Public Participation

Transcript (~14 min @ 1:24)

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

▶ 1:13 Peter D. Mortimer: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

▶ 1:26 Speaker 2: Our meeting this evening, as with all of our meetings, is being recorded pursuant to Chapter 30A, the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law, and will be rebroadcast on local Melrose cable television.

▶ 1:37 Peter D. Mortimer: Motion to open the floor for public participation, Mr. President. Second.

▶ 1:41 Speaker 2: Alderman Mortimer moves that we open the floor for public participation. The motion is seconded by Alderman Boisselle. On the motion, all those in favor? Aye. Anyone opposed? Motion passes. This is the portion of our meeting where any member of the public who wishes to speak can come forward to the table in the center of the room sign their name and address and they can discuss any item that is on our agenda this evening good evening my

▶ 2:15 Jennifer McAndrew: name is Jen McAndrew I live at 12 Sears Ave and I'm here in strong support of order 2015 dash 157 the override order my husband and I have lived in Melrose for nine years and we have three children in the public schools first I want to thank you for you your unanimous vote at last week's Appropriations committee hearing I agree with you that the residents of Melrose deserve the right to vote on this important issue I personally support this override because I believe the Melrose public schools need the proposed positions to continue to move forward this year at the request of the school committee superintendent tamer laid out a growth budget that described a clear vision for continuous improvement supported by important positions including a director of instructional technology more classroom positions enhanced instructional coaching and essential increases for curriculum materials and professional development but current resources did not allow for the full funding of that vision and so the school committee voted to endorse the educational value of these positions while also acknowledging that it could not fully fund them this year simply put adding these needed positions will require new funding that can only be achieved with a budget override I also support the override because it will fill the current gap in school spending what's referred to as the structural deficit several members of this board have advocating putting an end to this fiscal practice and I agree operationally the school should not have to depend on a supplemental budget each year to meet the needs of students and educators eliminating that practice is the responsible thing to do and it allow Melrose the flexibility we need to plan invest and grow responsibly and that's not just for the schools but for other city departments as well finally let me add that I do not believe that passing a budget override will solve every challenge our city will face it does not preclude the school committee and this board from making spending decisions as circumstances demand nor does it lessen the responsibility for continued thoughtful fiscal oversight by this board and all elected and appointed officials and it certainly will not eliminate every hard choice in the future but neither should this proposal be dismissed as frivolous excess we can't predict the future but we do know this before us we have an important reasonable and well-developed proposal one that is informed by a public process of elected officials that makes investments that we all know are needed now it will benefit our kids our community and our home values and so I ask not only for your support to move the question to the ballot but also encourage you to personally advocate this much-needed investment in the city we all love thank you thank you is there

▶ 5:02 Speaker 1: anybody else who wishes to speak this evening hi I'm Sarah Desmond of 68

▶ 5:18 Speaker 1: Walton Park I am here on behalf of my family and strong support of order 2015 dash 157 I have two girls in the Melrose public school system one at Roosevelt one at the ECC my husband and I moved to Melrose nine years ago before we had children because it offered us a vibrant community and abundance of recreation and great access to Boston where both my husband and I work I'm a public I'm a I am a public school educator with over 15 years of experience teaching English language arts. I am currently an instructional coach in Cambridge and Somerville and work with new and developing teachers on curriculum design and instruction, classroom management, and the day-to-day implementation of lesson plans. As such, I have a unique perspective on what it means to serve our children well in the academic and social emotional arenas. The school in which I teach is considered a leader in its field for innovation and education. It focuses on student-centered and constructivist pedagogy, which aims for students to create meaning through things like project-based learning and accountable talk. It focuses on building relationships among teachers and peers in order to create a sense of sustained community. I believe deeply in these principles. And as an instructional coach, I am committed to building teachers' strategies and skills so that they can live out these principles in the classroom. But that's not the challenge. The challenge is this. In order to live out any vision, those involved in the vision must first be committed to the foundation and resources that support it. I believe the citizens of Melrose are committed to their public schools and some version of a vision that allows every student to fully realize his or her potential. As such, we have a responsibility to support and override that would allow Melrose to respond to the student influx, to increase the number of teachers and paraprofessionals that keep student to teacher ratios low and allow for the co-teaching and facilitation that is necessary for differentiation in the classroom. We need to meet the needs and leverage our increasingly savvy and tech engaged students through additional media technology and STEM funding while understanding the tremendous importance and power of the arts. Finally and perhaps most importantly without investing in our teachers we cannot bring to life any component of the vision for it is our teachers who bring this vision to life the research shows that above all other school factors teacher effectiveness has the single greatest impact on individual student achievement great teachers want to teach in our district we need to provide them with the opportunity to grow and develop their practice because every child deserves a highly effective teacher the addition of an instructional coach will allow teachers to do just that it is imperative that we continue to grow the Melrose public school system by making it both an attractive place for highly qualified teachers to work and for families to send their children by voting yes to support order 2015 157 you will be taking the first step in investing long term in the sustainability of our public school system I have tremendous faith in the Melrose community and its aldermen that they understand just how critical it is to invest in the public schools that continue to make this city one of the most attractive in the metro area given my line of work I can be a tough critic about the education of my children my two girls are enjoying a fabulous public school education I am proud to be a Melrose school public school family please vote yes to endorse the override

▶ 8:48 Speaker 2: order thank you thank you does anyone else wish to speak motion to

▶ 8:54 Peter D. Mortimer: close public this gentleman's coming forward I will draw the motion for now

▶ 9:17 Speaker 7: my name is Richard Chase I've been a resident in Melrose for 21 years my

▶ 9:23 Speaker 7: feeling is that we have a bunch of bumper stickers on cars and signs that say Melrose is open to all and that's a good idea when we moved here this was a community of lower middle-class people wealthy people working-class people and poor people it is ceasing to be that and if you vote for this override you will will encourage this town to become more like Dover or Newton or Brookline where it is not welcome to all where it's just for the wealthy so if you're going to

▶ 10:00 Speaker 7: vote for this override change the signs and change the bumper stickers because it will become a town only for the rich now a lot of things are being said about

▶ 10:15 Speaker 7: about the school system, which has gotten better over the years. But I'm paying 80% more taxes this year than when I moved here. And that's way above the rate of inflation.

▶ 10:32 Speaker 7: Also we've been told that all these projects in town, which increased the population, Stone Fidelity, Tremont Street, the Deering Lumber Company should help, but it's at this time when all of these are being built or completed that you're asking for more taxes. And make no mistake, this will not be a one-year tax increase. It'll be a continual increase every year that a budget comes up. Now I've been

▶ 11:01 Speaker 7: paying increased taxes every year, so what we're really talking about here is not an increase but an increase of the increase now I have I walk around town I

▶ 11:13 Speaker 7: see every day or every week another truck or vehicle or car that says city of Melrose on it with a city employee driving it and I asked myself why are there so many more now than there used to be I would like it if the mayor and

▶ 11:35 Speaker 7: the alderman could tell us how many more vehicles and employees the city has since the Dolan administration took power and you can set aside the recycling in the garbage because that's all been farmed out but it does seem to me that when the tax bill comes and there's that pie and what the city spends it on 25% of it goes to employee benefits or some very large amount I'm not surprised if in fact we are employing more people and more vehicles

▶ 12:11 Speaker 7: and more this and that I think that if this thing were to go through there would be no limit on what taxes can go up to and it will be a disincentive to people trying to move into town who are not wealthy and it will drive certain people out of this town and I use the word town instead of city because it still feels to me a bit like a town maybe a big town but I've liked Melrose but I think it's also going in a wrong direction sometimes we have a mayor who

▶ 12:45 Speaker 7: has just gotten a very hefty salary and if he wants to switch jobs with me I'll do it for half the price and that will save you a bit of money and we have police who are getting a hundred and thirty thousand dollars a year and I'm

▶ 12:59 Speaker 7: being asked and other people are being asked all over the city to pay their salary and make donations to them and a lot of people in this city are making

▶ 13:16 Speaker 7: fifteen thousand dollars a year a lot of people so that seems wrong to me if this country is heading towards a big divide between the wealthy and the rest of everybody else does Melrose have to jump on that bandwagon this has worked for all the time it's been implemented it is a way to keep costs in line and if the mayor is concerned that he doesn't have enough police or he's paying too much police overtime then why when the road construction was done on Main Street Franklin Street and Lebanon Street why did it take six or seven months to do that with the police being paid for six or seven months for overtime for construction duty if that project had

▶ 14:02 Speaker 7: been completed in half the time you'd have half the police cost too it seems to me that contractors should be required to end their project at a certain time and I don't want to hear about the snow we have snow every year

▶ 14:27 Speaker 7: so I'm not used to public speaking that much but I would say this that it's the job of the alderman to say no sometimes for every new project or every new idea that somebody comes up with our school system is good and I think it will continue to become good but also cost containment is of issue and good teaching can be done without a bigger salary so I would ask you to vote

▶ 14:58 Speaker 7: against this because there are too many reasons why this has worked well for all the time that's been implemented and thank you thank you sir anyone else who

▶ 15:13 Peter D. Mortimer: would like to speak now I will make that motion to close public participation mr.

▶ 15:17 Speaker 2: president I've been Mortimer moves to conclude public participation the motion is seconded by Alderman Inferno on the motion all those in favor anyone