Health, Education & Welfare Committee — 2024-07-08
Attendance
Cal Finocchiaro ; Ward Hamilton ; Manjula Karamcheti ; Leila Migliorelli ; Devin Romanul ; Kimberly Vandiver
Agenda
- Call to Order
- AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT NOTICE
- Public Comment
- Appointments/Reappointments
- APPT-2024-38 : Requesting the appointment of Doreen Breland, 910 Main Street, Apt. 514 in Melrose, to the Melrose Housing Authority, for a five year term, ending first Monday in March 2029.
- APPT-2024-40 : Appointment of Matthew Travers,17 Brookledge Road, Melrose to the Commission on Disability
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE COMMITTEE CALENDAR● JULY 8, 2024 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall Committee Meeting 7:00 PM 562 Main Street, 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 Manjula Karamcheti Chair Present Cal Finocchiaro Vice Chair Late 7:03 PM Ward Hamilton Present Devin Romanul Late 7:01 PM Kimberly Vandiver Absent Leila Migliorelli President, Ex Oficio Present Non voting members present include Councilor Stewart.
APPT-2024-38 Appointment/Reappointment Requesting the appointment of Doreen Breland, 910 Main Street, Apt. 514 in Melrose, to the Melrose Housing Authority, for a five year term, ending first Monday in March 2029. Ought to Pass City Council
APPT-2024-40 Appointment/Reappointment Appointment of Matthew Travers,17 Brookledge Road, Melrose to the Commission on Disability Ought to Pass City Council City of Melrose Page 1 7/10/2024 9:23 AM
Transcript
▶ 0:00 Manjula Karamcheti: Oh, that was terrible. I'm doing it again. Much better. Good evening everyone. It's July 8th, 2024. This is a meeting of the Health Education and Welfare Committee. I'm Counselor Carm Chaney, the chair. Joining me tonight. Our counselor Hamilton, president Lila Elli, ex-Officio, and non-voting member Councilor Stewart. Currently, we have no counselors who are participating online, but if that changes, we will move to a, uh, roll call, vote for all of our votes. And I, for the record, I do want everyone to know that Councilor Romanul has just arrived and will be joining us as well as a voting member of HEW. And this also provides notice of a quorum for the record in accordance with Open Meeting Law.
▶ 0:58 Manjula Karamcheti: This meeting is being recorded and broadcast on our local cable access channel, MMTV, as well as live streamed through mmt v.org. This meeting will be available for future viewing through the City of Melrose website. Meeting portal is well, Um, I'm just gonna read, uh, from the Americans With Disabilities Act. Notice the City of Melrose does not discriminate based on disability and is committed to hosting accessible meetings and events, individuals with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication. Written materials in alternate formats or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures in order to access the programs and activities of the City of Melrose
▶ 1:45 Manjula Karamcheti: or attend meetings, should contact the city's aada co coordinator, Paulina Lata at p lata@cityofmelrose.org. This is something that's just very important to us as a city, and we wanna make sure that everyone who is interested is able to participate. We are now moving on to the public comment portion of the meeting. This is the time where any member of the public makes speak to any items on our agenda. The committee does not engage in a back and forth dialogue during this time, but will listen to what any individual has to say. I'll motion by unanimous consent to open public comment. I see no objection. So we will now open public comment. And for the record, I would like everyone to know that Vice Chair Councilor Fgo is here, um,
▶ 2:38 Manjula Karamcheti: as a voting member as well. Is anyone here for public comment? Doesn't look like it. Uh, Mr. Clerk, do we have anyone online? Uh, there are no attendees online at this time. Okay. I will motion then to close public comment with by Unanim with consent, seeing no objections, public comment is now closed. We have two orders on our agenda, and these are both appointments tonight. The first is appointment 2024 dash 38. This is the appointment of Doreen Breland on nine 10 Main Street, apartment 5 1 4 in Melrose to the Melrose Housing Authority for a five year term ending first Monday in March, 2029. Representing Mayor Gita. Tonight is chief of staff Lauren Grek, and she is here graciously to present this candidate at this time.
▶ 3:37 Then I will motion to spend the rule of 37 B, um, and we'll do that by unanimous consent. I see no objections. So, Ms. Gimmick, this stage is yours. Sure. Um, thank you so much for your time and for being here this evening. I'm happy to be here representing the mayor this evening with her appointment that's before you for the Melrose Housing Authority for the resident representative for a five year term. Um, I personally knew Ms. Breland when I ran the Chamber of Commerce, so I've known her as an active participant in someone who's always been involved in the community, not only through the Chamber, but through events, um, working at the Farmer's market. Um, and we know now that in her involvement, um,
▶ 4:22 at the McCarthy house, that she's very involved in the resident activities that take place there. So the mayor was, um, very happy to speak with her and meet with her, and, um, thinks that this is a great candidate for this position. Great. Thank you so much Ms. Breland. We'd love for you to make any comments. I'm happy to answer any questions. Uh, I am in the McCarthy building. I absolutely love it. I love the community and I do participate in many activities and I have, um, been part of h and r Block for over 25 years, um, and done, have done the management and meetings and such. But again, I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. Alright. Any questions from counselors this evening?
▶ 5:20 Manjula Karamcheti: Okay. Well, I would just like to say thank you so much for volunteering your time, um, to the Melrose Housing Authority. It's an important part of our community, and I'm just very grateful that you're stepping up to share your time and your, your love of the city and making sure that our residents are well taken care of. Yes. Okay. Well, what is the will of the committee? I'd like to make a motion to recommend. Second, we have a motion to recommend by Councilor Rio, seconded by Councilor Al on on discussion. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right. Well, that motion carries. Um, and this appointment will move forward to our General City Council meeting, um, where we will take our final vote.
▶ 6:11 You do not need to be there, um, but you are always welcome to come to any meeting. You would like to. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your consideration. Thanks. Good job. All good. You're all set. Have a good evening. You too. Thank you too. Stay care. Okay, we'll move on to appointment 2024 dash 40, the appointment of Matthew Traver, 17 Brookledge Road to the Melrose to Melrose, the Commission on Disability. Again, the floor is yours. Thank you, chief of Staff Grim. Um, yes, so on behalf of Mayor Greg, I'm very happy to, um, be here to represent her in the appointment of Matt Travers, who, um, is personally a great colleague of mine. We actually started one day apart working for the city, um,
▶ 7:02 and he right away helped onboard me, um, even in only working for a day in his role at the hr. Um, he's someone that a lot of our colleagues trust and go to for all sorts of advice. Um, navigating sort of city employment policy is not always easy, as some of, you know, working in government. Um, Matt is always very patient, knowledgeable, um, and friendly. And, um, the mayor's particularly happy to be putting forth this appointment because the, um, position or this appointment has been, um, vacant for about two years, two or three years. Karen Burke, who was our previous director of veteran Services, was the liaison role between the administration and the commission. So, um, she's really thrilled to be able that, um,
▶ 7:45 to put Matt forward in that he was interested to step up. Matt, we welcome you to share, um, any insights or comments regarding your candidacy? Sure. Thank you Lauren. Um, yeah, so a little about me. I just moved to Melrose a couple months ago. Um, and I love it so far. I've been working here for about two and a half years now, and I love it. Um, I get to work with unemployment, unemployment engagement, a bunch of different areas of hr. Um, and a new area that I would like to open that up to is, um, a DA learning more a bit about that and the, um, any employees that stop by that might need an accommodation. Um, and as well as the community as well. We have a lot of retirees that, that come in.
▶ 8:30 Um, and I think it would be an honor to join the, the commission. Um, it'll allow me to expand my knowledge of a DA laws, definitely. Um, um, definitely I'm the first point of contact for a lot of, um, you know, applicants that come by that might need, um, specific assistance. And I think that being a part of this commission will help me to, you know, better the interests of the city as well as, um, potential applicants and, and residents as well. Thank you so much. Um, do we have any questions from counselors? Just wanna say thank you for stepping up and I think you do a great job in the role. Thank you. Anyone else? Um, I also just wanna extend my sincere gratitude, uh, for taking on another piece of, uh, city life in Melrose.
▶ 9:21 Manjula Karamcheti: Uh, we appreciate when everyone gets active, particularly in this area. It's so important that we pay attention to, um, our disabilities community to make sure that they have everything they need, um, to feel, feel a part of, and be supported in our community. So thank you for that. Um, what is the will of the committee? I'd like to make a motion to recommend. Second, we have a motion to recommend by Council Rio seconded by President Elli. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Okay. Well, this appointment will move forward as well, so we'll do the final vote at our next city Council meeting. Uh, again, you heard me say this the last time, but you don't need to be here for that.
▶ 10:11 Robb Stewart: Um, but you are always welcome to join if you are interested. Um, thank you so much for being here tonight. Thank you everyone. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Well, at this time I will entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second, We have a motion to adjourn by Councilor Romanul. Seconded by Vice Chair Vicario. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. This meeting is adjourned. Sweet. Thank you very much everyone. Good evening, the time being seven 20 on Monday, July 8th. Uh, this is a meeting of the finance committee. I am Councilor Stewart, the chair of this committee. Joining me this evening are counselors, Kam Chetty and Roal, as well as President Elli Exofficio. We also have non-voting members, councilors,