APPT-2025-16 : Appointment of Tanji Cifuni as Melrose City Clerk for a three-year term ending December 2027.

Transcript (~11 min @ 34:22)

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▶ 34:21 Maya Jamaleddine: Awesome. Thank you so much Appreci. Appreciate it Madam Mayor. Um, and next we have Id number 12 24 7 appointment of Tangi Uni as Meru City, uh, clerk for a three year term ending December, 2027.

▶ 34:48 Maya Jamaleddine: You took off one hat and you're putting another hat now. Welcome and thank you, um, for stepping up. Uh, we appreciate the work that you did prior of taking on, uh, any, uh, role. And the floor is yours.

▶ 35:03 Speaker 2: Okay, great. Thank you everybody. It's been a pleasure work and with all of you for the last couple of months. It feels like it's been a lot longer than that, but, um, I kind of got thrown into a, a whirlwind over here, but it was a pleasure to step in and it's been so fun. And, um, I had an amazing, um, you know, they always say it takes a village and I had a lot of amazing villages all around, so you should all be really proud of everybody in Melrose because everybody really stepped up, um, to help me and, and to help the community get through a very, um, large election. And so it was, it was really overwhelming. Um, but I have to be honest, it went really, really well. And I'm proud of myself and, and, and the team. And then I was extremely nervous after it was over if we were going to be sele, um, selected to be audited, and of course we were. Um, but that went perfect. Um, so that was all great too. And, um, yeah, so now we've, we're moving forward with the, um, with the census and that's all out to print and we'll be throwing those out, uh, in the mail like the first week in January. So we've just like moved on. But it's been a pleasure so far. Um, I know at the beginning it was a little rough with working with all of you as with the city council 'cause I was focusing more on the election stuff. Um, but now that that's behind me, um, it's, it's been a pleasure to work with all of you. And and thank you for your patience, um, with helping me get through all of the steps and learning all the software. But, um, I've made a lot of progress with that and, um, yeah, I really look forward to, um, to this new journey.

▶ 36:38 Maya Jamaleddine: Awesome. Thank you. Do, um, councilor Stewart.

▶ 36:43 Robb Stewart: Thank you, Madam Chairman of Chair. Um, if you have seen, um, and through the chair of the councilors, um, we have put together a, a a summary of the the city clerk recommendation. Um, we wrote this up, uh, with input from Council gpe and President Melli and her wonderful, um, editing skills. So thank you. Um, so what we did, we had, uh, a Zoom meeting with the three of us that chatted with, um, Ms. Uni. And, uh, we, we, uh, discussed a number of different areas. Um, just to summarize, we talked about, uh, her qualifications and relevant experience. Uh, she highlighted, um, the various roles that she played both within, uh, with Winthrop as well as, uh, some of her positions in HR and, uh, with a legal firm. We talked about, uh, her ability to support day-to-day activities. Uh, she, uh, I think well represented herself in her interim period, uh, and we feel quite comfortable with that. Uh, we talked about meeting the multiple demands of time, um, and she expressed both, uh, historically how she's done this, as well as, uh, some of the pressing events that we had recently. So, uh, that was, um, quite aptly, uh, served. I, uh, we talked about her ability to handle confidential information. Uh, she worked in the mortgage industry for several years, and she's quite familiar with handling sensitive information as well as, uh, uh, her situations in the public role. Um, we talked about the technology background and her comfort level. Um, and she, uh, I, I think aptly demonstrated how quickly she came up to speed on I QM two and the related services that we have. Uh, she talked a little bit about also, uh, some of the systems that she had to set up when she was in Winthrop. Uh, most notably the Ferry Online payment, uh, program that she, she, uh, managed to oversee and, and get work in. Uh, and then finally, in terms of hiring and managing staff, uh, she has been doing this for, uh, a number of years as well. She ran the HR department in Winthrop, uh, or helped she, she helped build the HR department and so did a lot of hiring. She also managed the whole ferry, uh, team, uh, onboarding. So overall, uh, we feel that, um, she's an excellent fit for the role of city clerk. Um, and we, uh, look forward to, uh, um, hearing the support and, um, and, uh, any, any other questions. So, thank you Madam Chair.

▶ 39:14 Speaker 9: Thank, thank you. Any other

▶ 39:16 Maya Jamaleddine: counselor? Madam President.

▶ 39:21 Leila Migliorelli: Madam Chair. Thank you. Um, and through the chair to the, uh, council, I've had the good fortune of, um, serving as Ms. Uni's, uh, interim manager as, um, she had got up to speed in this role in a very quick period of time. And, um, you know, enjoyed serving on the hiring committee with counselors Gar Pay and Stewart, and was, I think, not only through her interview, but, um, and working with her, and then also hearing from other, um, community members about her professionalism. Um, you know, her ability to relate well to people. Um, I think even most importantly to her ability to, um, spot talents in others and help manage them appropriately. That was an overwhelming, um, positive thing I heard about Ms. Uni, especially in this election, which, um, was a gigantic task, um, that she was thrown into. And I thought, I felt very, um, you know, comforted and proud to hear how the election process went, um, how people really felt like they were a part of it. And it all went incredibly smoothly, which is just really, really big. And I think, um, in hearing her past experience, the, the her, the thing that struck me was that she was asked to not only the, the pieces that Councilor Stewart mentioned about the ferry business, but that she, she basically launched the ferry business in Winthrop without having any sort of knowledge. And she figured out how to do it, how to work with the right people and get an entire new business and project up and running. And I feel like heading into this next phase of the city clerk's office where we are, you know, hopefully going to be modernizing things, I think Ms. Uni has an eye to that, um, and will know how to run that office, um, and help take it to the next level. So, um, I just wanted to say, you know, in working with her over these last few months, um, uh, has been a pleasure. And I'm really looking forward to, um, you know, uh, recommending her or appointing her and, um, having her get started on the full-time role. Thank you. So thank you. Thank

▶ 41:32 Maya Jamaleddine: You. Thank you. Uh, councilor Gpe.

▶ 41:35 Mark Garipay: Thank you. Uh, Madam Chair, I just, um, wanna, um, reiterate what my fellow counsels have, have said. Um, I think, uh, Ms. Um, Tangi has the, uh, has the right, uh, temperament for that office. Um, very outgoing. It's, um, I think sometimes we forget, we're still in the people business in City Hall, and it's, um, it's, uh, when you walk into the office, um, it's just, um, you know, there's a lot of, uh, lot of excitement. Um, and I think, uh, I think that's impressed me along with what, um, you, you stepping into a role on an interim basis during some of the, um, 10, some of the toughest times, um, handling election and, and really not skipping a beat, helping and supporting us on the council. Um, so I'm, uh, I'm proud of support this, uh, this,

▶ 42:30 Speaker 3: uh, recommendation.

▶ 42:31 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you. Thank you, counselor Chetty.

▶ 42:35 Manjula Karamcheti: Um, I was not a member of the committee, uh, that put this forward, but I just, one wanted to say that I've definitely appreciated your positive can do attitude, um, and it's been a delight getting to know you, and I'm really excited about this. And I guess my question is, since you're working with all of us, what can we do to support you in your role? Um, and if you don't have anything now, that's totally fine, but just would love to, you know, have the lines of communication open. But if you can think of anything, things we can do to support you and your role, which is high level, intense community facing, um, and has a variety of complex responsibilities,

▶ 43:16 Speaker 2: Well know that I'm always available and I'll always get back to all of you. So, open communication at any time. I'll need to get all of your cell numbers. I think I only have some. Um, but yeah, I'm, I'm always gonna be available and I would just appreciate like, open communication with all of you too, like, in a timely manner, because obviously, as we all know, there's tight timelines that we have to get everything in. So, um, but yeah, it's been a pleasure so far, so thank you very much.

▶ 43:41 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you. Thank you. Any other question from my colleagues?

▶ 43:49 Maya Jamaleddine: And, um, I just wanna share my story, uh, since you started your take on the interim position. Um, every time I come to you and ask, uh, you know, wanted to ask how is it going or, and, and I know that, you know, probably when we went through the election, I have my hands on my hearts, and that's, uh, uh, an Arabic saying because I don't know, uh, like I'm expecting it's gonna be, you know, difficult, uh, especially with the rule during the time, difficult time that you took on. And you, your answer make me feel so assured that you got this. And you, you have, you are handling things and you're on top on everything. So I do appreciate that, uh, coming from you, um, and that, uh, you know, give me, uh, a lot of, uh, hope and, uh, and, uh, reassurance that you really know what you're stepping into. So God bless. But thank you so much.

▶ 44:50 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you. Uh, appreciate it. What is the will of the committee motion to recommend?

▶ 44:57 Maya Jamaleddine: Second, we have a motion to recommend made by President Melli, seconded by, uh, councilor Mano, uh, on discussion, seeing none.

▶ 45:09 Maya Jamaleddine: All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Motion carries. Woo. Congrats. Thank you. Thank you so much.

▶ 45:26 Speaker 2: Should I do a roll call? No. Okay.

▶ 45:29 Speaker 9: You got it now.

▶ 45:31 Maya Jamaleddine: Um, um, with this, uh, includes, um, all the orders on our agenda and, uh, all the items on our agenda, I will entertain. Motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Second, we, we have a motion to adjourn made by Councilor Kram Shetti, seconded by Councillor Stewart on discussion. Seeing none. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? We adjourn. Woohoo.