Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2018-02-26
Attendance
Manisha Bewtra ; Robert A. Boisselle ; Scott M. Forbes ; Jennifer L. Lemmerman ; Kate Lipper-Garabedian ; Monica C. Medeiros ; Peter D. Mortimer ; John N. Tramontozzi ; Francis X. Wright Jr. ; Michael P. Zwirko
Agenda
- Call to Order
- Public Participation
- Orders
- ORDER-2018-135 : Election to fill Ward 5 vacancy created by the incumbent Gail M. Infurna becoming Mayor on Feb. 5, 2018. Said Election shall be conducted pursuant to Section 2-11(c) of the City Charter and in accordance with Rule 52 of the Rules of Order of the Board of Aldermen.
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE CALENDAR● FEBRUARY 26, 2018 Aldermanic Chamber, Melrose City Hall Committee Meeting 7:00 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 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 Jennifer L. Lemmerman Chair Present Scott M. Forbes Vice Chair Present Manisha Bewtra Alderman at Large Present Robert A. Boisselle Ward 4 Alderman Present Kate Lipper-Garabedian Alderman at Large Present Monica C. Medeiros Alderman at Large Present Peter D. Mortimer Ward 6 Alderman Present John N. Tramontozzi Ward 1 Alderman Present Francis X. Wright Jr. Ward 3 Alderman Present Michael P. Zwirko President/ Ex-officio Member Present
ORDER-2018-135 Election by the Board of Aldermen Election to fill Ward 5 vacancy created by the incumbent Gail M. Infurna becoming Mayor on Feb. 5, 2018. Said Election shall be conducted pursuant to Section 2-11(c) of the City Charter and in accordance with Rule 52 of the Rules of Order of the Board of Aldermen. Without Recommendation Board of Aldermen City of Melrose Page 1 Updated 3/1/2018 10:45 AM
Transcript
▶ 0:40 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: Good evening. Welcome to the meeting of the Appropriations Committee, Committee of the Whole of the Board of Aldermen. It is February 26th at 7 p.m. and this evening I am joined, my name is Jennifer Lemmerman, I'm the chair of the committee, and I'm joined by members, Vice Chair Alderman Forbes, as well as Alderman Bewtra, Alderman Boisselle, Alderman Lipper-Garabedian, Alderman Medeiros, Alderman Mortimer, Alderman Tramontozzi, Alderman Rita and President Zwirko. This meeting is being recorded. It can be viewed on MMTV, also on the City of Mauro's website. Do we have a motion to open the floor? So moved. Second. A motion to open the floor for public participation by Alderman Zwirko. Second.
▶ 1:28 Seconded by Alderman Medeiros. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? We are now in this portion of our meeting where any member of the public who wishes to address the board regarding any item on our agenda which we have one this evening may come forward to the table in the center of the room hi welcome my name is dm mullet and i had originally submitted my name for the ward 5 alderman position yesterday i looked over the list of candidates and i realized that my neighbor jerry morose was one of the candidates i then withdrew my name because i think he is just a superior option and he was my choice to be to be the ward 5 alderman i texted him over a week ago begged him to submit his name and i am just here to tell everyone
▶ 2:29 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: i think he's the most passionate one of the most passionate members of our community he obviously goes to all the meetings he knows exactly what's going on in melrose he he's my choice for alderman thank you thank you thank you are there any other members of the public wishing to address the committee motion to close public participation second we have a motion to close public participation by alderman forbes it's seconded by alderman mortimer all in favor aye aye any opposed that concludes public participation as i mentioned we have one item on our agenda this evening order number 2018-135 election to fill ward 5 vacancy created by the incumbent gail m inferna becoming mayor on february 5th 2018. said election shall
▶ 3:18 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: be conducted pursuant to section 211c of the city charter in accordance with rule 52 of the rules of order of the board of aldermen just a note on process this evening we have uh seven applicants for this position, each has submitted a letter and a resume expressing their interest in filling the Ward 5 Alderman Site. We have, the board has had all of these items in IQM2 attached to the agenda to review and tonight we have invited each of these candidates to come speak before the board this evening. I will invite, after suspending the rules, I will invite the candidates up one by one. each candidate is invited to speak for up to five minutes and tell us about yourselves and about your experience
▶ 4:08 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: and your interest in this position, at which time the committee members will have an opportunity to ask questions or make a statement. At that point, we will ask that candidate to sit back down and we will invite the next candidate up and we will go that way through all seven. Motion to suspend the rules, Madam Chair. So we have a motion to suspend the rules by Alderman Mortimer, seconded by Alderman Forbes, all in favor aye any opposed I will go through the candidates in the order that they are attached to our file so first the committee would like to invite mr. John Cooley good evening evening thank you for the invitation and it's quite an honor to actually come inside the chamber here and see that historical
▶ 5:07 perspective here it's quite an honor thank you my name is John Cooley and I'm from 250 Main Street I've been a resident of Melrose for 42 years I'm a participatory registered voter and a homeowner I graduated from st. Mary's Malden Catholic and Boston College School of Management I've managed several large General Motors dealerships in the area and I currently manage an investment portfolio the reason I'm here is obviously because of the vacancy but I do have a lot of impressions of Ward five Ward five has a long history of stable and competent leadership when I first moved here Sheila Toland who I saw on the wall there was the alderman and her commitment to the community was a true inspiration to myself and my family and as I've observed on the
▶ 6:14 sidelines through the years I've seen other leadership with alderman Murphy and mayor Inferno has had a tremendous impact for the past roughly 20 years I will like to continue that tradition but one of my main concerns that brought me here this evening is that I want to make sure that ultimately the ward is Representatives by someone who will hold the position through a pure election process I feel the election process would be compromised if the person selected to fill the vacancy seeks the office after serving the term i feel they would have an unfair advantage against other candidates in my opinion those that seek to represent ward five for the long term should take this year and a half period of time
▶ 7:13 and structure a campaign make themselves known to the constituents learn the issues of the ward in the city take the steps that all of you took should be elected to the seats that you currently hold i believe that a campaign by an appointed alderman would give a bias in their favor in a general election if i were selected by the board i will not seek election for ward 5 alderman after serving out the term i will focus on matters that come before the board in a fair impartial non-biased and factual way representing the opinions and interests of all stakeholders my late father was a somerville alderman for over a decade and his example taught me that that a public servant must be totally impartial
▶ 8:13 and open-minded and respect the opinions and concerns of all parties. If selected, I intend to treat the responsibilities of aldermen with the same respect. I will approach the business of the board with no political or predetermined opinion or ambition. It is out of civic duty that I seek this appointment. Melrose has been very fortunate to have stable leadership. Melrose is also a community in transformation. We have several new developments, businesses, and residents. It is my hope that Melrose continues to welcome all people to our community and realize what a great resource they will be to the continued growth and prosperity of Melrose I hope to assist the board with a fresh perspective a new set of eyes
▶ 9:13 and some objective decision-making Melrose faces an exciting time in the next year and a half so far an election for a new mayor and ward 5 aldermen are at the table and Melrose and other cities elected officials often serve for many years and often unopposed in elections that is why it is so vital once this term is served out that the ward 5 alderman position is filled by a person selected by popular vote without any previous ties to the post I respectfully ask for your vote to select me to serve the remainder of the ward 5 all of them in Toronto thank you for your consideration thank you thank you madam chair thank you and I want to say first off that greatly appreciate you putting your name forward and throwing it in and that goes to all of the
▶ 10:22 Michael P. Zwirko: applicants this evening it's not easy to put your name forward and be in a public body this way so many kudos to you for doing that so much respect for that the only member of this board that's a ward 5 resident so I know the streets well the corners well and it's a it's a ward obviously that it's the only ward I've actually ever lived in in Melrose and it's near and dear to my heart so I just wanted to make a quick comment and I had a question for you I did read your your resume and it provided us with a lot of professional experience and as someone that works in finance I greatly appreciate that that's the the role that you've mainly played and not only in managing but also currently in your
▶ 11:02 financial background but do you have any civic experience that you could speak of here in Melrose you know any boards or commissions or volunteers groups that you've helped out or anything in that that know what I'm glad you asked that question because that was one of my motivations to actually first of all look into this and actually submit my name if I was actually going to be a candidate and stage a campaign and create a platform to run on then absolutely factors such as community involvements memberships and so on and so forth I feel would play a more significant role I cannot make the representation that I am completely immersed or active in many community activities I would like to and I feel that that requisite would be better
▶ 12:00 Michael P. Zwirko: are served by somebody actually going for a popular vote. My approach here would be more to deal with things in a professional, factual, fair, objective way with no preconceived ideas or platforms. So to answer your question, no. On the other side of the coin, that is one of the factors that inspired me to actually come here this evening. MR. Well, thank you for that. i mean we do have many boards and commissions and not everybody that serves on them or you know do them for political means i mean the city of meadows needs good people to to step up and you know we have a lot of volunteers that do that and um i appreciate your answer and i know that you know coming from an objective analysis only wanting to serve out the expiring term it gives
▶ 12:47 Michael P. Zwirko: you that clarity as you've mentioned so um perfectly fine i just i didn't see it on your resume so i thought it was something we should raise i i think to summarize your question you could say that this opportunity has awakened my civic column understood and and um you know regardless of what occurs with the the appointment here this evening we do hope that you get involved and continue to to do so it's important for the growth of this community so great so thank you those are all the questions i had at this time madam chair other members of the committee okay Okay, thank you very much, Mr. Cooley, thank you. The next candidate we will invite up to hear from is Ms. Eugenia Gibbons. Thank you very much, Chairman Lemmerman and esteemed members of the board.
▶ 13:48 Thank you for your service and your opportunity to further inform your consideration of my application to fill our ward's vacancy. As you noted, I am Eugenia Gibbons, I reside at 98 East Wyoming Avenue. this city and would be honored to work alongside each of you on behalf of my friends and neighbors in Ward 5 to help our city fully realize its potential by way of background my husband has been a teacher at the high school for five years our family has lived here for three and a little over a year and a half ago my mother relocated from Florida to settle in Melrose that's a pretty good indication of how much we love this city we have two young children our oldest attended the ECC and is now at the Lincoln I work at a
▶ 14:30 nonprofit environmental organization where I specialize in wearing many hats which is basically the nature of every nonprofit but I'm particularly focused on state level advocacy related to clean energy and climate the success of which often hinges on my ability to build and coordinate teams of diverse stakeholders to communicate complex information concisely and effectively and to be nimble as new challenges arise or mid-course corrections are needed I take great pride in my ability to foster cooperation and to order in order to work towards accomplishment of shared goals despite differing opinions or initial points of view these leadership skills and personal qualities dovetail with the direction that I believe Melrose is going in the years since we
▶ 15:16 settled here I have engaged in the community in a variety of ways you may recognize me from times when I've spoken during public comment periods and supportive proposals like the plastic bag ban most recently is when I was here or when I've led trainings on legislative outreach energy efficiency or clean energy with the Sierra Club organized by the energy the Energy Commission or perhaps we cross paths while I was door knocking during the election season or volunteering at my daughter's school or in the in the library in these ways I have strengthened my community connections have met new people participated in and stayed informed about the goings-on on in the city and decision-making, including that undertaken by this body.
▶ 15:58 I've participated in some of the many activities and efforts undertaken to honor Melrose's commitment to being one community open to all. This vacancy in Ward 5 creates a unique opportunity for me to step up in a different way. And if selected, I intend to go all in. I'm invested in this city and committed to its enduring success. I'm prepared to draw on experience and expertise honed in my professional life to inform the good governance already in place in Melrose. Energy and environment may be my bailiwick, but the issue is so cross-cutting that it demands an appreciation for questions of development, transportation, energy consumption, and more. These same issues are confronted regularly by our city and, of course, in our ward.
▶ 16:42 I'm mindful of the different ways we all work to build community, and I believe my variegated background and experience have prepared me well to help leverage our community's strengths to maintain momentum in the near future, and to navigate change effectively going forward. I thank you very much for your time and your consideration, and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you very much. Do we have questions or comments from the committee? Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Next to the committee, we'll invite up Mr. Richard Kirk. Thank you for inviting me here tonight. and let you know why i want to be ward 5's next alderman the role of an alderman takes a special person as many of you know
▶ 17:53 it takes someone who can listen be available and act on a wide range of concerns most of these actions do not just affect the people of the ward it affects everyone in the city the skills needed to be an alderman a skills i believe i've learned and developed over the years as business manager of the laborers local 380. i too need to make myself available to the membership listen to many different issues and concerns i then need to act in a way that best benefits all the members of local 380. the issues and concerns may vary from something simple than just sitting down with a member and going over their pay stuff to make sure they got paid correctly and others more complex like arbitration cases around wrongful terminations or contract violations i also sit on a labor
▶ 18:41 management coalition committee at the cambridge health alliance in this committee we work together to solve problems in many issues one recent example is that the committee worked on is the no call no show rate for appointments at the clinics the committee was tasked specifically to lower the rates of the no call no shows one thing we looked at was the way patients got notified about upcoming appointments through the performance improvement analysis we found that each clinic had a different way of notifying patients together the committee created a chay wide system or practice which involved frequent phone calls and text message reminders in the patient's preferred language this new system is currently being implemented alliance-wide with
▶ 19:27 the hope that it reduces the no call no show rate as a business manager and as an alderman you need to be able to prioritize and multitask issues and concerns of the people who entrust your help i have been able to do this for nine years as business manager of local 380. this is why i feel i'd be an effective alderman for ward 5. in closing i would like to thank you for your consideration as ward 5's next alderman i can only hope that i'm able to be as available knowledgeable and as effective as ward 5's former alderman thank you thank you mr kirk any questions or comments okay thank you very much next the committee would like to invite up mr sean mcmaster thank you madam chair and thank you to the members of the board of aldermen for the
▶ 20:38 Shawn M. MacMaster: opportunity to address you this evening. I've had the pleasure of living in Ward 5 on Brazil Street for the past 12 years when my wife Shannon and I are now raising our five-year-old daughter Emma Mary. My twin brother Shane and I were born at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, the first of four boys to be delivered there. Although I was not raised in Melrose, my mother's family, the Meeans, are multi-generational Melroseans. After reaching adulthood, I knew that it was only a matter of time before I would find my way back to the city. After doing Doing so in 2006, I began looking for ways to contribute to the community, having always been drawn to civic affairs and driven by a strong desire to give back.
▶ 21:16 Shawn M. MacMaster: This is a responsibility I learned from my paternal grandmother, Mary McMaster, the daughter of an Irish immigrant who worked as a volunteer foster grandmother until the age of 86. It is in her mold that I have looked to make contributions to this community. In 2008, I was asked to join the board of directors of the Melrose Alliance Against Violence. I served seven years on the board, including time as vice president. In 2010, I responded to an ad in the Melrose Free Press seeking volunteer tutors to help immigrant residents learn English. Through the English Conversation Program, I spent two nights a week at the Melrose Public Library leading tutoring sessions. It is through this work that I met Susie Grodin,
▶ 21:54 Shawn M. MacMaster: the former chair of the Human Rights Commission, who encouraged me to apply to become a commissioner. In 2011, I was appointed to the commission where I served two full terms. In my second term, I was nominated and elected as chairman by my colleagues. In this role, I set out to raise the profile of the Human Rights Commission by increasing our visibility in the community. My volunteer work in Melrose demonstrates a strong commitment to the city, but beyond this, I would bring to the Board of Aldermen 19 years of public service experience, 17 of those years at the Middlesex District Attorney's Office. Most of my professional career has been spent advocating for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
▶ 22:34 Shawn M. MacMaster: victim advocate in the nonprofit and public sectors in doing so i have demonstrated an ability to advocate for the needs of others while also managing their expectations with candor and honesty a role that i see as tantamount to that of an alderman as director of community partnerships i oversee the external affairs of an agency that represents 54 cities and towns in this capacity i administer the office's community outreach programs public private partnerships and education initiatives i also serve as the district attorney's public policy advisor on issues impacting the health and safety of those who live in Middlesex County, including the opioid crisis, which most of my professional career has been dedicated
▶ 23:11 Shawn M. MacMaster: over the last five years. My professional experience has provided me with a unique ability to see firsthand how health and safety issues affect municipalities at the most intimate of levels. With a master's degree in public affairs from the McCormick Graduate School of Policy Studies at UMass, I completed various coursework in topics of public administration and public policy, providing me with a baseline of knowledge and a skill set from which to draw as an alderman. As a longtime resident of Ward 5, I am very much in tune with the issues that are important to those who live in the ward. The issue of traffic, speeding, and reckless driving, which by no means is exclusive to Ward 5, must continue to be a priority.
▶ 23:50 Shawn M. MacMaster: From Oak Grove Station, to Pine Banks, to the Lincoln School, to the trails connecting to the Fells Reservation off of Washington and Brazil Streets, there is no shortage of foot traffic in Ward 5. I commend the Board of Aldermen for the work that you have done to date on this issue by reducing the citywide speed limit, and I would look forward to having the opportunity to work with you to continue to address this critical safety issue moving forward. Like everywhere else in the city, road conditions are important to my neighborhood. Mayor Inferner, while she was an alderman, set a benchmark for responsiveness in this area, with many roads in the ward having been improved. Because of former Alderman Infurna work in this particular area, I recognize the expectations that Ward 5 residents have relative to our roadways,
▶ 24:31 Shawn M. MacMaster: and I would work closely with the administration to advocate for continued improvements. Finally, an issue about which I am particularly passionate relates to the foreign-born residents who live in the ward. Ward 5 is an increasingly diverse area of the city, as seen most notably in the enrollment rates at the Lincoln School, the most ethnically diverse school in Melrose, with 24 languages spoken in the homes of its students. understanding that some immigrant families may have moved here from countries where the government is corrupt i would look for creative ways to engage immigrant families who may otherwise be reluctant to access city services my professional experience in community outreach and advocacy
▶ 25:06 Shawn M. MacMaster: my work to develop an immigrant rights program at the da's office in my time as an esl tutor would serve me well in this regard as i wrote in my letter of intent i am humbled by this opportunity i do not come before you tonight suggesting that i have the answers to all of the challenges that we face as a city if i am fortunate enough to serve with you i would look to each one of you for guidance and i would rely on the institutional knowledge that so many of you have simply put there would be much for me to learn when i look across this chamber i see individuals with strong professional backgrounds in law accounting finance social work applied science and city planning i think that my professional experience in law enforcement
▶ 25:45 Shawn M. MacMaster: and human services would complement the professional diversity of this board finally as a professional i've always prided myself in being diplomatic collegial and circumspect attributes that have served me well and that are important to any deliberative body thank you again for the opportunity to address you this evening i would appreciate your consideration and i'm happy to answer any questions that you might have thank you very much thank you madam chair i said one question for you sean thanks again for being an applicant in here this evening. Can you expound a little bit upon what you said has been the bulk of your work over the past five years? Because it's something that I'd be, especially in Middlesex
▶ 26:26 Michael P. Zwirko: County, that folks have been dealing with. It's the opioid crisis. Now, my understanding is from a recent report that came out is that we may actually be over the tipping point, that the results of overdose deaths due to the opioid crisis are down somewhere between 8% and 10%. I don't know if that figure is statewide or Middlesex County, but can you talk about some the work that you've done in that area and also where we kind of stand with this epidemic sure thank you for the question mr president with respect to the opioid epidemic in terms of the numbers in middlesex county the death rate is down about 11 and a half percent up in the city of lowell which is really the epicenter of the problem that's where we began a task force back in 2013
▶ 27:04 Shawn M. MacMaster: that i coordinate for the district attorney the death rate is down about 25 percent overdose deaths are up overdose rates are up actual overdoses over overdose deaths are down there's still a lot of work that needs to be done I think the availability of Narcan has been very effective in saving lives in terms of my work on this issue there are three hospital based task forces I referenced the one up in Lowell that I coordinate for the district attorney I coordinate one in partnership with Hallmark Health and that's at Lawrence Memorial Hospital and one in partnership with Emerson Hospital and Metro West Medical Center. What we do is we bring together stakeholders from different disciplines to try to work on developing a systems thinking approach to address the issue.
▶ 27:50 Shawn M. MacMaster: So law enforcement, the health care community, social services, and the recovery community. I also coordinate Project Care. Project Care is a program that we started up in Lowell. We recently replicated it to the Mystic Valley area of the county. That's a program that works to respond to trauma that have been experienced by children who witness a family member overdose. A program closer to home is our CARE Collaborative, which is actually at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital. It's a partnership between the DA's office, the hospital, and Jewish Family and Children's Services. That program actually looks to provide a seamless continuum of care to ensure that mothers with maternal substance use disorders and substance-exposed newborns
▶ 28:34 Michael P. Zwirko: receive the services that are needed in order to ensure that mothers get the help that they need and children get the start that they need in life. Those are just some of the opiate related initiatives in which I'm involved with the office. Well and thank you for that so I know that you know Melrose isn't alone in dealing with the crisis so appreciate your work and I just wanted a little bit more information on that especially as I know we some it's been in the news recently with regard to the overdose rates so so thank you for that. um again appreciate you applying um i don't have any more questions at this time madam chair is there questions thank you very much for your time thank you thank you thank you the committee
▶ 29:22 will now invite miss patricia matthews good evening i'd like to thank you for the opportunity to speak with you this evening i also would like to thank you as a melrose resident for your service and dedication to the city it is truly a fantastic place to live i have the qualities and experience the city of melrose needs and deserves from award alderman my background both professionally and personally have developed the skills and qualities needed to be an effective alderman i currently work at the melrose bank as a loan underwriter i have the ability to evaluate credit worthiness analyze situations and consider compensating factors to to determine what is best for customer and the risk for the bank my ability to perform my ability to problem solve at work
▶ 30:36 will help me analyze and determine the best solutions for Ward 5 and the City of Melrose as I am in the banking field fiscal responsibility and cash flow is extremely important I am very mindful of fiscal responsibility I have had the good fortune to be involved with the children of Melrose I have assisted in the library at the Lincoln School volunteered for field trips participated in fundraisers for the schools I have a coach to basketball for the recreation department and I have coached for the youth soccer program for years I volunteered my time to encourage the children of Melrose to live their best lives through sports team-building positive socialization and healthy lifestyles I understand the importance of funding our children's education but
▶ 31:48 a minefield to the expense to the taxpayer I have two children in the public schools and I'm proud to say our school system is very concerned with the well-being and the safety of our students it is important for our children and our first responders to know that they have our continued support in keeping the community safe my husband's a police officer and I understand the challenges facing the community I believe Melrose has been proactive by having school resource officers in the high school and in the middle schools we have crisis training and intervention with emotional support for our children the city has achieved a balance of both fiscal responsibility and and moral conscience for our children in the first responders of our
▶ 32:50 city as you can see I'm very active in my ward and in the city I would truly be neighborhood respond a neighborhood representative for ward five i am proud of my city and any contribution i can make is an honor thank you again for your time and consideration and i'm happy to answer any questions you may have thank you very much thank you chairwoman woman um thanks for coming in i wanted to know um in your experience with loan underwriting uh what your perspective is on sort of the tension between all of our various fiscal responsibilities and the need for affordable housing in melrose um well i think a big key item in any sort of any sort of housing is balance you of course need a balance and affordable housing i know our the bank the melrose bank has done quite a bit of
▶ 34:00 um loaned for affordable housing to some of the residents here in melrose does that answer your question sure thank you thank you i think i think it's important to have affordable housing i think there's a lot of people right now that are having a hard time for various reasons not only in our city but but everywhere so i think affordable housing is it is and should be somewhat of a priority thank you thank you thank you very much next we would like to invite mr. Jerry Morales to come forward hi I'm Jerry Rose I've been here before I think most of you know who I am I hope I expressed to you that I'm passionate about Melrose I hope that comes across in the various issues that I've engaged in that I've addressed that I've tried
▶ 35:25 to make an impact in in Melrose it's funny as I was thinking through my history in Melrose I remembered that I think was 1997 we had a Halloween rainstorm so we probably remember the flooding we had that time and and I like I've been in town for five years and I um I looked into it I wanted to figure out what happened here how did we get so flooded and I consulted people like there's people in Melrose who are engineers that do that sort of thing and And I went to the Department of Public Works and brought some things there, and I was told, no, we don't have to worry about that, that's a 100-year storm. And then the next June, we had the second 100-year storm. And it still took another, what, 15 years or so until we did a project to mitigate the harms from that,
▶ 36:10 and we had a number of other storms in the meantime. I raise that issue because it highlights that I'm a problem solver, I'm a troubleshooter. it's what I get called in to do in in my regular work in my education work people call me in to to figure out a problem that that is confounding the people who regularly try to work with it I have a knack of walking into a situation being able to identify what's right about the situation but what stands out to me are the things that don't fit when there's a disconnect between what we're saying we're doing what we're trying to do and what's not happening I recognize that it's the way my brain works you know I know you're familiar with this but school issues I certainly pay attention to education issues I've addressed at
▶ 37:01 the local state and federal levels I do this not because it was my career but because I saw a need and I I wanted to do something about it inflow and infiltration issues I remember back in those first storms in the 1990s some of my elderly neighbors they couldn't do a whole lot of things to themselves but they certainly knew how to take that sump pump hose and stick it down the washing machine drain and there were more than a few elderly neighbors that I went out and bought sump pumps for and piping to pipe it out to the street instead of putting it into the sewer system that was long before I came here talking about I and I I tried for years to talk about I and I privately I eventually came to the board and raised the issue here.
▶ 37:46 And I want you to know that this issue also, you know, it's not an area of expertise. I looked into it. I did the research. I know how to do research. I went to the American Water Works Association to figure out what are the issues of I&I. I had no idea in 2011 what, you know, gallons per day per inch diameter mile metric was, right? You know, and what inflow and infiltration was. I figured that out. that to the board and I highlighted the fact that we were the leakiest you know sewer system in this in in the MWRA area I'd like to work with this board you know in some of the times that I come here it's always that something has been proposed and put out there where I haven't been part of the process and I'm
▶ 38:32 then left to evaluate what's happened figure it out and then do some work and try to say well what about this what about this what about this I would much prefer as I do in my regular professional career to at the very beginning say what are the parameters here what are we trying to do what do we need to look for and guide a solution toward something that might be more complete as a solution even if the other solution would be somewhat of a solution you know I have a different perspective than many of you here I kind of a boots on the ground kind of person I bring I think an element of diversity to this board in terms of how I approach things what I see about situations and what I every committee that I ever try to create I try to include that diversity
▶ 39:23 not just of ethnicity or gender or anything else but it's a diversity of opinion that you're really looking for when you try to find diversity it's not what somebody looks like or where they came from it's what they represent as a different opinion and i clearly and we disagree many times on the on the conclusions of things but i clearly have an opinion that might be different but that doesn't mean that the perspective i bring isn't a valuable one for the board to be considering and what i would hope is that whatever decisions this board ever makes that maybe i've helped guide it to a little bit more complete path than what might have been made without my presence here um so anyway i do ask
▶ 40:02 you you know i am a obviously a resident of ward 5 and there are issues in ward 5 that i think we need to deal with this pedestrian access issues there's issues around west wyoming still that is still a problem after so many years um you know but i you know whether it's a charter issue that affects ward 5 or a school building issue that affects ward 5 or the city in whole i'm engaged i'm here i'm already doing the work i have i i laugh about this because i probably have in my computer more Melrose budget information than most people have I take the mutis data and I convert it to excel and I do year-by-year analyses of where we're going with things so anyway I hope my passion comes across and I hope you
▶ 40:44 Michael P. Zwirko: understand where I come from that I'm always willing to discuss every side of a situation and evaluate the merits of everything thank you for your time Thank you, Madam Chair. Jerry, we know you're engaged. You always come prepared and you always speak to us about issues of the day or issues that you've been working on for a really long time. So whether or not we agree on it, I always appreciate it. And you certainly have enlightened me on some areas of the city. I'm just curious, and if I didn't catch it in your cover letter, I apologize, but have you always lived on Mount Vernon? no I was in Ward six yeah what six for probably what 15 16 years and then I moved to Mount Vernon Street I've been I've been in Ward five now for ten
▶ 41:38 Michael P. Zwirko: actually 12 years now okay I was just I didn't it said since 1992 so I wasn't sure if that's just your address address of record no that's fine were you involved did it come during your tenure and I apologize you may be in Ward six the time but when lincoln school went through its renovation were you a ward 5 resident at the time did you have any involvement with that i i was not but actually i did engage in that and and here's a case in point that shows where i get engaged in things i identified so i pay attention to numbers and back then the city used to have their budgets out in excel and i could take it and i love excel and i love doing a quantitative and qualitative analysis i pulled apart the
▶ 42:19 the numbers, and I noticed a discrepancy that in, I might be wrong on the year, but let's say the year 2001, and prior with the old school building, the Lincoln School was using about $12,000 worth of natural gas a year and about $10,000 worth of electricity a year. Well, post the building now, the new Lincoln School was bigger than the old one, but I identified from what I could get in the numbers that the Lincoln School now was using still about $12,000 a year in natural gas but suddenly it jumped to $50,000 a year in electricity and you know part of my work is always being energy conscious and trying to figure out how can you make something better and more and be more conservation minded as well as more fiscally minded and so I actually went
▶ 43:02 to the city and I said well do you know what's going on here and I got responses like oh well the the new toilets have automatic flush that's probably it or there's a computer lab in there now you know i laugh because from my perspective as a professional those things are irrelevant in terms of building costs you know that it's an hvac issue that's causing the issue and i tried to bring that to the city a number of times over a number of years in fact nobody could give me the data specifically so i had to request from the treasurer's office you know 12 months worth of energy bills so i could do the analysis to figure out are we using the energy in the summertime for air conditioning are we using it in february when
▶ 43:40 are we using this energy and i i did the analysis i presented it to the people in charge at dpw they didn't know how to deal with it what came out was that lincoln school had an energy efficiency management system nobody knew how to use it the builder had built it started it up our hvac system was running full time day and night as if the school was fully occupied there's a there's a spec I think it's 15 15 cubic feet per minute per student right so you have 400 students in the building you're talking about a lot of cubic feet per minute you're passing through so at 2 in the morning we were passing this air through the building and trying to heat the new air coming in and it wasn't working but
▶ 44:18 nobody had a job that was paying attention to that and I tried to say to the city I tried to say to DPW I tried to say to the superintendent I tried to say to the mayor we've got to do something about this this is basically a teacher every year that we're wasting on electricity right because it's an alternative cost to everything and I brought that to the city and I said what can you do and sadly it took us another probably 15 years before somebody started addressing that issue and those are the kinds of things that I hope as a member of the board we can figure out and there's a little hanging fruit right there's things that I know that for me a little hanging fruit and there's other things for me that are more difficult that might be easier for you to address
▶ 44:58 But I can bring to this board a kind of a fiscal perspective from my professional system in managing properties and trying to make certain we get the best bang for the buck, while at the same time, I take a utilitarian philosophy to these things. And I say, what's the greatest good for the greatest number? And how do we balance out the greatest good versus the harms done to other people? And that's a complicated issue. there's no right or wrong answer in so many issues like this but in terms of saving money by not wasting the hvac system in the middle of the night at the lincoln school you know i wasn't i was certainly engaged that i wasn't as part of the um the designing the building it was a wonderful
▶ 45:38 building design they did it was it was wonderful it was great we used the state money for that there were so many good things i want to give you one other point about the lincoln school when i went there for the open house the big open house again i'm conscious of so many things that people think i'm crazy right so i'm walking up to the building and what i see at the side of the front doors of the building wonderful beautiful building with nice architecture trying to match the old we had lead coated copper downspouts coming down right next to the sides of the front door of the building now you don't want lead coated copper downspouts where the kids are going to be running in and rubbing their hands on them every day all the time nobody else identified that the architect
▶ 46:17 didn't the builders didn't nobody did i did and i brought it to the people i didn't come i want to be clear for 20 years i didn't come to this board for probably 18 years i didn't go to the school committee i tried to work behind the scenes and i went behind the scenes and it probably took six or eight months but they finally changed it so that the bottom where the lead coated copper was accessible to kids they actually put a round cast pipe up so the lead coated copper dumped into that and the kids weren't exposed to that but that's an example of the different perspective that i bring i see things i have a broad base of knowledge about many topics and i bring them to bear in everything i do and um you know i'm sorry i went on with the question there no well and
▶ 47:00 thank you for the perspective on that so appreciate your time those are all the questions i had madam chair any other questions thank you very much thank you final candidate that we will invite up this evening is mr pete navarro last but not least thank you madam chair for recognizing me and for giving me a moment of the committee's time to the alderman Representatives on this committee thank you for your time and considering me for the vacant ward 5 alderman position i especially want to thank my fellow ward 5 neighbors in this room who are here tonight who have also answered the call thank you for raising your hand when melrose has asked for help it's my honor to be here tonight and I look forward to continuing to be a resource in the
▶ 47:54 community regardless of the outcome of this appointment since high school and immediately after it I've had a drive and a passion for giving back to the communities that have made an impact in my life during early parts of my life I've been met with personal struggles and tribulations that necessitated the need for me to rely on perfect strangers community resources and the belief that the heart of every neighborhood is in our schools our churches and our engaged citizens. As a benefactor of those heroic icons of a community, I have challenged myself to continually pay forward the seeds that were sowed. With that has come a long history of volunteering in public service. When I moved to Melrose, I was
▶ 48:33 enamored by our downtown Americana and the amazing close-knit neighborhoods that have kept Melrose one community open to all. Out of this love came an overwhelming desire to continue what I have always done, give back. That search started over four years ago when I started taking an interest in City Hall and getting to know the people in local government including some of you sitting before us tonight. Then about three years ago I got a call from the mayor's office about an appointment on the Massport Community Advisory Committee to represent Melrose and I immediately accepted it. Since then I have enjoyed working with that committee and helping to create a proper state agency. As the Melrose representative on the committee I'm the first point of contact for our
▶ 49:14 residents when they have complaints about overflight noise or any other aspect of Massport that impacts our city. Then something spectacular happened in our family and then over a little two and a half years ago our son Alex came to this world. It was then that I started asking myself the question, does Melrose meet the mark on public schools? I desire for Alex to have an access to public education system that exceeds expectations and sets him on the right course, not just academically but also socially, to help him become not just a good student but also an engaged member of society. I started taking an interest in what Melrose public schools are doing and immediately started finding inefficiencies in spending and procurement processes that were a result of a lack of
▶ 49:51 technical expertise on the school committee. Technology is a permanent piece of not just our education system, but our entire government, and is never going away. As such, it made common sense to me that at least one member of the school committee needs to be technically proficient in order to help inform the other members when decisions need to be made where technology will have an impact. That is one of the reasons why last year I stood up and ran for school committee. Most of the solutions that I have regarding strengthening our schools is tied towards being fiscally responsible in our use of public funds. These challenges are not unique to just school committee. Melrose is at a disadvantage to our neighboring cities and towns, and it's that disadvantage
▶ 50:27 that makes Melrose one of the most desirable places to live in the country. Our residential community comes at the expense of a reduced commercial tax base. For example, Saugus, who enjoys the benefits of commercial zones of Route 1, or Wakefield, who has space for corporate office complex parks just south of 95. Our one community and small business downtown make up most of our tax revenue, so we must be smart in how we use those funds. In addition, Ward 5, like other parts of Melrose, are dealing with the opioid crisis that is gripping cities across the nation. While policy assists this crisis is a community issue, education, support, and enforcement need to work together to solve this problem.
▶ 51:05 Ward 5 also has the standard issues like potholes, water bills, and the increasing elementary population at Lincoln. Last year before pulling nomination papers, I sat down with now-Mayor Inferna and sought her counsel about running for school committee. In that conversation, I made it clear that I would never challenge her for her seat, as I felt the job that she was doing was exceptional. However, I also mentioned that in the event she did step down or move on, I would do what I am doing tonight, standing up and saying I want to help Monroe's Ward 5. I might not have won a seat on the school committee, but I am ready to serve our community, and I feel I bring the right amount of passion, common sense, as well as a unique perspective
▶ 51:43 Kate Lipper-Garabedian: to continue moving Melrose forward thank you for your time I look forward to working with you and I will take any questions thanks so much for coming and thank you to everyone who's put your names for it I just wanted to ask you about one thing on your resume that I thought was really interesting about organizing houses in your ward and precinct to join an online community and sending out new neighbor postcards I'd love to just hear a little bit more about that and it's probably something you know the degree to which we can sort of build on your experience to think about other ways to engage communities around the city so yeah yeah absolutely so I'm very active on socially online between Facebook for two years I was the Facebook admin the Melrose
▶ 52:30 community Facebook group but there was a service called nextdoor.com which is a private social community it's verified addresses you know the people that you're chatting and socially with are actually your next-door neighbors and not randoms so I saw that this ingenious platform would take would take hold and as such I adopted the platform for myself and started filling out postcards and sending them to people and were in in actually the Russell Park when we know basically the the ward 5-1 precinct and getting participation since then across Melrose I'm the number one lead of getting people into the next door social platform it was also adopted by the Melrose Police Department I want to say probably about two years ago and is now officially sponsored by the city of
▶ 53:20 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: Melrose thank you other questions thank you thank you very much I want to echo the words of some of my fellow aldermen here and just thank everyone very very much not only for being here this evening to speak to the committee but for putting yourself forward and being willing to step up in this way for the city we appreciate it very much we have a couple of options moving forward I just want to talk about process we for one do need to start the full board meeting in the next six minutes that should not in any way limit any discussion we would have here we could certainly recess and start the full board meeting and come back that is an option we I believe have about three ways that we could go from here we can choose to hold this order of course we
▶ 54:25 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: can deliberate and speak amongst the committee but once that is through and we're ready for the next step we can hold this in committee if we feel we need more time we can move it forward to the full board meeting that happens directly following this meeting and choose to table up for more time or if we feel as a committee that we are ready to make a nomination we could certainly move it forward to the full board this evening and start the nomination process this evening the the proper order I think our motion would be to move forward without recommendation if we were to do that this evening so those are just a few notes on process and I will now ask for any comments suggestions and what is
▶ 55:08 Michael P. Zwirko: the will of the committee thank you madam chair so the first thing I just wanted to say to the to the public and to the candidates and to my fellow members of the board unfortunately we're fortunately I will not be present on May 5th March 5th my youngest sister is getting married in Mexico on Saturday and I'm flying out early Wednesday morning and I return around midnight on Monday night so we have a full board meeting scheduled on Monday the 5th while the board can certainly move forward and nominate and support the filling of that vacancy I just wanted to let that be known should it impact any decisions we're gonna make here this evening the other thing we could do in light of that is if this order does leave the Appropriations Committee it
▶ 55:54 Michael P. Zwirko: can be acted on before the full board in a multitude of ways we could call a special meeting on March 12th for example it could be tabled for later discussion doesn't have to be acted on tonight doesn't have to be acted on March 5th could be acted on a regular board meeting on March 19th so I just throw that out there so folks know about that in full disclosure that I will not be president on present on Monday March 5th I also wanted to say that we've known for a long time even January that ultimately Ward 5 was going to be the alderman was going to elevate to mayor and that seat was going to be vacant for three weeks now Ward 5 has not had a representative I am while Ward 5 obviously is Representatives by four aldermen at large as well as the former
▶ 56:39 Michael P. Zwirko: Ward 5 mayor alderman who is now mayor Inferna I really being a resident of Ward 5 I would really like to try to fill this position as soon as possible doesn't necessarily need to be tonight wouldn't mind if it weren't tonight but would like to do it quickly so um i just wanted to get that comment out there because it does impact the timeline so for what it's worth i just wanted to make that comment thank you madam chair thank you Oosterman forest thank you madam chair um i appreciate all the candidates that came here tonight um you know after listening to you all speak and and hearing about all your backgrounds and your letters of intent and your resumes i think there are several people here that would
▶ 57:22 Scott M. Forbes: serve ward five very well that being said i don't feel like me personally i'm ready to make a decision tonight uh after hearing everybody i i i'm one of those people that likes to kind of maybe take a day or two and and sit back and process everything that i've heard maybe some follow-up questions with some of the candidates um i'm a firm believer in measuring twice and cutting once uh i don't think that we need to make a decision this evening i'm not sure if there are several of you that feel the same way that i do uh or not but i would definitely uh make the recommendation to move this forward to the full board without a recommendation for the purpose of tabling the order and maybe if there is a special meeting on march 12th then we can go forward and i think
▶ 58:08 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: that at that point in time everybody would have uh the ability to process everything that they've taken in tonight and make a a good conscious decision is that a motion yes it is and i'll seconded so we have a a motion to move this forward to the full board this evening without a recommendation for the purposes of tabling to be taken up at a later date that has been made by alderman forbes and seconded by alderman mortimer on discussion we have alderman medeiros thank you thank you i i too i want to thank all the the applicants who submitted their names there's certainly a plethora of experience and diversity of experience and I'm I'm really pleased to see what started out at our last meeting where we
▶ 58:54 Monica C. Medeiros: didn't have any candidates had submitted at that time to come out with eight and now down to seven you know is is encouraging we did just get these your names and packages of information just thursday evening um and while that certainly is within you know the legal time for us to make a decision i too think that it was very informative to some of you known for a long time and some of you to meet and hear from for the first time this evening and think about that and more importantly i think it would be good for us to take some time at least a week out to act on this in finality most importantly because the people I think in Ward 5 really deserve an opportunity to get to know you and get to know your names and for this to have a chance to cycle
▶ 59:56 Monica C. Medeiros: through the press in the local papers and for them to we have had some letters and emails but I think it would be helpful to hear from people throughout city in particular from ward five so i think that would be beneficial and i think that's important part of this process so i do support moving this forward to the full board but i don't support us taking a final vote tonight i do think it would be in the best interest to have alderman's work president's work out to be present the day that we take that vote especially since they were down one alderman and uh and this is his ward after all so i think you know whether it be march 12th as a special meeting or even going to march 19th would be the right thing
▶ 1:00:43 Monica C. Medeiros: to do and just as some background the last time that we had experienced this kind of vacancy goes back to 2011 when at the time Alderman Brodeur became elected to state rep and withdrew his seat so he he vacated the seat and resigned on January January 6 2011 and we filled that seat coincidentally on Alderman Byrd's a birthday on march 7th 2011 so it was just about two months and um in the whole process so i i think you know we could go a little bit longer here obviously we don't like having any ward unrepresented but i think it's important to have feedback from the public thank you thank you so we i do see another couple of hands we are one minute over the time point of order yes i read rule 21 C of the Board of Aldermen to state that it's 30 minutes not 15 so we
▶ 1:01:47 Manisha Bewtra: have until 815 thank you madam chair I wanted to say that I personally would feel comfortable proceeding forward with the vote tonight that said I also respect my colleagues interest in in deliberating a little more one thing I would like to know is if we have an opportunity which I think was option one you presented to discuss a bit more with the applicants since they're all here tonight although we didn't ask a lot of questions I think per alderman Forbes comments sort of just letting things sink in now that we've heard it all it would be nice to use the opportunity to have them come to the podium again to answer more questions or make additional statements thank you thank you thanks and i'll just respond to manisha's if this comes before the full board the opportunity exists for
▶ 1:02:48 Peter D. Mortimer: further questions so it doesn't have to end here tonight we certainly could do it tonight i just there is more there is certainly more opportunity for that as well as outside of this chamber that's all i had madam chair Oosterman mortimer thank you chairman lemon i seconded the motion because i agree with it um whether it's the 12th or the 19th if everyone can attend a special meeting procedurally that would be wonderful if there's a dearth of possible attendance the 19th would be all right we do have alderman Zwirko president Zwirko representing ward 5 as well as the mayor and the other alderman at large we're all interested in ward 5. we work together as a city um we would have another chance to interview the candidates and even if we chose not to
▶ 1:03:35 Peter D. Mortimer: interview the candidates they would of course be free to speak at public participation because that order would be on the agenda our public participation only allows orders that are on our agenda not just anything under the sun but that order would be on the agenda and would also give other members of the public who may support or actually not support certain candidates to come forward with commentary and now that this is out in the open it's an important step to fill the automatic seat so I think a little bit of percolation a little bit of brewing to let this settle would be appropriate and probably the better course of action that's why i seconded alderman forbes motion and i think there's still going to
▶ 1:04:37 John N. Tramontozzi: be a chance for us to hear from members of the public from candidates for the office again if they so choose if not in the five minute period they can certainly speak at public participation and other members of the public can come forward at public participation that's why i second the order and that's why i support it thank you madam chairman thank you alderman yeah thank you Thank you, Madam Chairman. I also want to thank you all for coming in this evening and your applications to this position. And as my fellow aldermen said, I think it's also important to hear from the public. Those residents of the ward that wish to speak in favor of or against any of the candidates, I think that's important and we didn't get an opportunity to hear from anybody in the public.
▶ 1:05:27 Francis X. Wright Jr.: continuing it tabling it and continuing it for a future is i think gives us the opportunity to let the public address the candidate so i would be in favor of holding it as well thank you thank you alderman wright thank you madam chair um first of all i want to thank all the candidates for coming out um it's going to be a difficult choice we have some excellent people who stepped up um i would say i did have somebody say that once you're in an office you're generally able to hold on to it without too much of a challenge but as somebody who has had opponents in the last two election i would uh i would say that that's not necessarily true and we certainly have two new aldermen on this uh board so uh whatever decision we make and whenever we make it i would
▶ 1:06:18 Francis X. Wright Jr.: encourage uh those of you who have shown an interest who may not be selected to strongly consider whether or not you be willing to run next time because um it this is a process that the charter calls for but really the true way to elect a representative is at the ballot box and i know the people on this board take this role very seriously but we also we all recognize that we stand in the place of the voters of ward 5 and i think we all prefer to see those voters make this decision so um you've all presented yourselves um in a very positive light and i hope that you'll uh consider uh if you're not chosen well even if you are chosen and and you deem you're going to go forward uh to uh you know run run a um a strong spirited campaign uh next time around um
▶ 1:07:15 Francis X. Wright Jr.: i myself i mean we're put in a position to make this decision um i've considered our applicants i guess i would join alderman Bewtra and i'm prepared to go forward but that said i respect those who would prefer to hold off and i would be willing to support holding this vote until a future meeting thank you thank you other comments or questions okay we have an order that has been made and seconded to move this forward without recommendation to the full board meeting this evening for the purposes of tabling it to be taken up at a later date all in favor aye aye any opposed the motion passes this will be moved forward to the full board meeting tonight uh for those of you who are candidates we will
▶ 1:08:03 Peter D. Mortimer: certainly be in touch regarding the scheduling um and the next steps going forward all are welcome to stay for the next full board meeting you are not required to um and again thank you very much point of order management um yes just for strict interpretation this has been this has been sent to the full board it's been recommended to be sent to the full board with our recommendation but technically when it comes up with the full board we are not bound to table it at that point it seems that the feeling in the room would be that we will table it at that time but the proper motion is just to send to the full board without recommendation and in all likelihood it will get tabled but that need not necessarily happen i may be redundant
▶ 1:08:46 so i just wanted to point that out thank you alderman motion to adjourn second we have a motion adjourned by president's work second by alderman mortimer all in favor any opposed for journey thank you we're adjourned thank you i'm mike swirko president of the board of alderman it is february 26 2018 this is the regularly scheduled full board meeting of the melrose board of aldermen this meeting tonight is being recorded by mmtv as well as available on the the city's website in accordance with the open meeting law. Clerk, could you kindly call the roll? Alderman Bewtra. Here. Here. Alderman Boisselle. Here. Here. Alderman Forbes. Here. Here. Alderman Lemmerman. Here. Here. Alderman Lipper-Garabedian. Here. Here. Alderman Dearest. Here. Here. Alderman Mortimer. Here. Here. Alderman Tramontozzi. Here. Here. Alderman Wright. Here. Here. Alderman Zwirko. Here. Here. Ten present.