Acceptance of the FY2025 Emergency Management Performance Grant in the amount of $5,850.00
Agenda original PDF
Minutes original PDF
A. (ID # 2026-1529): Acceptance of the FY2025 Emergency Management Performance Grant in the amount of $5,850.00 Councilor Kowal raised initial concerns about language in the contract related to immigration and DE&I issues, but confirmed after speaking with Shannon Phillips, city solicitor, that these concerns had been addressed through guidance from the AG's office. It was clarified that Article 63 in the contract applies to Massachusetts and strikes all of the immigration-focused language in the contract. In terms of the DE&I, because of the type of contract that it is, the DE&I language does not apply. Councilor Vandiver brought up a different issue last time, which was whether we would be repaid, given issues with other grants. She had not done any follow-up. Motion to Recommend made by President Freeman Seconded by Councilor Jamaleddine Motion passed, with Councilor Williams voting Present RESULTS: ACCEPTED (7 Yes, 1 Present) TO: City Council AYES: Jason Chen, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver 2 NAYS: None PRESENT: Ryan Williams ABSENT: Cal Finocchiaro, Manjula Karamcheti, Christopher Park V. ADJOURNMENT Motion to Adjourn by unanimous consent made by Chair Romanul at 7:22 pm All were in favor and meeting was adjourned 3 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS | STANDARD CONTRACT FORM This form is jointly issued and published by the Office of the Comptroller, the Executive Office for Administration and Finance, and the Operational Services Division as the default contract for all Commonwealth Departments when another form is not prescribed by regulation or policy. The Commonwealth deems void any changes made on or by attachment (in the form of addendum, engagement letters, contract forms or invoice terms) to the terms in this published form or to the Standard Contract Form Instructions and Contractor Certifications, the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions, the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions for Human and Social Services, or the Commonwealth IT Terms and Conditions which are incorporated by reference herein. Additional non-conflicting terms may be added by Attachment. Contractors are required to access forms at macomptroller.org/forms or mass.gov/lists/osd-forms. CONTRACTOR INFORMATION COMMONWE
Transcript
▶ 1:05 Devin Romanul: No. All right. Everyone's on vacation. If there's no objection, I will motion by unanimous consent to close public comment. Seeing none, public comment is now closed. All right. Our one and only agenda item this evening is Grant ID number 2026-1529, acceptance of the FY 2025 Emergency Management Performance Grant in the amount of $5,850. Joining us this evening is Chief White.
▶ 1:38 Speaker 3: Good evening.
▶ 1:41 Speaker 3: I come ahead to ask you folks to accept the 2025 EMPG Grant for Emergency Management for $5,850, I believe.
▶ 1:57 Speaker 3: Any questions?
▶ 2:00 Speaker 1: Up first, I have Councilor Kowal.
▶ 2:02 Elizabeth Kowal: Thanks, Chief. So, I raised some issues last week about concerns about language in the contract, specifically as it related to immigration issues as well as DE&I issues, and I spoke with and also heard from Shannon Phillips, and that has alleviated any concerns that I had, that they will not be an issue in the contract. They have either been stricken from the contract and/or there is guidance from the AG's office that we can go forward with these contracts. So, I have no further concerns about the language in the contract.
▶ 2:38 Speaker 1: Any other councilors? Councilor Williams?
▶ 2:40 Ryan Williams: No. I was just- Oh, sorry. Just to be clear- Well, since I've been appointed, I'll thank Councilor Kowal because I wasn't here, and so that was a big concern I had as well. And through the chair, would like to know, I heard what Councilor Kowal said, but the contract's been amended. We don't have the amended contract in the agenda portal, I assume, but it can be put in there maybe or...
▶ 3:08 Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. And perhaps Chief White, is that something that you would be able to speak to?
▶ 3:13 Speaker 3: I spoke with Shannon Phillips this afternoon about this, and she did reiterate what she told Councilor Kowal, that there's a clause at the very end of it basically saying for the purposes that we applied for it, all those stipulated things we have to agree to don't apply for this grant that I'm asking for.
▶ 3:38 Speaker 1: Terrific. And Councilor Kowal, do you have any other-
▶ 3:40 Elizabeth Kowal: Yeah, certainly. Mr. President, there is language. It's Article 63 in the contract. It looks like it's Illinois, applies to Illinois contracts. If you dig into that, it's actually cases that have also applied to Massachusetts and others. So, that strikes all of the immigration-focused language in the contract. So, that takes care of that. In terms of the DE&I, because this is the type of contract that it is, that DE&I language does not apply to this type of contract. And so, I do have an email from Councilor Phillips, which I can share to that extent. Mm. So, even if they wanted to have it apply, it does not apply to this contract.
▶ 4:20 Devin Romanul: Terrific. Thank you for the clarification. Appreciate it. Any other councilors have commentary or questions that they'd like to share? Vice Chair Vandiver.
▶ 4:27 Kimberly Vandiver: I'll just repeat since it was-- I brought up a different issue last time, which was whether we would be repaid, given issues with other grants. I've not done any follow-up. If any other councilors have anything to add about that, that would be helpful. But, that's probably a comparatively smaller concern than the other one that was brought up.
▶ 4:48 Devin Romanul: So, I think what is the will of the committee?
▶ 4:53 Speaker 4: President Freeman. Motion to recommend.
▶ 4:55 Devin Romanul: Second. Motion to recommend made by President Freeman, seconded by Councilor Jamaleddine. On discussion?
▶ 5:02 Speaker 1: Seeing none. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?
▶ 5:05 Speaker 2: Yes. Vice Chair Vandiver? Councilor Chen? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Kowal? Yes. Councilor Obremski? Yes. Councilor Williams?
▶ 5:17 Speaker 5: Present.
▶ 5:19 Speaker 2: President Freeman? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes.
▶ 5:24 Devin Romanul: Okay. This motion passes. Motion passes and will be referred to our next city council meeting, which starts in approximately 23 minutes. That being our last item on our agenda, I'll now motion by unanimous consent to adjourn. Seeing no objections, we are now adjourned.