Health, Education & Welfare Committee — 2021-11-15
Attendance
Christopher Cinella ; Jack Eccles ; Maya Jamaleddine ; Leila Migliorelli ; Robb Stewart ; Cory Thomas
Agenda
- Call to Order
- Public Comment
- Orders
- ORDER-2022-38 : Appointment of Alicia McNeil, 490 Lebanon St., to the Melrose Commission on Women for a three-year term; said term to end on the last day of February 2024.
- ORDER-2022-37 : Appointment of Judy Bushee, 157 Linwood Ave, to the Commission on Disability for a three-year term; said term to end on the last day of February 2024.
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE COMMITTEE CALENDAR● NOVEMBER 15, 2021 Web-based remote meeting Remote meeting 7:00 PM , Melrose, MA 02176 The public should take notice that the Melrose City Council may, on certain occasions, have a quorum in attendance due to standing committees of the City Council 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 Maya Jamaleddine Chair Present Leila Migliorelli Vice Chair Present Jack Eccles Voting Late 7:02 PM Robb Stewart Voting Present Cory Thomas Voting Present Christopher Cinella President, ex oficio Present Non voting members present include Councilor Grigoraitis and Councilor McNaught.
ORDER-2022-38 Appointment Appointment of Alicia McNeil, 490 Lebanon St., to the Melrose Commission on Women for a three-year term; said term to end on the last day of February 2024. Recommend Passage City Council
ORDER-2022-37 Appointment Appointment of Judy Bushee, 157 Linwood Ave, to the Commission on Disability for a three-year term; said term to end on the last day of February 2024. Recommend Passage City Council City of Melrose Page 1 11/17/2021 10:57 AM
Transcript
▶ 0:00 Maya Jamaleddine: We are recording. Thank you. Good evening. The time is 7 p.m. My name is Maya Jamaleddine, the Chair of the Health, Education, and Welfare. Joining me tonight, Vice Chair Layla Migliorelli, voting members, Councilor Rob Stewart, President And we have counselor. Thomas here. Okay. And non voting members, we have, um, counselor. Pursuant to the suspension of certain provisions of the open meeting law, this meeting of the health education and welfare committee will be conducted via remote participation to the greatest extent possible. We will post a comprehensive record of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the City of Marrow's website and on mmtv3.org. The public can find online access instructions to view this meeting at www.cityofmarrows.org remote meetings.
▶ 1:20 Maya Jamaleddine: We have no objection. I would like to open the floor. for public comment, seeing no objection. The floor is open for public comment. Do we have anyone? At this moment, we do not have anyone for public comment, just the speakers at tonight's. Okay. With no further objection, I would like to close public comment and public comment is now closed. Just I would like to mention that we have Councilor Eccles joining us now. And we have before us Order 2022-38, Appointment of Elisha McNeil, 490 Lebanon Street, to the Mayor's Commission on Women for a three-year term, set term to end on the last day of February 2024. And this order is offered by Mayor Broder. Do we have Mayor Broder and Mrs. McNeil?
▶ 2:45 Yes, suspend the rules. I would like to suspend the rules. I just want to make sure that we have them. Chair, I'll make a motion to suspend the rules. Second. Motion to suspend the rules made by Councillor Stewart, seconded by Vice-Chair McDiarelli. Secular. Chair Jamaleddine? Yes. Vice Chair Migliorelli? Yes. Councillor Eccles? Yes. Councillor Stewart? Yes. Councillor Thomas? Yes. And President Sinella? President Sinella? Yes. So we have six yes. Okay, the rules are now suspended. Good evening, Mr. Mayor Brother. Good evening, everyone. Thank you very much, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to be with you again this evening and to bring two outstanding nominees forward for your consideration.
▶ 4:04 Paul Brodeur: The first is Alicia McNeil. I actually first learned about Ms. McNeil's interest in helping out in the City when we started talking about diversity, equity and inclusion. And in there was certainly a great deal of interest in that, and there continues to be, and we're excited about the work we're doing. That the Commission on Women is down a few members and in talking to the members and talking to Ms. McNeil, very excited to put her name before you for consideration. She is an attorney of over 20 years. uh i know she's a good one because she went to suffolk university law school and graduated a couple years after me uh to her credit she stuck with the practice where i'm you've heard me say i'm a recovering lawyer uh in the past um she's also a parent and um that served if memory serves
▶ 5:00 Paul Brodeur: in the pto with norris high school but also um between her professional qualification and her commitment to the community, particularly recognizing, as you'll see from her cover letter, the need to lift up women and girls and to give them the confidence to self-advocate in what can sometimes be a challenging society. I look forward to your questions for her. I know So, Ms. Grigoraitis knows she's a proud resident of Ward 6, and with that, I will turn it over to Ms. McNeil for her comments, and I think you'll find her to be an outstanding candidate. Thank you, Mayor. I'm sorry I had trouble getting on at the beginning, but I am here, and I am excited actually to be before this committee today.
▶ 5:59 When I first moved to Melrose, I was on the Human Rights Commission and I served two terms on the Human Rights Commission and enjoyed doing that. After that, my daughter was in school and I got consumed with that and got on the PTO and then life just happened and I really wasn't involved in Melrose for a while. Subsequently, I started looking around, particularly around COVID time, when things started, you know, slowing down, I started looking around to see what, how I could get more involved into the community. And I did send the mayor my resume and a cover letter for the inclusion committee, and I was not accepted to that committee, which turned out to be a benefit because now this committee has come up and I'm very interested in women's rights.
▶ 6:56 I feel that women, you know, we're a unique human being and we have different issues than men have. And I feel that with my background also in mentoring and teaching that I would be a great addition to this committee. One of the last things that I'll say is after submitting my resume, I ended up getting a position, part-time position in Malden in the City Solicitor's Office. So I do work part-time for the City of Malden. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Mrs. McNeil. Any counselor would like to ask any questions? Counselor McGeary. Thank you, Madam Chair. Sharon, thank you, Ms. McNeil for joining us tonight. Just curious, I know that you had mentioned that you had worked with mentoring young women
▶ 8:01 and women of various ages and things like that. So I wonder if you could tell a little bit about your experience with that with the committee and what you hope to accomplish as being part of the Commission on Women. Sure, so during my entire adult life, women were just, particularly younger women, were attracted to me and in the church that I attended growing up I mentored many young women and after that when I started teaching the same thing happened I became friendly with some of my I let me just back up and say I taught adult learners and so I became friendly with some of those adult learners and one in particular that I'd like to highlight is a woman who was in my business law class she had some issues she started writing a book and i was able to
▶ 8:58 mentor her through that process she's older than i am however she always says that i mentor her and some of the things that i do in mentoring women that i would like to implement with this committee is doing a vision board every year a group of us get together me and my mentees and other people we get together we do a vision board where we look to see where we're going to be in a year from that day whether it be january or the end of the year and along the way quarterly we get together and we basically as a marker figure out where we are how we can get to where we're going and that has been really effective and i think that would be something that would be helpful for the city and the women's committee thank you thank you um i do actually
▶ 9:54 Maya Jamaleddine: have a question for you uh you mentioned about um some of the rights that you feel that um are very important for the women and you wanted to um bring it you know in our uh community what is one of the think that you would like to work on and you feel that it's not the women's are not getting their rights one of the things that um is important to me is health care for women i feel that um health care is really important and as a woman and a woman of color i honestly believe that health care is not the same and uh for women or women of color and i would like to try to bring some equity in that area so that women know that they have a voice in terms of their health care that they don't have to just listen to what one person says if they're not
▶ 10:50 Maya Jamaleddine: satisfied they know how their body feels they can go to maybe get a second opinion but health care is something that is important to me right and how about on um local level um Um, what can you expand upon what you mean? My, my question was, you know, on a health care, it's I feel that it's it's a national level, which I would support anytime, you know, with any effort that we can bring it on. But on a local level, what is the main thing that you feel that we can work on to improve women's rights in our community? Well, one of the things is, I guess it's still a major issue, but another thing that really is important to me is bullying. And that can be either for young women or older women. And
▶ 11:48 Maya Jamaleddine: for older women, it's more like a confidence issue. So I really would like to build the confidence in young and older women so that they know that their voices, again, can be heard, that they don't have to cower to bullies and that they can stand up for themselves and I hope I answered your question I feel that's a national issue as well but I think it is it is but definitely something that we can work together and you know on an in our community and a local level you know we have MAVE we have the commission on women and you can extend it to us anyone would love to work with you on improving that. Definitely. So thank you so much for putting your name forward and for service in advance. Anyone else would like to ask any question? Councilor
▶ 12:50 Jen Grigoraitis: Grigoraitis? Thank you, Chair Jamaleddine, and thank you, Ms. McNeil, for being here tonight and Mayor Broder for putting such a stellar Ward 6 candidate before us. I am not a voting member of this committee but i had the opportunity to speak with ms mcneil a few weeks ago and i'm really excited for the depth of expertise and passion that i think she'll bring to this commission and i'm really pleased to see a nominee who's going to help um have our boards and commissions be more reflective of what our community looks like i think we all know that we still have a long way to go on that so i'm thrilled to have you here and really look forward to seeing your work on On the commission Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Chair. Jamal. Dean.
▶ 13:37 Maya Jamaleddine: Mr. McNeil welcomes the mayor. Welcome. Thank you again for putting. Such a qualified, passionate candidate that will bring nothing but good. I'm sure the Melrose community. Thank you for volunteering and make a motion to recommend for passage. Thank you. Second, we have a motion made by counselor Thomas, seconded by counselor echoes. Mr. Clerk? Chair Gimaldi? Yes. Vice Chair Migliorelli? Yes. Councillor Eccles? Yes. Councillor Stewart? Yes. Councillor Thomas? Yes. And President Cinella? Yes. That's six yes. Congratulations now, your, your nomination will go into full console. You know, and to not this time, the following time, the following meetings, and we'll let, you know, thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you. Mayor.
▶ 14:44 Paul Brodeur: Next, we have order 2022 dash 37 appointment of Judy, which he 157 Linwood app to the commission on disability for a 3 years term set term to end on the last day of February 2024. And hello. Hi, I'll set Madam chair. Yes, we are set that was suspended. very good thank you again uh for considering another outstanding nominee as you know the commission on disability got started fairly recently and like with several of our boards of commissioners tremendous interest and energy in really being able to make a difference and miss bushy as you can see from her statement of interest uh really is an outstanding candidate is she is a person who is herself living with a disability but also works in occupational therapy
▶ 15:55 Paul Brodeur: where she sees folks you know in a professional capacity kind of from all walks of life and that come as they are and recognizes the multitude of challenges that folks across the spectrum of disability uh really encounter in the day-to-day life um and obviously your own experience um perhaps the most important uh when we think about what you know the direction we want to go in and whose voices should be at the table uh miss miss bush's qualifications and her life experience uh certainly bring her to the top of the list i think you'll enjoy your conversation with her and i offer uh her name and denomination with my highest recommendation thank you mr mayor Is there any questions do you need to ask me, or would you like me to introduce myself?
▶ 16:54 Why don't you start Judy and then we can take it from there. Hey, I am a lifelong member of Melrose. I've lived here my whole life. I've had a disability since birth. So, I know what it's like, I also, as the mayor has said to you worked in various areas of people with disabilities. So. They are able to come to me and talk to me with their concerns, because when I worked in a nursing homes or rehab. Having a disability, they'll approach me on different issues that they have and how I deal with them. And, you know, a lot of times people would say. you know what why would you do this and i said because i want to prove to people that just because you have a disability doesn't mean that you have to just stay home or you can't
▶ 17:49 help people and make a difference in the world and that's why i chose the profession i chose and it's been really amazing to see the difference you can make with just encouragement and information to give them information and point them in the right direction to go to be independent. I love to help people. I love to lift people up. I'd rather lift people up than break them down. I really am proud of myself when I can see the end result of a product. You know, when I work with a patient, just as an example, with a total knee or a total hip replacement, to see them start is, you know, being able to get washed and dressed by a bed, you know, then work their way to get to the bathroom and then to be able to get washed and dressed
▶ 18:42 independently and then to go home and to take the skills that they learned from what I taught them and apply them to a home situation. I think it makes a big difference and to allow those with disabilities to know that they're no different than you are and not to be afraid to speak up if if you have concerns or if you have needs to be met that aren't being met to speak up. That's all I have to say. Does anybody have any questions for me? Yes, we do. I just wanna tell you, thank you so much. Your words mean so much to me personally and it definitely brings hope and joy to my heart. So thank you so much. are very welcome thank you we have uh counselor thomas thank you mr mayor thank you again for
▶ 19:41 Cory Thomas: such a great candidate um hi judy hi corey how you doing good how are you good um i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm getting a little emotional um judy and i have known each other um since kindergarten we we've known each other since we were five um we went to kindergarten We started together at the Washington School. We grew up in the same neighborhood. We live in the same street now. Absolutely. The last time I saw Judy, I stopped by her house to say hi for five minutes and I wound up staying for over an hour. I'm such a big fan of Judy and her families. The Bushy family has been a long time Melrose family. They have such a lengthy history in Melrose of community service and involvement. Her late father who's dearly missed by so many
▶ 20:31 Cory Thomas: was a Melrose fireman. Judy would be a great candidate based on her occupational therapy background. She'd be a great candidate based on her strength and her hard work. Thank you. Thank you very much. And her determination. I grew up with Judy. I still see Judy. I see her walking the track down at Pine Banks. I see her driving her car. You know, she went to every class that every everyone else in elementary school and middle school in high school. It's okay, Corey, you're a good guy. I'm just very proud of you, Judy. I'm extraordinarily proud to know your Corey. Honest to God, you're a good friend. Well, you're a great candidate. I'm very happy that you're doing this. Thank you very much. I appreciate that.
▶ 21:31 Well, thank you both. It's very unexpected and I appreciate your emotions. Corey. That's right. Awesome. He's a phenomenal person. Corey Thomas. Like I said, I've known him since he was 5. we've known each other since we were 5 and, you know, it's funny is the previous woman talked about bullying and Corey was 1 of my biggest 1 of the, my strongest memories is he's been a friend of mine forever. and he never ever didn't include me there wasn't a time that i went in school throughout a hallway that he didn't have a smiling and hello to say how you doing and you know it's just he make it just seeing him here makes me more comfortable it's an honor to know him that's very kind of you that's very kind thank you we have yeah and thank you corey and uh we have next um
▶ 22:32 Jeff McNaught: non-voting member, Councillor McNabb. Thank you, Chair Maladine. I'll be very brief. I can't follow what Corey said very well, but I just want to say, Mayor Broder, this is your finest appointment yet. Judy is tough. She's smart. She's kind and full of joy and probably the biggest Boston sports fan out there, if you're- Yeah, and I may be a little biased. Judy's also my cousin, but just wanted to say congrats, Judy. And thank you. I appreciate that. I appreciate your compliments too. Honest to God. Later doesn't mean and doesn't know that. So I appreciate your compliments. Thank you. And, uh, I'm sorry, difficult to follow up on on all those. Uh, I'm. Very, very proud to, um, make a motion to recommend you, uh, for, uh, to the full council.
▶ 23:41 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you again, we have a motion made by counselor Stewart, um, and seconded by, uh, vice chair. Mr. Clerk? Chair Jamaleddine? Yes. Vice Chair Migliorelli? Yes. Councillor Eccles? Yes. Councillor Stewart? Yes. Councillor Thomas? Yes. President Cinella? Yes. We have six yes. Thank you. Yes. Congratulations. Thank you very much. I'm honoured. Thank you. You're very welcome. Thank you for putting your name forward and for all the service and now it's before the full console in the following in the next meeting of the full console. So, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you. Okay. Now, with that concludes our meeting. yes madam chair I'll make a motion to adjourn we have a motion to adjourn made
▶ 24:57 by councillor Stewart I can second it by vice-chair McGeary sir clerk chair Jamali yeah vice-chair McGeary yes councillor Eccles yes councillor Stewart yes councillor Thomas yes and president Yes, we have 6. yes. We are adjourned. Thank you. Thank you. Everybody. Are we ready to go into protection and licensing? Sorry, I have too many mouses going. All right. Good evening. It is 726 on November 15th and this is the meeting of the protection and licensing committee. I am Councilor Garipay, the Chair. Joining me are Vice Chair Stewart, Voting Members Councilor McNaught, Councilor Thomas, Councilor Grigoraitis, and President Joe Cinella. This provides a notice of a quorum for the record pursuant to the suspension of certain provisions