APPT-2024-4 : Appointment of Kevin Cronin, 18 Birch Hill Road, to the Liquor Licensing Commission for a six-year term; said term to expire on the first Monday in June 2029.

Transcript (~6 min @ 1:26)

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

▶ 1:19 Mark Garipay: Um, seeing that we have representatives from the administration, um, here, um, before us, I will entertain a motion to suspend the rules. So moved. Second. Motion to suspend the rules made by Councillor McMaster, seconded by Vice Chair Stewart. Uh,

▶ 1:38 Speaker 1: all in favor on discussion? Aye. All in favor? Aye. Opposed?

▶ 1:43 Mark Garipay: Uh, rules are suspended. Uh, first order appointment 2024 dash uh, dash four. Appointment of Kevin Cronin. Eight, Kevin Cronin, excuse me. 18 Birch Hill Road to the Liquor Licensing Commission for a six year term. Said term to expire on the first Monday, June, 2029. Welcome, Mr. Mayor, and welcome Mr. Cren.

▶ 2:04 Paul Brodeur: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I wanna open by thanking, uh, councilor Ackles for joining us. And I wanna also thank, um, Steve Maher for his service on the commission. He was, uh, on the commission for some time and did a tremendous job. Um, but we have this opportunity to fill the position, and I am very excited to offer for your consideration, uh, Kevin Cronin. Kevin has been a member of this community for close to, uh, 40 years, lives up on Birch Hill Road, um, both, um, in his, uh, private life and in his past employment. He has the good fortune to be retired, uh, has been in the healthcare space, uh, virtually his entire career with or associated with, uh, Melrose Wakefield Hospital. So he understands, um, certainly the local business community understands healthcare. Um, he has also raised how many daughters, two, two daughters, uh, here in Melrose, gone through the Melrose Public Schools. Um, and, um, this is not important, but it bears mentioning, uh, the state and the state statute and local ordinance require the Liquor Commission. Um, to have a diversity of party membership meeting, there has to be at least one Democrat and at least one Republican. Kevin is a Republican, so that checks that box. Um, I think that system is a little bit silly, quite frankly. We've talked about it in the context of the, uh, border of registrars, of voters. Uh, that having been said, regardless of what Kevin's political registration is, um, I would be delighted to have him serve, uh, on, on this commission and then commend him for your consideration.

▶ 3:59 Speaker 1: Over to you,

▶ 4:00 Speaker 2: Mr.

▶ 4:00 Speaker 1: Groan.

▶ 4:01 Speaker 3: Oh, I look forward to the opportunity. Uh, uh, Joe Nevin, the, uh, head of the Commission is a, uh, friend of mine, uh, extremely competent, uh, person. And I know they're going through a process of reviewing the, uh, the liquor laws in Melrose. And, uh, I look forward to working with him and giving back to the community and, uh, being a help. To, uh, Paul,

▶ 4:23 Speaker 2: To, to be clear, Paul's got four months.

▶ 4:27 Paul Brodeur: It's a six year term.

▶ 4:33 Mark Garipay: Um, what's the, any, any questions?

▶ 4:37 Shawn M. MacMaster: Council McMaster. Thank you Mr. Cronin, for your interest in, uh, the position, can you just tell the, uh, committee a little bit about what made you decide to, to pursue this?

▶ 4:46 Speaker 3: Um, well, I ran into Paul and he, uh, mentioned the opening. And, uh, then I talked to, uh, Joe Nevin. And, uh, so I, I thought I looked at it as an opportunity to really, to give back to the community and to, to help out.

▶ 5:01 Speaker 1: Thank you. Any other questions?

▶ 5:05 Speaker 1: Council merely Yes.

▶ 5:07 Leila Migliorelli: Thank you for stepping up to, to volunteer. Um, there's been a number of things and discussions about liquor, you know, laws and zoning in our city. Just wondering if you have, um, any thoughts on that, or like anything in your experience, maybe even working, you know, at the hospital or something like that, that could help inform how you're, what's kind of gonna shape your

▶ 5:29 Speaker 3: Yeah, I, I haven't really, I know there's a, uh, possibility of a brewery. Mm-hmm. And, um, but I'm open to, uh, to new ideas and, um, you know, the discussion with, uh, the fellow, uh, commissioners and Paul. Okay.

▶ 5:44 Speaker 4: Thank you.

▶ 5:46 Speaker 1: Council Stewart. Thank you, Mr. Vice, chair Stewart. Excuse me.

▶ 5:50 Robb Stewart: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, thank you Mr. Koen for being here. Mr. Mayor, um, what's your position on the brewery?

▶ 5:57 Speaker 3: Um, you know, I, I really haven't, I'm, I'm open to, uh, opening a brewery there. I haven't really, uh, discussed it at length with getting in any, getting into any details about it with anybody, but I'm, I'm open to it. I'm not, uh, you know, automatically opposed to it. Okay.

▶ 6:14 Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Thank you. Seeing no more discussion,

▶ 6:17 Mark Garipay: what's the will of the committee motion to recommend I second. Motion to recommend by President Greg, seconded by Councilor Mcma on discussion.

▶ 6:29 Speaker 1: All in favor? Aye. Opposed? This, um,

▶ 6:34 Mark Garipay: order will get, uh, recommended to the full council. You do not need to be there. Um, so the next council meeting now is Tuesday, September 5th. September 5th.

▶ 6:46 Speaker 1: September 5th. So thank you for your sir. Thank you.

▶ 6:47 Speaker 3: Thank you.

▶ 6:50 Paul Brodeur: Mr. Chairman, if I may, I know you're about to consider the next order. I would like to, uh, put in a plug for the folks at Melrose Diner. I've had the opportunity, you know, they're, um, they're continuing a great tradition at that location. And, uh, don't think you're gonna see any differences in the outside in terms of the level of service and the quality of the food. So I'll preliminarily say welcome aboard. Hoping, I, hoping this all works out this evening. Thank you. Thank you.

▶ 7:18 Mark Garipay: Thank you. Um, for the record, uh, counselor Eccles is present with us as a non-voting member. Yes.