ORDER-2022-35 : Proclamation of October 2021 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Transcript (~8 min @ 2:21:00)

Speakers identified by voice; unnamed voices are numbered within this recording. Auto-caption text — verify against the video.

▶ 2:21:00 Christopher Cinella: in the full council meeting, call to order. At this time, if there's no objection, I would like to suspend our rules. Seeing no objection, our rules are suspended. I believe the first order this evening, Madam Clerk, if you want to.

▶ 2:21:22 Speaker 9: Order 2022-35, Proclamation of October 2021 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

▶ 2:21:30 Speaker 1: Sorry, I didn't hear this.

▶ 2:21:36 Jen Grigoraitis: Sorry, I didn't hear. Mr. President, I motion for immediate consideration of this order as domestic violence awareness month began on October. 1st.

▶ 2:21:47 Christopher Cinella: Seeing no objection to the consideration this matter is now before us. I believe we have.

▶ 2:21:53 Speaker 1: Well, is money can you hear us?

▶ 2:22:03 Speaker 9: Yes, I can you are in the room. With the mayor broader Thank you.

▶ 2:22:14 Paul Brodeur: So, before before Rebecca Mooney speaks, I know you all know well. uh i will just read with the permission of the council um the proclamation is that appropriate mr president yes thank you so uh domestic violence awareness month whereas domestic violence is one of the most critical and far-reaching issues of our time affecting individuals of every age culture class gender race and religion and whereas according to the u.s department of justice domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44 that every 21 days a woman is killed by domestic violence and that more than three million children witness acts of domestic violence each year and whereas since last october 12 since last october 12 people have died in massachusetts as a result of domestic violence and whereas for the past 26 years the The Melrose Alliance Against Violence, in conjunction with the Melrose Police Department and the Melrose Public Schools, has taken important steps to reduce domestic violence in our community through education, outreach, and support services, as well as programs to prevent violence, such as mentoring, peer leadership, and bullying prevention. Therefore, I, Paul Broder, Mayor of the City of Melrose, do hereby proclaim the month of October 21st as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and recognize the accomplishments of the Melrose Alliance Against Violence on its 26th anniversary. And I will note this is offered as it is every year in the spirit of the entire city, including all the members of the council. I know several of you have worked in this area, either now or in the past, and it is efforts that are very much appreciated and that certainly need to continue. With that, and with the thanks of a grateful city, I will turn it over to Ms. Mooney.

▶ 2:24:18 Speaker 9: Thank you so much. Can you hear me? Yes. Awesome. Just very briefly, just want to say thank you to all of you for your support. thrilled that this year we can come back and have the event in person. We are changing it up a little bit. We're going to hold all activities outside. So the candlelight vigil, the song, everything will be outside in the courtyard between the middle school and the high school. And then we'll walk from there. But last year, as you know, we had a socially distanced walk and it was, you know, anytime over the entire weekend. And I remember the City Council walking together as a team and you all told me that it was the first time you had been together in person as a group so that really meant a lot to us and we again thank you so much for your support i know many of you are serving as sponsors again this year and we really appreciate it um just one other highlight i want to mention is we're giving our award this year to the cataldo family and some of you might remember them from the past couple of years being at the walk they're a large family. They all wear purple shirts, and they have walked in honor of one of their family members, Ursulia Cataldo, who was killed as a result of domestic violence about three years ago now in Everett. And they've become strong advocates for domestic violence education and legislation, and we wanted to honor them this year. So it's the first time we're giving the award to a whole family and we're we're excited to do that um our theme this year is better together better with you and really we wanted to have some theme that reflected again the community coming back together after the pandemic year we're still in it but um at least able to be together outside this year and there are 12 victims this year that's actually exactly the same as last year. We kind of have a saying at MAVE, which is until there are none, we will continue to hold this event until there are no more victims. So we invite you and we invite everyone at home to join us on Sunday, October 24th at 4 p.m. again in the courtyard between the middle school and the high school. The vigil itself will be simple and brief. It will be a half an hour so at 4 30 we'll begin the walk and the walk is less than two miles um we get everybody back uh before dark at 5 30. um if you want to learn more or we'd like to sponsor the walk put together a team all the information is on our website maav.org and i thank you all again so much and the community for your support. It means the world to us.

▶ 2:27:20 Christopher Cinella: Thank you, Ms. Mooney. Does anybody have any comments, questions?

▶ 2:27:28 Jen Grigoraitis: Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you, Mayor Broder and Ms. Mooney, for recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which as somebody who works in the victim services field is very near and dear to my heart. And I always believe it's really important to leave people with a resource because you never know when you're going to connect with someone who is either in crisis or has a loved one who is. So I just wanted to take the opportunity to remind everyone about Safe Link, which is our statewide domestic violence hotline. They have a website, you can text, you can call and get the information and they can connect you to the resources that we have throughout the state. So I just want to make sure that those that are struggling or feeling safe that they know that you are never alone and that there is always help available thank you

▶ 2:28:17 Christopher Cinella: anybody else and see the hands go up is the council jump at once should place this on file

▶ 2:28:34 Christopher Cinella: maybe no conclusion second thank you a place on file made by counselor tram of tozy seconded by Councilor Migliorelli.

▶ 2:28:45 Speaker 9: Councilor Eccles. Yes. Councilor Garipay. Yes. Councilor Grigoraitis. Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine.

▶ 2:28:59 Speaker 9: Yes. Councilor McMaster. Yes. Councilor McNaught. Yes. Councilor Migliorelli. Yes. councillor stewart yes councillor thomas yes council of Tramontozzi yes president sanella 11 yes thank you