Legal & Legislative Committee — 2016-01-25
Attendance
Robert A. Boisselle ; Donald L. Conn Jr. ; Scott M. Forbes ; Gail Infurna ; Jennifer L. Lemmerman ; Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis ; Monica C. Medeiros ; Peter D. Mortimer ; John N. Tramontozzi ; Francis X. Wright Jr. ; Michael P. Zwirko
Agenda
- Call to Order
- Public Participation
- Orders
- ORDER-2016-77 : Amending the revised Administrative Code in accordance with Section 5-1 of the Melrose City Charter to establish a Commission on Women in the City of Melrose.
- ORDER-2016-80 : Amending the Rules of Order of the Board of Aldermen by adding Rule 53 as set forth herein.
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE LEGAL & LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE CALENDAR● JANUARY 25, 2016 Aldermanic Chamber Committee Meeting 7:40 PM The public should take notice that the Melrose Board of Aldermen may, on certain occasions, have a quorum in attendance due to standing committees of the Board of Aldermen consisting of both voting and non-voting members. Members attending this duly posted meeting are participating and deliberating only in conjunction with the business of the standing committee. Attendee Name Title Status Arrived John N. Tramontozzi Chairman Present Francis X. Wright Jr. Vice Chairman Present Peter D. Mortimer Ward 6 Alderman Present Scott M. Forbes Ward 7 Alderman Present Michael P. Zwirko Alderman at Large Present Donald L. Conn Jr. President/Ex-officio Member Present Robert A. Boisselle Nonvoting Member Present Gail M. Infurna Nonvoting Member Present Jennifer L. Lemmerman Nonvoting Member Present Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis Nonvoting Member Present Monica C. Medeiros Nonvoting Member Present
ORDER-2016-77 Administrative Order Amending the revised Administrative Code in accordance with Section 5-1 of the Melrose City Charter to establish a Commission on Women in the City of Melrose. Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen
ORDER-2016-80 Amending Rules of Order of the Board of Aldermen Amending the Rules of Order of the Board of Aldermen by adding Rule 53 as set forth herein. Recommend as Amended Board of Aldermen City of Melrose Page 1 Updated 1/27/2016 2:41 PM
Transcript
▶ 11:19 John N. Tramontozzi: Finance Committee. Thank you, one and all. Thanks, Susan. Good evening, this is the Legal and Legislative Committee meeting of the Board of Aldermen of the City of Moros. I am Chairman Alderman Tramontozzi with us this evening, our Vice Chairman Francis Wright. Also, voting members Alderman Mortimer, Forbes, Zwirko, President Kahn, non-voting members Alderman Boisselle, Inferno, Lummerman, McIntyre, Migolas, and Medeiros. Do I have a motion to open the floor for public comment? So moved, Mr. Chairman. Very good. We do have a motion by Alderman Mortimer, seconded by Alderman Forbes. On the motion, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed, seeing none. This is the opportunity for any member of the public that wish to come forward.
▶ 12:53 John N. Tramontozzi: We see somebody coming forward. Wonderful. Could you just, this is an opportunity for any member of the public who wishes to come forward to speak on any matter on our agenda. And just for the record too, I want to note that this meeting, as well as all of our meetings, are duly recorded for later viewing in pursuant to the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law. So good evening, if you could just introduce yourself and just put your name. Put this forward as a second. That's fine. I'm Katie Kennedy I live at 103 Mount Vernon Avenue Ward 5 precinct 2 and I came actually last week not understanding that during your full or real Alderman meetings really isn't discussion so I'm back here tonight to publicly participate and I come here in support of all them and Jennifer
▶ 13:46 Lemmerman and her initiative to start a Melrose Commission for women last week when I came I brought my sister with me and she recently moved from 25 years in Orange County California and it was cold so that just proves how much we're behind all the middle Emmerman and this this initiative Melrose has a really interesting history of creative people starting projects that then become institutionalized like things that we legal women voters have done that resulted in Melrose Alliance against violence the Melrose Human Rights Commission is a formal part of the city which again started with creative people trying to problem-solve and react to some incidents that happened at the time we have the birth to five movement that's you know very recent and then one
▶ 14:41 of the things that I respect so much in the last few years is history teacher Lisa Lord and her veterans projects with schools and so now it's time as they said Melrose has really interesting creative people and I count Alderman Lemon and trying to start this Women's Commission and there are very few municipalities in the state of Massachusetts that actually have formal commissions there are a few regional ones Melrose is not covered and it's when I read about it the article and talked to Jennifer about it it's very interesting to see that you know there's some real gaps and interest to advocate on behalf of women and for for women's needs and in particular my personal interest is in health care advocacy and financial literacy I mean we look at
▶ 15:37 Millennials young people who graduate from college both male and female who come back to live at home because they can't afford apartments or a mortgage they need financial literacy people who are going to be retiring I just I'm dealing we know being 60 financial letter financial literacy so there's all kind I mean the the possibilities are endless but the Melrose Commission on women could do skill building things we could have mini conferences you know to teach women how to invest how to communicate how to handle conflicts advocacy how do we come in front of a whether it's our local political bodies or state legislatures and federal governments we really need to help teach women in particular how to have their voices heard and their needs met and as
▶ 16:33 they said advocacy skill building I think is something that we could do with the Commission on women and just I'll end by saying that I've had a little bit of experience in some of my overseas work in Northern Islands women coalition and it evolved into when I was first there it evolved into working with the Good Friday Agreement the State Department of the United States the Northern Island Assembly training political women from every part of the community very divided political perspectives so there's so many things that you know small little initiatives could do that we could really help help Melrose and that there are really vital voices and needs that we have to tap so So I would just urge you to please pass Alderman Lemmerman resolution and change your charter.
▶ 17:36 John N. Tramontozzi: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Motion to close public participation? Second. Seeing no additional members of the public who wish to come forward at this time, there is a motion to close public participation by Alderman Forbes, seconded by Alderman Mortimer. On the motion, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Seeing none, public participation is now closed. i think i failed to read the order didn't i maybe i'd better read it well um well actually no then we are beginning to right read the orders uh and i will read the order now order two zero one six dash seven seven is amending the revised administrative code in accordance with section five dash one of the marrow city charter to establish a commission on woman in the city
▶ 18:25 John N. Tramontozzi: of maros what is the just uh what is the wish of the committee we should recommend for passage Motion to recommend it for passage by Alderman Mortimer, seconded by Alderman Forbes. Before we have the vote, I just want to, we're going to hear from Alderman Lemmerman, of course. And if I could just have a moment of your time. Motion to suspend the rules? We will. Okay. All right. Sorry, Mr. Chairman. That's all right, we have a motion to suspend the rules by Alderman Forbes, seconded by Alderman Mortimer. All in favor of a motion to suspend the rules, I hear from Alderman Lemmerman, and we, all in favor? Aye. Great, any opposed? Point of order, Mr. Chairman, I don't think we have to suspend the rules.
▶ 19:03 John N. Tramontozzi: We don't have to. I don't know, to hear from our own colleagues. Well, before we begin that, there is a letter that was also submitted, and I'll just read that into the record. It's a letter submitted by Christina Petulis. Dear members of the Board of Aldermen, I write in support of the proposed formation of the Women's Commission here in Melrose. She's a resident of Redding Hill Avenue in Melrose. As a working mother with young children, it is important to me that Melrose be a place that considers and gives voice to all of its residents. As a member of the Melrose Human Rights Commission, I can attest that the Human Rights Commission's focus is extremely diverse and I believe that there is a need for a forum that will consider
▶ 19:40 John N. Tramontozzi: concerns exclusively related to women. The Women's Commission would allow the city to focus on the equal status of all women regardless of their race, ethnicity, educational background, socioeconomic status, or religion. A dedicated Women's Commission would allow for Melrose to focus on ensuring equal access and and status for women to pay, health, education, and social access, among others. The commission will act as a conduit for giving information and educating the citizens of Melrose on various local and state trends in equal pay for equal work, encouraging women to increase political participation and working to decrease the incidence of violence in the community. Again, I believe that Melrose needs a women's commission.
▶ 20:21 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: I fully support its creation by the Board of Aldermen. Thank you sincerely, Christina Petroulis. Now we will hear from Alderman Lemmerman, please. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to members of the committee for the opportunity to speak on this order as a non-voting member of this committee. I hope to provide just some background and some more detail on the vision for this order as you consider the potential for a Melrose Commission on Women. And before I get into that, I just do want to take a moment to thank Mayor Dolan and his administration for filing this order and for their strong support of this effort. as as members of this board know in order to create a commission in the city
▶ 20:58 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: of Melrose according to the city charter there needs to be an administrative order submitted by the mayor so I approached mayor Dolan fully prepared to argue my case and there is no arguing needing to be done because he immediately saw the potential for this commission in the city so I do thank them for their work on that so just by way of a little bit of background the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women was created by the state legislature in 1998, and it's charged with, quote, advancing women toward full equality in all areas of life and to promoting rights and opportunities for all women. Now in order to support this mission, six county and regional commissions were established
▶ 21:38 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: so that they could study and report on the status of women and girls in their geographical regions. These are Berkshire County, Bristol County, Cape and Islands, Essex County, Metro West, and Worcester County. as you can see this is none of these represent our community so individually nine cities and towns so far in the state have created municipal level commissions and these are to focus more specifically on the unique needs and circumstances of women and girls in their community Melrose here we pride ourselves as a city of boards and commissions with very active volunteers who are doing really great work in the community and we also have several bodies and organizations whose mission touched on critical areas that affect
▶ 22:18 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: women and we heard from our public speaker on some of those Amara's Alliance against violence the Human Rights Commission birth to five but there's not currently a body in this city dedicated to providing a unified voice and a centralized uniting force to represent women's issues and to recognize and promote the many contributions that women have made in our city throughout our history should the order pass the seven commissioners as it's written would drive the activities and the focus of the Commission of course but I think one of the best ways to try to imagine the potential contributions of a board like this is to think about a seventh grade girl at the middle school right now she lives in a community with a rich history
▶ 22:53 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: of strong women making an impact but does she really know who they are has she heard that in 1926 the first woman was elected to this board Mary Barrows and that she went on to represent us in the State House does she know that our city has a female firefighter and a female city engineer both making their marks and careers that were previously reserved for men has she felt compelled to contact any of the many women from local government up to the U.S. Senate who represent her and her family. And as she thinks forward to high school and beyond, does she have goals to join one of those professions maybe? And a commission like this could make some of those educational programs and awareness campaigns to make those connections for her. Maybe she hopes
▶ 23:34 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: to become one of the women who make up just 10% of the CEOs in this state. In six years, while she's working hard at college to reach that goal, will she have access to the health care that she needs will she know the services available to her if she becomes one of the one in three women who will be a victim of physical sexual or emotional abuse when she graduates and begins her career will she know that she is likely to make about 80% of her male counterparts will she put off starting a family because she can't afford to take time off to pay for to care for her baby or will she worry that that leave will reflect poorly on her prospects for that promotion she's been looking for a morose Commission on women can serve to
▶ 24:13 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: advocate on all of these critical issues and can give her a place to be a part of those discussions for me one of the most powerful things a potential Commission could do for a middle schooler like this is demonstrated in a program that's currently being organized in Brookline by their Commission on women every middle schooler chooses a woman he or she admires and writes an essay about her that student then brings that woman to a reception as their guest and explains to his or her peers why they chose that woman by participating in this program she will know that even with the challenges that face or she could find herself as a young woman's choice for this very same project decades down the
▶ 24:47 Peter D. Mortimer: road and that her community supports her to get there. So I ask for the Committee's support of this order and for a Melrose Commission on Women. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Very welcome. Well said. Thank you. Any further comments? Yes. Alderman Mortimer. Thank you very much. I made the motion to recommend this for passage and it was duly seconded because Alderman Lemon was not a member of this Committee. course I would have let her make that motion if she were a member of this committee and I'm very impressed almost moved moved to some extent by her comments regarding this order I'm very grateful to her and the mayor's office of putting it forward and I was in favor of it before I heard her speak just a
▶ 25:32 Peter D. Mortimer: moment ago but she really hit home with me because I have a daughter who is a seventh grader at Melrose middle school and when she used that example it became crystal clear to me how wonderful the formation of this commission will be because of course we all want the best for all the youth of the city of Melrose but when they when it was that specific it really it really plucked the strings of my heart thank you very much very welcome any further discussion of all Alderman Zwerchel. Yeah, I also wanted to just echo what Peter said. I think Jennifer did a very, Alderman Lemmerman, rather, excuse me, did a very good job of explaining the importance of this order. And I also want to say that I think
▶ 26:18 Michael P. Zwirko: she spotted a void in our community, but it's not a void that's in our lives. Women play a central role in our society. Most families now have both parents are working. That leads to stresses on the home's life, also with finances as well because time is also stretched thin I appreciate that this committee Commission rather is going to look into these issues I think it's important for the city to have this discussion I look forward to supporting it and I think that it's by no mistake that Alderman Lemmerman is championing this issue because I know how deeply serious it is for her and I look forward to the work that's going to come out of that Commission as well very good Alderman Medeiros thank you I just had a question that came up today for if you
▶ 27:06 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: could please pass this on to the mayor for their full board meeting I'm just wondering if you know obviously we were in the middle of a fiscal year right now if in the upcoming budget if it's anticipated that this commission will have a financial budget assigned to it and if so how much is projected we can into that thank you yes alderman mcintyre my goal is so i'm not a member of this committee but um i'll be really looking forward to supporting this at the full board and thanking alderman lemmerman for picking up the mantle and carrying it forward um as a advocate many many years ago for women's rights um i've been a little a little disheartened late little lately because i felt like you know the sort of the new generation of women wasn't really as
▶ 27:58 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: into the advocacy I'm so happy that Miss Kennedy came and spoke to us publicly tonight about all the thoughts and dreams that she has that align with with this for you and I thank you for picking up the mantle for the next generation and going forward it's a great idea thank you any further discussion the first time I think Alderman Lemon will have the final thank you mr. chairman I just wanted the opportunity to respond to Alderman Medeiros this question is a discussion that I've had with the administration I do plan to submit a request for a small line item in the budget for this that would reflect similar to the Human Rights Commission it would it would go toward professional services and supplies I believe there's just $3,000 and it seems to be on par
▶ 28:48 John N. Tramontozzi: with our boards and commissions thank you thank you any further discussion seeing none we do have a motion to recommend on the floor all in favor aye any policy and then that moment so the order will be recommended to the full board at the next full board meeting the next order on the agenda is order 2016 dash 80 amending the rules of order of the Board of Aldermen by adding rule 53 as set forth herein uh this is an order that's sponsored by uh vice chairman of the this uh committee francis wright and it's you the floor is yours alderman wright thank you mr chairman um yeah the way the order reads is whenever the president or a member of the board of aldermen appointed by the president to serve on a committee commission board or other working group attends
▶ 29:38 Francis X. Wright Jr.: a meeting of such committee commission board or other working group that member shall report back to the full board of aldermen at the next regular meeting of the board as to the actions taken on all matters on the agenda of said committee commission board or other working group my intention in filing this is to simply receive a report i'm not i'm not trying to um create a situation where we would be discussing second guessing uh what happened at another board or commission or working group session but rather just to keep us all in the loop because when somebody from this board attends such a forum they're doing it on behalf of all of us and i think it's important i know if something is happening um with regards to a matter in what three i would appreciate knowing what what occurred
▶ 30:42 Francis X. Wright Jr.: and so i think this is something that could take a minute or two out of our meeting by the representative on on that particular committee commissioner board but i think it's important And that said, Mr. Chairman, I would like to amend this order. At the end of line one, I would change to read, whenever the president or a board of all has been appointed by the president, and then add all mayor to serve on the committee. Second the motion to amend. All right, so we have a motion to amend the order by inserting after president or mayor is that correct yes so we have a um a motion to amend um that's been seconded by alderman mortimer any discussion on that just the um the motion to amend seeing none uh all in favor aye aye any opposed okay that so that order the rule
▶ 31:44 Francis X. Wright Jr.: is now amended as you requested any further discussion I just have a question so this will be retroactive it won't be going forward right so if someone was appointed to a commission already they'll I guess what I'm saying is it'll it'll be holding for those who have been appointed to a board commission or working group it's not going to be going forward right it would look it would be able to look back well I mean Alderman Wright do you have a um i could about that through you uh mr chairman my um my intention is that should this be enacted again first of all it's a rule of the board for the public's sake it's not an ordinance it's a rule of the board it's our own internal mechanism for running these meetings um i would expect that
▶ 32:34 John N. Tramontozzi: you know if it were to go in effect after the next full board meeting that were there be a meeting after that of any committee commission board or other working group from the next night on we would get a report i'm not asking anyone to report back to us on something that happened in 2015 or earlier so the bottom line is not it's not retroactive it would be going forward after it's passed and and i also assume that this is meant for those who attend those meetings as an appointed representative and not if a member of the board of all of them decides they want to attend the committee or Commission they're not obligated by this rule to make a report I suppose they can but but they're not obligated to if they
▶ 33:23 don't sit on that Commission as an appointed member that's my intention yes mr. chairman president Khan yeah I support this order there are currently five five examples that this would apply to in the city that is an all-demand ik representative to the water sewer Commission there's an all the manic representative to the Traffic Commission there's an all-demand ik representative to the school building committee there's an all the manic representative to the master plan committee and there was an alderman ik representative to the library building committee so those are the positions to which it would apply so So all of those people need to beware that they will be expected to declaim at our next full board meeting following February.
▶ 34:09 Monica C. Medeiros: If, in fact, this order does pass, I do support it. I thank Alderman Wright for filing it. I think it's a good rule. It's a good practice. And hopefully it will disseminate more information to ourselves and the public in the future. Thank you. Well said. Yes, Alderman Medeiros. I'm not a voting member of this committee, but I just want to say I support the order and I think this would certainly help because many of these committee meetings happen during non-business hours and it's hard, they're not televised usually and it's hard for all the members of the public and as well as the members of this board to get that information. so i think that just making it sort of a regular formalized process would would be great thanks
▶ 35:00 Gail Infurna: very good any further discussion yeah yes all of them just a quick question thank you mr chairman would it be listed on an agenda as part of you know an agenda item somewhere yeah i mean i mean how would that be presented do we do it at the end of a meeting or or just how would it kind of go well if i could respond to that mr chairman i would suspect that we would have a category on our general agenda like we have now for orders out of order orders from committee things of that nature i would think we would maybe have something that would be called reports from committees okay or reports from outside not all the manic committees and and the other concern i have and i think this is a great order and i have no problem with it but how is there any way
▶ 35:50 Gail Infurna: that we could keep it so that there is not really big discussion i mean just being a representative of the traffic commission and i could come here and report things and we probably could talk for hours about something like that and is there a you know a way that we can just make sure that we are limiting it you know we can say it right here and now that we could limit some of this conversation but you know future boards down the road so i don't know if there's any language in there a sentence that you just want to put that it would just be a report reporting out and and not a big discussion of things yeah good talk i'm going to say i'm just going to suggest that we leave it in to the discretion of the board members and then we'll see how things
▶ 36:29 Francis X. Wright Jr.: go and if we need further amendments to it we can always do that i would suspect uh but i'll defer to alderman wright thank you mr chairman i would agree with you i mean i specifically said report right so and the my intent by saying that is that essentially you'd be giving an abbreviated version of the minutes of that meeting which would be you know for the traffic commission we considered an issue involving the stop sign at the corner of you know a street and b street and took the following action the next item you know okay and not open that up for a discussion on whether or not we should have approved or not approved though oh you're not us but the traffic commission again i don't intend for this to be an opportunity to second guess the work of volunteers
▶ 37:22 John N. Tramontozzi: on our boards and commissions just because one of us happens to sit on that board of commission okay thank you very good any further discussion motion to recommend so we have a motion to recommend by alderman forbes seconded by alderman mortimer to the committee members on that motion all in favor aye aye aye opposed saying none so we will recommend that to the full board for passage at our next meeting motion no chairman i'm sorry as amended oh as amended yes there's a that that motion alderman forbes is a motion to recommend as amended yes seconded by as amendment all in All in favor, aye. Aye. Good. All opposed, seeing none. As amended, thank you. Motion to adjourn, Mr. Chairman. Second.