, they're going to be even more frustrated. So I just want to point that out. So we're going to have to figure out something to do because there's not enough DPW workers to take care of the issues in this city. Clearly, like you said, at the high school, they can't even salt the hill. So thank you very much.
[Jeanne Martin]: Just a real quick comment. Gene Martin, 10 coming street. I went to the pre meetings for this bridge work and Senator Jalen was there and Representative Donato was there as well to most of these meetings. So where are they in this problem solving? Okay. All right. Well, I'm just saying, I'm just asking, where are they? Can they?
[Jeanne Martin]: Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street. And I just wanted to—not on the positions, but on one point that the solicitor said that I was in a definite disagreement with, all due respect, these people get paid a lot of money and they get paid to think. When I was a private in the Army, I was told point blank, you don't get paid to think, you know? And I said, I think, Sergeant, and he said, private, you don't get paid to think. But anyway, these guys get a lot of money, a lot of money. They get paid to think about the future. They get paid to think about what's going to happen in five years from now. So with all due respect to the solicitor, it's not about the positions. I don't, you guys wrangled that out. The point is, is that yeah, you guys are getting paid lots of money to think down the future. And that includes the mayor. So she needs to think what's going to happen in five years. So that's all I wanted to say. And thank you. And with due respect to the solicitor. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Hi, Gene Martin, Municipal Lots. But anyway, this is, well, I'm going to be talking about two different little blocks. This is a citywide issue. This affects the Medford Square projects. This affects the business community. And I just want everybody to know that all of the department heads need to be in and understand what I'm trying to get across. Because this is a citywide project, even though it's going to be talking about two small blocks. First of all, reorganizing Union and Swan Street. There are two small blocks between the police headquarters and the DPW yard. The first block is between Union and Swan, which are more like alleys than streets. And I recommend anybody just drive down Mystic Ave and Main And go up those, quote, streets, they're more like alleys than they are streets. The second block between Swan and James is a little bigger. These two blocks, separating the police facility and the DPW yards, are small privately owned businesses. Along Union Alley, and I call it alley, are the following, Alsar Automotive, Carly Fence, Stevens Auto, and Lew's Custom Exhaust. Swan Street, A&P, Collision Center, After that, a junkyard, complete eyesore, and then Eastern Tool Company. If you go down that road, if you look from above, and actually as you're going down it, there's a huge junk area. It just looks like an eyesore. On the left is a marble and granite company. James Street has all truck company. Unfortunately, the new public safety building is going to need at least the lots on Union to Swan Street to meet code. for the current footprint, which is one-third too small, and so union to Swan is not an option, but rather a mandate. Whether or not we move the businesses on James Street is still optional. Since we are going to have to disturb that area, we might as well do it right to begin with. It makes sense to turn those two whole blocks, including James Street, into city-owned lots so that we can increase our building space for other related departments. We need to work with these business owners and find them new lots for their businesses. And this is where you come in, Mr. Delarusso and Mr. Caraviello especially, because you're both on the rotary and you need to be, you know, pushing for this, I think. Not only do I see the new police fire 911 facility staying where it is, but I see buildings that house other city departments. in it like public health, building management, engineering, water and sewer, cemetery, any departments that seems compatible with police, fire, and DPW. The other aspect of this change is that it will impact the new square's view over the Mystic River. Currently, the view is ugly. So seriously, if you put those fancy condos above the storefronts, you know, where CVS is and all of that, they're gonna have an awful view. I'm telling you, if you look down, do the aerial thing from, that's why I did this, aerial view, it's all junky, it's ugly. So it'll increase your property values of the Medford Square project as well, not to look over the river and then to, you know, to see all that junky stuff, mostly automotive places. And I'm not saying get rid of them, I'm saying help us move them. One other aspect of this change is that it will impact the new square's view on the Mystic River. Currently, the view is ugly. As soon as these businesses are, some of these businesses are dumpy and crappy looking. So if you are going to gentrify the square with condos above the storefronts, then you need to clean up that view for them anyway. The losers appear to be the businesses. However, Carly Fence would do better on a front lot on Mystic Ave with a better eye-catching sign. The other businesses will have a harder time finding lots because they are automotive by nature and have a lot of grease and oil and stuff requirements. I believe that the city would be short sighted not to consider the whole area between the police station and the DPW lots. as possible office and building structures for city business, leaving more room in city hall for new areas of interest. As you know, the city is growing and it needs more space. Um, my point is, is that since this isn't going to happen tomorrow, we need to help plan with the five year vision of, you know, breaking ground at the police station. And if you do, you're going to have to do it where it is. because it's centrally located, it's easy to find. You want police, fire, and 911 all in the same area. Clearly the current building size is not big enough, the footprint is not big enough. So you're gonna have to take over that little alley anyway. So since you're going to do that and you're going to disturb the area, you might as well do it all in one shot with the business community, with all the department heads, with everybody on board and visualize what you want it to look like. And it'll serve as a, everybody will be happy. But what I'm saying is if we just take, take it by eminent domain, you're going to cause a lot of trouble. So if you, if I think that we all need to work with the business communities down there, and find them another home inside the city where these automotive, mostly automotive places, body shops and whatnot, can do their business along Mystic Ave or someplace. There's got to be someplace for them. So if you don't, you're going to have to take the ground anyway. And it'll cause problems if it happens abruptly. So plan it well. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: So they're going to build higher?
[Jeanne Martin]: Well, I think, I don't know. You guys got to stop it, man, because where are you going to put the police station?
[Jeanne Martin]: I know. But where's the police station going to go?
[Jeanne Martin]: We just can't go and- With all due respect. I don't want to argue.
[Jeanne Martin]: Well, I understand that, sir, through the chair, with all due respect. And you know I respect you. The city has an obligation to provide public safety first before anything else, even my house. So when it comes to public safety, the city should be able to take my house for public safety. I wouldn't like it. I would not like it. But that's, that's the, where are you going to put the public safety building? If not in the Medford Square where it is, where are you going to put it? That's my question. So I'll put that to the chair. I'll put that to the president. If not in Medford Square, right where it is, where are you going to put it?
[Jeanne Martin]: I don't want to rehash the old stuff. The bottom line is that the new mayor, moving forward, the new mayor has a history of being attacked by the old TV3. So she has personal interest in knowing what a bad TV station can do for the city. But now we need to move forward and we need to It doesn't take rocket science to put this together. All the communities around us have it. All of them. Malden is not as wealthy a community as Medford. I don't care by what standard you use. And they have a very vibrant TV station right in the middle of this square where everybody is welcome. Everybody. You guys all give lip service to diversity? Go to the Malden station. You will see diversity. And you will see the arts. Hello, art community. You will see dancing on that station. You will see the government doing their thing like we are here with the government meetings. But you'll see a diversity in thought and ideas. But you know, that's what the old mayor didn't want and he got away with it because he had friends at the statehouse and because he had friends everywhere. This new mayor has a new start. She can start fresh. She can start with the, you know, and if there are problems like in the past, which she is very aware of, such as money disappearing, attacks on personalities and characteristics, then we need to have a format by which to get rid of those people on the station. And it isn't rocket science because they're all doing it all around us and we're losing out. And this affects the business community, Mr. Caraviello, This affects the, well, I think of business, I think of him. That's why I voted for him. Anyway, and you better do something for the square. So anyway, I'm going to hold you to it. But anyway, you know, it helps the business community. It helps the arts community, the theater, the theater, the Chevalier Theater. It helps everything. And it is a waste of time and money to put it in this Vogue. Not that I'm against having them be taught those skill sets at the Vogue. But it puts more money in the Vogue. Unfortunately, and I have to go through this laundry list, all new schools 10 years ago, a new pool, two new stadiums, all money going towards the students. I'm not against the students, but the students and the schools have gotten the lion's share of all the monies, and now they have another part to play with, which is this technology. They got the tech bill. That was another one. They've gotten a chunk of change. The only thing on the city side has been a $14 million DPW yard that isn't even sufficient And it's brand new, because it has problems. So it needed more money. So the balance is shifted towards the schools already. We can put it in Haines Square, because there's plenty of empty lots and empty storefronts there. I wish it was in the Medford Square, because that is the most vibrant place that it can lift the square right up. Between the library being redone, the Chevalier, and the TV3 being in a storefront, It can really pick up the square and make it more user-friendly, make the square better, bring people in. They'll have something to do besides go to eat. They'll have something to eat because they're there. So it'll all work out. But if you don't, if you let this stay at the high school, which is better than nothing, but it's still going to hamper free speech up at the high school. It really will. Because it's going to be, people are going to feel that they're in a public building, and they're going to feel like they can't say certain things because they're in a public building. Plus, it's not accessible the way that it would be in Medford Square. But right now, you can put it in Haines Square, because I know that there are empty storefronts right on Salem Street. and you can just tuck it right in there for now. But anyway, thank you for listening, and I hope that we have free speech, and the arts, and business, and all of that that can come from this. Those three things, the library, the Chevalier, and TV3, or community access, would all, you know, just build up the square. Those three things anchor. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Jean Martin, 10 Cummings Street. Churchill said, those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. If we do not take our city-side building maintenance seriously, They will undoubtedly fall into disrepair, as did the schools, the DPW, and currently the police station. Assuming that we put off tearing down and building out a 21st century public safety building, which I do not endorse forfeiting, we still need to insert a building maintenance budget for each city side building. The school side has a person in charge of school buildings and can identify the problems and priorities for the school side. We need the same on the city side. If we have the money to hire a public relations officer for the school side at the cost to the taxpayer of $85,000 a year, then we can afford a chief of maintenance for city-side buildings. We need a log of problems and schedule for their maintenance. We need a list of all city-owned buildings and inspections annually to identify their problems. Whoever said you can't fight City Hall is wrong. Local politicians do react to the populace when the populace makes its voice heard loud enough. When the parents come out in force, stadiums, the high school pool, and the technology labs are funded and built. The problem is the voice for city buildings are not loud enough. And for those who believe I am against the schools, note that I have spoken out against excessive spending on the city side, i.e., the garage, the Water Taxi, the Brooks Estates, and a whole new building for the arts community. We will do well to save the two, quote, luxury buildings we have, which is the library and the Chevalier Auditorium. As for all other building structures, they are mandatory and need to be tended to. We could also look at street safety, i.e. crosswalk reflectors and underground infrastructure. And I say that because I was in Haines Square And everybody's coming in at the same time. And at night, at 5, 530, all you see is a flood of headlights. And you can't see the crosswalk. And you can't see a person crossing the crosswalk until they actually go in front of somebody's headlights. So it's very, very dangerous there. So we need to public safety of the sidewalks and all the rest of it. I'm ad nauseam. You know my story. This is not a luxury. This will cost you more in the end unserviced. I vote to take the PR money and put it towards a chief of city side maintenance. Keep in mind the building inspector is for the whole city, not just city buildings. So if you have the argument that we have a building inspector, well he's in the, or she or whatever, they, the two of them, are in charge of every single building. That means house, two families, single, buildings, condos, you name it, retail, commercial, The Brooks estates to the Craddock house or the Tufts house to the royal house to the school They're responsible for every building Okay, so we need a person specifically and I think mr. Marx was the one that brought this up a while back that we need somebody for the city side and Unfortunately to my friends over here. I respect their opinion, but the pie is only so big and unless you do a two and a half override the pie is only so big and so I While I've spoken out against excessive city side spending I'm not totally against the schools but the schools have gotten the lion's share lately and it really needs to be shifted so that the fire substations are maintained The police department, even if you don't tear it down, which I believe we should, it needs to be maintained. And the City Hall, hello, anybody? And so we need to have maintenance on the city side. For the library as well, because if you want to use it, you have to make sure it's maintainable, make sure that people can walk into the library without the ceiling falling in on them, which we know is behind and backlogged. So we need to take it and address all these situations. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Hi, I'm Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street, Medford, Madison. I'm a big proponent of the theater, as you know. As you know, I also push your buttons, but this is something that pushes my buttons. I love the theater. I love the acts. I'm going to two of them before Christmas, but the way it's being run with the religious groups in there on Sunday mornings has to go. It is inappropriate for religious groups to look at that as if it's a church. It is being rented and looked at as if it is a church by two groups of people, and it needs to come to a close. If we value this city as this asset, then we need to kick in the money for it. I don't know how, but we need to kick in the money for it the right way. If that's the case, and I've already told these folks, We need to have, we can open up all the buildings, whether it's the South Manfred Fire Station and hold it open for other religious events. We could rent out the schools for Buddhist, Methodist, Catholics, Jewish, every other religion under the sun. These folks can practice their religion and they can say things that are very controversial in this city, in that public space, in that public building. They can say a woman should submit to her husband. They can say that homosexuality is a sin. They can say anything because they have the religious right to do so. We need to be very, very careful of how we run our buildings. I love the Chevalier. I want to see it be run right. And that's all I want to say is that that needs to go. And if we value this piece of property as we should, we need to come up with the money for it. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Jean Martin. Good evening. 10 Cumming Street. Let's remember why we have meters in the first place, because outsiders were parking in our squares all day for free and riding into town. We also had store owners and workers parking in front of their stores, taking up customer spots. And also, I just want to remind people that the permits, parking, we have been already paying. People that live in the city before we even had meters were paying $10 a year to pay to park on our own street. So that money has already been out there, just to remind you of that, too. You recall that we didn't want to waste professional time of police officers on parking enforcement. And while we have accomplished this goal, make no mistake that parking enforcement ultimately still comes under the auspices of the police department. Now, while some of you will throw tomatoes at me because I know that not everybody agrees with this pay for parking issue, I have to say that I'm okay paying for parking for the following reasons. No one plan will satisfy everyone. That's worth repeating again. No one plan will satisfy everyone. This includes the two-hour or three-hour limit. Someone will always say it is too short a time for some reason. This city has had a free parking program for so long, it doesn't want any change at all. We need to admit that. That said, it should not be punitive. The amount could be as little as 25 cents for a half an hour. It doesn't have to be 25 cents for 15 minutes. The point of paying is to create accountability and not milk the people. Free parking for two hours without a ticket creates a problem. You must move your car if you wish to stay in the square. And we want people to encourage people to hang out in the square and spend their money. I would much rather go out and feed the meter again than move my car and try to find another spot. Let's say we grow Medford Square and it is a bustling with life. We're going to have to extend the hours till 8 p.m., and in some communities they do that. We want people to hang out in the square for four or five hours. The longer they stay, the more money we make from the store's businesses, not from the parking. We shouldn't really look at it as making money from the parking program. This is what I think should happen to any proceeds from the parking program. It should be earmarked for mental health and training for police officers. The issue of late was only properly resolved because it was on video and we were a national disgrace as a result of it going viral. We do not take the mental health of our police officers as seriously as we do their physical health. We need to normalize mental health for our officers before something else happens. We need a zero tolerance policy, but we also can't neglect our responsibility to them and expect stress not to bubble up again. While unions protect an officer from being fired by a mayor for flimsy cause, there is a point at which an officer should be taken off the street. But I also agree that we need a union to protect the officers in case the mayor's on the take. If the mayor is corrupt, right, then he could fire an officer that's doing his job very easily because he has the power to do so. So the unions play that role. While unions have a say, they don't have the last say. Unions are limited by their very nature of not having a full sight of view of the whole city's needs. We as citizens have a say in what requirements we want our officers, police officers to have. But don't think the public gets a pass either. Our job is to make sure that police officers aren't afraid to do their jobs. And if we continue to beat them up in the public eye and they fear being scapegoated for society's ills, they will not be there one day when you need them the most. I propose that every officer be required to talk to a therapist out of the city limits who specializes in police stress once a month. If you have a better idea, please let me know. Only if everyone does it will those who ask for help not be stigmatized. If it becomes routine, it will become a social norm and the guys won't pick on the minority of guys who go. To my fellow citizens, this is not a wish list item. This is a mandatory item. You may offer a tweak here or there, but it needs to be done. Police men and women cannot strike. And that leaves them in a very bad place to be overworked and build up pressure. Remember, when a police officer escalates, he or she does that in our name. He or she works for us. The unions need to do what is in the best interest for everyone, including the public they serve. This is one measure that can help prevent police officers from blowing a gasket. If you find another, let me know. We, the public, need to see the danger in not doing our job. which is to see that the needs of our police department are met. Otherwise, the blood will be on our hands. We only have 105 police officers for a city of 58,000. They are a minority. We need to hear them now, not tomorrow when it is too late. We owe the police officers every opportunity to maintain his or her composure by looking after their health, both mental and physical. And we also owe them a thank you. for doing a job that we do not want to do. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: I would love to. I'm Jean Martin, 10 Cummings Street. And I'd like to thank everybody for giving me this opportunity to speak. I too have gone to the 75th anniversary of the Chevalier Auditorium. I too went to the John Denver. And this is a wonderful, wonderful asset to the city. I know you guys are just like, where did I wake up? Because I'm supporting the arts. This is fantastic. This is a fantastic asset.
[Jeanne Martin]: Absolutely. I'm also a proponent of all city buildings having a 5% building line item for maintenance. And since this is such a beautiful presentation that we had professionally done by Hollywood, that should be replicated and it should be part of that 5% building line item for maintenance for this building. It should be awesome, and it would be wonderful because you don't know when you're driving by, and you're absolutely right. In the morning, Forest Street is backed up all the way to 93, and they sit there, and you know what that building holds, and it's fantastic. And I like your idea with the concession stand, because it is missing, you know, and you go downstairs and you have... Yep, it is. And so I like that. The other thing is about rock concerts, the only thing I have to say is Rick Springfield. I heard some stories about stuff that went on in the bathrooms because they rock concerts. And I was a kid once too. And so you want to be careful. And I grew up with Rick Springfield. But I mean, things go on in bathrooms, like drug abuse and other things. And you kind of want to stay away from that. But the John Denver thing was awesome. And the 75th anniversary, that Irish band that played was fantastic. And also, we can have plays, we can have comedians, we can have the diversity of shows, the movie theater, it's fantastic, and it will bring in money to all the restaurants in the area, it'll bring in foot traffic, and our Fridays and Saturday nights should be at least lit up until 11 o'clock on a Friday night, okay? I mean, why this city on a Friday or Saturday night doesn't have the lights on and people walking around? I'm not talking about maybe Monday night could be dead, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, but, you know, Thursday should pick up. People should get off work and go and hang out at Method Square. And Friday night and Saturday night should be bustling until at least 11 o'clock. It wouldn't kill us, and it would bring business and money and tax revenue. And that could be the center key, is the theater, because it's just awesome. The location, the building structure, it's just beautiful. And it should be. And I support this $50,000 or whatever it is, and I'm going to give the guy $20 to make it $20 less tonight. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Jean Martin, 10 Cummings Street. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to speak. The Brooks Estates needs to be dealt with. It needs to be put to rest once and for all. They've tried to come up with the money for it, and they can't. They can't come up with private funding, and there are some issues up there that I need to talk about. But first, I just want to say, we have to remember that the Brooks Estates comes out of the history, a darker point in our history. They were blue bloods. They made their money off of the shipping industry, the insurance of the industry. They insured the ships that were involved in the triangular trade. So they literally made their money off of slavery and rum, and if there were fires or piracy, they insured against those things. So we just have to keep that in mind when we go forward. They insured the cargo. that included enslaved Africans. The Brooks family also owned slaves, so the beautiful carriage house was built with blood money. The well-meaning group of volunteers have not been able to find donors to support the $3.5 million it takes to renovate the place for occupancy. Speaking of occupancy, I hear that there are people living in that house which in no way could possibly pass today's codes. So Mr. Knight, I'm glad we have another person that can check out the buildings, because I want somebody up there checking out that building for occupancies. Also, there is going to be, or might be, I don't know if the baby happened or if it's going to happen, but I heard a rumor that this is a young couple and they could have a baby. That's a problem. That house must have lead paint, electrical and plumbing deficiencies. I'm a landlord and I hold a certificate of occupancy, an inspection from my insurance company, carbon monoxide alarms, a stove, income taxes with all receipts for repairs, home insurance, and a 21-page lease. And I own a two-family house, okay? That's just for the renters downstairs. We, the entire city of Medford, are on the hook for any accident or incident that may happen on that property, not just the Brooks volunteers. It is time to move the occupants out, even if it costs the city to move them out, to do it and tear down the buildings once and for all. I know that it's hard for those people that put so much time and energy and effort into it, but then they're not the only ones that have other ideas for the city I have ideas for the city too. I would love to have that dance hall taken down so that when you come off the highway you see this beautiful structure called the people's house. I would love to take the library, invest three and a half million dollars, put another level on there and call it an art center or something so that we can maintain still maintain a library, make it more useful for modern day people because we have the internet and people don't use the library. But if we made it a library slash art center, maybe we could continue that public building. But I can't do that in good conscience and look at the police department, the police personnel, the DPW, the streets, the plumbing The sewer pipes that aren't getting any younger. The buildings in this area that aren't getting any younger. I can't do that. I can't look them in the eye. I can't look the buildings in the eye. God knows this one could use three and a half million. It just goes on. I also want a center for kids in Haines Square. That's another one of my pluses. That's another one of my dream sheets. What I'm saying is that it's a luxury to have the Brooks Estates. And it's one that we can't afford, and we've got to put it to rest. It's got to end. Because we have to get on with the really serious issues that this city is facing in economics and everything else. And I've spoken to some old timers, and they don't want it to be even remained as a green space. They look at that Brooks Estates, and they go, oh, plots. They have plots in their head. They're dying, their friends are dying, and they want to be buried here in Medford. And they see it. as future burial ground. I'm not suggesting that we do that, but I'm saying that there are a lot of people who would just like to turn that into that. If you want to keep it as a green space, I'm okay with that, but we have to put to rest the house, the structure, and everything else. That said, the $3.5 million needs to go towards a new police station and to fund 15 more police officers. We need more DPW workers for the streets. which need to be regularly swept, striped, crosswalks, squares need some life, like flower buckets and lighting. There are many needs in this city. The Brooks Estates has got to put this to rest, and the city can come together on what we really need to do. Needs and wants are two different things. Again, I want to thank those people that have put their attention into it. But they've got to realize that their dream isn't going to end. And they should get about six months to decompress and cry and grieve, because it just has to come to an end. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street. And I want to thank Mr. Penta for bringing this very important issue up. This city, I want to keep it simple, deserves a community access station. It's that simple. And I'm glad that you brought up the 10-year, Mr. Caraviello, the 10-year contract. Thank you. That's a great idea. Maybe 5 years or whatever, but 10 years is a stretch. And yes, we should have to approve it as a body because all the other contracts are over 3 years. Excellent point. And I want to thank Mr. Knight for his suggestion of putting a person from this council to help the negotiation. I think that's wonderful, especially given the past history with this station. The mayor messed it up the last time. It was his ball. He screwed it up. And I don't want to beat that bloody. But I want to recall that the mayor did hire a little – he put together a three-person committee, which in my mind was skewed or not necessarily qualified. We had a priest, which was a very nice guy. He's honest. But what does he know about cable access? We had a person with conflict of interest who gets paid by the PEG monies, and we had another person who was a nice guy, but he wasn't anybody that really represented the community at large. It was a very narrow focus for that committee that he put together. That said, he had those recommendations in his hands, okay, and you know what he did with them? He put them in the desk drawer, and he didn't pay any attention to them. That's what he did. But he does say that he's going to use the money through the school system, through the voc system, which I'm happy to see that, first of all, again, the bad behavior's gone. Thank God for that. The negative uses of the TV station are gone. Thank you for that, and thank you, Joe, for all your work on that. But we still don't see a station today, and we need to see one. We're paying that money, and I think the reason why Mayim McGlynn is doing his dance again is because he's going to wait until the last day of the contract He got the letter December 18th. He's going to wait until April 17th or April 16th. He's going to hold his meeting and he's not going to want to publicize it because he knows it's going to be a complaint session. If you really told the people, the parents out there, that their kids weren't having their hockey games on TV and everything else, that they're being denied the history, the arts. If they really heard all of that and they really, it penetrated in their soul that they've been denied this, they'd be at that meeting and they'd be saying, what have you done? But they, I don't know, for whatever, because we don't have a good media system, they don't really hear that. And they would show up. And we are being denied. Every day that we don't have a station, we're being denied. a historical log of everything that happens in the city, all of the events, the plays that could be being recorded at the auditorium, and he showed up there. I was going to say, you know, the arts community could get on this and do something with it. We do have an arts community, and as far as I can see from all the other communities, the arts people are the ones that run these stations locally, or at least have a huge plug in the system of these systems. We have an arts community. The mayor showed up for the 75th anniversary of the Chevalier, and he gave the Chevalier people a plaque for their 75th anniversary. He showed up for that, so he knows the arts people. It's not like he doesn't know them. He doesn't want to invite them in on the process. He hasn't. Because if he did, they would love that. That's what they do. They live for the arts. They're musicians. They paint. They're creative. That's what they do. They love it. And if he reached out to them, he doesn't want to reach out to them. Because he really wants to keep it in a tight little niche for himself so that he can control the media. Again, I hope that the mayor opens up his mind. and lets this city become a thriving city. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Please state your name and address for the record. Thank you. Jean Martin, 10 Cummings Street. And I respectfully disagree with you, Mr. Delarusso. The person who has been the point person for the parking program has been the chief of police, not the mayor. I don't know. Did you say the chief of police?
[Jeanne Martin]: Oh, then I apologize wholeheartedly to you. But I would say that we do have a city that I've talked to people in Wellington, and they have relatives in North Medford. And we have a city that's kind of divided by sections or segments. And the folks that live in North Medford aren't as thrilled about the parking permit program, because they don't have as many problems with it. So the thought that they might get ticketed, or have to shuffle things around, or have to pay for a permit parking pass, they're not as thrilled about it as the people who need relief, like the people in South Medford, West Medford near the commuter rail, or Wellington near Wellington Circle. And so I just wanted to put that out there, You know, it's going to have to be a joint effort. But I want to apologize then, because I misheard you. And I'm glad I misheard you. Thank you. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Oh, just real quick. I would love to, Gene Martington, Cumming Street. What I did like about what he said while he was talking, I was thinking about we get these robocalls by telephone, but a lot of people today, you know, get email notices or whatever. I don't get email notices when there's a storm or parking or anything like that. I was wondering maybe we should think about that because everybody, I'm sorry? Oh, okay, that's great. And then the other thing is I like the idea of putting up the council meetings on the computer. Is there a way to put the council meetings on a computer program?
[Jeanne Martin]: Yes, Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street. And I'm going to say two nice things about this program, and then that'll set me off from going off. First of all, one of the good things about this program is that it saves our police from becoming, in other words, for other better words, meter maids, which is a waste of their time, which satisfies one of my requirements parking enforcement. So that's one good thing. I'm glad to see that. And the second thing is it got the commuters from other cities from stopping and parking in the city. So those are my two compliments to this program. Everything else is a complete, if we didn't have a 10-year contract with these folks, we would scrap this whole thing and start fresh. I mean, the amount of changes and everything else. And I have to say, with all due respect to the police chief, It is not his job to set policy, which he is manipulating and working with, not manipulating, that's a bad word, but he is working and tweaking policy that the mayor should be here on. That's what's getting my blood pressure up. The mayor should be here taking his own heat for his own program. He's making the chief of police take the heat, waste the chief's time when he should be doing other things in this city. That's what got my blood up today. You know, I have a whole bunch of things. But the other thing is about Mr. Marks, he was on that committee or commission or whatever it was for the parking enforcement. Total insult to all the time that they spent on that committee. And I know that the police chief is paid to be on it because he's paid as a city employee. But there were citizens that were on that committee that spent time on that parking enforcement program. Had that been recognized by the police chief, I mean by the mayor, we wouldn't be in this position. And I don't have anything against the outside vendor. But because we're in this contract now, we're signed into it. And it just, all of these issues need to be brought up next week when the mayor is in town and sitting here, taking the heat for his own program. Because it's his and it's yours, you know, for whatever. You can argue about how much responsibility is the council's. But it is also, it is primarily the signature is by the mayor. He has the only authority to tweak it, change it, put a stop sign here. He's the ultimate authority for where there's going to be a parking meter or whatever. And the kiosks, don't even get me started on the kiosks, because that has caused more problems than if you had just put meters in, quarter-fed meters. You know, whether you agree with it or not, and put in too well parking, and then have people watch it. Everybody understands a meter, a simple, simple, simple meter. Everybody understands it. And I just have to say that. So, I mean, I think we should have went by the recommendations of the parking commission. I think it should have been reconsidered. But again, the two things I'm going to, so that my blood pressure comes down. One, the police are not wasting their time, although the police chief is now wasting his time on this, when it should be the mayor that's taking the heat for his own program. He is the enforcement of policy. He is not the signature on the policy. He is not the guy that makes the policy. The mayor is the guy that makes the policy. And number two, it got the commuter traffic off of the streets, which was the second good thing about this policy. So with that, I'll shut up. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Jean Martin, 10 Cummings Street. Thank you very much for letting me speak here tonight. Haines Square is a great square, and it has great potential to thrive, and yet left neglected, and without proper advocacy from the city as a whole. If you would just take a good look at the architecture, you would see what I see, the base for a wonderful meeting place for the citizens of Medford to commune, as well as purchase goods and services. To revitalize the square, we need to have joint meetings between the state officials because of Route 60, Route 28, and the MBTA bus barns. Local politicians, especially the mayor and small business community, all need to get together to have a good, wholesome plan for the whole unit. It has to be taken as a whole area and not just piecemeal. The best assets the square has are Dempsey's restaurant, without a doubt, the best combination of community with its breakfast menu. I watch people all have coffee, commune, talk, families, friends. It's a social place as well as a place to receive, you know, it's a food place. So it's absolutely the cornerstone in its proximity to the square, how it's central. It's one of the central eye catches of the square and it's absolutely one of the anchors of the square. But again, the sidewalk outside of it has potential. It has those seatings with the picnic tables or whatever, but they're not used. As it is, the man that owns it says he has to come out. It's a city property, the sidewalk city property. He's not supposed to be responsible to shovel the snow, but he often does. He takes care of that, and so do the other two businesses, the florist and the pizza parlor, because nobody else will. because the city doesn't have the services that it used to provide. But that space, that little triangle where Dempsey's is, is absolutely perfect to have umbrellas with people out there eating and communing from, especially Dempsey's. Or eating a sandwich from a local sub shop down Alfredo's Kitchen or something, get a sub, come down. It's on the same side of the block. You don't have to go out of your own way. Modern hardware is another huge staple, which has offered many people the convenience and personal touch for home improvement. The laundromats are a staple for the area because of the large rental apartments all throughout the neighborhood. What needs to be said is that Haines Square has a lot of two-family houses that are now used as rental properties. Both up and down are used as rental properties. People live outside of the city, own those houses. it's not no longer just owner occupied like it used to be back in the day and so you have a high population of people that use the buses and use you know, different mechanisms. And they also use the dry cleaners and the laundromat. The laundromat there is absolutely essential because a lot of people that live in those rental properties, a lot of owners don't let them use the basement for washer and dryers or sometimes have coin-operated machines in their basement or something, but a lot of renters use the laundromat in Haines Square. They can walk right down there and use it. So those laundromats need to stay there. The downside of the square is its central focus. As you drive up from Medford Square, which has a liquor store, which used to be the movie theater. Now, I realize that a liquor store is a legal business. It's a legitimate business. It brings in a lot of tax revenue, because the taxes on liquor are higher than other goods and services. I understand that. However, as you're coming up that square, where Spring Street comes into Route 60, the thing that catches your eye, which used to be a movie theater, is now a liquor store. I'm not against that personal person that owns it. But if anybody could arrange to have that liquor store move to a place along the side of a bunch of blocker stores and not be the central focus, that would make the whole thing different. And also, if you had an eatery inside that theater, if you had an eatery with Wi-Fi, that would be awesome. The whole feel of that liquor store area would change. If you had nice glass windows that were open and not filled with signs for Bud Light or whatever, then, wait a minute, I'm not done yet. Oh, oh, okay, all right. So, because if you look at it, you see Bud Light and whatever. Instead, if you saw people sitting in chairs, you know, using their devices, and I will agree now, I've come to change my mind, I'll even let you put a bike rack in front of that area so that if people are traveling by bicycle, they can go and hang there and have lunch, okay? But anyway, if you change that, you would change the whole feel of that whole region. And I'm not against the liquor store, if you want to put it to the side in another spot, more power to you. But it's a central focal point, and if you put an eatery in there, man, a lunch place, sandwich, soup, something like that, where people have, you know, a lunch thing, because you've got the breakfast thing right over there at Dempsey's. It would really be awesome. Let's see. The other big problem is the MBTA bus barns and the brick building that sits in front of it. The brick building was built in, like, 1922. I realize that there is an electrical infrastructure for the bus barns, and it is a problem, but guess what? It's the MBTA's problem. It's not my problem. It's not Haines Square's problem. It's not the city's problem. The MBTA buses sit there, and they look horrible. Imagine if that bus barn area was a green space. Hello. I guess I'm transforming. The city's going in my head or something. I'm thinking green. But if that place, if that area was green, I've been around you people too long. So if that area was green with some benches to sit, All right, you buy a sandwich, you go and you sit on a bench with some green space instead of the bus barns, it would be another place that would be open for the community to come and sit. I don't want other buildings put there. God knows we've got enough buildings in this city. We keep putting up developments every which way. You get a postage stamp, they put up a building. So if you could take that and turn it into green space, but that's going to take the effort of the state representatives, the state senators, you people, the mayor, the small business community, the Chamber of Commerce, everybody's going to have to get in on that. But visualize it. Have some imagination. Let's see. With the help of the state delegation, blah, blah, blah, I would like to see the green space, blah, blah, blah. Now, the MBTA is another problem, because we have buses and trucks that often go through there. So if you're going to introduce, God forbid, bike lanes, because I personally think it's an accident waiting to happen. But if you are, you're going to have to decide, are we going to take out parking spaces? in order to put a bus lane? I don't know. But whatever you do, you're going to have to involve the MBTA, because trucks, huge trucks, go down there to deliver, especially for modern hardware. I see trucks all day dropping off stuff for modern hardware. And they're not semi. They're just small. But they are trucks. They're commercial trucks traversing and buses that traverse all the time. So the MBTA is going to have to be involved if we move a bus stop. I don't know. Design it. I don't get paid to do this, but there are people that get paid to design these kind of squares, and if we had some imagination, we could transform that square. Let's see. That's it. Okay. What else? Okay. Let's see. As for general cleanliness, we used to have section men, or we could use women today, in the squares, whose sole job was to pick up the litter in the square. Now, I understand that it costs a lot of money, but whether the DPW hires more personnel to become square people, that sounds funny, but square cleaners, I don't know how to say it, but sweepers, part time, part of their sessions, or maybe Monday, Wednesday, Friday, or whatever, or hire senior citizens, I don't care how it gets done, but we need to have people to clean up the litter because there's a lot of litter blown around, and I don't have to tell you people, the lines for the parking spaces are not, they're not there. It's kind of a weird, the way the square is too, if somebody, you're kind of like when you come in from, Spring Street to Salem, it's kind of, I don't know, it's kind of, people do their own thing. So, you know, it could be one lane, but there's two or three cars stacked, like lined up, you know. So, whatever, the traffic people that organized could straighten that out and maybe make the island in the middle bigger make it so that there's only room for one car to go one way so that you don't see piles up or maybe the island could also become bigger for another use like when we have our festivals in the fall the fall festival they use that as the stage prop area for the festival for where the stage is so if you expand that little bit You could have the thing, you know, use it for some other space. But anyway, OK. So I don't care how you get it done, but we need to have section people to clean up and to paint and to do all of that stuff, to monitor flower pots, water them, whatever, you know, those barrels with the flowers in them, make it nice with the lights, with the hanging pots and all of that. I have a dream. Anyway. So anyway, the signage all looks trashy. There's too many things in the windows in the stores, and if you had the awnings or all of the signage uniform, it doesn't have to be exactly the same. You can have your own personality, but if there's some kind of consistency throughout the signage, that would improve the area. As for parking enforcement, The mayor assigned a committee to review the problem back in 2009. He had ignored the recommendations of that committee and it has led to chaos. We've talked about that, but I'm going to go over it real quick because I wrote it down. The decision has been made by the mayor to go with an outside private contractor and has been signed for seven years with three more added options. Many of the businesses in Haines Square are not in the Chamber of Commerce, and therefore have not had a voice in the matter. Not until now, and I understand the Chief has talked to some of those business owners, that's wonderful, but I know for a fact that a lot of those business owners don't belong to the Chamber of Commerce. No offense, but they don't. There are inconsistencies in the policy where Dabbs Lock is. And he's right. I'm a frequent customer of Artery Lock and will still call them for business, but they do have an advantage over the other businesses in West Medford. If you're going to do parking enforcement meters, which is my preference, over kiosks or whatever, you have to go all the way down Route 60 because it's really a commercial slash retail You've got the gas stations. You've got the Brazilian food place, which I'm a frequent customer of. You've got nappies. You've got artery lock. There's a whole bunch of businesses along there. They've got the bike shop. There's a bike shop on Route 60. They should be metered as well, because that is just as much a commercial-slash-retail place as any other place. And so it's, you know, when Dabbs Lock came up here, I was feeling his pain because Artery Lock doesn't have to pay that, doesn't have to have that. With all due respect, people who come from Malden have told me that they haven't stopped at the Dunkin' Donuts in Haines Square because they don't understand the kiosk system. It might be $5, but I want Malden's $5, you know. At the very least, regular coin-operated meters should be put in place for simplicity's sake, and that would be my recommendation, to get rid of the kiosks and go with meters. People see meters, and they understand them. Haines Square has a high rental population, blah, blah, blah. Now, this is a sensitive topic, but while I see immigrant groups from South American to Asian have small family-owned businesses in Haines Square, there are not a lot of black American-owned businesses that I know of. I would like to see a black-owned barbershop and one other black-owned business go into the square. The population of that area is changing, and it would go a long way to incorporate all the new people. There are a couple of open storefronts currently on the Alfredo's kitchen block. across from the stop and shop. And so that would be a great place to put in a barbershop. And so we could reach out to the Chamber of Commerce. You could reach out to Neil. You could reach out to other, you know, people in the business community. Go to places, the schools where they make barbers, where they train barbers, and get somebody and say, hey, can we help you open up a barbershop? And just open up a barbershop, because the area is changing, and we need to change with those times. I'm almost done. In closing, I believe that all the squares should be treated the same. It is no secret that West Bedford is on the wealthier side of the city. I know that. I just had to say it. And therefore receives more attention. I would say that if we have meters in Haines Square, we have to have meters in West Medford. I don't want to see kiosks in West Medford and meters in Haines Square. It might work for Boston, because in Chinatown, they have meters, and on Newbury Street, they have kiosks, but Medford isn't Boston. So I just wanted to throw that out there. I know it's controversial, but that's what I do. All right, well, thank you very much.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you, Jean. Don't go away.
[Jeanne Martin]: Yeah, I'd be good at that. That would be right up my alley.
[Jeanne Martin]: But in the meantime, I want the mayor to look at all of those ideas, too.
[Jeanne Martin]: That's right. That's right. That's how you make noise. All right. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Thank you. Councilor Penta.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you very much. And I think the space for that should happen in Haines Square. I think that the politicians, the mayor and you guys, should all meet at Dempsey's. And I think that the local businesses should also meet at Dempsey's or the new lunch place that we're going to build where the liquor store is. And then you guys can meet, and I'll be there. I'll be happy to be there. And because until you guys come together because of zoning laws or whatever has to be changed, so that they can eat on that little tri-corner or whatever, because it's not being fully utilized. That little tri-corner outside of Dempsey's isn't being fully used. And it would be so awesome to see umbrellas and people hanging out there and relaxing on a June day. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Gene Martin, 10 Cumming Street. It's a great idea in theory, but it's not plausible. We have been living off of federal grants. We've been living high off of the federal hog for a long time. Mayor McGlynn was good at bringing home the bacon from the federal government. We have lived at a standard of living that we're not going to be able to move forward on. Mayor McGlynn has not put 5% in for every single building for maintenance. You can try to put money in this account, but it will get raided for some other reason sooner or later. The federal government does it with Social Security. They do it with the Transportation Trust Fund. They do it all the time. When there's a bunch of money and they need some emergency, they pull it out. That's what's going to happen in the city, I'm sorry to say. I don't see how the program's going to work. It's a great idea in theory, and you can do it in your personal life, but the government isn't good at saving money and putting it aside. And as for the police station, I have one thing to say, which I know you took out. But the mayor was ready to bond for the water taxi. He was ready to bond for the garage. He was ready to bond for the old house. But he's not ready to bond for the police station. And I don't see why we have to wait and put money in their side for $2 million a year until we get $30 million in there to buy it. I just don't see it. It's an emergency. Watch the news. Paris was up in flames last week. We're going to have more and more problems. We have school shootings. We have all kinds of crime. And to have a a police station that is inadequate and up to par. I mean, it technically is up to par, but it could be a lot better, and it could save lives. It could do its job much better, and the people could do a job much better. So while it's a good idea in theory to have this rainy day fund, I just don't see how you're financially going to be able to pull it off. But thank you very much for listening.
[Jeanne Martin]: Name and address for the record. Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street. I'm so on board with you when you talk about the taxes, but Bob, I got to talk about this. The issues around Ferguson specifically are just very complex.
[Jeanne Martin]: Okay. Well then I, I, uh, I guess I'm okay with the ordinance. I just want to say that, uh, the issues are very complex. and simple answers for complex problems. It can't be happening.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Oh, mine's quick.
[Jeanne Martin]: Name and address, Fleur. Jean Martin, 10 Cummings Street, and I'd like to just echo what he said, that this is a great beginning for street walking police officers. It's a great beginning. We need to get out there because we have had demographic shifts like never before. We have more students all over the place at Tufts University. We have whole neighborhoods that have changed. The Glenwood section, If you go to the stop-and-shop, you won't recognize anybody. There's so many new faces down at that stop-and-shop. You can see the new people coming in and going out. And these people are renters. A lot of these two-family houses have turned into rental properties, and so you need to make yourself a... You need to find them because they're not going to come to you. So I just want to encourage this program and to continue it. Thank you. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: I promised her I'd get up here and just say I'm in favour. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Roll call.
[Jeanne Martin]: Hi, Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street, and I'd just like to echo what Joe has to say about nonprofits and oversight. And I totally agree with him if it has the name Medford in it. It should be open for anyone in this city, whether it's the Brooks Estates, the Royal House, literally anything that has to do with Medford absolutely should have oversight. And it should be, and I want to know, because I belong to the DAB, you all know, and the DAB does meet in a firehouse. It meets on a Medford property, and it does wonderful things. And we have strict rules about how the checks go out and come in, and there are spend-down requirements, and a whole host of things. I write down every check in six different places. including the meeting minutes, I scan them in, I have an electronic set of them, I have the receipts, and the state tells me to keep all receipts for seven years. I don't know if the requirement is more than that, but that's what the state DAB told me to do. So I have no problem, if they are working in good faith, as an organization, they should not be afraid to show you their books, whatever the organization is. And I have no problem doing that. So I just want to reiterate that anything that has to do with the properties of Medford, because there's a lawsuit, you have a problem on a playground, you know, Medford's on the hook for it. So there is, you know, a private partnership, private-public partnership that has to happen more and more I hope that it does. So thank you for listening. And I just want to echo what he had to say about nonprofits and oversight. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street. And I just want to say, I read it on the email system, I don't know if it was the Medford Mass Group or something, that they were thinking about putting a bike path on Salem Street. and I think that Salem Street is an unreasonable request. It is a highly dense populated area. You have a lot of shift workers. I don't know if you know what it feels like to work 11 to 7 or 3 to 11 and then get stuck on the night shift and you're driving home at 7 o'clock in the morning. You have people driving on medications. You have people putting makeup on. You have people drinking coffee, I'm guilty of that. You have people eating while they're driving. You have a lot of distracted drivers. Salem Street is a highly, highly trafficked area. It's very populated and I think it would be very dangerous to have a bike path on that road. Winthrop Street is a different thing, or some of the other roads, that's fine. This is a very dangerous area to have a bike path. You have the buses. I don't know if you've ever traveled, but the other thing is that the biker might not get hurt. I can see myself actually trying to dodge a biker and hitting another car, because you see the biker. So you have to be prepared. The biker may not get hurt, but you might bump into another car, trying to swerve to avoid the biker. because the roads are so tight. So I just want to make everybody fully aware how dangerous that would be to have bike paths on the Salem Street, unless you have more control or you change the whole thing, you make it a one way. I don't know what you got to do to make the bikes safe, but I just think it's a too dense of an area to put bikes. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Gene Martin 10 coming street. Um, there are some items here that I see is non essential. Um, and the reason why I bring that up is because we have an essential need in this city and it's the police station, which is nowhere to be found as seven years from now is too long. It's not acceptable. Seven years from now is not acceptable for a new police station.
[Jeanne Martin]: But wait a minute now.
[Jeanne Martin]: There's a couple others too that are essential.
[Jeanne Martin]: Hang on a second. You are correct. I see some things that are not essential. I don't see all things that are non-essential. But I see a bike lane. I see, believe it or not, and I know you're going to be against me on this, playgrounds. These are non-essentials. If you're going to put pressure on the mayor, who has all authority to change this, to sign off on this, and you've got to build up pressure in this city. I'm sorry, but you do. If you don't build up pressure with the citizens to get them in here, to get them angry, then you can explain to them that the police station needs to come first, and then they can have their playgrounds. Because if you keep on doing this one million at a time, you're never going to see a police station. You're going to give him what he wants. So if there's a bucket truck, that's a necessity. If there's a plow, that's a necessity. But if it's a bike lane, it's not a necessity. If it's a playground, I understand they can be dangerous, but you're going to have to do something. So you guys can disagree with me if you want, But this is the only time that you're going to be able to have leverage over the mayor. And it's up to you. It's your call. It's your vote. But when the police station doesn't get built, don't come looking for me. Thank you. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Gene Martin, thank you, 10 Cumming Street. I'm glad you brought it up again, and I'm glad you went through it line by line. I do still think that the police chief shouldn't have to get up here at the podium and ask for a basic thing, like the building. He shouldn't have to. Nor should the union representative have to come up here and beg for a decent building to work out of. I just don't think so. I think that the parks are luxuries. I do. The schools are not, but the parks are luxuries. Yes, they add to the quality of life, and yes, the memorial does. Speaking as a veteran, it's still a luxury. Some of the other issues are still luxuries. The bike, everything's done in piecemeal again. I just hear, you know, a bike path, you know, just on Winthrop Street, and the bikers are here to stay. I don't think it's safe personally to have bikes on the streets, but they are here to stay. So we need to work with the bike community, but we need to do these things as a full city project, not piecemeal. enforcement that's out of control. There's illegal parking here, there, and everywhere. So how can you make a plan for where the lines are going to go when the parking isn't straightened out yet? Everything's done in piecemeal, and I just hear that resounding in my head as you went line by line. I want to see the arts community, and we need them. I need Mr. Lincoln. The city needs Mr. Lincoln. I know sometimes I'm hard on him. I'm hard on Mr. Koenig, or whatever his name is, the bike guys. I'm hard on all of these people. Okay? We need them. I'm inviting them up here. I want them to speak up. But I also want them to come up here and speak on behalf of the police chief and the police union and get this building done. I want to hear them petition for the police department before all of these other extras come in. And if they can do that, then maybe I'll be able to have more peace about allowing more money for the old house or the arts community or something that I consider a luxury. Because one day you're going to need the police station here, and maybe sooner than you think. And it's not going to be there when you need it to be there for you. We have a lot of crime. We have a lot of need for detective space in the building. The police building was not designed for 2014. We all know that. So I feel like I'm pounded on the same door over and over and over again. And I know you're sick of seeing me come up here and pound in on that door. But I don't think that the police chief should have to come up here, nor the police union representative. I think it should be the people. And if we have to close down all of the playgrounds and the football field to get the attention of the people, you want to do that, I know you'll never do it. But it's a radical idea. But it would work because the people would be in here the next week saying, why did you close down my football field? Well, because we need something. We need your participation in the city's business. So thank you very much for listening. Thank you. Name and address for the record, sir.
[Jeanne Martin]: Jean Martin, 10 Cummings Street. I know you're sick of me. Again, it's not personal. It's just that the principle is that I'm looking over here and this building could use $3.3 million to. I mean, it's $90,000 today to hold it over so that in the future, hopefully, there'll be this cash flow of $3.3 million to renovate it so that it's actually a usable lot, a usable house, unfortunately. So I just want you to be prepared and know all the facts that I'd rather see the money go to the library for a $15,000 bathroom that never came to fruition because that money was used for an air conditioner someplace else, whatever. You know, there are other needs in the community, in the city that are more pressing than this house, and it's not against the house. And in fact, I like Mr. Lincoln. The fact that he's saving the green space I mean, I couldn't do what he does. I couldn't organize people like him. And we need him in this city. The house itself, to me, just isn't a big priority. But the green space, the Middlesex Fells, he's on all of those boards and committees, and we need him. So I don't want to – it's not against him. He's a great guy. But it's that house doesn't serve a purpose where, you know, we have the auditorium that should be up and running. We have other things that need to be up and running. I'm sorry, because I know that it's just going to hold it over the 90,000. It's just going to hold it over. And if you guys don't act, the police building will be a historic building by the time you guys get a new one. So I know I'm being sarcastic there. But it's not personal. It's just the principle. So thanks for all your patience out there. Thanks.
[Jeanne Martin]: Jean Martin, 10 Cummings Street. I'd just like to say, touchy subject, folks. And I have neighbors. I live in a two-family neighborhood. And so we have a lot of immigrants in my neighborhood. I have a lot of Asians. I have Buddhists, and I have Muslim neighbors. And I'd just like to speak up for them for a minute and to say that I was invited to their Buddhist wedding and their breakfast ceremony. And so it's a different way of life. But it's not a bad thing. The other thing is that I don't know, all I know is that I helped my Arab neighbor with her car and At Christmastime, she gave me a gift. Now, we don't know if she is here because she was a translator in Iraq or Afghanistan, put her life on the line, and her family put her life on the line to come into this country because they translated for the U.S. troops. So we don't know. I know this is a touchy, touchy subject. I'm a Christian, and I respect that. And any private property in this city can have the biggest glaring crash on the planet. It is when the government sponsors the crash that it becomes an issue. And it becomes an issue. And Catholics were discriminated against when they came here from the Protestants. The Jews were discriminated against. Every, every, there were Protestant denominations that were hung, women that were hung on the common because they weren't Puritans. So this tradition is something. But I don't want to get into all of that. I do want to say that I have neighbors that come from different religious backgrounds that aren't Christian or Jewish. And the city is changing demographically. So I'd say keep it religiously neutral. But if you have private property, You can put the biggest cross on your—oh, that sounded terrible. You can put a crucifix any place you want, and you can put a crush any place you want. And you can put as many lights and trees as you want. In fact, the tree seems to be a neutral thing. But I just—I don't want to be, you know, I just have to say that because it's terrible because we do miss out on our childhood memories of Christmas and school and holidays and Easter eggs. And some of those traditions have been taken out of the schools, which is kind of sad for the kids because they can't do what they used to do, but they're going to have to come up with new traditions. That's just the way it is today. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Yes, the Ten Commandments.
[Jeanne Martin]: That is correct.
[Jeanne Martin]: You don't have to today, though.
[Jeanne Martin]: But you know something? I believe, so I don't have a problem.
[Jeanne Martin]: But you can say I affirm.
[Jeanne Martin]: Oh, one second. I'd just like to say, commercialism has stolen Christmas. I agree with you there.
[Jeanne Martin]: Let's see, anything new? School shootings. School what? School shootings. School shootings? Yes. Can I speak about that? Sure. Thank you. Just last week, there was another school shooting. Starting in the 1990s, there were 35 school shootings without including Columbine. resulting in 59 deaths and 105 injured. On April 20th, 1999, in Littleton, Colorado, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Cabald opened fire on 15 kids, killing them and injured 21 others. The 2000s get worse, up to and including Sandy Hook Elementary, where 28 were killed and two were injured. October 24th, 2014, Jalyn Fryberg opened fire in his school's cafeteria, killing three and injuring three more. We live in a grand theft auto and call of duty culture, and we need to do something about this. I would suggest that we increase our numbers of police to handle this, and that we also need a police station. We need a new police station to handle cyber criminals. And I know it's repetitive, but it needs to be said. Because if we don't say it, who's going to? Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Sure. Jean Martin, 10 Cummings Street. Can I speak on this? Thank you. Oh, thank you. Every day that goes by, this city misses out on an opportunity to digitalize our history, our sports events, our concerts, our plays, our events at the Condon Shell. And it's going to require the citizens of Medford to come forward to create the new non-profit. And I want to thank Joe for all of his hard work and everything that he went through. I want to thank him for that. I personally don't think that buying the new building is a good idea. We need to buy a new police station before we buy a new building. But I do believe that we need to rent a space downtown in Medford Square someplace have an access station, start using it, and getting this stuff digitally recorded. If the new thing is to put it up on the computer or the iPod or the iPad or whatever the new i thing is, then fine, let's digitalize it and put it up on that for everybody to see. We're missing out, the mayor doesn't want to do this, but the people, the people can step up and they can do this. The people are going to have to come forward from the arts community. They're going to have to demand this. If they don't demand it, then it can't go anywhere. You folks can't do it. The mayor can't even do it. But the mayor could ask the people in Medford to come forward, but he chooses not to. That's on him. But I do believe, I don't miss out on anything. It's the citizens of Medford that miss out on this. because they don't come forward. And they need to feel comfortable coming forward. They need to come forward in mass, 12, 14, 15 of them, and start this thing up. So I'm asking those folks out there to come forward, to build out the new 501c3, to get this thing off the ground. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Gene Martin, 10 Cumming Street. And that's exactly what he's going to do. He's going to just fade out the whole program come June or whatever, May, April. And he's going to use it like he does the other 3% out of the 5%. Out of every $100 that you pay on your cable bill, $5 is taken out for, supposed to be for public access. I guess it's technically he's within his legal rights as he always is. But $3 out of those $5 is used and thrown into the general fund. And so if he did it with that $3, he's absolutely going to do it with the other two that should be going towards public access, the 1% that's supposed to go to public access. He's going to do that. So it's not my loss. It is my loss a little bit. But it's really, the people that want a voice in this city, they're not going to have one. It's going to be silent. It's going to be more silent than it ever was once there's no chance of public access. So we're missing out on culture. plays, you name it, and they should be working hand-in-hand with the auditorium that we already have. I don't see why a station can't work hand-in-hand with the big auditorium, the Chevalier Auditorium. I don't understand why the mayor wouldn't want that to happen. Well, I understand why he doesn't want it to happen, because he doesn't want to be challenged on his views and his politics and his policies. And that's why he keeps the whole program silent. So thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Jeanne Martin, 10 Cummings Street. Let's see. Parking enforcement should be a uniformed program throughout the city without exception. This city has seen enough favoritism and it needs to stop. All sections of the city should be mandated to abide by the parking rules in order to keep the streets free and clear for public use. A car on a public way is a privilege, not a right. I want to repeat that. A car on a public way is a privilege, not a right. Should this city find itself in a power outage, lockdown, or major snowstorm, DPW and emergency vehicles have the right of way, and no one should argue that their vehicle was destroyed if they are not abiding by the parking rules of the city. It also assists the national grid, telephone companies, and the like to provide services to you. Discontent among the masses will occur, and people with more influence in the city will ask for ticket forgiveness. This cannot stand. If you tweak the program, tweak it for all, not just for the well-connected in the city. As for the money that comes from the tickets in the squares, this revenue needs to go towards signs in all sections of the city as the expansion of the program continues. We will need to hire ticketing personnel, and this will pay for itself. The mayor has In other words, spoiled all the citizens, but the business districts as well, because we should have had meters 10 years ago. And now they are balking. Most cities our size have had parking restrictions years ago. I am sorry that the mayor has indulged them, but the time has passed for free parking. A new day is dawning and a cost of business is inevitable. This is only the beginning. The people will be in this hall complaining once the broader city starts being tagged. I don't believe that the judicial piece of the enforcement should be in the hands of the mayor. He is clearly biased and will forgive his political friends. It should be someone outside City Hall. Sadly, poor sections of the city will be fined more frequently and pay a higher cost of living, but this cannot be avoided. The least we can do is administer ticketing in a fair as possible through all sections of the city to decrease this tension the best we can. Commercial vehicles in front of fire hydrants, wheelchair spots and the like need to be ticketed in the nicer parts of the city so that everyone buys into the plan. it will mitigate some dissent and resentment. And I have a question for those that have read the report. Does this report deal with the issue of the people who already got permit parking? Like, I pay $10 a year. Is that part of this contracting situation, where they're going to have personnel go around and check all the permit parking streets? OK. Thank you, Mr. Mark. OK. And that's my statement. Thank you very much.
[Jeanne Martin]: No. For those people that pay $10 a year, I paid $10 a year for, I don't know, five, six, seven years or whatever. My parents have been gone since 2008. So I've been paying since then $10 a year for parking enforcement on my street. And we don't have parking enforcement in the city of Medford. Nobody comes around to take it on a regular basis. I have a corner. I have a dead end street. The corner has a person parked on there that shouldn't be there because it makes it narrow for emergency vehicles to come in and go out. It should be 100 feet from the corner, the sign, but it's not. So I'd like to have that removed so that there's nobody on the corner because there's only one way in and out of the street.
[Jeanne Martin]: Oh, my question is, with the ticketing, are you going to have personnel actually coming around? I know that the meters are going into the squares. But are there going to be people going around and giving tickets to the people who already have paid permit parking?
[Jeanne Martin]: I paid $10 a year.
[Jeanne Martin]: It is. Okay, so who's going to come around? The people from the contract.
[Jeanne Martin]: Okay, thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Oh, okay. I didn't understand that. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. So I, my, my point is, is that I want this parking program to go citywide and I want it to be in all sections of the city so that there, that, um, it doesn't cause discontent among certain parts of the city up against other parts of the city. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Mr. Kirby, I'll go.
[Jeanne Martin]: Oh, thank you. Hi, Jeanne Martin, 10 Cumming Street. I just want to reiterate that you can't look at this parking enforcement program in isolation from the greater city. And when you start ticketing in the residential areas that have permit parking, guess what? Where are those cars going to go? They're going to go into the next streets. Same thing's going to happen in the business districts, especially in West Medford. If you start ticketing, or having signs, those side streets are going to get filled up. In Haines Square, same thing's going to happen. Side streets are going to get filled up with cars, and they're going to walk down to the store because they don't want to pay or whatever. But I do agree with you, Mr. Marks. I think the free 15 minutes or half an hour, that's fine. But it's already signed in the contract. So believe me, you're going to hear from the people. When this thing goes in, you're going to see them here. They will be here, and they will be talking to you about the problems. So you don't have to worry about that. But again, I just want the money from the ticketing that's going to go on in West Medford Square or Medford Square or Haines Square to go towards new signage because there's no reason why we shouldn't have regular sweeping. Why should we have to have cops and bullhorns? We should just have signs that say, you know, street sweeping twice a year, whatever, here's the time, here's the date. Why don't we have a uniform system for snow emergencies and whatnot? So I think that you can't look at it in isolation. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Gene Martin, 10 Cummings Street. I'm glad that this woman came up to speak on this topic, and I'm glad that she's here, and I encourage her to get her neighbors to come out because this is a big issue. You can do, through a cumbersome process as a landlord, have a separate meter put into your apartment, but it's very cumbersome. to have a separate meter for your tenant so that you have a separate bill from them. But ultimately, according to the law, you are still responsible if they don't pay their water bill. So it really didn't make much sense for me to go through that process.
[Jeanne Martin]: Right. So anyway. I just want to thank her for coming up, and she made a good point about comparisons to cities, apples to apples. I think what we should do is see what Melrose pays, or whoever else is on the MWRA list, and see what they pay, you know, and how much overage they might have. The rate from MWRA. The rate structure, yeah, or whatever. Because we do have an overage of $8 million, which is absolutely ridiculous. We know that the mayor is doing that because he wants his bond rating to be low. We know that he's misusing the money. He should be returning that money back into the infrastructure of the city so that the water rates will actually be lower, and he's not doing that, and that's on him. And so, thank you. Move the question.
[Jeanne Martin]: Gene Martin, 10 Cumming Street, and I can talk about it, thank you. And of course, as you know, I'm against having a casino, but the casino is coming.
[Jeanne Martin]: We're going to be getting sued by Atlawin tomorrow morning if you allow this to come up. Well, you know, he's got a point there. No, seriously. The man is a very powerful person. No, we're not worried about that.
[Jeanne Martin]: Oh, OK. Just in general, it's... She can speak about casinos.
[Jeanne Martin]: If it comes in, We need to be prepared for if it comes in, let's put it that way. Because I've talked to a lot of people that live outside of this area, and they're all voting. They're all just loyal. And so it's going to come. And if it comes, what are we going to do? How are we going to prepare for what? How are we going to prepare Wellington Circle for the traffic? How are we going to prepare law enforcement? and firefighters and everybody else that's involved, DPW workers and everybody else. We need to prepare for what is inevitable. In my opinion, it's inevitable. It's coming. So we need to prepare ourselves as a city for what is coming to hit us. And it's going to be a big hit. socially, economically, you name it. It's going to make a cultural change in that whole region, Wellington Circle. It's going to make a huge cultural change for that whole region, including me, because I'm kind of like not far from that, up Route 16. Route 16 traffic is going to get backed up, and it's inevitable. So I just wanted to say that, that we need to be prepared for it. We need to have a master plan. We need to get everybody on board with what we're going to do when it comes in. I'm against it, but it's coming. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Jean Martin, 10 Cumming Street. You're absolutely right, Mr. Knight and Mr. Marks. If we are one of the highest users of water, it's because we're one of the oldest cities. If you look at it from the state perspective, we're 1630. We were founded. We're one of the oldest communities. We're one of the most densest communities. We're not Somerville. We're not East Boston. There are more dense communities than us, but we are a dense community. And as you go out of 495, you come across smaller communities and less need for the water. And they have wells. You go outside at 495 and they have well water. The MWRA is around Boston, and it's a consolidated area. And Mr. Marks hit it on the head. The $8.5 million needs to be drawn down. Unfortunately, the mayor is doing what is in his legal right to do. You can't blame it on the mayor this time, because there's no law that prevents him from drawing off of this account as much as he can. There is no top number. Oh sure, go ahead.
[Jeanne Martin]: OK, so that is his responsibility. So he can.
[Jeanne Martin]: He can absolutely.
[Jeanne Martin]: He can absolutely take that number down and put it towards infrastructure. But it's up to the people of Medford, once again. And until the people of Medford decide that they're going to come here and show up, and make their voices heard. And I really do have an appreciation for you guys now. I don't know if I'm going native or what. I don't know. But I do see you guys as working really, really hard. And as a body, I see that happening. So maybe I've been coming here for like three years now, and so I'm getting osmosis or something. But through osmosis, I'm coming to appreciate you guys instead of seeing you as the enemy. Anywho, so anyway. So anyway, the mayor isn't doing anything illegal. So either the people have to make him, by pressuring him, by showing up at his doorstep and saying, we want that $8 million drawn down to $1.5 million just in case there's a main water break. And until we do that, he can sit there and collect all the money he wants and use it for the bond rating, which is not what it's intended to do. And you're absolutely right. The reason why we are such heavy users of water is because we have so many leaks in our system, too. So it's a self-feeding system. If we don't take care of the leaks in the water and sewer, then we use more water as a city. So it's a self-fulfilling problem. And until we take care of that, but it has to be the people. You guys can sit here all day and all night, and I've really heard you guys, all day and all night, all day and all night, say the same thing over and over again, and it's like a hamster wheel. But you know what? Don't give up, because you guys got the DPW yard built. So don't give up. You guys helped fix housing. You guys helped fix, get rid of TV3. You guys are making a difference. You got to keep on banging on that drum. But until the people start helping you to force the issues, nothing's going to change. But you got to keep your voices out there and be heard. So I agree with the transparency, have your committee meetings. I could start a petition on so many issues in the city.
[Jeanne Martin]: Yeah. Oh, I already signed that one. All right. So that's what I have to say on that topic. Thank you very much.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Jeanne Martin, 10 Cummings Street, and I'd like to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to speak. This is the only public and open forum in the city that the city has. It really is. And it's to be appreciated every single day, because without this forum, this city would be in a total media blackout, really, with the exception of a couple of articles in the transcript, a couple of articles on the patch. But really, This is it. This is the one place where the people have an ability to have a voice. More people should use this forum when they have issues, when they have the issues of the water and sewer rates. They should be in here. And they shouldn't make you guys repeat the same thing. They should be here face after face, different face after different face. But that said, I'll leave that. I do have some things about personnel. Mr. Markson hit it on the head. It's a comprehensive problem. Policing is an absolutely, and Mr. Penta, and all of you, it's a comprehensive issue, and it's not gonna be solved just by increasing personnel. It has to do with the traffic patterns. It has to do with the demographic changes, and by that I mean prior to 2001, Most people that had a two-family house, one of those apartments was owned by the homeowner. We know by huge numbers, those two-family houses, when the old folks moved out, they sold it, and that property was used as rental income solely, as an investment and used as a business. There are so many two-family and three-family houses that are now businesses. What they sell is a home, an apartment, They sell apartments. It's no longer, you know, mom upstairs or dad downstairs or whatever and cousin or, you know, uncle. There's a couple left, but those are gone. There's a lot of people that these two family houses, the person that owns the house doesn't live in the city. And that is a demographic change. And people that rent, I don't care what you say, people that rent do not feel that they have the same voice as I do, who's a homeowner. I can come up here and I can feel in charge of my life more because I have a stake in the city. People that rent have to answer to their landlords. And if they come up here and they make a big deal, their landlords may take it against them. They shouldn't, but, you know, life is life, and that's the way it is. So we've had demographic shifts. We've had racial demographic shifts. We've had a whole bunch of changes. in the city. So that's the traffic issues have to be handled, the parking enforcement should be citywide, and it should be completely citywide. It should be for commercial, it should be for in front of hydrants, I don't care if you live in North Medford or West Medford, it should be completely citywide. Because what happens is you have favoritism, and I know I'm getting to personnel, but it's all part of the same problem. If you, if you can, you can hire 200 police officers, but if you don't take care of these other issues, they're going to be chasing their own tails. You know, they're going to be chasing their own tail. So it has to be done comprehensively. And the building, he always talks about the building enforcement. Um, it, that pays for itself. And so I'm all for that. That pays for itself. That guy or, girl or a couple of girls or guys can help with police enforcement. And everybody knows how many cars there are on this street. And the average single family has two cars. The average two family is going to have four cars. It's just that's the way it is, unless they're really right on top of the T. But they all know that because you pay an excise tax. So all of those issues, it should be handled not in a vacuum. Somebody talked about a vacuum. It shouldn't be handled in a vacuum. It should be all inclusive. And it should be done properly. And unfortunately, we're behind the eight ball. We've been behind the eight ball on parking. There should have been meters in the squares a long time ago. There should have been enforcement. We could say that shoulda, shoulda, woulda, coulda. It doesn't do us any good because it's water under the dam now. We need to move from here. and do the best we can with the contract assignment. And we're going to have to tweak it. We're going to have to back. It might be a mess. It might end up to be a mess. But we're going to have to work with that mess and then move forward from there, because something had to be done. Unfortunately, it wasn't done 5, 10 years ago when it should have been. But that's where we are today, and that's what we have to accept. OK, so thank you for that. First, we only have 105 officers for a city of 57,000. It is ridiculous, given the proximity to Boston. 120 is a reasonable amount to start with. Community policing is also the only way you are going to increase visibility and build trust in neighborhoods which have large rental populations and or minority populations. Walking the beat, not sitting idle in a cruiser, will create trust. I would propose having them walk in pairs of two. They don't have to work together, but in the square in that area. One over here, one over there. They could break up, but they need backup. I'm sorry, we don't live in a nice world anymore. And so they need to have somebody available within a shout for their own safety. People don't want to accept this, but that's the world we live in. Walking the beat, okay. Night shift not included, but certainly days and evenings to 11 p.m. We should have people out of their cars. Because one of the worst things, the perceptions of the police is they're sitting idle in a cruiser. People hate that. They tell me all the time. Well, why should I care? Because they're sitting, look at them, they're playing with their phones in the cruiser, idle, idle. It's different when they're driving around. They look busy when they're driving the neighborhoods. But the perception matters. Perception will decrease crime. They might be busy doing something. They might be reading about a client, you know, testimony that they're going to be given in a court. But they don't know that. The person, you know, doesn't know that. And that perception matters. Second, we are underutilizing trained officers. We do have and we're boring them to death on details. In the name of a 15% kickback, nobody wants to talk about this, it's a sore spot for the city. National Grid pays us for that detail. We rent out our cops, we rent out our police officers to stand over that hole, whether it's National Grid, Comcast, whatever it might be, and we rent them out. We like that because that's where they make their extra money so we don't have to pay them higher salaries. They deserve higher salaries. I think they should just have higher salaries. But the way the mayor gets around that is he has them work a detail. And the real frosting on the cake for us is not only does the city save money by giving them the details so that they don't have to pay them a higher salary, The frosting is that we get a 15% kickback. We get 15% back on that detail. Well, that might have been fine in 1980 in Medford, but it's not suitable to use our cops that way. We're burning them out. We're boring them to death. They're on their phones. They're looking at their phones. And they're standing over the hole. The job is to protect the workers, not to really police the traffic. People don't know that. They think that they're there for the traffic, but they're really there to protect. They're being paid by National Grid to protect the workers of National Grid. Oh, I— Not at all. Too long?
[Jeanne Martin]: Okay. Federal, let me see here, okay, for the average observer, their experience of seeing a Medford police officer standing over the hole is the worst thing that we can do for perception. This does not create sympathy for the officers. The mayor doesn't stop, if the mayor doesn't stop that practice because of the loss of their revenue. Okay, I talked about that. Federal deficits and debt are going to continue to climb in the grant-rich environment that was once in abundance will continue to dry up. School aid and community aid programs will fall short of their previous numbers. Sooner rather than later, the old fight will ensue over hiring to keep a classroom size down or to hire a police officer. The police officer loses to a kid every time. Yet if one of these kids comes in school with a knife or a gun, who will they call but a cop, a police officer? And that cop won't be there for your kid. If the people of the city do not get in front of the crime and safety, it will consume more lives. Wishing in a way will not make it so. Building code enforcement, I talked about that. And now I'm going to talk about another topic that is hard to handle, illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants both live inside city limits and enter the city limits every day to shingle a roof, to paint a room, to cut grass, or clean a house. The police, if no others— Ms.
[Jeanne Martin]: Oh, yeah. Okay. Oh, that's right. You got a point there. All right. Well, anyway. But, well, it is the police. It is the police because the police, if no others, should have the right to know that they are living here or coming here. Because they, too, suffer from domestic violence, sex trafficking, or gang violence. So it's in their own interest as well as us. Whatever the policy is, they're here. And how are we going to deal with them? And the police, I don't need to know they're here, but the police need to know they're here. All right, police officers are authorized to use deadly force and therefore need to be in check with their emotions at all times. We need to ensure an absolute locked record for therapy for those officers seeking help before they do something unhealthy to themselves or others. To think that they can do their jobs and not be impacted by it is ludicrous. However, should they act out in violence inappropriately toward family or others, They should be monitored closely and held to a higher standard because they have the authority to use lethal force. Ms.
[Jeanne Martin]: I'm not saying that.
[Jeanne Martin]: And I, no offense, I have a right to say it.
[Jeanne Martin]: This is the people's business. Because if you don't have enough officers and you don't treat them right, if we don't treat the officers right, then they are more inclined to have that stress build up. They can't strike. They cannot strike. So how do they relieve that stress? It builds up and it builds up. It comes out on somebody on the street, comes out some way.
[Jeanne Martin]: Yeah.
[Jeanne Martin]: I'm not saying they don't. They should. And that's great.
[Jeanne Martin]: It is just, I'm sorry, can I? No, no, please. All of the above. It's a comprehensive program, and we know that when you put someone under that kind of stress and you give them that much authority, they can abuse that authority. I'm not saying they should. I'm not saying they will. But I am saying that if you continue to put them under pressure, everybody has a snapping point. And we should really build up any kind of training program. We should add more to it so that doesn't happen. Because this city is turning more and more into an urban environment. It's not going suburban. It's going more urban. And we need to be on top of that before something happens. And I just feel very strongly about that. So I understand you want to, you know, I understand that the police have programs, but we really need to be on top of that. I want to increase the numbers, and I don't want to misuse them.
[Jeanne Martin]: Yes, I agree with that. OK, thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: And I would want to say one more thing. The people of Medford should be here saying what I'm saying. They should be here again petitioning for more police officers for the very reasons that I laid out. And maybe you didn't agree with all my reasons, but it doesn't matter because I'm a person and a city person, a citizen, and I represent some of those people. I represent myself. So if I'm one out of 57,000, that's my choice. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Sure.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Thank you so much. I went to the Washington Disabled Americans for Life Memorial this weekend. It was beautiful. It was wonderful. It was great. The sky was blue, it was fantastic. 2,300 people were there, and most of them were disabled veterans and their wives and husbands. President Obama spoke. He was very sober when he spoke because, anyway, he was very sober. There was a couple of unique stories, which is Jesse Brown, who was a disabled veteran, African American veteran. The Vietnam veterans, because of Agent Orange, are dying at rapid rates compared to their World War II counterparts. He was 68 years old when he died. He started this project in 1998. He did not live to see the fruition of his labors. And another man, Sinise, Gary Sinise, who played Lieutenant Dan in the movie Forrest Gump, was an advocate. His brother-in-law, he was touched by the story of his brother-in-law in the 1970s. His brother-in-law died this week at 68 of cancers related to Agent Orange. So that was sad. There was a woman that was a sponsor. She paid $10 million out of her own pocket for this. In the 1960s, she was a musical dancer in New York, in Times Square, and all that. and she was asked to sing to the troops in the VA. She went there. She was devastated from what she saw. She was singing the song in West Side Story, Take My Hand and We'll Be Halfway There. She went to reach out for a soldier's hand and it wasn't there. She said that if she could ever do anything, In her lifetime, she would, and she did. She donated $10 million. It was a beautiful story. And the DAV fundraising that we did the other week was $1,300, a little over $1,300 for the one weekend. So I would like to thank, and I would like to announce that that is not the DAV's money, that is veterans' money. And if anybody has a Medford resident or a spouse or a child of a disabled veteran, they are all qualified to receive help in the form of an electric bill, heat bill. So if you have a widow that is having a hard time, you have them call me and I can help them. I will not give them the money. I can pay the bill for them. And that's with that $1,300. And that money is for all Medford residents. It can be used for others, but it's for Medford residents. If you have a veteran that can't make it to the hospital, call me and we can help pay. We can also do food by giving them a Stop and Shop gift card or some kind of, we can't give them the money, but we can go to Stop and Shop and can you give us a voucher for $50, $100, whatever. So we can do that with that money, so thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: Yeah, sure, absolutely. 781-395-7942. I'm 7946.
[Jeanne Martin]: Thank you. Gene Martin, 10 Cumming Street, Medford, Massachusetts. And very similar to the way that the Medford housing is a separate but connected entity, so is TV3. I received the Judge Jackson report from our city solicitor. So our city solicitor has involvement with TV3 on some level. And so I think that there is a coupling and an overlap between Medford, Medford residents and TV3. So it is our asset. It is our asset and it should be used hand in glove with the Chevalier Auditorium and with the Condon Shell and all of the rest of the arts community And at best, and I'm glad Mr. Palleri is here in the room, because he's the one that can answer some questions. At best, there's mismanagement. I'm not accusing anybody of anything illegal or inappropriate, but at best, this channel is being mismanaged at such an incredible level that if $5,000 was missing from Bank of America, somebody would be paying for that. So there is no station currently working right now. We need that station. We need it as a public voice. But $200,000 a year they get, and I want to know where the money is. $200,000 from everyone that pays a Verizon bill or a Comcast bill. And it's called the franchise fee. It's on the back of your bill. I thank you very much for listening to me. This is a huge issue in the culture of MedFed. MedFed's ability to connect for videotaping hockey games, football games, political events, the memorial service that we had yesterday. It is part of the vibrancy that could be part of MedFed and MedFed's future. And why it's not up and running? If it's not up and running, it's completely being mismanaged. And not for nothing, but somebody should be replaced or removed, not in any bad way, but just because they're incompetent. is incompetent at Channel 3, that's in charge. And if the mayor cannot adjust that, if the mayor cannot take care of this problem, then we need to go to the FCC or whatever other authorities have control over TV3. It could be the FCC, it could be the tax code because they're a non-profit, whoever it is that's the outside authorities, because the mayor has not taken care of this issue. With all due respect, sir. The mayor has not taken care of this issue. It's been going on for years and years and years. And if you look at all of the past meetings that we've had in city council, and you can go on YouTube and find them and just put in TV3 or Mr. Penter or my name or some other councilor's name, and you will get the YouTubes of the topics being brought up here. Let's have a respectful TV3 channel. Let's fire somebody if that's necessary. And I'm not accusing them of anything illegal. I am accusing them of incompetence, though. Without a doubt, somebody has been incompetent in this. And I'll do respect to Mr. Poleri. But somebody needs to be replaced. Thank you.
[Jeanne Martin]: One minute. I just want to say that he's misrepresenting, Mr. Pleary is misrepresenting the fact that MedFed is not interconnected on some level with TV3. The Judge Jackson report was paid for by MedFed taxpayer money. MedFed oversees, MedFed's mayor, who is paid by the taxpayer, oversees TV3. I just want to clarify that, thank you.