ORDER-2018-195 : Appointment of Aaron Beitman, 35 Leonard Road, to the Human Rights Commission for a three-year term; said term to expire on the last day of February 2021.

Transcript (~5 min @ 6:22)

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

▶ 6:08 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: madam chair second a motion to close public comment by alderman mortimer second by alderman Passed all in favor all right any opposed public comment is now closed as i mentioned we have five orders before us beginning with four appointments uh we will start with the first order 2018-195 appointment of aaron bateman 35 leonard road to the human rights commission for a three-year term said term to expire on the last day of february 2021. we have a motion to suspend the rules so moved second second the motion to spend the rules made by president Zwirko uh it's been seconded by alderman forbes all in favor aye aye any opposed this evening we do have with us the chair of the human rights commission adam lafrance we can invite him forward um and take each of the appointments one by one mr lafrance would you like to make an opening statement uh certainly

▶ 7:01 Speaker 2: thank you very much madam chairman uh very briefly um as folks are aware the human rights commission has 11 seats in the last year Thorp been some turnovers some terms that have completed we've had four open seats and abundant interest in joining the commission of those four seats we've had 15 applicants after a lengthy review and consideration and some very difficult decision making among 15 very excellent candidates four were advanced to nomination by the mayor's office to be presented to you for your consideration mindful of the the mission of the commission to

▶ 7:45 Speaker 2: ensure a an appropriate representation of a variety of backgrounds reflective of our community's diversity we hopefully met that charge also mindful of some of the aims of the Commission in the upcoming year or two to try and find an excellent balance of skills talents and perspectives I hope folks are find them

▶ 8:14 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: suitable thank you and we do have before us the appointment of Aaron Bateman so so we would like to invite him up as well. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. Would you like to start by telling the committee a little about yourself?

▶ 8:29 Speaker 3: Sure, I've lived in Melrose for two years. I currently work at the Department of Public Health within the Bureau of Family Health and Nutrition. One of the charges of the current leadership in this bureau is increasing racial equity and impact within the target population, which relates very much to the work that you know i hope to do with the melrose human rights commission i'm an active member of temple beth shalom here in melrose and excited about the role that the temple plays in social action initiatives around the city and elsewhere i'm very pleased to

▶ 9:07 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: uh to be here tonight with you thank you thank you very much your questions or comments from the committee.

▶ 9:12 Monica C. Medeiros: Alderman Medeiros. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Bateman. I was reading along with your letter of interest and your resume and, you know, quite an impressive background.

▶ 9:27 Monica C. Medeiros: I'm happy to see your attention to the Holocaust as an issue, especially as we see so many people who lived through that era passing away. I think it's very important to maintain, you know, awareness of that time and the historical

▶ 9:40 Monica C. Medeiros: events that happened so it doesn't happen again.

▶ 9:48 Monica C. Medeiros: I have to say I was a little bit taken aback by something in your letter, which is a little bit unusual for most of the members that I've seen come before us in the Human Rights Commission. You mentioned being the parent of children who will grow up under the long shadow of President Donald Trump and you know this is a ministerial Commission and you know

▶ 10:16 Monica C. Medeiros: Thorp at least a good third of the city here who who did vote for mr. Trump

▶ 10:22 Monica C. Medeiros: do you feel that you can it can treat those people fairly and equally in this

▶ 10:30 Speaker 3: role thank you very much for your question I before I started my job at DPH, I did work in the Baker administration, in the executive office for administration and finance, and so I have a background of being able to work with people from all kinds of different backgrounds, political persuasions, and so I feel strongly that I'll be able to represent everyone who requires representation, needs representation, desires representation as a member of the Human Rights Commission, but I appreciate your question.

▶ 11:00 Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you.

▶ 11:06 Speaker 1: Thank you.

▶ 11:16 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: committee. Motion to recommend. Second. We have a motion to recommend for passage made by Alderman Boisselle. Seconded by Alderman Tramontozzi. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? We will recommend your appointment at the next full board meeting, which, should we get through this evening, will be this evening. And you do not need to be there for that meeting unless you're asked to come back to answer more questions. I think they've made it for their time. Thank you. Thank you, sir. The second item and second appointment of the evening is 2018-196. The