PUBLIC COMMENT
Agenda original PDF
Minutes original PDF
aya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver III. PUBLIC COMMENT When: May 18, 2026 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Topic: Appropriations & Oversight Committee-Budget Hearing Meeting Join from PC, Mac, iPad, or Android: https://cityofmelrose- org.zoom.us/j/91329711764?pwd=NbNOYzt7Q3PzplhbaMgikSDg0s734s.1 Passcode:224249 Webinar ID: 913 2971 1764 Motion to Open public comment made by Chair Romanul at 7:02 PM Comments on the floor: Bob Driscoll, 33 Thurston Road, a retired firefighter, retired Air Force colonel and chairman of the Melrose Veterans Advisory Board, spoke in support of maintaining the Welcome Home veterans sign at City Hall. The sign is a symbol of correcting mistakes of the past and supporting all veterans in the future. There were no comments via Zoom. Motion to Close public comment made by Chair Romanul at 7:05 PM IV. DEPARTMENT BUDGET PRESENTATIONS A. Department Presenter n/a Revenues Overview 121 Mayor 543 Veteran Services 2607 Veteran Services Revolving Account 541 Council on Aging 2811
Transcript
▶ 0:00 Devin Romanul: Good evening. The time is 7:00 PM on Monday- Meeting in progress ... May 18th, 2026. This is a meeting of the Appropriations and Oversight Committee. My name is Devin Romanul. Also joining us this evening are Vice Chair Vandiver, Councilors Chen, Jamalooddin, Cole, Abramsky, Park, and President Freeman. This is a notice of quorum for the record. I'm loud today. In accordance with open meeting law, this meeting is being broadcast live on MMTV. At this time, I'll motion by unanimous consent to approve without reading the minutes from our most recent meeting on May 14th, 2026. Seeing no objection, those minutes are now approved. I'll now motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment. Seeing no objection, we are now open for public comment. This is the portion of the meeting where the public may speak on any items on tonight's agenda. Comments expressing other views on other matters are also welcome. Do we have anyone here for public comment?
▶ 1:05 Speaker 1: Good evening. Good evening. Let me just sign the form.
▶ 1:15 Devin Romanul: And for anyone joining us for public comment, please feel free to give us your name and address. Yeah.
▶ 1:25 Speaker 2: Good evening. My name is Robert Driscoll. I reside at 33 Thurston Road in Melrose. As I've told you before, I'm a retired Melrose firefighter, a retired Air Force colonel with 38 years of military service, and the chairman of the Melrose Veterans' Advisory Board for the past 21 years. Thank you for the opportunity to state my support for the Welcome Home sign here in the city of Melrose. I want to give a little history on the sign. It started 20 years ago under the administration of Mayor Dolan. There were many sons and daughters of Melrose returning from deployment supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. Mayor Dolan set out to work with the Veterans' Advisory Board and the city's two VFWs to ensure our returning veterans had the support they needed. We held job fairs at Memorial Hall. We passed real estate tax abatements for those deployed, held town halls with the VA to enroll members into the VA system, opened the doors providing free membership to the VFWs, and put on the lawn of City Hall a Welcome Home sign to let these veterans know their community was proud of their service and grateful they returned home. To our older veterans of World War II, Korea, and especially Vietnam, the sign was and is today a symbol of correcting mistakes of the past for when they returned from foreign lands, and they were ungraciously greeted when they returned home. John Webster, who's a Vietnam veteran and a former veteran service officer in Malden, told us when he was in Malden, he received many calls in his office asking why Malden did not have a Welcome Home sign. Melrose has always been a leader in the Commonwealth for taking care of its veterans. About three years ago, we found out that the Downtown Historic Commission had sign regulations for which the Welcome Home sign did not meet. We have been working with Mayor Gregoritis to meet these requirements. We are very much appreciative of the support from Mayor Jen, as well as Lauren, her chief of staff. As we work out the Historic Commission's requirements, we ask the support of the City Council to keep the Welcome Home sign part of Melrose's veteran history. Thank you.
▶ 3:49 Speaker 1: Thank you very much.
▶ 3:56 Speaker 1: Any other members of the public?
▶ 4:00 Speaker 1: All right. Do we have anybody online?
▶ 4:03 Speaker 3: No one online.
▶ 4:04 Devin Romanul: All right. Thank you so much. Well, at this time, I'll motion by unanimous consent to close the floor for public comment. Seeing no objections, we are now closed for public comment.