[Nick Giurleo]: Good evening, Nick Giurleo, Forty Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'll begin tonight with the positives.

[Nick Giurleo]: First, I was happy to see that the ordinance was substantively revised, especially subsection D on the divesting from human rights abusers.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think striking that word entity from the subsection, for example, was a very good edit as I think that word was a

[Nick Giurleo]: contributor to it being overbroad.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I was also pleased to see that my concern as to how the treasurer would make the determination of which entities fall into this category of human rights abusers.

[Nick Giurleo]: I was glad to see that that was addressed as well by adding a subsection to section 2-698.

[Nick Giurleo]: That, as I understand, establishes a criteria in which the treasurer is to make determinations on which entities

[Nick Giurleo]: are abusing human rights, although I did hear tonight for the first time concerns about the partiality of that criteria.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think that's something I will personally look into as well as something all of you perhaps should look into as well.

[Nick Giurleo]: So overall, I'll say, I do think between the drafts ordinance was improved, but that doesn't mean I think that it's perfect or I think ready for a vote.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think now we have to really focus our attention on subsections A through C. I know in the past meetings, speakers discussed that at length.

[Nick Giurleo]: We really didn't see any edits there, that I noticed.

[Nick Giurleo]: So my concern, again, with this is, once again, overbreath.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think those sanction categories are far too over-encompassing.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I do think they could potentially lead to unintended consequences.

[Nick Giurleo]: So for example, a company that might derive more than 15% of its revenue from the combustion distribution or extraction of fossil fuels, that might not be as nefarious as you might assume.

[Nick Giurleo]: A reality with fossil fuels is they do power the world, whether you like that or not.

[Nick Giurleo]: We don't want to be unintentionally harming workers who are employed in these industries, when they're working under contexts that aren't unethical.

[Nick Giurleo]: And the same reason I think would apply for the defense industry or companies that might assist with the logistics of running jails and prisons I mean for example with a company that just simply surprise the jail or prison food, I mean with the divestment ordinance apply to that.

[Nick Giurleo]: You know, many of these businesses I think are ethical, even if you might kind of have utopian ideas about the world we want to live in, without maybe prisons or war, or anything else kind of bad.

[Nick Giurleo]: So overall I guess my suggestion here is I think we do need to refine further I don't think this ordinance is ready for a vote tonight.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I would hope that the Councilor who moved to approve for the first reading withdraw that motion.

[Nick Giurleo]: We can continue this and continue to refine, continue to work on this ordinance.

[Nick Giurleo]: I do think it's feasible, and I think it's ideal to have some sort of ordinance like this, but let's try to put emotions aside and do this the right way.

[Nick Giurleo]: Let's do this prudently, rationally, and prevent the city from getting sued because of some problem with the ordinance.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Good evening, Mr. Alejo, 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: So the first thing I'll say is just the late hour here.

[Nick Giurleo]: I mean, it's 1 AM, public comment is opening.

[Nick Giurleo]: This paper is extremely substantive.

[Nick Giurleo]: Like this chamber should be packed.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I'm sure a lot of people wanted to speak about this tonight, but couldn't because of how much time we spent on the other paper.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'll try to just be as condensed as possible with my thoughts on this matter.

[Nick Giurleo]: First of all, I'll start with the positive thing.

[Nick Giurleo]: That is, I do think it's a good thing to have these kind of press release statements on positions.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I appreciate that the council president did that in the form of a speech, and that the mayor released what could be called a press release, just basically saying where they're at.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think that's helpful for the public and following.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I would encourage putting things in writing so people can

[Nick Giurleo]: follow what's going on because really developments are happening rather fast.

[Nick Giurleo]: I don't support extending the INIS contract unless conditions are met.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think it's before we even talk about that, you know, first we have to say, obviously, you know, this is coming as a result of a pretty big public backlash against changes when residents actually started to become informed about what was going to happen if these changes were approved.

[Nick Giurleo]: So it goes to show you that we can't assume a louder

[Nick Giurleo]: vocal minority of activist residents are representative of what all residents think, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: And we have to also think about, yes, there were probably election concerns that got us to this point as well.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I think with the conditions that the mayor has put out there, I think generally they're pretty reasonable.

[Nick Giurleo]: But I think the first and most important one has to be restarting this process, given the concerns that have been expressed.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I don't think the Community Development Board, based on the feedback it has received, could in good conscience possibly recommend to you the map in its current form for a final vote, just because of all the feedback criticizing it that has been received.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I would encourage all of you to work with the mayor, try to reach an agreement here, and hopefully it's not just a repackaging of what has been extensively criticized.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think it's important that all of you proceed in good faith here.

[Nick Giurleo]: acknowledge this desire not for dramatic density increases that harms the character of our community.

[Nick Giurleo]: You know, people move to Medford because they don't want to live in a place like Somerville or Cambridge.

[Nick Giurleo]: It's not because they want a replica of it.

[Nick Giurleo]: We can address issues with housing demand without wiping out the reasons that Medford is a good place to live.

[Nick Giurleo]: It does offer this increasingly rare thing in the overpopulated world that we live in

[Nick Giurleo]: called home ownership.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think this kind of do or die alarmism that we've been seeing from people who think we need the density at all costs, I don't think it's helping anyone.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I think it's really ignoring this problem.

[Nick Giurleo]: Affordable housing is not a new one.

[Nick Giurleo]: This burden is really being placed disproportionately.

[Nick Giurleo]: On suburban communities like Medford.

[Nick Giurleo]: So work with the mayor.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Nick Julio 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: So, while I'm glad that we're not going to be taking a vote tonight on the value aligned ordinance.

[Nick Giurleo]: I do think that decision to table discussion on it was pretty cowardly given there's an obvious presence, people here who are going to speak against it.

[Nick Giurleo]: applaud the Councilor who voted against the motion table as well as moved to take public comment out of order.

[Nick Giurleo]: So people do have that opportunity to voice their thoughts.

[Nick Giurleo]: My comments, which I'm going to be discussing, we're assuming that we would be having that discussion tonight.

[Nick Giurleo]: So forgive me if they're a little off and some to some extent, but

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm very disappointed that, looking at the draft of the ordinance between the last public meeting and this one, that exactly zero changes were made, zero edits, despite extensive public comment at the last meeting from many people, including myself, who were critical of the language.

[Nick Giurleo]: Speaking just for me, I pointed out that subsection D of section 2-697, that's the part on divesting from human rights abusers,

[Nick Giurleo]: is very disturbingly vague, and I've yet to receive an answer to the question I asked for the record at the last meeting on this, you know who makes a determination that a company or entity has severely violated, quoting from the ordinances drafted human rights and international humanitarian law as determined by international legal

[Nick Giurleo]: Humanities bodies, including the United Nations, unquote, maybe it's implied that this would be the treasurer, based on the next section of the draft, but is the treasurer at all qualified to make this determination does she have a degree in international relations does she have a degree.

[Nick Giurleo]: uh, in or is she an international law attorney?

[Nick Giurleo]: I mean, I call on all of you to ask the treasurer the next discussion to come here and actually provide some information as to will they be qualified at all to make these determinations.

[Nick Giurleo]: The ordinance calls for if the ordinance

[Nick Giurleo]: or were to be approved.

[Nick Giurleo]: So since it remains completely unchanged between the last meeting and this one, I have to oppose it in its entirety.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think the vagueness and the overbreath is just going to open the door to political abuses.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I definitely agree, this will include targeting based on religious affiliation.

[Nick Giurleo]: So an absolute minimum, I'd hope the council, when this comes up again, would strike subsection D entirely.

[Nick Giurleo]: If they're not willing to do that, you definitely should not approve this ordinance until that language is made more specific.

[Nick Giurleo]: I would ask, which companies and entities do you wanna sanction?

[Nick Giurleo]: Name them explicitly.

[Nick Giurleo]: If that includes the entire country of Israel, don't hide the ball.

[Nick Giurleo]: Some of you have made it very clear your legislative intent is to target Israel, but at least own up to that and hear what the public has to say in response.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Good evening, Nick Giurleo, 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: So obviously very happy that we're revisiting, you know, changing our zoning comprehensively, but I do have to count myself among those who think this process is moving too fast.

[Nick Giurleo]: And it's not because we're, you know, not spending a lot of time.

[Nick Giurleo]: you know, with various meetings, but this is just monumental changes, you know, inherently, they should be a slow process, it should be a slow process.

[Nick Giurleo]: I know you didn't want to hear general comments about speed.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I'll just discuss one thing in my short period of time here.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think my biggest concern, and it's been expressed by so many others, and it was expressed in part, I think, by the DPW, Commissioner Tite,

[Nick Giurleo]: is just the impact on services, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: Schools, DPW, fire, EMS, police.

[Nick Giurleo]: And as we heard from the DPW commissioner, you know, he can only really speak generally on the impact.

[Nick Giurleo]: He doesn't have any information.

[Nick Giurleo]: So that's why I think there'd really be benefit in getting studies done here that really give specifics on if population increases, you know, forecasting what that would have in terms of strain on our essential city services.

[Nick Giurleo]: So really,

[Nick Giurleo]: That, I think, is the most compelling argument for slowing things down.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I strongly support that.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I would just urge, I guess, finally here, all of you to really take your time with this and try to avoid political pressure from the council to rush forward recommendations.

[Nick Giurleo]: Because of just the drastic impact of these changes, it's super important that you take your time and try to do this in as scientific a way as possible.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Good evening, Mr. Alejo, Forty Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: So for members of the public who might not be following, this letter from the mayor is requesting an appropriation of $8 million from our free cash balance, so over-budgeted taxpayer dollars, from a balance total of over $20 million for capital improvements.

[Nick Giurleo]: And as the letter indicates, this includes street and sidewalk improvements, Oak Grove Cemetery repairs, equipment and vehicles.

[Nick Giurleo]: If you recall, during the campaign to override Proposition 2 1⁄2 and raise our taxes, money was requested to fund the Department of Public Works.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'll quote from the ballot question that was approved, quote, general operations of the Department of Public Works, in parentheses, 500,000, including but not limited to additional staff for road and sidewalk infrastructure repairs.

[Nick Giurleo]: That was question seven.

[Nick Giurleo]: You also have to recall that supporters of the yes vote, including some members of this council repeatedly dismissed that we could use free cash as a substitute for raising taxes but you have to look and see what's happening here.

[Nick Giurleo]: We're using $8 million in free cash, that's what this comes down to, or at least putting it aside in a separate fund for that purpose.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I just as rhetorically you know why, given the amount of free cash that we had.

[Nick Giurleo]: that the people of our city were told raising taxes for $500,000 DPW money was necessary, and that we did suffer apocalyptic funding shortages if we didn't do it.

[Nick Giurleo]: So this isn't the first time though, that since the election, the free cash has been used to meet city funding needs.

[Nick Giurleo]: At a actually recent meeting I spoke at, the mayor requested 5 million from our free cash for HVAC repairs for the schools, another about 200,000 for security upgrades across the public schools as well.

[Nick Giurleo]: And that was approved by this council.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I view this in addition to what I discussed previously as just yet another vindication of that free cash argument.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think it's unfortunate

[Nick Giurleo]: taxpayers have to suffer as a result.

[Nick Giurleo]: So we can only hope that voters aren't misled again.

[Nick Giurleo]: And what I think is a likely event, we see another override on the ballot.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you, Nick Giurleo, 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: So it's very tempting for me to comment tonight on the substance of the case, but I won't.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I think there's a reason for that.

[Nick Giurleo]: And the reason is I personally believe that this holding of the United States Supreme Court doesn't have much to do with what this council is tasked with doing.

[Nick Giurleo]: So obviously SCOTUS rulings are binding on Medford, just like any municipality in the country, but this resolution really isn't about the applicability of the law as it might affect Medford and its people.

[Nick Giurleo]: To me, it seems more like

[Nick Giurleo]: a political statement, essentially, we don't like the outcome and that's fine.

[Nick Giurleo]: You don't have to like the outcome.

[Nick Giurleo]: But I'm just wondering, you know how the legal rationale right and it is pretty technical.

[Nick Giurleo]: It's talking about scrutiny, which is a very complicated legal concept, you know how that has anything to do and of course is about a law in the state of Tennessee, you know how that has anything to do with what the city council

[Nick Giurleo]: is supposed to be doing, you know, and to my knowledge, none of you are licensed attorneys and I don't see any indication this our new city solicitor contributed to this resolution in any way.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I just want to point out also that, you know, our city is facing a series of significant very local issues at the moment, like the zoning, as well as affordability, and really a host of other things.

[Nick Giurleo]: We had a talk tonight about a rat problem, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: These are very local Medford issues.

[Nick Giurleo]: And it's okay, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: You might think, you know, access to gender affirming healthcare is a local enough issue.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I probably don't disagree with that.

[Nick Giurleo]: But

[Nick Giurleo]: I think just practically speaking, if you look at just how the Massachusetts legislators composed at the moment, I don't think there's any chance it's going to pass a law banning access to gender affirming health care.

[Nick Giurleo]: So it doesn't seem like what we're talking about today is super consequential.

[Nick Giurleo]: So respectfully, I'm just going to put it out there.

[Nick Giurleo]: I don't think this is worth our time.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think there's other things we should be addressing before we worry about national political issues.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Good evening again, Nick Giurleo, 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I'll just devote my time to just putting some questions on the record that hopefully the council will be able to answer.

[Nick Giurleo]: So the first question is, what is the city invested in currently?

[Nick Giurleo]: And where can a member of the public get that information?

[Nick Giurleo]: I ask that because part of this ordinance is not just about investing, it's also about divesting.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I think it's important to know what we're invested in currently.

[Nick Giurleo]: The other question would be is just regarding subsection D of section 2 dash 697 so that's the part about no investment.

[Nick Giurleo]: of city funds and entities that severely violate human rights.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think it's a great idea, but I'm a little concerned about the vagueness.

[Nick Giurleo]: My question regarding this is who determines what a severe human rights violation is?

[Nick Giurleo]: The ordinance does reference international legal community, but what entity in the city is going to determine what the international community has to say about that?

[Nick Giurleo]: Is it the treasurer?

[Nick Giurleo]: Is it the council, the law department?

[Nick Giurleo]: Do we have anybody competent to do that at the local level?

[Nick Giurleo]: It seems not something that anybody in local government really would have knowledge about.

[Nick Giurleo]: So those are the questions I put out there.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: So, John, I was, I've lived my whole life in Medford.

[Nick Giurleo]: I grew up here from a hardworking family, Italian-American family.

[Nick Giurleo]: I went through the Medford public schools.

[Nick Giurleo]: I attended the Brooks for elementary, then the McGlynn for middle, and then I went to Medford High.

[Nick Giurleo]: At Medford High, I really focused on academics, so I studied hard.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I was fortunate enough to graduate number one in my class.

[Nick Giurleo]: After that, I decided I would go on to college, so I attended Tufts University.

[Nick Giurleo]: When I was at Tufts, I studied history and I studied international relations.

[Nick Giurleo]: I also did a minor in Italian.

[Nick Giurleo]: Graduated from Tufts, magna cum laude.

[Nick Giurleo]: and then went on to attend law school at Boston College Law.

[Nick Giurleo]: And there I had really excellent professors and a really great course of study.

[Nick Giurleo]: A lot of it was focused on municipal law and zoning and land use.

[Nick Giurleo]: I also had some clinical experience, too.

[Nick Giurleo]: I worked for a while as a prosecutor with the Malden District Court.

[Nick Giurleo]: And after that, I graduated from law school, and I took the bar exam.

[Nick Giurleo]: I passed on the first go, and I became a lawyer.

[Nick Giurleo]: And that's essentially what I do today.

[Nick Giurleo]: I've worked in criminal law a little bit.

[Nick Giurleo]: I worked for a law office in Medford Square for a while.

[Nick Giurleo]: And today I'm with a law firm in downtown Boston on State Street.

[Nick Giurleo]: It does primarily medical malpractice in court all the time defending rather prosecuting cases for people who are injured by doctors.

[Nick Giurleo]: It's a good question.

[Nick Giurleo]: I feel like the people who are considering voting for me, they should get an explanation for that because I think it's important to understand why somebody is running for elected office.

[Nick Giurleo]: So it's hard to summarize it in a few words, but to say it in a few words, or at least attempt to, I would say it's because I really do care about Medford.

[Nick Giurleo]: I love Medford.

[Nick Giurleo]: I've lived here my whole life.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I want to do, I think, what's best for Medford.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm really just passionate about this community, and I feel like it has so much potential.

[Nick Giurleo]: I feel like a lot of it is untapped potential, so potential we could actualize.

[Nick Giurleo]: So that's a big part of it.

[Nick Giurleo]: And also, I've just been unhappy, I would say, with the way things have been going with city leadership.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I feel like we could be doing better.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I feel like I might have the qualifications to improve what's been going on in our city.

[Nick Giurleo]: qualifications primarily I'd say for my education just the fact that I've done a lot of school and I'm a lawyer and I think being a member of any sort of elected body you need to have kind of skills like that that a lawyer might have so I'd say all of that overall has kind of motivated me to run and for me it's very important you know it's easy to complain and say I don't like the way things are going but then we complain we don't take action.

[Nick Giurleo]: There you go.

[Nick Giurleo]: So for me, I said to myself, it's time to stop complaining and time to do something about that.

[Nick Giurleo]: So that's why I'm throwing my hat in.

[Nick Giurleo]: I like what you said at the beginning, that there are a lot of issues.

[Nick Giurleo]: We could sit here all day and talk, but obviously we can't do that, so let's just talk about, I think, what are the major issues, just like you asked.

[Nick Giurleo]: For me, I would say that the number one issue is probably affordability at the moment.

[Nick Giurleo]: We're seeing on the national level just an issue of cost of living.

[Nick Giurleo]: It's just becoming very expensive to live anywhere.

[Nick Giurleo]: But especially in suburban communities near big successful cities like Medford, it's just becoming really expensive to live in Medford.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I think there are various reasons why that's the case.

[Nick Giurleo]: So for me, I want to do something about the situation with

[Nick Giurleo]: affordability in our city.

[Nick Giurleo]: I feel like people are very worried and concerned, you know, how am I going to afford to stay in the home that I've lived in, you know, or my family's lived in, you know, for all our lives.

[Nick Giurleo]: So what can we do about that?

[Nick Giurleo]: How can we make this city an affordable place to live?

[Nick Giurleo]: I would say the next issue in terms of importance would probably be, and I think it's related to affordability, but economic growth.

[Nick Giurleo]: We're seeing a Medford, I think, that's stagnating a bit when it comes to economic development.

[Nick Giurleo]: So for me, this is something I want to address.

[Nick Giurleo]: What can we do to make our city more prosperous?

[Nick Giurleo]: What can we do to make our city wealthier and a wealth that everybody can have a part in?

[Nick Giurleo]: So what can we do to bring businesses to Medford, for example?

[Nick Giurleo]: What can we do to promote growth?

[Nick Giurleo]: So hopefully that's something I would be able to address if I were elected.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I would say, just maybe as a third one, just to kind of wrap up, what are the major issues here?

[Nick Giurleo]: I'd probably say it's transparency.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think we're seeing a significant problem with that currently.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think people feel left out.

[Nick Giurleo]: People feel like they don't understand what's happening at City Hall.

[Nick Giurleo]: People feel worried about this, concerned, maybe angry, upset.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I feel like information has been hard to get in a lot of circumstances.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I think transparency needs to be addressed.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think we need a Councilor who is going to address that.

[Nick Giurleo]: Sure.

[Nick Giurleo]: So for anyone who's following my speeches at city council or maybe read my op-ed in the Tufts Daily, it's no secret that I was very opposed to all three ballot questions that we were presented with in November.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I really kind of

[Nick Giurleo]: made it a point to be outspoken about that because I was deeply concerned about what I was seeing.

[Nick Giurleo]: So for anyone maybe not familiar, I'll just briefly recap them.

[Nick Giurleo]: There were three.

[Nick Giurleo]: The first one was $3.5 million for schools and DPW.

[Nick Giurleo]: This would be an override proposition, two and a half override.

[Nick Giurleo]: This is a state law that allows taxes to be raised over a certain cap.

[Nick Giurleo]: in a given fiscal year.

[Nick Giurleo]: Question 7 was a $4 million one for schools, and then question 8 was slightly different.

[Nick Giurleo]: It was called a debt exclusion, essentially a bond, $30 million for a new fire station.

[Nick Giurleo]: So these were the three questions Medford voters had to decide upon for the next election.

[Nick Giurleo]: So the reason why I was opposed, I had various reasons.

[Nick Giurleo]: The most important, I think, was just the burden this would have on residents.

[Nick Giurleo]: This would essentially be a massive tax hike that would really hurt people who are already struggling.

[Nick Giurleo]: I talked about affordability at the beginning.

[Nick Giurleo]: This was, I think, a major contributor to the affordability problems we're seeing today.

[Nick Giurleo]: This idea of any time we have a problem in the city, let's just raise taxes.

[Nick Giurleo]: That more money thrown at a problem fixes it.

[Nick Giurleo]: which I think there's misperceptions about that.

[Nick Giurleo]: So the tax impact was a big part of my opposition.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I also think there was a lot of kind of fear mongering that came behind putting these questions forward, what I call maybe scare tactics, that I don't think was supported by data at all.

[Nick Giurleo]: I can give you a specific example of that.

[Nick Giurleo]: I mean, there was talk of, you know, teacher salaries, for example.

[Nick Giurleo]: You know, oh, you know, our teacher salaries won't be competitive, but according to the Department of Education data, Medford salaries for teachers are competitive compared to elsewhere in the state.

[Nick Giurleo]: And this is data anyone can look up.

[Nick Giurleo]: There was also just a vagueness, too, you know, in terms of what is this money going to be used for specifically.

[Nick Giurleo]: We got general categories, like schools, DPW.

[Nick Giurleo]: Right.

[Nick Giurleo]: Fire station, but specifically, you know, where was this money going to go?

[Nick Giurleo]: You know, for me, I think for voters, you know, they should be entitled to know line item, in a line item manner, where money is going to go, specifically.

[Nick Giurleo]: So the fact that it was vague, you know, was another reason I felt like I couldn't support.

[Nick Giurleo]: And then another thing that just cannot be passed aside is just the free cash.

[Nick Giurleo]: that we have.

[Nick Giurleo]: Yes.

[Nick Giurleo]: Quite a bit.

[Nick Giurleo]: Quite a bit.

[Nick Giurleo]: It's gone up since the election.

[Nick Giurleo]: Yes.

[Nick Giurleo]: Funny how that happened.

[Nick Giurleo]: At the time, we had about $25 million, according to the Department of Revenue.

[Nick Giurleo]: But like I said, that's since gone up.

[Nick Giurleo]: And anyone who doesn't know what free cash is, obviously, it's not free.

[Nick Giurleo]: It does come from taxpayers.

[Nick Giurleo]: But it's essentially over-budgeted money in a given fiscal year that goes into a reserve fund that we're able to use for a broader range of purposes once it's certified.

[Nick Giurleo]: So we heard a lot of talk during the override campaign, oh, we can't use free cash to meet, for example, school expenses.

[Nick Giurleo]: But what did I see at a recent city council meeting?

[Nick Giurleo]: The mayor requested $5 million to repair deficient HVAC and the roofs at the middle schools.

[Nick Giurleo]: So $5 million that could have been used and is going to be used to

[Nick Giurleo]: net fund that.

[Nick Giurleo]: Right.

[Nick Giurleo]: Right.

[Nick Giurleo]: And then there was that same day there was another request for $200,000 for security upgrades across the school.

[Nick Giurleo]: So it really was misleading for people to say that free cash was just off the table completely.

[Nick Giurleo]: Right.

[Nick Giurleo]: I hear you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Yep.

[Nick Giurleo]: And then just kind of to wrap this up, I would say growth, right, was another alternative to raising taxes, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: If we're increasing the commercial tax base, for example, we're getting more revenue, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: And we can use that to meet funding shortages.

[Nick Giurleo]: So we ignored new growth as well as an alternative.

[Nick Giurleo]: to the overrides.

[Nick Giurleo]: You have to think also just of the diversity of our city, economic diversity of our city.

[Nick Giurleo]: What happens when taxes go up?

[Nick Giurleo]: Well, it drives out lower income people.

[Nick Giurleo]: It essentially gentrifies the city.

[Nick Giurleo]: So if you're concerned about gentrification, supporting tax hikes doesn't solve that problem.

[Nick Giurleo]: So we have to think of that.

[Nick Giurleo]: We have to think of how lower-income, middle-income people are going to be affected by tax hikes.

[Nick Giurleo]: Especially people on fixed incomes, too.

[Nick Giurleo]: You've got to think of seniors who are really struggling and barely getting by in a lot of circumstances.

[Nick Giurleo]: People with disabilities, as well.

[Nick Giurleo]: Yeah, so another great question.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'll go back to what I said again earlier, this idea of untapped potential.

[Nick Giurleo]: Medford is a city that could be much better in a lot of ways.

[Nick Giurleo]: It's great now in a lot of respects, but there's so much more we could be doing.

[Nick Giurleo]: So for anyone not familiar, recently it was announced that there will be a very big development project coming to Medford Square, essentially three city-owned lots that are going to be transformed, a combination of mixed-use retail and residential, and nobody's denying this is going to fundamentally transform the square in terms of the way it looks, in terms of the way it's structured, who's living there, who's doing business there.

[Nick Giurleo]: So, I'd say it's quite early, this proposal was only announced very recently, so I think I would need more information to form a definite opinion yet on where I stand on the proposal itself.

[Nick Giurleo]: Right.

[Nick Giurleo]: But before I talk about maybe the questions I have regarding that proposal, I'll first say I think it's super important that we all dial in on the need to revitalize Medford Square.

[Nick Giurleo]: As a guy who's studied a lot of history, Medford Square in the past used to be a very different place.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I'm not talking like 100 years ago, and it was.

[Nick Giurleo]: No, you're not.

[Nick Giurleo]: But in decades past, it was a very different place.

[Nick Giurleo]: It was much more livelier and more of a kind of gathering spot for the people of our city.

[Nick Giurleo]: But now it's in very rough shape in a lot of respects.

[Nick Giurleo]: And there have been improvements, but not enough.

[Nick Giurleo]: And you have to look also, I always say this to people, you have to look at our neighboring squares and compare them to Medford Square.

[Nick Giurleo]: Think of Davis Square, for example.

[Nick Giurleo]: Central Square in Cambridge.

[Nick Giurleo]: Harvard Square in Cambridge.

[Nick Giurleo]: Kendall.

[Nick Giurleo]: I could go on and on.

[Nick Giurleo]: Yes, you can.

[Nick Giurleo]: Do all of these.

[Nick Giurleo]: resemble Medford Square?

[Nick Giurleo]: No.

[Nick Giurleo]: These squares, you have a lot of traffic, a lot of activity.

[Nick Giurleo]: They're booming in a lot of respects.

[Nick Giurleo]: But then you look at Medford Square, where I know people who live the next town over, you know, who move here from other places, and don't even know there's such a thing as Medford Square, you know, because there's so few reasons in a lot of respects to go, because it's difficult to park.

[Nick Giurleo]: The traffic is horrendous sometimes.

[Nick Giurleo]: So what can we do to support our local businesses there?

[Nick Giurleo]: They're awesome, they're great, I love spending my money there.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'd much rather spend my money there than at the big brand name shops.

[Nick Giurleo]: I agree.

[Nick Giurleo]: What can we do to improve them, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: Bring traffic to them, business to them.

[Nick Giurleo]: For me, like I said, it's the parking and the traffic.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think a lack of access by public transit's also an issue too.

[Nick Giurleo]: Yes, yep.

[Nick Giurleo]: Right, I think there's just bus routes at the moment, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: Yep.

[Nick Giurleo]: What are the other ways we can get people to the square?

[Nick Giurleo]: But then I guess just turning to the proposal itself,

[Nick Giurleo]: Like I said, I think it's still early to form a conclusive opinion on it, but there are questions that I have, and I'm just going to go through a few of them that I have.

[Nick Giurleo]: For example, referring to the business here, how will this proposal affect the businesses that are already there?

[Nick Giurleo]: That's something to think about.

[Nick Giurleo]: Parking, of course.

[Nick Giurleo]: We always have to be thinking about parking with any project.

[Nick Giurleo]: We can't ignore parking, period.

[Nick Giurleo]: And then another important thing is, you know, if you look at the map, where is this going to be?

[Nick Giurleo]: This is going to be right next to the senior center in Medford Square, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: So how is this going to impact the senior center?

[Nick Giurleo]: Is it going to pose any safety concerns, for example?

[Nick Giurleo]: Accessibility concerns to the senior center?

[Nick Giurleo]: So seniors who regularly frequent the senior center, they're major stakeholders in this.

[Nick Giurleo]: We have to talk to them.

[Nick Giurleo]: We have to make sure their opinions are heard on this project.

[Nick Giurleo]: And then also, we just have to think, you know, how will it look?

[Nick Giurleo]: I mean, the aesthetic impact, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: You got to think about how old these buildings are in Medford Square, you know, with this big, new, modern, towering structure, you know, fit with the buildings that are already there.

[Nick Giurleo]: Obviously, when it comes to looks, we tend to put that lower in our list of priorities, but it's still something to think about.

[Nick Giurleo]: We want our community to be beautiful, too.

[Nick Giurleo]: So those are the questions I have.

[Nick Giurleo]: Overall, my suggestion to the people who are involved with this would be not to rush this process.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think we need to slow down and we need to get adequate community input.

[Nick Giurleo]: One of the things we need to do is not just take community input, but actually actively change our plans based on what people have to say.

[Nick Giurleo]: any solutions any anything you can offer for that absolutely and like i said at the beginning this is a major aspect of my campaign here is i want to prove transparency in our city okay and i'd say i've included among these people who do feel left out in a lot of ways i think it's something many of us share

[Nick Giurleo]: So for me, I think we're seeing a lot of ways to try to reduce the ability of the public to participate, right, for the purposes of, I guess you could call it expediency, trying to rush things through and promote an agenda.

[Nick Giurleo]: But we have to look at the ways, number one, in which public participation was being reduced.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I can give you some very specific examples of that.

[Nick Giurleo]: We saw a resolution

[Nick Giurleo]: uh... last year to reduce the amount of time by several minutes in which people can participate in public comment at city council meetings uh... this is terrible right because it we're now in a position where people go up and they have to rush and say everything they have to say i think it's currently three minutes very very fast they often forget things and

[Nick Giurleo]: Sometimes there's pressure from the president of the council to immediately wrap up once that three minutes is reached.

[Nick Giurleo]: It's not like he says, oh, you can have a little more time.

[Nick Giurleo]: Most of the time, that's what's happening.

[Nick Giurleo]: We're seeing also just the meetings, how late that they're going.

[Nick Giurleo]: Many of them are going far past midnight.

[Nick Giurleo]: And you think of people who have to work the next day.

[Nick Giurleo]: Maybe they have to go to school or take care of children.

[Nick Giurleo]: There's all these different reasons.

[Nick Giurleo]: why, you know, a meeting running really late is not a good thing.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I think we have to look at ways we can try to make it so we don't have that problem.

[Nick Giurleo]: But we're also seeing some kind of procedural sneakiness, too, with, for example, sticking controversial things at the very end of the agenda so that we don't get to them until midnight.

[Nick Giurleo]: I mean, there was a resolution against anti-Semitism before the council recently.

[Nick Giurleo]: We didn't get to that until very, very late in the evening.

[Nick Giurleo]: But that's such a huge community issue, you know, it's something, why are we not considering that?

[Nick Giurleo]: In any event, it was tabled, so no one had a chance to say anything about it.

[Nick Giurleo]: I remember that, yeah.

[Nick Giurleo]: I can remember also a recent meeting in which we were talking about the charter and the charter was on the agenda along with other things that merited time but weren't as pressing as getting the charter to Beacon Hill.

[Nick Giurleo]: So what ended up happening was one of the Councilors

[Nick Giurleo]: moved to take it out of order and didn't even receive a second to do that.

[Nick Giurleo]: That's just horrendous.

[Nick Giurleo]: I mean, if anyone doesn't know what that means, like a second, you're not saying you approve.

[Nick Giurleo]: You're just saying, you know, I'm willing to have the discussion on this now.

[Nick Giurleo]: And they wouldn't even do that.

[Nick Giurleo]: This is just horrendous, in my opinion.

[Nick Giurleo]: And then immediately after that, someone else proposed a motion to take something else out of order.

[Nick Giurleo]: Sorry, a motion.

[Nick Giurleo]: And that was approved without question.

[Nick Giurleo]: So it's really just insane, a lot of the things that have been happening.

[Nick Giurleo]: So for me, I want to do things.

[Nick Giurleo]: like change the rules to allow the public more opportunities to participate and do something about these like midnight, 1 a.m.

[Nick Giurleo]: meetings.

[Nick Giurleo]: Everyone should have a chance to come to these meetings and say what they think.

[Nick Giurleo]: They shouldn't have to wait hours and hours and hours to talk for three minutes.

[Nick Giurleo]: It's just not right.

[Nick Giurleo]: That is the question, I would say.

[Nick Giurleo]: It's so easy to make promises, the hardest part is delivering on them.

[Nick Giurleo]: This is something I'm thinking about now.

[Nick Giurleo]: You know, if I'm fortunate enough to get elected, it's something I should be thinking about from day one.

[Nick Giurleo]: How am I going to make these things I want to change happen?

[Nick Giurleo]: So for me, I think the most important facet of it is listening.

[Nick Giurleo]: Listening to residents.

[Nick Giurleo]: What are residents thinking and feeling?

[Nick Giurleo]: And not just pushing them to the side.

[Nick Giurleo]: You know, we have our opinions and beliefs, and we should definitely stick to our principles.

[Nick Giurleo]: But at the same time,

[Nick Giurleo]: As an elected leader, we're not, there's some who say, you know, you're elected to make decisions, and that's not false.

[Nick Giurleo]: But as an elected representative, you are an agent of the people who vote you in.

[Nick Giurleo]: You know, I think of as being a lawyer, I mean, what's my job is to represent a client.

[Nick Giurleo]: My judgment's entrusted to make decisions for the client, especially legal decisions where there's a knowledge gap.

[Nick Giurleo]: But at the same time, I'm working for the client.

[Nick Giurleo]: The client isn't working for me.

[Nick Giurleo]: And the same thing is true with, I think, being elected representative is you have to do what the people want.

[Nick Giurleo]: So listening is a big part of making things happen.

[Nick Giurleo]: And then, of course, just common things like hard work, for example.

[Nick Giurleo]: It requires hard work and not laziness.

[Nick Giurleo]: Prudence, you know, being smart and listening and learning, teaching, and it's always good to admit when you don't know something.

[Nick Giurleo]: Right.

[Nick Giurleo]: And do the homework and research, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: We have a lot of, I think, elected leaders, not just in Medford, but everywhere, who say, you know, I know what to do, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: You know, they kind of jump to conclusions about things, and they don't take a step back and say, well, maybe I should reevaluate my own perspective.

[Nick Giurleo]: Maybe it's wrong in certain respects.

[Nick Giurleo]: What can I do to make it better?

[Nick Giurleo]: Yeah, so I think there's kind of two ways to talk about it.

[Nick Giurleo]: Number one is like, literally, how do you get in touch with me, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: I live here in Medford, obviously, I like to go to events.

[Nick Giurleo]: I do have some social media pages for the campaigns.

[Nick Giurleo]: I have a Facebook, Nick Trelaya from Medford City Council.

[Nick Giurleo]: I also have an Instagram.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I've been posting regularly about what I've been doing and who I've been talking to on social media.

[Nick Giurleo]: So if you have social media, feel free to take a look.

[Nick Giurleo]: Of course, anyone who wants to just talk with me, feel free to just find me, reach out to me, give me a call, send me a text, ask to meet for coffee.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm happy, honestly.

[Nick Giurleo]: you know, busy guy between what I do for a living and campaign activities, but I'm going to make time for everybody.

[Nick Giurleo]: Even people who don't agree with me, I encourage us to have conversations, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: Let's talk.

[Nick Giurleo]: Let's try to iron out, you know, what we don't agree upon.

[Nick Giurleo]: Because that's how it works.

[Nick Giurleo]: That's how you get things done is you cooperate.

[Nick Giurleo]: But in terms of just the other kind of aspect of your question, I'd say is, you know, where can you find me?

[Nick Giurleo]: Like, what do I like to do in Medford?

[Nick Giurleo]: I love Medford, I honestly do, and that's why I'm running.

[Nick Giurleo]: Number one place you'd probably find me is probably the library, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: I love the Medford Public Library, all the services it provides, just the space it offers for people who are interested in learning, and I'm a guy who just loves to learn, I love to read.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I like to go there a lot, hang out in the local history room, look at the yearbooks, look at the old historical documents, and just learn about Medford and how great a city it is.

[Nick Giurleo]: Also love being outdoors, enjoying the many beautiful things that Medford has to offer, like the Fells, Brooks Estate, Mystic Lakes, Mystic River.

[Nick Giurleo]: Always like being outdoors.

[Nick Giurleo]: You want to go on a hike with me?

[Nick Giurleo]: Feel free.

[Nick Giurleo]: Let's go on a hike.

[Nick Giurleo]: Talk politics and hike.

[Nick Giurleo]: Or just enjoy the beauty of nature.

[Nick Giurleo]: And then I can't not say also, I just love going to Medford businesses as well.

[Nick Giurleo]: I love going to the Square, having lunch there, brunch, wherever it is in Medford.

[Nick Giurleo]: Just love spending my money in my hometown.

[Nick Giurleo]: Yeah, we do.

[Nick Giurleo]: We know how to eat in this city.

[Nick Giurleo]: Everybody in this city, regardless of ethnic background, we know how to eat in Medford.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you very much for having me here.

[Nick Giurleo]: Good evening, Nick Giurleo, 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I just want to point out something that I noticed in looking at this resolution in comparison to the Sanctuary City Ordinance that we recently passed.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I don't think the resolution is actually consistent with the ordinance.

[Nick Giurleo]: So going to in the ordinance section 5105, there is a reporting requirement in there already.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm going to just read a little bit from it.

[Nick Giurleo]: It says beginning on the date of passage of this ordinance and every six months thereafter, Medford chief of police shall submit a report with the information detailed below in a de identified manner relating to the preceding six months to, and then it goes on to say, the Public Health and Community Safety Committee of the Medford City Council.

[Nick Giurleo]: In accordance with the provisions of the open meeting law and then it goes on the list specifically what is to be included in this report total number of ice detainers administrative warrants.

[Nick Giurleo]: Account of each instance in which information was given to a federal immigration agency with the names of individuals redacted and so forth, so to me, it seems like.

[Nick Giurleo]: In order to make the reporting requirement more frequent, what would need to be done is amend the ordinance.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I don't think this resolution would be enforceable because, again, I think it's inconsistent with the ordinance.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I think at a minimum, what you should do is at least talk to legal counsel about this to see if there's a conflict and if the ordinance does need to be amended.

[Nick Giurleo]: But otherwise, I think more practically, I don't think this resolution is entirely necessary because there's already a reporting requirement.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I don't think it's necessary to pass.

[Nick Giurleo]: So those are my thoughts.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Good evening Nick Giurleo, 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: So for the members of the public who might not be following, Mayor's asking that money be appropriated from our free cash fund, essentially over budgeted money to pay for HVAC and roof work at the McGlynn and Andrews.

[Nick Giurleo]: Mayor's asking for $5 million to do that.

[Nick Giurleo]: Another item on the agenda tonight, there's another letter from her asking for almost $200,000

[Nick Giurleo]: for security upgrades across the public schools also coming from the free cash fund.

[Nick Giurleo]: The second letter says that the balance of free cash at our disposal is over $27.5 million.

[Nick Giurleo]: And it says in that first letter that if we don't make this appropriation using our free cash, an additional almost $2 million per year would be added to the city budget for the next 30 years.

[Nick Giurleo]: That quote on our current free cash balance is even more than what the latest data available on the Department of Revenue's website indicates Medford has in certified free cash.

[Nick Giurleo]: We heard repeatedly during the override campaign arguments against the use of free cash to help meet our school's financial needs.

[Nick Giurleo]: We were told it wasn't a feasible substitute for raising taxes.

[Nick Giurleo]: I find it ironic that now we're

[Nick Giurleo]: almost half a year out from that election that we're proposing to do exactly what was said we cannot do, and that is using free cash to meet school funding needs.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I acknowledge there's a little bit of nuance to the arguments.

[Nick Giurleo]: Some said it was possible to use free cash, but not for long-term needs, and that's fair enough.

[Nick Giurleo]: But when we look at things like what is being proposed here, so infrastructure improvements that are intended to last in the long-term, it's hard for me to grasp

[Nick Giurleo]: how this wouldn't be an appropriation of free cash for long term school needs, which again we were told we could not do.

[Nick Giurleo]: That is all I have to say thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Good evening.

[Nick Giurleo]: Nick Troleo, 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: I was originally going to comment on the substance of this motion and just express some opinions about why I think it's overbroad and doesn't really do anything.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm very frustrated with what procedurally happened leading up to this taking of this motion or this resolution, sorry, discussion of the ordinance out of order.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think it's really, really shameful that this Council would not second Councilor Scarpelli's motion to take the city charter resolution out of order and discuss that first.

[Nick Giurleo]: We're prioritizing here

[Nick Giurleo]: an ordinance on gender identity over our city charter, our constitutional foundational government, the changes in the city charter are going to significantly impact how elected officials are elected in Medford.

[Nick Giurleo]: So the fact that we would just not even second the motion and not even be courageous enough to vote no on it really is shameful.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I think everyone in this council who did that should be ashamed of themselves.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Hello again, Nick Traleo, Forty Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: Um I'd like to first just reiterate what I said in the earlier discussion about, you know, taking this resolution over resolution of the city charter.

[Nick Giurleo]: Again, concerning to me.

[Nick Giurleo]: But in terms of what happened to miss us Turk, I just like to offer a legal perspective given the lawyer and this is what I do for a living is think about legal problems.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think the issue is very narrow, to be honest with you, you know, because I think the legal questions really does a visa recipient.

[Nick Giurleo]: have that same right to freedom of speech as a citizen of the United States.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I'm not here to answer that question I mean it would require a great deal of research to try to understand what the law says on that subject.

[Nick Giurleo]: Ultimately, I think it's a question that judges have to decide and that's what's happening right it's being litigated in the federal court.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I think when we use inflammatory language, really on either side, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: Screaming about deportation or screaming about political imprisonment, it really doesn't help address this problem, which is to try to resolve a legal question.

[Nick Giurleo]: Another thing I'd like to just point out is I think this is a little bit beyond the scope of what the city council is tasked with doing, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: We're talking about federal immigration law here.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think every one of you would admit you don't have any jurisdiction.

[Nick Giurleo]: to handle that.

[Nick Giurleo]: Um so, you know, ultimately, if you're not happy with what happened with miss Oster, you do have a right to be upset about that.

[Nick Giurleo]: You do have a right to petition your elected representatives in Congress.

[Nick Giurleo]: Um but you know, let's try to respect what authority this city council has to actually do things.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Nick Trillio again, Forty Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: So, you know, the premise of this is actually great, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: Informing people of their rights.

[Nick Giurleo]: I mean, when I do my job of defending people accused of crimes, I mean, that's something I encourage, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: Know your rights.

[Nick Giurleo]: It's important.

[Nick Giurleo]: Everybody wants that.

[Nick Giurleo]: You know, it's just the issue with supporting a lot of these resolutions is hard just because of a lot of like the inflammatory language that gets put into them.

[Nick Giurleo]: that kind of politicizes the issue right like the issue at core here is like we should inform people of their rights, which is great, but then you have things like making blanket statements that, you know, federal law enforcement are like.

[Nick Giurleo]: disproportionately targeting non-white people, you know, when that's not really supported by any evidence that I've seen, you know, to me, that just unnecessarily politicizes these decent ideas behind the resolutions and makes it hard to support them.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I think if we can just get proposals out there that just get to the issues and avoid all the political fluff, we're going to actually accomplish more.

[Nick Giurleo]: And we're going to realize we actually agree on more than we think we do.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Nick Julio 40 Robinson road.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'll try to be brief but basically my point is I think it's very important that the council remember the last step in this process right the last step of getting this done and that is it goes to the people, the people are voting on the charter, right, so we wouldn't want to go through a process in which we finally get to the last stage of it, and then we get some sort of tragic outcome of the people reject the charter, because they feel like it doesn't reflect

[Nick Giurleo]: what they had believed over time it should contain.

[Nick Giurleo]: So that's why it's very important.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think the overarching consideration here should be, what do the people want?

[Nick Giurleo]: So it's important to put individual opinions and egos aside and look to that.

[Nick Giurleo]: So when it comes to ward versus district, when it comes to mayor on a school committee, we have to overall defer to what the people want.

[Nick Giurleo]: And when we have,

[Nick Giurleo]: Procedural issues like what we're going through now with the amendments, but also the fact that we didn't get the public comment until 1030 because we took other items up on the agenda first, despite the importance of this item, it really does diminish the ability of the council to understand what the people actually want, which will get us to that goal of getting a charter through.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I would just encourage all of you to really take that into mind.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Victor Leo, 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: So with my comment I would just like to take a step back here and just remind the Council of kind of what is the overall goal of this process of getting charter out to the people to decide on.

[Nick Giurleo]: To me, it seems like one of the major objectives here is we need a charter that makes our local government accessible to the people of our city.

[Nick Giurleo]: Right.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I think it's just a matter of common sense.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm not really going to advocate strongly for one of these systems or the other in this comment, but I think just as a matter of common sense, I lean kind of more towards the word based system as representing this way of getting people

[Nick Giurleo]: directly to their elected representatives so they can feel themselves heard.

[Nick Giurleo]: But kind of focusing on this process, you know, I would say that it really does seem like we're really speeding through it here.

[Nick Giurleo]: Like, I understand the charter review process has been going on for a while, but it really does seem like we're trying to make an extremely consequential decision that will dramatically impact our city at a very fast speed.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I think there would be value in potentially slowing things down

[Nick Giurleo]: and talking more to the people to try to get a better sense of what they actually want.

[Nick Giurleo]: So there are benefits of doing that.

[Nick Giurleo]: There's also other aspects of the charter we could take a look at that I think would deserve some of our time, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: You look at some of the provisions, changes that were being made to kind of make it easier to reduce public participation in our city government.

[Nick Giurleo]: You know, we can go back, we can look at those and try to eliminate those.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I think that's all I have to say.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you for listening.

[Nick Giurleo]: Good evening.

[Nick Giurleo]: Nick Giurleo, 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm going to just speak briefly tonight in favor of the A paper.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I think the simple reason is that, really, this is something that we should be discussing, right?

[Nick Giurleo]: Medford, in its entire history, never approved a Prop 2.5 override before.

[Nick Giurleo]: So really, regardless where you fall on the issue, it is an unprecedented time.

[Nick Giurleo]: for all of us.

[Nick Giurleo]: And as Councilor Scarpelli represented, you know, there seems to be some legitimate concerns across the city among residents as to, you know, what will the impact of this be.

[Nick Giurleo]: And the reality is taxes have gone up for everyone.

[Nick Giurleo]: And there is a huge cost of living crisis in the country.

[Nick Giurleo]: So it's really going to be harder now for members of our community to make

[Nick Giurleo]: ends meet.

[Nick Giurleo]: This council talks often about affordability and how they're concerned about affordability, so let's do it.

[Nick Giurleo]: Let's talk about affordability.

[Nick Giurleo]: And we really do have to continue to think of the impact, especially on the most vulnerable of the community, like the elderly, veterans, people who are suffering from disabilities.

[Nick Giurleo]: They face unique challenges.

[Nick Giurleo]: They deserve to be heard.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I really wouldn't see any kind of legitimate reason to have to go with the B paper here.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think the A paper is innocuous enough.

[Nick Giurleo]: I don't think it's political.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think it can be approved on its own.

[Nick Giurleo]: And just generally, you know, as for unhappiness over, I would say, the outcome of the election, while I personally think it's justified, I mean, I agree that really this was a decision of the voters.

[Nick Giurleo]: So, you know, if you're not happy with the outcome, express that unhappiness at the ballot box in November.

[Nick Giurleo]: It seems like we have a pretty significant difference of opinion here as to how are we going to meet city funding needs.

[Nick Giurleo]: So if you don't like the fact that these overrides passed, show up in November and vote out of office to people who supported them.

[Nick Giurleo]: Express that unhappiness.

[Nick Giurleo]: That's kind of how democracy works.

[Nick Giurleo]: So that's what I'll be doing, and I would encourage everyone else to do.

[Nick Giurleo]: That's all I have to say.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you for listening.

[Nick Giurleo]: Victor Alejo, 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I'm here tonight to speak, again, against this ordinance.

[Nick Giurleo]: Although I do see some changes were made, like getting rid of effectively all of the section on enforcement.

[Nick Giurleo]: I still don't believe this ordinance is legal.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I think sooner or later, a court, probably the United States Supreme Court, to be honest with you,

[Nick Giurleo]: is going to strike it down, and it's like, as unconstitutional.

[Nick Giurleo]: The reason I believe this is, like I said the last time I was up here, is that it really does try to put local and state laws above federal law, which the Constitution prevents, as much as the city council might not like.

[Nick Giurleo]: That federal law says being in the United States unlawfully is against the law and could subject a person to removal, deportation proceedings.

[Nick Giurleo]: This is the law.

[Nick Giurleo]: If you don't like it, petition your representatives in Congress to do something about it.

[Nick Giurleo]: That's the remedy.

[Nick Giurleo]: The remedy is not to do what the city council is doing or attempting to do, which is act far beyond its legal authority.

[Nick Giurleo]: I spoke the last time about some practical reasons why I think this ordinance is bad policy.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I'll just reiterate them.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think even with the tempered language, the ordinance still does handicap to a significant degree, the police department's ability to do its job, which is to keep the community safe.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I just point as two examples here, look at 103D, talks about the police department not being able to initiate investigations.

[Nick Giurleo]: look at 103E, which limits the department's ability to make arrests.

[Nick Giurleo]: These are two fundamental functions of what police departments do.

[Nick Giurleo]: They investigate, and they make arrests of people who are not obeying the law.

[Nick Giurleo]: So us telling us, essentially, police departments don't do what you're designed to do, what you're supposed to be doing.

[Nick Giurleo]: And again, I understand there's tremendous intent tonight to approve this ordinance, but I would seriously just ask you to at least wait until the U.S.

[Nick Giurleo]: Supreme Court weighs in on this, because I'm telling you, there's going to be a case about this, and it's going to strike this down, and the city's going to be embarrassed, and it's going to show that Medford's leaders don't really understand the concept of limited government.

[Nick Giurleo]: That's what I have to say tonight.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you for listening.

[Nick Giurleo]: Nick Giurleo, 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: Good evening.

[Nick Giurleo]: I just want to comment tonight for the public, primarily coming before you as a licensed attorney just what exactly is in this welcoming city ordinance as I read it.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think it's common for legislators and not just the city council, but really all legislators in general to use kind of

[Nick Giurleo]: soft kind of flowery language to describe what laws are really saying.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I think this welcoming ordinance is a pretty good example of that.

[Nick Giurleo]: What you might not realize, unless you actually read the fine print like I did, is that really the crux of it is not really to welcome anybody, but actually to just significantly hamper the police department's ability to do its job of working with fellow law enforcement to keep the community safe.

[Nick Giurleo]: So what do I mean by that?

[Nick Giurleo]: I think the ordinance essentially prevents the Medford Police Department from cooperating with all federal law enforcement and enforcing immigration laws.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think, in my opinion, this is not only illegal, but also a seriously concerning violation of the concept of limited government, or as we've been hearing a lot tonight, separation of powers.

[Nick Giurleo]: The ordinance, for example, says that Medford PD can't comply with immigration detainers, detainers being requests from the federal government to hold a person who's in the country unlawfully.

[Nick Giurleo]: So this means even if the Medford PD became aware a person was violating a federal immigration law, Medford PD wouldn't be allowed to do anything about it, which is confusing to me because it's the job of law enforcement agencies to enforce the laws and our city council and mayor making it essentially unlawful for them to do their jobs.

[Nick Giurleo]: The previous draft of the ordinance that I read mentioned a cause of action, basically giving an opportunity to sue the city at the taxpayer's expense if this ordinance were to be violated.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm grateful to see that that's out of the ordinance now.

[Nick Giurleo]: But it was in there before, which I do think speaks to the motive behind this ordinance.

[Nick Giurleo]: Another thing that concerns me is the very end where it talks about the Medford Police Department, having to report data on its detainers, and you think that data would go to write to this legislator the city council but.

[Nick Giurleo]: That's not what it says.

[Nick Giurleo]: It goes right to the mayor, which is a little suspicious to me.

[Nick Giurleo]: So my legal opinion is I think this is a legal ordinance.

[Nick Giurleo]: And even if it isn't, it shouldn't be.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I think it just is a matter of policy, too.

[Nick Giurleo]: It's terrible.

[Nick Giurleo]: Shouldn't be on the books.

[Nick Giurleo]: That's my take.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Nick Jorleo 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: Before I criticize this resolution I'll just say, I'm sorry, President Bears you had to go through that that was very inappropriate.

[Nick Giurleo]: We probably disagree on a lot of things but nobody deserves to be treated like that so I guess

[Nick Giurleo]: we have to have civil discussions

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: I appreciate that.

[Nick Giurleo]: So now for the criticism.

[Nick Giurleo]: There's mentioned in this resolution here of cost of living, a cost of living increase.

[Nick Giurleo]: Okay, well I wasn't aware.

[Nick Giurleo]: Okay.

[Nick Giurleo]: Totally, totally gone.

[Nick Giurleo]: Great, so that makes it.

[Nick Giurleo]: not attacking you, the version of the resolution that I had in front of me said that, so I didn't know that that was taken out.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: In any case... I should be nicer to you more often.

[Nick Giurleo]: We can have civil discussions in the city council, we really can, even though we disagree.

[Nick Giurleo]: But I'll speak about just in general then the cost of living issue.

[Nick Giurleo]: You know, our city, these overrides, this is what it was all about.

[Nick Giurleo]: I mean, this is what was raised as a problem, cost of living crisis across the country.

[Nick Giurleo]: I mean, we saw in the national election here that cost of living crisis really impacted voters.

[Nick Giurleo]: It really made a difference.

[Nick Giurleo]: It led to a very unexpected outcome.

[Nick Giurleo]: So it's something that can't be, in any context, when we're talking about raises,

[Nick Giurleo]: something that can be disregarded here.

[Nick Giurleo]: And we have to take, you know, what people are experiencing, what people are feeling, what people are suffering through into consideration.

[Nick Giurleo]: I mean, we can't be forgetting, as Bernie Sanders himself said, the working class people.

[Nick Giurleo]: I mean, we have to think about that.

[Nick Giurleo]: We have to think about the impact of our fiscal decisions.

[Nick Giurleo]: So that's just my general comments tonight.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Good evening, Nick Giurleo, G-I-U-R-L-E-O, 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: So on the subject of the math, my question relates to essentially, you know, these overrides and so-called consequences of not passing them, of not approving them.

[Nick Giurleo]: So we're hearing kind of these expressions of certainty described what will happen if the overrides don't pass.

[Nick Giurleo]: We've heard from Councilor Bears, there will be cuts.

[Nick Giurleo]: We've heard from Councilor Leming, the roads won't be repaired.

[Nick Giurleo]: So my question is, you know, where is this math?

[Nick Giurleo]: I mean, where is, for the average citizen who's not a mathematician, you know, where are we going to see this data that shows that these consequences will actually result if these overrides don't pass?

[Nick Giurleo]: I've looked and I haven't really been able to find anything.

[Nick Giurleo]: So where do I go?

[Nick Giurleo]: Yeah, but data on- We're not doing follow-ups.

[Nick Giurleo]: To her response.

[Nick Giurleo]: Okay, just clarifying her answer, because I'm not quite understanding.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm just, the clarification I'm requesting here is, are we saying that various reports and data showing that there are certain needs are the same thing as saying that if we don't pass this overrides, that this X or Y will happen?

[Nick Giurleo]: Are those two exactly equivalent?

[Nick Giurleo]: They don't seem exactly equivalent to me.

[Nick Giurleo]: Good evening, Nick Giurleo, G-I-U-R-L-E-O 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm speaking in favor of this resolution.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm very happy to see it.

[Nick Giurleo]: Seniors really are important in Medford, so it's good to reach out to them in any way we can on issues that really will impact them.

[Nick Giurleo]: The way I see this resolution, it's just calling for a fairly innocuous community meeting to give our seniors some information on what these ballot questions are really all about.

[Nick Giurleo]: Given my personal opinion that

[Nick Giurleo]: approval of them will have a disastrous impact on seniors.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think it's very important to educate them on the issues so they can come to those conclusions themselves.

[Nick Giurleo]: My opinion is based on this just terrible cost of living crisis the country is facing.

[Nick Giurleo]: That crisis is due to fiscal irresponsibility.

[Nick Giurleo]: And it seems like these ballot measures, if approved, are really gonna be promoting that, which has led to this cost-of-living crisis.

[Nick Giurleo]: There really is, I think, some misinformation out there about what these ballot questions really are all about.

[Nick Giurleo]: We hear words being used, like investment, when we're not really saying what this really is, which is just taxation.

[Nick Giurleo]: People really are struggling.

[Nick Giurleo]: It's important to educate them on the issues so they can understand why they're struggling.

[Nick Giurleo]: And I would just highlight what the previous speaker said about the severe economic challenges that seniors throughout the country really are facing that I think we can all agree on.

[Nick Giurleo]: They're on fixed incomes.

[Nick Giurleo]: And data shows that when seniors on fixed incomes face unexpected increased costs, they're forced to forego necessities, necessities like food, necessities like prescription medications.

[Nick Giurleo]: really do have to be aware that recklessly raising taxes will have real consequences.

[Nick Giurleo]: You know, it's more than just harming the economic diversity of the city.

[Nick Giurleo]: In some cases, this could be life or death for people who are vulnerable.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I would encourage everyone to approve of this resolution.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you for listening.

[Nick Giurleo]: Nick Giorleo, G-I-U-R-L-E-O, 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: I would just like to use my time tonight to speak in favor of Councilor Scarpelli's resolution and to provide a legal opinion on some of the legal issues that we've been talking about tonight.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm a licensed attorney, so I feel that might be appropriate.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm not speaking on behalf of any organization, just speaking here as a concerned citizen.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I've reviewed the materials here, I've reviewed Councilor Scarpelli's letter, the resolution, the law at issue, the rules at issue.

[Nick Giurleo]: Councilor Scarpelli claims that his rights under the statute 43-22 were violated.

[Nick Giurleo]: I have the statute here, I'll read from it.

[Nick Giurleo]: Any ordinance, order, or resolution may be passed through all its stages of legislation at one session, provided that no members of the council objects thereto.

[Nick Giurleo]: But if any member of the council objects, the measure shall be postponed for that meeting.

[Nick Giurleo]: Councilor Scarpelli says the statute's applicable, and that he invoked it at that June 25th meeting, and I agree with him.

[Nick Giurleo]: I was actually there at that meeting, and I heard him say that.

[Nick Giurleo]: I heard him invoke his right under that statute.

[Nick Giurleo]: Now, five financial papers were presented at that evening and passed through all stages of their legislation, as the statute says, at one session over Councilor Scarpelli's clear objection, an invocation of 4322.

[Nick Giurleo]: Therefore, a vote on those papers per the plain language of the statute here should have been postponed for the next meeting.

[Nick Giurleo]: My interpretation of that statute does differ from Councilor Tseng's interpretation.

[Nick Giurleo]: I think suspension of the rules through 32 was improper.

[Nick Giurleo]: State statutes do supersede all local rules of this council and any council in Massachusetts.

[Nick Giurleo]: And the council's own rules recognize this.

[Nick Giurleo]: If we actually look at the text of rule 32, the suspension rule, it states that suspension is only allowed, I'm quoting, insofar as these rules are not of statutory sources or origin.

[Nick Giurleo]: Rule 21 states that any finance paper appearing on the council agenda for the first time shall be automatically laid on the table for one week when such action is requested by any member.

[Nick Giurleo]: That's clearly of statutory origin, in my legal opinion here.

[Nick Giurleo]: By its plain language, you're basically codifying through that rule that we have in the council here, 4322.

[Nick Giurleo]: So in summary here, not only do I think the council violated 4322, I think it violated its own internal rules here.

[Nick Giurleo]: And more politically speaking, I would say our city really should be promoting financial transparency.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I really do believe a vote in favor here.

[Nick Giurleo]: about 30 seconds.

[Nick Giurleo]: I really do believe a vote in favor of here would do just that.

[Nick Giurleo]: So I'll support it.

[Nick Giurleo]: And also just stay for the record, my legal opinion here that, uh, I do believe Councilor Scarpelli has legally meritorious claims.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Nick Gioia, 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: So there are a number of reasons why I'm opposed to all of these overrides, but there's one that I'd really like to bring to attention of the council tonight, just for the purposes of time.

[Nick Giurleo]: To me, it's just incredible how exceedingly vague they are.

[Nick Giurleo]: If you just read, for example, the one called To Invest in the Future of Medford Public Schools, we're talking about a humongous sum of money for general operations.

[Nick Giurleo]: What does that even mean, general operations?

[Nick Giurleo]: We have increased access to the arts.

[Nick Giurleo]: Well, what does that mean either?

[Nick Giurleo]: So you're asking the voters here to vote on something where they don't even entirely know what they're voting on.

[Nick Giurleo]: That's very concerning to me.

[Nick Giurleo]: Now, generally speaking, I think we have to acknowledge also that people really are suffering with taxation.

[Nick Giurleo]: The cost of living crisis in our country is incredible at the moment.

[Nick Giurleo]: There's a lot of economic data supporting that it's bad.

[Nick Giurleo]: So we're saying to ourselves, you know, increase taxes, but we're not really addressing the real impact on people who have to pay these taxes.

[Nick Giurleo]: right?

[Nick Giurleo]: Everyone wants services.

[Nick Giurleo]: Everyone wants to improve our schools, our roads.

[Nick Giurleo]: We have to acknowledge reality.

[Nick Giurleo]: We can't pay for things we can't afford.

[Nick Giurleo]: Another reason why people are leaving Medford, going other places, or not moving here in the first place is because it's too expensive to live here.

[Nick Giurleo]: And part of the reason, I'd say main reason it is, is because buying a home here requires you to pay enormous sums of money in property taxes.

[Nick Giurleo]: It's really an insufferable situation, and I really don't think these overrides are going to do anything to improve the economic diversity of our city, much less any of the other problems we've been talking about tonight.

[Nick Giurleo]: So for those reasons, I'm very opposed to these overrides.

[Nick Giurleo]: As much as I love the Medford public schools and I want to increase services, we have to be realistic here.

[Nick Giurleo]: We have to do what we're able to do.

[Nick Giurleo]: This is coming from a guy who went to Medford High, who was number one in his class.

[Nick Giurleo]: I really do care about this city, but I have to acknowledge reality first.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.

[Nick Giurleo]: Nicholas Jorleo, Forty Robinson wrote, I'm speaking tonight in opposition to this resolution.

[Nick Giurleo]: There's talk of efficiency, there's talk of, this is about making the process more open to other people, so they don't have to wait, because maybe people have to go to work tomorrow, or there's other reasons why they don't want to stay the whole night and wait for their turn to speak.

[Nick Giurleo]: To me, though, I just don't buy that.

[Nick Giurleo]: I really do think this is pretextual.

[Nick Giurleo]: I really do think this is an attempt to limit democracy in Medford.

[Nick Giurleo]: And it's very sad, it's very troubling.

[Nick Giurleo]: This is a public forum here.

[Nick Giurleo]: This body of elected officials is supposed to be accountable to the people of Medford.

[Nick Giurleo]: We should have an opportunity to stand up here and tell you what we think.

[Nick Giurleo]: Now reflected in the previous debate here on the registry resolution, it's very clear here that this council doesn't really want to listen to the popular will.

[Nick Giurleo]: Every single person who spoke here tonight was opposed to the registry resolution and it passed.

[Nick Giurleo]: Aside from one councilor who had a change of conscience and another who was opposed from the beginning, the resolution passed without any sort of consideration of the public input.

[Nick Giurleo]: And it really reflects how detached from reality the city council is.

[Nick Giurleo]: It's sad.

[Nick Giurleo]: They're not reflecting the popular will here.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm a person, I have to wake up at 6 a.m.

[Nick Giurleo]: to go to work every day.

[Nick Giurleo]: I don't wanna stay here all night to speak here for a few minutes about an issue.

[Nick Giurleo]: I wanna go to bed, I wanna go home, spend time with my family, relax, read a book, do something normal after work.

[Nick Giurleo]: But I wait, I wait my turn, I wait patiently, I stand up here, I speak, I say what I have to say.

[Nick Giurleo]: It's part of the process.

[Nick Giurleo]: We can't be limiting public availability here.

[Nick Giurleo]: We can't be limiting public participation in debate.

[Nick Giurleo]: This resolution is really, it's despicable.

[Nick Giurleo]: Mr. Scarpelli was exactly correct.

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you, I'm opposed.

[Nick Giurleo]: We must always recognize that- 30 seconds, Travis.

[Nick Giurleo]: You have 30 seconds, Pri.

[Nick Giurleo]: Good evening, Councilors.

[Nick Giurleo]: My name is Nicholas Shirleo.

[Nick Giurleo]: I live at 40 Robinson Road.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm a lifetime Medford resident, an attorney, and director of an international relations publication.

[Nick Giurleo]: I'm not speaking on behalf of that publication tonight.

[Nick Giurleo]: I am, though, speaking in opposition personally to the resolution.

[Nick Giurleo]: Putting aside why the council is spending time crafting legislation on international politics when our city faces plenty of problems on its own, the proposed resolution in effect supports the totalitarian government of Cuba, a socialist dictatorship with a horrendous human rights record.

[Nick Giurleo]: As Human Rights Watch, one of many organizations, has highlighted, Cuban government human rights abuses have included arbitrary arrests of activists and independent journalists, torture of prisoners, significant repression of free speech, and extrajudicial killings.

[Nick Giurleo]: Nearly a million people have fled Cuba's communist regime.

[Nick Giurleo]: Imagine some or many have called Medford their home.

[Nick Giurleo]: We should embrace these people, not tout Cuban government propaganda at our city council meetings.

[Nick Giurleo]: Put simply, a vote for this resolution is a vote in favor of the current regime.

[Nick Giurleo]: The United States of America should not be doing business with dictatorships.

[Nick Giurleo]: Why would Medford support the contrary?

[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you.