RES-20-21-4 : A Resolution for Expanding Access to Local Government in the City of Melrose

Transcript (~6 min @ 6:26)

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▶ 6:13 Leila Migliorelli: closed we'll move on to our only business this evening and the Appropriations Committee meeting which is resolution 2021-4 a resolution for expanding access to local government in the City of Melrose this resolution is sponsored by Councillor Grigoraitis and Councillor Migliorelli and at this time we'll turn to Councillor Migliorelli thank you Mr. Chairman I'll just go ahead and read the text of the resolution whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has created conditions requiring municipalities to enable remote participation in and access to open meetings and whereas this council recognizes that resident engagement in local government in melrose has meaningfully increased due to remote participation allowances during the pandemic and whereas many residents cannot attend in-person meetings due to family school and work obligations and whereas residents with disabilities can face particular and additional challenges to accessing in-person meetings and whereas barriers to civic engagement are substantially lower when residents can participate in open meetings via remote means making government more effective and accessible to all people and communities now therefore be it resolved that the melrose city council in an effort to provide increased transparency and engagement of residents and local government will provide the public the opportunity for remote participation when public comment is on the agenda of the city council's meetings to the best of the city's ability methods of remote access the city may provide may include but are not limited to telephone internet or satellite enabled audio or video conferencing or any other technology such remote participation in public comment will be available to the public without subscription toll or similar charge be it further resolved that the Melrose Council City Council encourages other multi-member bodies in the city such as the school committee and other appointed boards and commissions to make similar arrangements for remote access for and participation of the public at their meetings and hearings to further ensure that the residents of melrose have equal access and the ability to engage at all levels of government thank you councilman

▶ 8:23 Jen Grigoraitis: council Grigoraitis thank you chair mcnaught i just wanted to um briefly say that we filed this resolution um in the kind of weird period between the governor having declared the end of the state of the emergency and the state legislature not yet having extended our ability to have remote meetings and it's the where this body meets is really a matter of state law and the discretion of the mayor but the ability to allow the public to both participate in terms of being able to watch our meetings and be able to speak in public common is something that we have a fair amount of flexibility around and I just want to thank everyone on this council because I think we made the transition to remote meetings pretty seamlessly I know that wasn't the case in all municipalities I think everyone here really embraced that and I don't to lose that i also want to thank president sanella school chair mcandrew and city clerk foote for the past several months they've worked really tirelessly to come up with the setup that we now have to ensure that any meeting held in this room can can have remote participation by the public and i encourage the boards and commissions that use this room to take advantage of that tech setup that we had put in place and i just i had one resident who back in march of this year she's a nurse she works the night shift she wanted to watch a planning board meeting because it was going to directly impact her neighborhood and she was able to watch the first part of the meeting on her phone while she was on the t what what goes better with the tea ride than a planning board meeting and then she was able to watch the rest of it the next day when it appeared on the mmtv website and i just think we have to think about how we continue to allow our residents to access local government so i i hope that you'll all join us in this resolution we obviously don't have the purview over what other boards and commissions do but i think we can set a really good example and again i want to thank our leadership for for setting up the tech to do so

▶ 10:11 Speaker 3: thank you councillor Grigoraitis

▶ 10:15 Leila Migliorelli: thank you mr chair just to add on um i think as i think that uh ms kissel the chair of the women's commission pointed out that um the people who often get left behind in the ability to participate in remote participation are those who work nights such as the example counselor Grigoraitis just shared with us as well as parents who are trying to juggle you know work and after school activities disabled seniors so offering this hybrid approach is something we definitely want to encourage the other boards and commissions to do because i think many people don't realize that once we have gone back in person that that remote even the remote viewing isn't necessarily accessible um by the public so i think it's something that um we want to just encourage the rest of our boards and commissions to take part in and i feel like i've set a good example

▶ 11:04 Jeff McNaught: of that on the council thank you council mcgill early and council Grigoraitis for bringing this forward and um you know we'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge the job that our former uh clerk of committees and now city clerk kristen foote has done in shepherding us through this crazy year of remote uh meetings so thank you uh for that um you know i'm just now realizing i don't know if i feel more vulnerable now or when i was at home in my closet so um but i think i was more comfortable at home so thank you clerk foot um uh thank you again that's all the business we have for this evening so at this time i'll entertain a motion to adjourn oh we have to act on it no right motion uh motion to place on file that's right sorry getting ahead of myself motion to place on file made by councillor Grigoraitis seconded by councillor Tramontozzi we'll go with council Migliorelli

▶ 12:02 Speaker 3: madam clerk will you please call the roll chair mcnaught yes vice chair eccles yes councillor Tramontozzi yes councillor mcmaster yes councillor Garipay yes councillor Grigoraitis yes councillor Councillor Migliorelli. Yes. Councillor Stewart. Yes. Councillor Thomas. Yes. Councillor Jamaleddine. Yes. President Sinella. Yes. 11 yes.