Public Comment

Transcript (~5 min @ 3:06)

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

▶ 2:42 Leila Migliorelli: Good evening. The time is 7:30 PM on Thursday, June 1st, 2023. This is a meeting of the Appropriations and Oversight Committee. I am chairwoman Lila Elli. Joining me, our Vice Chair Jamine Counselor Ella Eckles, GEPE Carm, Che McMaster Stewart Williams, and President Greg Reis Exo Officio. This serves as a notice of a quorum for the record in accordance with the open meeting law. This meeting's being recorded and broadcast live on MMT v. Um, I will motion now motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment. Seeing no objection, we are now open for public comment. This is a portion of the meeting where anyone can speak on any agenda item before us. Is there anyone here in the public wishing to speak?

▶ 3:30 Speaker 2: Anyone online?

▶ 3:31 Speaker 1: Not, not at this time

▶ 3:33 Leila Migliorelli: Seeing no objection. I would like to, um, close public comment.

▶ 3:38 Speaker 4: Yes. I

▶ 3:40 Leila Migliorelli: Speak. Oh, okay. Please come to the table.

▶ 3:49 Leila Migliorelli: You can just state your name and address for the record.

▶ 3:52 Speaker 5: My name is Daniel Franklin. I have lived in Melrose for about 25 years. Uh, I'm a software engineer. I wanted to speak tonight about the New England, um, MetroTech vocational School building. Uh, a number of us are very concerned about the cho choice of sight for the school. Now, I should say that I was one of the 88% of the voters who, who voted in favor of the building of the school. And I still very much support it as do, uh, all of the other people that I've been talking with. However, we believe that the current choice of sight on top of a hill hilltop with granite ledge that needs to be blasted is going to cost significantly more than has been considered to date and will result in higher costs for site preparation, which the state may not cover. The state is limited, has limited the amount of money it will allocate for site preparation to 8%, and some costs of site preparation are not even eligible at all. So my concern with this site right now is the financial concern that this site choice is too expensive and one of the other sites that was identified at the time should be used instead. Uh, I'd also note that, um, it involves cutting down a forest of mature trees, which seems like an inappropriate thing to do at a time when we need so many more, so many mature trees to help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. So I believe that, uh, the, the school board, the MetroTech School Board, should seriously consider one of the other site options that were identified in the feasibility report.

▶ 5:49 Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you.

▶ 5:53 Speaker 2: Is there anyone else here in the public wishing to speak?

▶ 6:06 Speaker 3: My phone won't stop playing. Hi, everybody, I'm Alistair Mok. I live at 63 Noel Road. Um, I just have a very simple, and I'm sorry to miss what came before. Um, this budget that you all are considering today is already way less than our schools need. Uh, the school committee asked for more, for every good reason. Um, I really hope that every member of this council will, I know you can't increase the amount. You can only decrease it. I hope you won't decrease this at all. We are so underfunded. We are underpaying our staff. Our kids are missing resources compared to all of the towns in this area. I'm coming here late because I'm on a meeting with METCO families who are trying to understand why their kids are feeling so underserved in this community. And we have a constant conversation as a group with our racial justice group and the Friends of METCO Group about what the schools can do and what they can't and what a lot of folks are not able to fully understand because they don't live here, is just how much we're underfunding our schools and all of our city services. We. So that's the basic point. And then the second point is I hope every member of this committee will spend your time this next year working both in front of and behind the scenes to make sure that we pass another override because we are desperately, desperately in need of one. It's, it's frankly, an embarrassment that Melrose has such a low tax base given what this town is. We need to be paying more for services or we can't expect more from our city. So thank you.

▶ 7:53 Speaker 2: Thank you.

▶ 7:58 Speaker 2: Is there anyone else wishing to speak in public comments?

▶ 8:03 Speaker 2: Is there anyone online

▶ 8:08 Leila Migliorelli: Okay. If there is no objection, I'd like to close public comment.