← City Council Caucus · 2025-12-01 · City Council Caucus Meeting 12/1
Nomination of a President for the Year 2026 Pursuant to Rule 57 of the City Council Rules of Order
Agenda original PDF
Minutes original PDF
i. (ID # 2025-779): Nomination of a President for the Year 2026 Pursuant to Rule 57 of the City Council Rules of Order Motion to Nominate Councilor-Elect Freeman made by Councilor Jamaleddine Seconded by Councilor-Elect Chen Motion to Nominate Councilor Williams made by Councilor Romanul Seconded by Councilor Vandiver Without objections, nominations were closed by Chair Cifuni All were in favor and nominations were closed Roll call vote was taken for each Councilor's Nominee Choice. Attendee Name Title Nominee Jason Chen Councilor-Elect At-Large Councilor-Elect Freeman Cal Finocchiaro Ward 6 Councilor Williams William Bradley Freeman Ward 4 Councilor-Elect Freeman Councilor-Elect Maya Jamaleddine At-Large Councilor-Elect Freeman Manjula Karamcheti Ward 1 Councilor Williams Elizabeth Kowal Councilor-Elect At-Large Councilor-Elect Freeman John Obremski Ward 2 Councilor-Elect Freeman Christopher Park Councilor-Elect Ward 3 Councilor-Elect Freeman Devin Romanul Ward 7 Councilor Williams Kimberly Vandiver Ward 5 Councilor Williams Ryan Williams At-Large Councilor Williams Councilor-Elect Freeman received 6 votes Councilor Williams received 5 votes The Chair declared that upon the vote of the members present that Councilor-Elect Freeman has 2 been duly nominated by the members of this Caucus to be the newly elected president of the Melrose City Council for the year 2026. According to the rules of the City Council, the term will become effective upon formal election at Council's organizational meeting on January 5th (afterward changed to 12th), 2026. IV. ADJOURNMENT The City of Melrose does not discriminate based on disability and is committed to hosting accessible meetings and events. Individuals with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication, written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures, in order to access the programs and activities of the City of Melrose or to attend meetings, should contactthe City’s ADA Coordinator, Polina Latta platta@cityofmelrose.org. Motion to Adjourn made by Councilor Romanul at 7:25 PM Seconded by Councilor Karamcheti All were in favor and meeting was adjourned 3 MELROSE CITY COUNCIL RULES OF ORDER Adopted January 6, 2025 Amended February 4, 2025 1 | P a g e Contents OVERVIEW ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 RULES OF ORDER ......................................................................................................................................... 4 PRESIDENT ................................................................................................................................................. 4 CITY CLERK AND ASSISTANT CITY CLERK ....................................................................................... 5 CLERK OF COMMITTEES ......................................................................................................................... 6 RIGHTS A
Transcript
▶ 3:05 Speaker 3: Yes. Councilor Elect Park. Yes. Councilor Romanul. Yes. Councilor Vandiver. Yes. Councilor Williams. Yes.
▶ 3:15 Speaker 2: Thank you. We will now proceed to the business of nominating a council president for City Council for the year of 2026. Is there a motion to open the floor for nominations?
▶ 3:27 Speaker 5: I'll make a motion to open the floor for nominations. Second.
▶ 3:33 Speaker 2: I'm sorry, who's seconding that? Councilor Romanul? Yeah.
▶ 3:38 Speaker 2: Motion by Councilor Karam Chetty, seconded by Councilor Romanul. Roll call, please.
▶ 3:45 Speaker 3: Councilor Elect Chen. Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro. Yes. Councilor Elect Freeman. Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine. Yes. Councilor Karam Chetty. Yes. Councilor Elect Cal. Yes. Councilor Abramski.
▶ 3:59 Speaker 4: Yes.
▶ 4:00 Speaker 3: Councilor Elect Park. Yes. Councilor Romanul. Yes. Councilor Vandiver. Yes. Councilor Williams. Yes.
▶ 4:06 Speaker 2: Okay, great. Nominations are now open for council president. Anybody can step up and nominate. That nomination will need to get a second.
▶ 4:18 Speaker 2: Councilor Ja- Thank you. Uh, Councilor Jamaleddine.
▶ 4:21 Maya Jamaleddine: Would like to n- nominate, uh, William Freeman.
▶ 4:28 Maya Jamaleddine: I would like to m- make a motion to nominate William Freeman.
▶ 4:32 Speaker 2: Yeah, motion, so, so, um, Councilor Jamaleddine makes a motion to nominate counc- um, Councilor Elect Freeman. Seconding?
▶ 4:42 Speaker 4: I will second.
▶ 4:44 Speaker 2: Seconded by Councilor Elect Chen.
▶ 4:53 Speaker 2: Are there any other further nominations? Councilor Romanul.
▶ 4:57 Devin Romanul: I'd like to make a motion to nominate Mr. Ryan Williams.
▶ 5:00 Speaker 4: Second.
▶ 5:07 Speaker 2: Sorry, I have to write this stuff down.
▶ 5:10 Speaker 3: Who seconded it? I did.
▶ 5:12 Speaker 2: Thank you. And seconded by Councilor V- Vandiver. Okay, so that second one was, um, nomination for Councilor Williams by Councilor Romanul and seconded by Councilor Vandiver. Are there any other further nominations?
▶ 5:33 Speaker 2: Hearing no objections, nominations are now closed.
▶ 5:37 Speaker 3: Recording in progress.
▶ 5:41 Speaker 2: We'd like to do a roll call to close nominations. Madame Clerk.
▶ 5:46 Speaker 3: Councilor Elect Chen. Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro. Yes. Councilor Elect Freeman. (clears throat) Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine. Yes. Councilor Karam Chetty. Yes. Councilor Elect Cal. Yes. Councilor Abramski.
▶ 5:59 Speaker 4: Yes.
▶ 6:00 Speaker 3: Councilor Elect Park. Yes. Councilor Romanul. Yes. Councilor Vandiver. Yes. Councilor Williams.
▶ 6:07 Speaker 4: Yes.
▶ 6:10 Speaker 2: Thank you. So we have two nominations for president. We have Councilor Freeman, and we have Councilor Williams.
▶ 6:21 Speaker 2: Under council rules, the election process for nominating a president is by roll call vote. When called on by Clerk Adriane Moore, each member will state the name of the person for whom they vote or state that they decline to vote. Six votes will be necessary for someone to be nominated as president.
▶ 6:46 Speaker 2: At this time, we will... At this time, um, we will ask Madame Clerk to go around the room and just state their names- In this order? In this order. Okay. In this order. And they will state out loud who they are choosing, and we will document it, okay?
▶ 7:05 Speaker 4: Councilor Elect Chen. Councilor Elect Freeman.
▶ 7:08 Speaker 3: Councilor Finocchiaro. Councilor Williams. Councilor Elect Freeman.
▶ 7:13 Speaker 4: Councilor Elect Freeman.
▶ 7:17 Maya Jamaleddine: Councilor Jamaleddine. Councilor Elect, uh, Freeman.
▶ 7:22 Speaker 5: Councilor Karamcheti. Councilor Williams.
▶ 7:24 Speaker 3: Councilor Elect Kowal. Councilor Elect Freeman. Councilor Abramski.
▶ 7:30 Speaker 4: Councilor Elect Freeman.
▶ 7:33 Speaker 3: Councilor Elect Park.
▶ 7:38 Speaker 3: Councilor Elect Freeman. Councilor Romanul. Councilor Williams. Councilor Vandiver. Councilor Williams. Councilor Williams. Councilor Williams.
▶ 7:46 Speaker 6: (clears throat)
▶ 7:51 Speaker 3: I count six for Councilor Elect Freeman, five for Councilor Williams.
▶ 8:14 Speaker 2: Okay. So, the clerk, Clerk Moore, just stated that there were five for Councilor Williams and six votes for Councilor Elect Freeman. The chair declares, upon the vote of the members present, that the winner of, of the, uh, or I should say the duly nominated president for the Melrose City Council for the year of 2026 will be Councilor Elect Freeman. According to the rules of the city council, the term will become effective upon formal election at council's organizational meeting on January 5th, 2025. I have not determined that time yet. I will actually have to work that time out with Councilor Elect Freeman, so you and I will be working together over the course of the remaining of December to work on the calendar for January and what the agenda will be for the first meeting, um, in January. Congratulations. I think I, you know, I sent out an email to all of you on Tuesday with all of the instructions for what will happen on January 5th at that meeting. Other people at that time can step up once more to, um, place their nominations if they choose to do so. Okay?