ORDER-2016-77 : Amending the revised Administrative Code in accordance with Section 5-1 of the Melrose City Charter to establish a Commission on Women in the City of Melrose.

Transcript (~11 min @ 18:17)

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▶ 17:58 John N. Tramontozzi: Seeing none, public participation is now closed. i think i failed to read the order didn't i maybe i'd better read it well um well actually no then we are beginning to right read the orders uh and i will read the order now order two zero one six dash seven seven is amending the revised administrative code in accordance with section five dash one of the marrow city charter to establish a commission on woman in the city of maros what is the just uh what is the wish of the committee we should recommend for passage Motion to recommend it for passage by Alderman Mortimer, seconded by Alderman Forbes. Before we have the vote, I just want to, we're going to hear from Alderman Lemmerman, of course. And if I could just have a moment of your time.

▶ 18:45 Speaker 1: Motion to suspend the rules?

▶ 18:46 John N. Tramontozzi: We will. Okay. All right. Sorry, Mr. Chairman. That's all right, we have a motion to suspend the rules by Alderman Forbes, seconded by Alderman Mortimer. All in favor of a motion to suspend the rules, I hear from Alderman Lemmerman, and we, all in favor? Aye. Great, any opposed? Point of order, Mr. Chairman, I don't think we have to suspend the rules. We don't have to. I don't know, to hear from our own colleagues. Well, before we begin that, there is a letter that was also submitted, and I'll just read that into the record. It's a letter submitted by Christina Petulis. Dear members of the Board of Aldermen, I write in support of the proposed formation of the Women's Commission here in Melrose. She's a resident of Redding Hill Avenue in Melrose. As a working mother with young children, it is important to me that Melrose be a place that considers and gives voice to all of its residents. As a member of the Melrose Human Rights Commission, I can attest that the Human Rights Commission's focus is extremely diverse and I believe that there is a need for a forum that will consider concerns exclusively related to women. The Women's Commission would allow the city to focus on the equal status of all women regardless of their race, ethnicity, educational background, socioeconomic status, or religion. A dedicated Women's Commission would allow for Melrose to focus on ensuring equal access and and status for women to pay, health, education, and social access, among others. The commission will act as a conduit for giving information and educating the citizens of Melrose on various local and state trends in equal pay for equal work, encouraging women to increase political participation and working to decrease the incidence of violence in the community. Again, I believe that Melrose needs a women's commission. I fully support its creation by the Board of Aldermen. Thank you sincerely, Christina Petroulis. Now we will hear from Alderman Lemmerman, please.

▶ 20:30 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to members of the committee for the opportunity to speak on this order as a non-voting member of this committee. I hope to provide just some background and some more detail on the vision for this order as you consider the potential for a Melrose Commission on Women. And before I get into that, I just do want to take a moment to thank Mayor Dolan and his administration for filing this order and for their strong support of this effort. as as members of this board know in order to create a commission in the city of Melrose according to the city charter there needs to be an administrative order submitted by the mayor so I approached mayor Dolan fully prepared to argue my case and there is no arguing needing to be done because he immediately saw the potential for this commission in the city so I do thank them for their work on that so just by way of a little bit of background the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women was created by the state legislature in 1998, and it's charged with, quote, advancing women toward full equality in all areas of life and to promoting rights and opportunities for all women. Now in order to support this mission, six county and regional commissions were established so that they could study and report on the status of women and girls in their geographical regions. These are Berkshire County, Bristol County, Cape and Islands, Essex County, Metro West, and Worcester County. as you can see this is none of these represent our community so individually nine cities and towns so far in the state have created municipal level commissions and these are to focus more specifically on the unique needs and circumstances of women and girls in their community Melrose here we pride ourselves as a city of boards and commissions with very active volunteers who are doing really great work in the community and we also have several bodies and organizations whose mission touched on critical areas that affect women and we heard from our public speaker on some of those Amara's Alliance against violence the Human Rights Commission birth to five but there's not currently a body in this city dedicated to providing a unified voice and a centralized uniting force to represent women's issues and to recognize and promote the many contributions that women have made in our city throughout our history should the order pass the seven commissioners as it's written would drive the activities and the focus of the Commission of course but I think one of the best ways to try to imagine the potential contributions of a board like this is to think about a seventh grade girl at the middle school right now she lives in a community with a rich history of strong women making an impact but does she really know who they are has she heard that in 1926 the first woman was elected to this board Mary Barrows and that she went on to represent us in the State House does she know that our city has a female firefighter and a female city engineer both making their marks and careers that were previously reserved for men has she felt compelled to contact any of the many women from local government up to the U.S. Senate who represent her and her family. And as she thinks forward to high school and beyond, does she have goals to join one of those professions maybe? And a commission like this could make some of those educational programs and awareness campaigns to make those connections for her. Maybe she hopes to become one of the women who make up just 10% of the CEOs in this state. In six years, while she's working hard at college to reach that goal, will she have access to the health care that she needs will she know the services available to her if she becomes one of the one in three women who will be a victim of physical sexual or emotional abuse when she graduates and begins her career will she know that she is likely to make about 80% of her male counterparts will she put off starting a family because she can't afford to take time off to pay for to care for her baby or will she worry that that leave will reflect poorly on her prospects for that promotion she's been looking for a morose Commission on women can serve to advocate on all of these critical issues and can give her a place to be a part of those discussions for me one of the most powerful things a potential Commission could do for a middle schooler like this is demonstrated in a program that's currently being organized in Brookline by their Commission on women every middle schooler chooses a woman he or she admires and writes an essay about her that student then brings that woman to a reception as their guest and explains to his or her peers why they chose that woman by participating in this program she will know that even with the challenges that face or she could find herself as a young woman's choice for this very same project decades down the road and that her community supports her to get there. So I ask for the Committee's support of this order and for a Melrose Commission on Women. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

▶ 24:57 Speaker 2: Very welcome. Well said.

▶ 25:00 Peter D. Mortimer: Thank you. Any further comments? Yes. Alderman Mortimer. Thank you very much. I made the motion to recommend this for passage and it was duly seconded because Alderman Lemon was not a member of this Committee. course I would have let her make that motion if she were a member of this committee and I'm very impressed almost moved moved to some extent by her comments regarding this order I'm very grateful to her and the mayor's office of putting it forward and I was in favor of it before I heard her speak just a moment ago but she really hit home with me because I have a daughter who is a seventh grader at Melrose middle school and when she used that example it became crystal clear to me how wonderful the formation of this commission will be because of course we all want the best for all the youth of the city of Melrose but when they when it was that specific it really it really plucked the strings of my heart thank you very much very welcome any further discussion of all

▶ 26:04 John N. Tramontozzi: Alderman Zwerchel.

▶ 26:08 Michael P. Zwirko: Yeah, I also wanted to just echo what Peter said. I think Jennifer did a very, Alderman Lemmerman, rather, excuse me, did a very good job of explaining the importance of this order. And I also want to say that I think she spotted a void in our community, but it's not a void that's in our lives. Women play a central role in our society. Most families now have both parents are working. That leads to stresses on the home's life, also with finances as well because time is also stretched thin I appreciate that this committee Commission rather is going to look into these issues I think it's important for the city to have this discussion I look forward to supporting it and I think that it's by no mistake that Alderman Lemmerman is championing this issue because I know how deeply serious it is for her and I look forward to the work that's going to come out of that Commission as well very good

▶ 27:00 Monica C. Medeiros: Alderman Medeiros thank you I just had a question that came up today for if you could please pass this on to the mayor for their full board meeting I'm just wondering if you know obviously we were in the middle of a fiscal year right now if in the upcoming budget if it's anticipated that this commission will have a financial budget assigned to it and if so how much is projected we can

▶ 27:31 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: into that thank you yes alderman mcintyre my goal is so i'm not a member of this committee but um i'll be really looking forward to supporting this at the full board and thanking alderman lemmerman for picking up the mantle and carrying it forward um as a advocate many many years ago for women's rights um i've been a little a little disheartened late little lately because i felt like you know the sort of the new generation of women wasn't really as into the advocacy I'm so happy that Miss Kennedy came and spoke to us publicly tonight about all the thoughts and dreams that she has that align with with this for you and I thank you for picking up the mantle for the next generation and going forward it's a great idea thank you any further discussion the

▶ 28:18 John N. Tramontozzi: first time I think Alderman Lemon will have the final thank you mr. chairman I

▶ 28:25 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: just wanted the opportunity to respond to Alderman Medeiros this question is a discussion that I've had with the administration I do plan to submit a request for a small line item in the budget for this that would reflect similar to the Human Rights Commission it would it would go toward professional services and supplies I believe there's just $3,000 and it seems to be on par

▶ 28:50 Speaker 2: with our boards and commissions thank you thank you any further discussion

▶ 28:54 John N. Tramontozzi: seeing none we do have a motion to recommend on the floor all in favor aye any policy and then that moment so the order will be recommended to the full board at the next full board meeting the next order on the agenda is order 2016 dash 80 amending the rules of order of the Board of Aldermen by adding rule 53 as set forth herein uh this is an order that's sponsored by uh vice chairman of the this uh committee francis wright and it's you the floor is yours alderman wright thank you mr chairman um