ORDER-2019-112 : Amend Melrose Revised Ordinances by adding Article VI, Section 198-12: Reduction in Single Use Plastic Beverage Straws and Beverage Stirrers in Business Establishments

Transcript (~6 min @ 1:41:30)

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▶ 1:41:29 Speaker 6: Order 2019-112, amend Melrose revised ordinances by adding Article 7, Section 198-12, reduction in single-use plastic beverage straws and beverage stirrers in business establishments. Article 6, excuse me.

▶ 1:41:45 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: This order comes to us from the Legal and Legislative Committee with a recommendation for passage.

▶ 1:41:52 Francis X. Wright Jr.: Alderman Wright initially I'd like to move to add the correspondence that we received including those received through this evening with regards to the

▶ 1:42:00 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: ordinance Alderman Wright moves to add the email communications that we have received since our previous meeting to the order or the motion is seconded by Alderman Mortimer all in favor those will be attached second I'd like to move

▶ 1:42:17 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: for passage second a motion for passage of the order made by alderman wright and seconded by alderman mortimer on discussion alderman mcmaster thank you uh madam president i'd like to thank

▶ 1:42:26 Shawn M. MacMaster: alderman wright for filing this order i'd also like to thank members of the public who appeared before us this evening and also at our last meeting and i'd like to thank miss mcnail for her comprehensive answers to the questions that i emailed her prior to the last meeting i'm going to be brief because i anticipate that this order will pass this evening but i did want to make it clear for the record why i will be opposing it my concern with this order is that i'm afraid that it may be counterintuitive to its purpose although this order may reduce the use of plastic straws at restaurants in melrose what it won't do is change people's attitudes and belief systems about straws and plastic more generally put another way it won't change the

▶ 1:43:20 Shawn M. MacMaster: culture and i'm afraid that legislating this without more of a concerted effort to engage and educate members of the public and business owners and try to seek voluntary compliance

▶ 1:43:36 Shawn M. MacMaster: from them will only alienate them and i believe that when people are alienated their attitudes and their beliefs become hardened and an opportunity to affect change becomes lost so this order of past may change the behavior of customers in melrose but people will still use plastic straws when they eat at restaurants and neighboring communities and at home so any

▶ 1:44:00 Shawn M. MacMaster: law that is meant to be a values-based statement needs to begin with changing the culture and i don't believe that we have taken that step for these reasons i'll be voting against this order

▶ 1:44:14 Francis X. Wright Jr.: tonight thank you madam president thank you alderman wright thank you madam president um i just want to make sure it's clear i think everyone on this board understands it but to the extent the public doesn't this ordinance is in its simplest form intended that if you walk into a restaurant or any place where you're served a drink and I cup that doesn't automatically come with a plastic straw you can request the put you could walk into Dunkin Donuts and say I'd like an iced coffee and I'd like a straw like a plastic straw and you will get it as long as they're willing to provide it to you there's no prohibition no ban on straws it's just an opportunity to reduce in some way a level of plastic being used in our community plastic that is not recyclable plastic that often ends up in our gutters and in our parks but understanding that some people would still want them some people still need them people who have physical challenges often require a plastic straw so i would in no way want to prevent that they'll still be available there's no no ban on sale by shaw's or any of our convenience stores or anything like that so um this is no not intended to be a ban it's not intended to be a situation where if you don't get a straw they're going to give you something automatically that isn't plastic and be prohibited from giving you a plastic straw they can give you a plastic straw they can give you you know somebody indicated tonight they got something other than a plastic straw and they didn't like it well that isn't a result of anything that that that the community would require in melrose that that would be a choice of the establishment so i just want to clarify that to the extent there's any any um issue as to what it is that we'd be voting on tonight

▶ 1:46:05 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: thank you any further discussion alderman forbes thank you um i'm not going to get into my comments

▶ 1:46:09 Scott M. Forbes: that i made the other night i just want to say that i honestly feel that we could do the very same thing without an ordinance you can have a retail establishment offer plastic plastic straws and have them offer a paper straw alternative they could be presented to the consumer and nothing needs to be held behind the counter and the consumer can pick what they want putting something behind the counter and then asking for it it it shines a light on somebody and I don't think that we need that not in the community so for me you can do the very same thing that we're talking about without an ordinance and because of that I don't see a reason why I would need to support it because there are other ways to get to the same place without making an ordinance so for that reason I'm gonna vote no thank you any further discussion motion has been made and

▶ 1:47:04 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: seconded for passage as this is a new ordinance it does require eight all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Opposed. We have a show of hands on the on the opposed. May we have a

▶ 1:47:24 Speaker 5: roll call vote please? Alderman Bewtra? Yes. Alderman Boisselle? Yes. Alderman Forbes? No. Alderman Lipper-Garabedian? Yes. Alderman McMaster? No. Alderman Medeiros? No. Alderman Mortimer. Yes. Alderman Chairman Tozzi. Yes. Alderman Wright. Yes. Alderman Zwirko. Yes.