Boards & Commissions Committee — 2025-11-17
Attendance
Cal Finocchiaro ; Maya Jamaleddine ; Manjula Karamcheti ; Leila Migliorelli ; Robb Stewart
Agenda
- CALL TO ORDER
- Attendees
- MINUTES APPROVAL
- PUBLIC COMMENT
- APPOINTMENTS/REAPPOINTMENTS
- Appointment of David B. Luciano as a Constable in the City of Melrose
- Appointment of Adam H. Garfield-Abrams, 14 Wentworth Road, to the Melrose Housing Authority, replacing Steven Douglas, who resigned, for the remainder of the three-year term; said term to expire on the first Monday of March 2028.
- ADJOURNMENT
Minutes
Boards & Commissions Committee Monday, November 17, 2025, 7:15 PM City Council Chamber, 1st Floor 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER Manjula Karamcheti Vice Chair Cal Finocchiaro Maya Jamaleddine Robb Stewart Leila Migliorelli President, Ex Officio Kimberly Vandiver Chair Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Manjula Karamcheti Vice Chair Present Cal Finocchiaro Ward 6 Present Maya Jamaleddine At-Large Present Robb Stewart Ward 3 Absent Leila Migliorelli President, Ex Present Officio Member Kimberly Vandiver Chair Present Meeting was called to order by Chair Vandiver at 7:17 pm Councilors Williams and Hamilton (non-voting) were also present. II. MINUTES APPROVAL A. Boards & Commissions Committee Meeting October 20, 2025 7:10 PM Motion to unanimously Approve minutes without reading made by Chair Vandiver. RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Manjula Karamcheti, Cal Finocchiaro, Maya Jamaleddine, Leila Migliorelli, Kim Vandiver NAYS: None ABSENT: Robb Stewart III. PUBLIC COMMENT 1 Motion to Open public comment made by Chair Vandiver at 7:19 PM There were no comments on the floor or via Zoom. Motion to Close public comment made by Chair Vandiver at 7:19 PM When: Nov 17, 2025 07:15 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Topic: Boards & Commissions Committee Meeting Join from PC, Mac, iPad, or Android: https://cityofmelrose- org.zoom.us/j/98343307574?pwd=YCveZqQzuw7mBImb2ttik8DNF9RS01.1 Passcode:850048 Webinar ID: 983 4330 7574 IV. APPOINTMENTS/REAPPOINTMENTS
A. (ID # 2025-157): Appointment of David B. Luciano as a Constable in the City of Melrose Motion to Recommend made by Councilor Jamaleddine Seconded by Councilor Karamcheti All were in favor and motion passed RESULTS: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] TO: City Council AYES: Manjula Karamcheti, Cal Finocchiaro, Maya Jamaleddine, Leila Migliorelli, Kim Vandiver NAYS: None ABSENT: Robb Stewart
B. (ID # 2025-218): Appointment of Adam H. Garfield-Abrams, 14 Wentworth Road, to the Melrose Housing Authority, replacing Steven Douglas, who resigned, for the remainder of the three-year term; said term to expire on the first Monday of March 2028. Motion to Recommend made by Councilor Finocchiaro Seconded by Councilor Karamcheti All were in favor and motion passed RESULTS: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] TO: City Council AYES: Manjula Karamcheti, Cal Finocchiaro, Maya Jamaleddine, Leila Migliorelli, Kim Vandiver NAYS: None ABSENT: Robb Stewart V. ADJOURNMENT 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 2 services for effective communication, written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures, in order to access the programs and activities of the City of Melrose or to attend meetings, should contactthe City’s ADA Coordinator, Polina Latta platta@cityofmelrose.org. Motion to Adjourn made by Councilor Karamcheti at 7:23 PM Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro All were in favor and meeting was adjourned. 3 Adam H. Garfield-Abrams (He/Him/His) 16 Wentworth Road, Melrose MA 02176 • • https://www.linkedin.com/in/adgarfield Education Masters of Labor Studies, Spring 2017 University of Massachusetts Amherst- Labor Center, Amherst MA Bachelors in Political Science, Spring 2010 The State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz NY Work Experience AFSCME Council 93 Boston Metro Region, Massachusetts Senior Staff Representative May 2025 – Present Negotiations: Handled the upkeep of 32 bargaining unit collective bargaining agreements as Chief Negotiator. Drafted proposals, negotiated contracts with municipal governments, facilitated ratification votes, and harmonized changes to final agreements. Servicing of Membership: Oversaw disputes between Local Unions and Management. Represented Labor Leaders and Rank-and-file members with grievance processes and disciplinary hearings. Advised Labor Leaders on how to investigate grievances, manage contractual and labor law violations as well as non-grievance conflict resolution through Labor-Management meetings. Assisted Legal Counsel: Identified and collected the intake of evidence for Legal Counsel for the preparation of contractual arbitrations and Unfair Labor Practice (Unfair labor Practice) charges. Municipal and Regional Government Relations: Cultivated a strong understanding of municipal and regional government through collective bargaining and political action at the regional and municipal levels, while also participating in advocacy of sponsored legislation at the state level. Worked with regional Central Labor Councils to better help Local Unions and foster solidarity with peers in the area. Education and Consultation: Conducted union trainings for elected Union officers, and stewards, on an annual and biannual basis. Developed training materials to use for regional elected officer and steward trainings and state conferences. Provided guidance to elected Local officers and stewards on a number of issues to cultivate their skill-sets as labor leaders, as well as consulting with them on specific issues to better service their membership. AFSCME Council 66 Hudson Valley Region, New York Labor Relations Specialist January 2018 – May 2025 See above description for details. Page 1 of 3 Adam H. Garfield-Abrams (He/Him/His) 16 Wentworth Road, Melrose MA 02176 • • https://www.linkedin.com/in/adgarfield Graduate Employees Organization (GEO-UAW Local 2322) Amherst, Massachusetts Mobilization Coordinator (Elected Staff Position) September 2016 – May 2017 Internal Organizing: Maintained and strengthened networks of communication between rank-and-file members in departments, stewards, committees and caucuses with the goals of increasing membership and turnout to Union events. Education: Held educational workshops and meetings to increase skill-sets of rank-and-file member volunteers in preparation for member drives and bargaining. Financial and Recording Secretary: Kept track of meetings and managed the financial budget of the Bargaining Unit. New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) Albany, NYC , Long Island Campaign Organizer (Project Coordinator & Political Outreach Director) June 2009 – September 2014 Project Coordinator (September-April) Advocacy: Instructed volunteers in grassroot internal and external organizing tactics for legislative campaigns. Assisted volunteers in coordinating and holding meetings regarding prospective legislation with elected officials. Team leader for multiple delegation visits with elected officials. Represented the organization in regional coalition groups. Helped organize press releases and press conferences. Political Event Planning: Oversaw and planned events, speakers, and other on-campus programming for the student body at New York State colleges. Teaching: Ran an internship program with an average of 2 - 6 interns at a time. Purpose was the education and mentoring of above mentioned goals in order for them to become self sufficient organizers of those skill-sets . Political Outreach Director (May-August) Interviewed, hired, and trained personnel; oversaw regional offices for the execution of statewide grassroot political and legislative campaigns. Managed an office staff of roughly 20-30 personnel at a time. Conducted daily briefings on campaign issues to staff. Delegated and managed teams with specific organizing goals. Implemented statewide programming for campaigns. Page 2 of 3 Adam H. Garfield-Abrams (He/Him/His) 16 Wentworth Road, Melrose MA 02176 • • https://www.linkedin.com/in/adgarfield Other Leadership Independent Union Staff Employees Association (IUSEA) Vice President (Interim) March 2023 – December 2023 Was elected Interim Vice President of the office Staff Union of my peers at AFSCME Council 66. Was representation for in office disciplinary issues and collective bargaining of the staff union's collective bargaining agreement. Union President January 2024 – Present Was elected President of the office Staff Union of my peers at AFSCME Council 66. After ratification of the staff contract, was responsible for union representation of peers and advocate for conflict resolution within the workplace. Held Membership and Labor-Management meetings and assisted both parties shape a direction for success within our workplace for the benefit of the rank-and-file members that we represent statewide. Page 3 of 3
Transcript
▶ 15:07 Kimberly Vandiver: Um, there is no objection. Seeing none. We turn. Good evening. The time is 7:17 PM on Monday, November 17th, 2025. This is a meeting of the Board's and Commissions committee. I'm Councilor Vanderberg, the committee chair. Joining me tonight, our Vice Chair, Karam Chay and voting members, councilors Occhio, Jamal Ledine, uh, and President Meli Exofficio, also joined by non-voting members, counselor Williams, uh, Hamilton. And that's it. This serves as a notice of a quorum for the record, um, in accordance with the open meeting law. This meeting is being recorded and broadcast live on M-M-T-V-I, uh, will now motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment. Seeing no objections, we are open for public comment.
▶ 16:14 Kimberly Vandiver: This is the portion of the meeting where anyone from the public may speak on any item on tonight's agenda. Comments expressing any viewpoint on other matters are also welcome. Um, is any, would anybody like to come up for public comment for boards and commissions? And is there anyone LA online? No one online. Thank you. Um, if there's no objection, I will now motion by unanimous consent to close public comment. Seeing none, we are closed for public comment at this time. I will motion by unanimous consent to approve without reading the um, minutes from the meeting on October uh, 20th. See no objection, those are approved. Uh, we have two appointments before us tonight. The first is ID number 2 0 25 dash 57,
▶ 17:03 Jen Grigoraitis: the appointment of David b Luciano as a co constable in the city of Melrose. And, uh, the mayor, uh, is here to speak to that appointment. Welcome. Thank you Care counselors. Thank you for having us tonight. So I'm joined by Mr. Luciano for his consideration to be appointed as a constable for the City of Melrose. Um, for those of you who aren't familiar with the work of a constable, they conduct civil process within the community. Um, it's a fairly extensive application process that's reviewed by the city solicitor and the police chief amongst others. And Mr. Luciano has been doing this work in Stoneham for quite some time as well. Thank you. Mr. Luciano, is there anything you'd like to, uh, say to the committee? Um,
▶ 17:51 Kimberly Vandiver: I understand my, uh, application packet has been, um, passed around. As for your review, I think it speaks for itself. I've been a constable for Stone for the past 13 years. I've been a municipal employee for the town of Stoneham for coming up on 38 years. I've been a reserve police officer for the town of Stoneham. I've been a military police officer. I'm a military retiree. Um, that's pretty much it in a nutshell. Thank you very much. Uh, does anybody on the committee have any questions or comments to share? Anyone like to make a motion? Councilor Aldine, we'll make motion to recommend. I'll second. Okay. We have a motion to recommend from Councilor Aldine, seconded by Councilor Carm Shady.
▶ 18:36 Kimberly Vandiver: Uh, anybody on discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? So that will go back to the full council with a recommendation for passage. Thank you so much for coming to be with us and, uh, for your willingness to serve. Thank you very much. Thank you. So the, um, the second item on our agenda is, um, ID number 2 0 2 5 dash 2 1 8. The appointment of Adam h Garfield Abrams 14 Wentworth Road to the Melrose Housing Authority, replacing Steven Douglas, who resigned for the remainder of the three year term, said term to expire on the first Monday of March, 2028. Uh, Madam Mayor, would you like to present this? Yes. Thank you. So, unfortunately, Mr. Garfield Abrams had a conflict with tonight's meeting.
▶ 19:19 Jen Grigoraitis: And I would respectfully request you consider his appointment in his absence. Um, his resumes available for you. The housing authority by state law is actually fairly structured, and Mr. Garfield Abrams would be filling the spot that must be served by a resident of Melrose, who's also a member of a labor union. So that is a, a fairly niche requirement. Um, and the previous member actually resigned back in the spring. And per state law, we were required to go through a fairly lengthy process where we give labor unions 90 days to submit recommendations to us before we can then consider our own recommendations. We did not receive anyone by that deadline in September. And I had the good fortune of meeting Mr.
▶ 19:57 Jen Grigoraitis: Garfield Abrams at a new resident welcome. We had this fall, and I cornered him and he said yes. So, um, I know that the Housing authority board has been, you know, the seat has been vacant since the spring and they would be eager to get him on board. He currently works for AFSCME Local 93. He brings a wealth of experience in labor management issues, and he would be rep representing the union staff on that board. Thank you very much. Uh, councilor Occhio? Yes. Thank You. His resume speaks for himself. Um, I'd like to make a motion to recommend. I'll second. Great. We have, uh, a motion to recommend from Councilor Occhio and a second Councilor Carrum Shady. Anybody on discussion? Um, all in favor?