City Council - Regular Meeting

We're going to get this meeting started. Thank you very much. I'm told there's a quick technical difficulty, so we're going to hold off opening the meeting. Do you want me to just hold on a minute, Courtney? Okay. All right. Please continue. Sorry, folks. We're trying to get the online version of the meeting up and running so that anyone who isn't here can follow along. All right. And cut. All right, folks, quiet down. This time it's real. I'm sorry about that. We've got everything running now, so thanks for your patience. I'm going to call this meeting to order. This is a meeting of the City Council. It is Thursday, June 11th. My name is Lance Davis, presiding. I use he, him pronouns. Pursuant to Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2025, this meeting is being conducted via remote participation. So it is being recorded, and we will post an audio, video recording, transcript, or other comprehensive record of the proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the City of Somerville website. and local cable access government channels. I should note, since we do have a full room tonight, that there is no standing room capacity. So because we are full, if you are in the room, please find a seat. If you can't find a seat, that means we're at capacity. Looks like everyone sat down. Thanks. Good job. There is, well, there's overflow in outer spaces, and the officers can direct you to that, but it looks like we've got the crowd control all sorted, so we'll hope that that remains the case. One final note pursuant to our Rule 32, let it be known that this City Council salutes the flag of the United States of America, and let us recall our oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth to the best of our abilities and understanding. Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll?

This is roll call. Councillor Ewen Campin. Here. Councillor Link. Here. Councillor Scott. Present. Councillor Klingin. Present. Councillor Schrezzo. Present. Councillor Saeed. Here. Councillor Wheeler. Here. Councillor Hart. Here. Councillor McLaughlin. Here. Councillor Umbau.

Present.

And Councillor Davis.

Here.

With 11 members present, we have quorum.

all right thank you very much uh we begin our meetings with a moment of silence uh is there any counselors wishing to recognize members or remember remember members of our community this evening counselor clinton Thank you, Mr. President.

Through you, I ask that we keep in our thoughts this evening. Michael L. Ciparini, Jr. of Somerville, he passed away suddenly at home Friday, June 5th. He was 58 years old. He was born in Boston, raised in Somerville. Michael was the beloved son of Sandra Herron and the late Michael L. Ciparini, Sr. Michael was proud of his Somerville roots and carried that pride with him throughout his life. He was known for his warm personality, quick smile, and ability to make anyone feel welcome. To Michael, Stranges was simply friends he had not met yet. Michael was an avid football fan who really missed a game, a lifelong lover of rock and roll music. He enjoyed sharing both with family and friends, creating memories. He was the beloved father of Chris Johnson, Michael Ciparini, and his wife Alicia, Anthony Ciparini, and Joseph Ciparini, devoted grandfather of Jayden Ciparini, Ariella Ciparini Enzo, and Landon Johnson, and loving brother of Mary Lou lisa chipperino toro and richard chipperini and cherish dad to his beloved dog chop he's also five by many other family members so michael's kindness sense of humor and unwavering love for his family will deeply be missed and forever remembered um and i ask that we keep michael's friends and family in our thoughts this evening and then mr president i just have one more um This would be the obituary for Ward 4 resident Steve McEachern of Somerville who passed away on May 31st. Steve was the beloved husband of Sheila Meehan McEachern and loving father to Julia Wingate and her husband Thomas of Somerville. Stephen was the cherished grandfather of Jake and Viviana. He was the son of the late Harold and Sandra McGeachern and brother to Babette Mello of Chelmsford. He was pre-deceased by Babette's late husband, James. Stephen was also a brother-in-law to Eric Meehan of Malden and a dear uncle to Brad, Jay, Kristen, Jordan, and Jenna. Steve was an avid Boston sports fan, long-time admirer of sports cars. especially his Mustangs. He was a proud member of the Mustang Club of Massachusetts. And professionally, Steve dedicated many, many years to working for the MWRA in the Somerville and Malden DPW, where he served as our commissioner for some time. And I just want to add on a personal note, I know Steve to be a very loving father and grandfather. I would often see him playing with his grandson out front on Sycamore Street, and I know that his family is hurting right now, and he will be missed, and I ask that we all keep him in our thoughts and prayers. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Klingen. If Councillor Scott would like to sign on to that one, I would as well. Thank you, Mr. President.

I just want to say a few words about Steve, who's a really great guy. I have two stories I want to tell that I would not tell if it was anyone else but Steve, but I think he'd appreciate these stories. He was our DPW commissioner for a while, and when he left, the DPW staff were so upset about this that three-quarters of the employees were sick during a snowstorm. The streets went without plowing for a little bit because they were so upset about this. What's funny about that is no one cared. It was okay because everyone kind of understood that Steve was a great guy. He was the author to Melissa Somerville. His own workers loved him like they were his friend. He's a really great guy, and just one other quick story is I didn't hang out with him much, but I knew his nephews, and I was honored to see the Patriots beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl with him one year. It was just, for those of you who remember, one of the best Super Bowls ever, but made even better by having Steve in the room and being surrounded by really good people. He was definitely the oldest person in the room, and when they won in that final play, he was the most excited person. You would think he was the youngest person in the room. He was so full of life, and I just feel sorry for his family. He was a really good person. The city has lost someone great. His family has lost someone great, and I'm sorry to see him go. Thank you.

Any other moments of silence? All right, seeing none, would everyone in the room please rise however you are able for a moment of silence in remembrance of the aforementioned individuals. Thank you, everyone. All right, a few housekeeping notes. We will, as is always a practice, do citations and grants of location. And then we have a few items that we're going to take out of order. First, we'll be taking up together items 4.2 and 4.4, assuming that I get the hi sign from Councilor McLaughlin that everyone's here for that. Director Najee Williams, do we want to take the, Director Najee Williams, just quick clarification because I was, there's a number of items that I was just informed just as I walked in the room that we want to take out of order. Those finance items, do we want to do that before the water and sewer? Was that the request? After the water and sewer. Okay, very well, thank you. Just want to make sure we got that right. So that means we will do 7.1, which is the water and sewer presentation, and then 7.2, 3, 4, 5, and 14 at the request of the administration. Take those out of order with the potential for consideration this evening. That is the administration's request. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. In the meantime, next item, Madam Clerk. Mr. President.

Councillor Young-Kevin? You didn't mention 4.11.

Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, I skipped right over that. My apologies. That was completely unintentional. So 4.2, the reason is because I had it wrong in here, so I had to write the other ones myself, and then I messed up the whole list. So that one's on me, not the clerk. So yeah, so 4.2 and 4.4 together, then 4.11, then 7.1, and then the financial items. Thank you for catching me on that one. All right, excellent. Next item, then, Madam Clerk, 1.3. I believe that takes... I heard a voice. Yep. Who was that? Councillor Scott.

Thank you. I believe there's also a voter resident petition that there are members of the public here for that we can take out order at the end of that list.

Okay, yeah, if there's members of the public, we might actually push those in front of the administration requests. So we could take that one up. Let's talk, I assume, I don't want to make any assumptions, but I assume perhaps after 4.11, there might be some folks that want to leave. And if so, we might take a brief recess. If not, that's fine. You're welcome to stay. But let's circle back after that. But if not, the operating assumption will be, and what the number on that one was, remind me, please. 9.16 after 4.11 there, sir. Very good. Okay. If there's members of the public here, I always like to make them wait a little bit less than members of the staff. We also don't like to make members of the staff wait any longer than they have to, so that's why we do the out-of-order stuff.

All right, very good.

Thank you, Councillor Scott, for that reminder. All right, third time's a charm. Madam Clerk, item 1.3.

Item 1.3, approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of May 14, 2026.

Seeing no objection, that item is approved.

Item number 1.4, approval of the minutes of the special meeting of May 20, 2026.

Seeing no objection, that item is approved.

Next item is 2.1, citation by Councillor Hart, commending Mary Jayka on the auspicious occasion of her retirement.

Councillor Hart.

Thank you so much. This citation is, as it says, for Mary Jayka, who is retiring after many years of dedicated service to Tufts University. So I just want to appreciate her. Thank you.

and that's going to be removed.

Do you want to read a citation? Sure. Absolutely. Be here at hereby known to all that the Somerville City Council and the Mayor offer their sincerest commendations to Mary Jaca on the auspicious occasion of her retirement after more than two decades of service at Tufts University. Her leadership and commitment to the institution's mission and values leave a lasting legacy.

All right, very good, thank you. So seeing no further discussion, that item is approved. Thank you, Councillor Hart. That brings us to 3.1.

3.1, Eversource applying for a grant of location to install 31 feet of conduit in Richardson Street from utility pole 296 slash 1 to a point of pickup at 0 Richardson Street.

All right, and just a quick note on there's two grants of locations this evening. My intent is to have the public hearings close the public hearings temporarily, but then lay these items on the table just in case there's someone who isn't able to get into the chamber and is able to get in later, which has happened in the past. And so I don't want to have closed that item. It's just a few less steps we'll have to do later. So we'll lay these on the table for approval later in case anyone that isn't able to join us right now is outside waiting to get in. Hopefully that's not the case, but I want to be careful. So with that, I will declare the public hearing to be open. Is there anyone here to speak on this item? Anyone online? Anyone from Eversource? Waiting to hear Jackie Duffy's voice? Hold off a minute, because usually Eversource has people here. And if not, that might make the laying on the table of these two quite easy. no anyone if you're if you're online and would like to speak on the side and please use the raise hand function which should be at the bottom of the screen under more actions or something like that nothing all right then i will declare the public hearing to be closed is there any discussion on this item No? All right. Well, then let's lay this item on the table. And we will, let's just lay it on the table. We'll determine the disposition afterwards. Since we haven't heard from anyone, I'm a little hesitant to move forward with it. So let's, item 3.1 will be laid on the table to be picked up later in the evening. Next item.

Item number 3.2, Eversource applying for a grant of location to install 641 feet of conduit in Somerville Avenue and Prospect Street and one new manhole 31333 from existing manhole 27921 and from existing manhole 25406 to a point of pickup at 51 Prospect Street.

All right. I declare this public hearing to be open. Is there anyone here to speak on the item? Anyone online? Once again, if you are online and would like to speak on this item, use the raise hand function, which is at the bottom of your screen under the More Actions button. Something like that. Going once, going twice. All right, I'll declare.

There's no raising hands.

OK. Nothing online? Oh, is Ms. Duffy here online? All right, so let's hold off for a minute here, see if we can get Ms. Duffy activated, because we definitely want to hear from Eversource on these items.

Ms. Jackie, Duffy, you are able to talk.

Hey, I'm on. It wouldn't let me unmute for either one of my hearings. There we are. All right, so hey, Jackie, right now, right now. I want you tonight. Do you want to go back to the Richardson one, or do you want to do the prospect one?

Since we have the prospect in front of us now, and we're in that public hearing, let's start with that, and then we'll pick up the other one off the table afterwards.

Okay, awesome. Thank you. Eversource would like to install approximately 61 feet of conduit in one manhole on Prospect Street and approximately 30 feet of conduit in some of the lab. This work is necessary to provide electrics reliability and improvement in the area.

Okay, thank you. Anyone else here to speak on the item?

We have Mr. Luke Smith.

Luke Smith? Yes. Okay, go ahead. You're recognized. Is he unmuted on our end? So you should be able to unmute on your end. Was there a trick that we had to tell Jack? Luke Smith, you should be able to speak. We can't hear you just yet. I love technology. It's my favorite thing. All right, I'll tell you what. Do we have anyone else to speak on that item?

OK. And it's Luke?

All right, Luke, we're not able to hear you. So I tell you, hopefully you can hear me. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to lay this item on the table. and then we will come right back to it. Luke, you might try disconnecting and reconnecting, and when you come back, hopefully we'll be able to hear you. Is there no one else to speak on this item? All right, so I'll declare this public hearing closed for the moment. recessed or whatever the formality is, we're going to then lay this item on the table. We'll pick up item 3.1 and go back and reopen the public hearing. Jackie Duffy, are you here to speak on item 3.1? MS.

Yes, I am.

MR. All right. Go ahead.

MS. We'd like to install 31 feet of conduit in Richardson Street to provide electric service to 0 Richardson Street.

MR. All right. Very good. Is there anyone else here to speak on that item? Anyone else on 3.1? No. All right. Any discussion on that, having heard the illuminating explanation from Ms. Duffy? No? All right. So we'll declare that public hearing closed again for the moment, pending anyone who perhaps joins us later in the evening. We'll lay 3.1 on the table again. Let's pick up 3.2 off the table. I will reopen that public hearing. And Luke Smith, is he back in? No? All right, let's give them a minute here. Thanks for your patience, folks. We want to make sure that these folks have the opportunity to weigh in and express any concerns before we move forward on these items. Can you see if he's in the audience at all? Anybody know any good jokes? No? Dance numbers? Dance break? Anyone? Not yet? All right. All right, so unfortunately, it looks like Luke did sign out, but hasn't yet signed back in. So in the interest of moving things along, because we're going to lay this on the table anyways, we will, let's go ahead and do, unless there's an objection, let's go ahead and lay item 3.1 on the table as well. We can pick that back up later and hopefully at that point Luke is able to rejoin us and anyone else who might care to speak to the item will be able to. So Madam Clerk, let's set 3.1 down on the table next to 3.2 to be picked up later in the evening. And that will bring us to our out of order items. I believe, right? Yes, that does. So we want to take up 4.2 and 4.4 together, right, Councilor McLaughlin? All right, so if we could read in 4.2 and 4.4, Madam Clerk.

Absolutely. Item 4.2 by Councilor McLaughlin, that Director of Health and Human Services update this Council on recent changes for requests for proposals for youth programming grants, particularly grants that impact teen empowerment directly.

Councilor McLaughlin. Could I read the other item as well? Absolutely. Oh, sorry, both items, yes.

Yes. Item 4.4 by Councilor McLaughlin, recognizing teen empowerment for providing over 20 years of service to young people in the Somerville community.

Councilor McLaughlin. Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to start with the last item first, to recognize teen empowerment and just appreciate everything they've done in this community. And I wanted to bring this up before, but now it's become urgent for me to recognize them and appreciate what they've done in this community. Teen empowerment's existence in the city closely mirrors my own activism in the community. They've been here for over 21 years. And 21 years ago, when I was 21 years younger, I was a young man trying to figure out what was going on in the city with youth, seeing my friends pass away from substance abuse, having a very close friend get murdered around the corner from my house and seeing young people going down this path my close friends people that i grew up with given into despair not knowing what to do next with their lives and not having any direction it was in this time that the city brought teen empowerment to somerville to address these problems and for 21 years they've been changing the lives of young people in this community I've seen these people, I've seen young people in the community that I know whose lives, they are still alive today because of this program. They're thriving because of this program. They have jobs, they've become adults, they have families. And I truly believe that many of them may not be here were it not for Teen Empowerment to arrive at that time. It's been 21 years, and a lot has changed in this city. We have a very affluent, very privileged city, but a lot hasn't changed for the youth. I see teens still dealing with the same problems, dealing with drugs, dealing with violence, dealing with the issues that often get ignored in this community. And Teen Empowerment is the answer to them. They're the group that comes forward and addresses their problems. It empowers them. Thank you. It empowers them not just, yep, I can't snap my fingers, but I would do the same, thank you. It teaches them to become leaders in the community. It doesn't manipulate them, it doesn't get them to do work for them, it gets them to do work for themselves and become adults and become role models in the community. So I do wanna stop just by a quick round of applause and thank you, Virginia Empowerment, for everything you've done in this community for 21 years. So that's the positive side. I do have another item that I would like to refer to committee. I would prefer public health, well, up to the chair, public health and safety of finance for full discussion. But the reason we're here today to talk about teen empowerment is a recent change in the request for proposals grant system within Health and Human Services. I can't get into all the details of it because I really don't understand it myself, but essentially we changed the way Teen Empowerment is funded and instead of one grant for $400,000, we now have three separate grants and several of them are grants that Teen Empowerment's programming may not qualify for. So we're looking at a reduction of three quarters, $300,000 loss for teen empowerment, not because we don't have the money, not because it's not there, not because of budget cuts, but just a bureaucratic change in the way that we're addressing our request for proposals. And I've talked to the city about this. I think there's a solution, but I can't stand by and wait a year for $300,000. These kids here, one of the things that's unique about teen empowerment is they pay their people. They pay their children, their youth. So a cut for a year means several people here just won't have jobs at all, and they're gonna find something else to do in the summertime, and I want them to do this in the summertime instead. I want them to be a part of this program. I think there's a solution there. I don't want to see Teen Empowerment or anyone get punished by a process because we just haven't thought through the consequences of that. I would like this to be sent to a committee of your choice, but I would also like to sponsor three speakers. I would like to sponsor Abigail Forrester, the director of Teen Empowerment, Aaliyah Ewing, who is the director of the Somerville site, and a Somerville youth to speak for themselves. Thank you.

Councilman McLaughlin would like to sponsor the three speakers mentioned. Any objections? All right, seeing none, go right ahead. If you want to be here, just introduce yourself for the record so the clerk can get your name right.

Yes, my name is Abigail Forrester. I'm the CEO for the Center for Teen Empowerment. And I'd just like to thank Councilman McLaughlin for bringing this time that we're in before the council. As he mentioned, over the last 21 years, we've supported Somerville and young people in their transformation and really looking at a lot of the issues that have existed here. And actually, you know, when you start to think about the work that we do in the transformation of Somerville in itself, we're actually at the right place. And what I mean by that is that there's been a lot of progression in the work that we've done. We've seen young people grow and mature and actually be representatives of this city in a great way, not only in Massachusetts but across the country. But what I want to speak about really is the moment that we're in. We're in a crossroad right now, and I think all of us who are here have to ask ourselves, who's going to replace us in a progressive way to really deal with some of the issues that young people are really anxious about and dealing with in the here and now? I don't want to say too much, but what I do know as someone who's leading this organization is that we need to have a space where young people can develop and grow and actually understand the diplomacy that everyone in this room is trying to present and how to address issues that they feel frustrated about in society. And so I'm just here to say, one, thank you to the City Council for always supporting us over the last 21 years. We've been a substantial program in this city, and it's because of your vote and your vote of confidence in us that we've been able to sustain ourselves. But we can't stop now. We are at a critical point right now in our society where young people and their voice is definitely needed and going to be needed in the decades ahead to roll back some of the issues and challenges that they're anxious about. So I just want to say thank you, and I'm going to make room for the young people and the rest of my staff to really speak about the impact that we have. But I want to say thank you and say, let's not stop now. We need this door to be open for us and to stay open for young people, because young people want to be a part of this process. And lastly, I would say that there was a survey done by the previous administration with youth in this community. And what they actually said that they want more of is the way that we work at Teen Empowerment. They want more youth development. These private pathways to careers, they sound good, but at the end of the day, young people want to bring their voice to social issues so they can create change. And that's what we do at Teen Empowerment. So thank you for hearing me tonight.

Hi, my name is Alia Ewing. I am the Program Director for the Center for Teen Empowerment. Thank you, Councilor McLaughlin, for your acknowledgement of the work that we've done. And I'd also just like to urge the City Council to continue to fund a full program for teen empowerment in Somerville. The 2024 Enhancing Youth Services in the City of Somerville Report, which was commissioned by HHS, outlined a vision for a thriving youth system, which included, on page 6, a 10-point list of recommendations to achieve the collective goal for the city's youth. Teen Empowerment provides nine of those ten supports to the youth, and the remaining one is community space, which we're unable to provide because the city building at 165 Broadway is not ADA accessible. Studies from UMass Boston conducted in 2011 and 2014 concluded that, quote, compared to their peers, youth who have worked at Teen Empowerment leave the program with higher levels of employability and greatly improved self-esteem and are more civically engaged. And these impacts are sustained over time, end quote. Because the work of teen empowerment is prevention work, it's vital to continue these pro-social efforts to be quickly responsive to the issues encountered by urban youth in this fast-paced society. So many young people in Somerville are experiencing stress from immigration policy changes, dealing with the pressures of social media and AI, substance abuse, financial strain on their families, especially because of housing instability, decreases in financial aid for post-secondary education, and dealing with the mental health repercussions from all of these things and more. So I strongly encourage you to support Teen Empowerment's maintained funding and help ensure the bright future of Somerville's young people. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Kira Tipton. I'm 18 years old and I've been a youth organizer with the Center of Teen Empowerment since 2024. When talking about the impact that this program has had on my life, I can confidently say that I wouldn't be the person I am today with the path I have for my future without my experience with Teen Empowerment. Throughout my time at TE, I've had the opportunity to truly feel like a part of the community. I have made connections and memories with fellow youth organizers and program staff that have shaped who I am today. The opportunity to get work experience in community organizing has been instrumental to help me picture my path forward after high school. My time with them has taught me so much about my career, independence, and community organizing overall. Through these experiences, I've been able to meet people in different fields and like different partner organizations that we work with to be able to further figure out what I want to do after high school. And now I'm pretty confident with my decision to pursue sociology. I'm also pretty sure that I got into UMass Boston because of Teen Empowerment because... Because when I was asked about something that changed my mind, I said the idea that I just had to work a meaningless job. I found a path forward with myself with the work that I've done with TE. That's something that I'm really proud of. Feeling connected to peers and having positive role models is one of the most influential factors in youth outcomes. And TE is a space where I can make real friends and see people who grew up like me succeeding as staff. For decades, teen empowerment has been instrumental in the youth community in Somerville. From events to civic engagement or educational resources, the impact on our youth is clear. I urge the council to care for this organization as they have so many of our city's youth for so many years. Thank you all.

all right thank you uh discussion i saw counselor link and then counselor strezo then counselor clinton thank you mr president through you um so uh i'm i really appreciate uh that uh the good counselor from war one was able to bring this up uh and uh i have to be honest i was caught kind of i think there's a real value in public hearings because i was caught off guard uh about this and part of the reason i was caught off guard was that if you look at the budget book, there's no mention of Teen Empowerment in 2027. There is in 2026, but it's just not there. This change is not reflected in the budget book at all. So I guess I want to say that I'm glad that we're going to be talking about this, and I also would just kind of want to let... I know that this wasn't some sort of intentional sleight of hand, but it does make it really hard to know what's happening. So I am going to be asking in the committee meeting to find out about all the different non-profits that may have had their grants or other contracts changed, because I think we really need to be able to see that and know what good things that we have been doing that we maybe won't be able to do going forward in 2027. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President. I wanted to thank you and Teen Empowerment for speaking up in the budget hearing yesterday and bringing attention to this for us because, yeah, this slipped under the radar. I've been a proud supporter of Teen Empowerment for many years. I've been to your events. I've watched your performances, have loved them. I always learn something new. I love that. I remember a skit a couple years ago, just talking about the vaping that was happening. Yeah, I've heard about things, but to see it and hear it from your own voices, of course, just makes it so much more impactful. You're a part of our community. You've been a part of our community, and I'm grateful for you. So thank you for bringing forward all these great, great points and just your presence in the community. I want to say thank you. I've been a proud supporter of you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President. Through you, I'd like to sign on. I'd like to thank the Councillor from Ward 1. I, too, was somewhat caught off guard by this. You know, I can't say enough good things about senior parliament. I mean, so many generations of kids have gone through. Many of them work within the city now. Just had such a positive impact on the community. I do want to ask Aaliyah. So, Aaliyah, Through you, Mr. President, have you applied for all, have you done RFP for all three grants?

If you don't mind, could you step to the microphone just so folks that are watching online can hear your answer? Thank you so much.

Thank you. So there were two that were open, and the first one we qualified for. The second one we did not fully qualify for, and so we've been trying to shift our program to partner with other organizations to be able to fulfill all of the requirements.

And you said there was three, though, right? Three, Mr. President?

There was two.

Oh, they split it in two? Yeah. Great. And so just lastly, hopefully there's a path forward. This sounds like it started after this survey so the previous administration put this ball in motion it sounds like is the current administration working with you all to try to see to it that we can keep funding you in the same way it's our understanding that there is a desire to keep teen empowerment in this community and so yes we are excited to work with the current administration towards that okay i mean i'd like to just get this fixed and this is you know seems ridiculous to me that we've created this bureaucratic hurdle now that's potentially forcing this uh great great organization to have to jump through hoops and and possibly lose some of their funding and lose some of the value that they bring to the community so um i really urge the current administration to uh let's get this fixed and let's move forward and thank you all and thank you all thank you for coming out i really appreciate it thank you thank you okay uh counselor bah and then council mclaughlin

Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to thank the good counselor for putting this forward. I first heard about Teen Empowerment from you when I moved to this city and it's really evolved and doing a lot of great work. I appreciate you guys being here to talk about it because They say eternal vigilance is the price for liberty. If we don't know, then it's going to be in the dark because we cannot continue to say the future is the youth. We care about the youth at the same time we are undercutting structures and funding that enable them to thrive. So thank you for bringing this forward, and we will make sure that you are fully funded. Thank you.

Councillor Saeed, and then we'll go to Councillor Gaffin since you already spoke.

Yeah, through you, Mr. President, I want to take a moment and thank Constable McLaughlin for bringing this to our attention and for all your work, making sure you're supporting teen empowerment. And to the leadership, to the director and CEO, I want to say thank you. Thank you for the space you created for our teens and for all the work you do to empower them so they have a voice and they get to make, you know, all the changes they want to see in our community. And I am sorry that space is still an issue. It's been years. I worked at the high school for eight years as a teacher, and for all those years, over and over, this is what the students were asking about. So I'm sorry we're still here. We'll continue to also advocate for that. Thank you.

Others that haven't spoken? Okay, Councilman Glatham. Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to clarify. So the reason that people are surprised and that it wasn't in the budget is because the money is still there. The $400,000 is still $400,000. What's changed is the process for getting that money. So Teen Empowerment may get some money, another organization may get some money, but this all changed. Teen Empowerment was not... This is affecting them now as opposed to I could see that there was probably some good intentions behind formalizing a process and maybe getting other programming in But I believe I figured who it was from teen empowerment who said, you know teen empowerment gets paid to be teen empowerment They're not being paid to be in other organizations So to I definitely would love to see more youth programming come out of it but we shouldn't be taking it from teen empowerment in order to make that happen because they're I a very unique group that fits a very unique group of people. So I would like to send this to committee. I was thinking public health and safety, but I don't know if the finance committee could take it up when health and human services comes up during the budget hearings.

Given that much of the conversation seems to revolve around the budget for this organization, and we are in the throes of the budget conversation, I'm looking to the chair for any indication we have agreement or disagreement.

I'll just say, Mr. President, this Monday's departmental budget hearing will include Health and Human Services. I anticipate that members of the committee will ask questions about teen empowerment then. So we would welcome this item being sent to the Finance Committee, but if it It could make more sense to go to public health and public safety. That's perfectly fine.

MR. Given the timing, it strikes me as an excellent framework around which to have the conversation and figure out where the rubber needs to hit the road here. So if there's no objection, we'll send this one. And any other discussion? I did see Councillor Link would like to sign on. I imagine I'm going to ask if anyone else, yep, the whole council, very well, lest there be any question. Very well, then we will, this will be approved with a copy to, so this is, sorry, Madam Clerk, 4.2 will be approved with a copy to finance and 4.4 is approved.

Very good. I'm sorry, did the Public Health and Public Safety Committee wish for this item to be, oh no, okay.

We're going to, yeah, we're going to send it to finance. Obviously, if there's an additional discussion that's needed, then a separate item could be submitted and we can send that to Public Health and Public Safety. For now, while we've got our sleeves rolled up on money, let's figure out what we can do. Very well. Thank you, everyone, on that one. And that brings us to our next out-of-order item, Madam Clerk, which is 4.11, I believe. Is that right?

Yep, you're correct, Mr. President. 4.11.

Hold on one sec. Councilman McLaughlin, do you want to have a quick recess for a picture? All right. Let's have a brief recess so we can take a picture with all the folks that came up here. I love taking pictures. So while you're here, why not? Make it a keepsake. Never look at it again. Whatever you prefer. So we'll stay in a brief recess for a picture, and then we'll reconvene. All right, 10 out of 11. Close enough. Madam Clerk, I'm going to call this meeting back to order. I can see that we have a quorum. So picking up where we left off with our next out of order item, which is 4.11, please.

Yes, item 4.11 by Councillor Ewen Campin and Councillor Wheeler, that Chapter 2, Article 8, Division 1 of the Code of Ordinances be amended as detailed within.

Thank you, Mr. President. I want to offer a huge thank you to my co-sponsor, Councillor Wheeler, for the partnership on this. Before I get to the ordinance, I want to tell a story about my dad. So my dad was born in 1943. He grew up in the 1940s, 1950s in Wisconsin, and he told me that his entire childhood, it honestly never occurred to him, was never mentioned to him, that our country was doing anything other than being a force for good in the world, a force for democracy in the world. This was an unquestioned understanding where he grew up, and this was the case for many, many people in his generation. When he went to college, he even interned for a summer at the Pentagon. For anyone who has met my dad, that is extremely out of character. But he wanted to be a part of this work. So another thing that happened when he was in college is that every night on the television news, there would be footage of the Vietnam War. And he told me he would see this TV footage night after night, year after year, of women and children, civilians, people living in poverty, being bombed, being killed. And he could see with his own eyes that it was our country that was dropping these bombs. It was our country that was killing these people. And I remember him telling me that it took time. He really, really couldn't process this for years until finally something just snapped in his soul. And his entire way of conceiving of our country, our role in the world, changed permanently. And this is not just my dad, obviously. This was many, many people in this country in that generation. It fundamentally changed their relationship to our government and their understanding of our country's role in the world. It is extremely clear to me that something very analogous has happened to our country again in the past several years, maybe more profoundly. To be clear, I don't think that young people today start with that same sense of naivete of my father's Wisconsin in the 1950s. But even so, I don't think anyone was prepared for what we have witnessed and are still witnessing in Gaza. This generation has watched day after day for years as truly unimaginable acts of violence and destruction have been done to Gaza, to Palestine. A campaign that is directly targeting the entire civilian population has reduced Gaza to rubble, has been recognized as a genocide by many international human rights groups and scholars. And as they have watched this unfold, they have also seen very clearly that Israel's actions have the complete and total support of our country, of our government. They see that this could not be happening without our country. providing weapons, sending aid, publicly supporting these inconceivable actions that we can all see on our phones every day, read about in the news. And for many people in Somerville, it's not just something that they see on their phones. For our Palestinian constituents, every single one of them has been directly affected by this in unimaginable ways. And I believe, and I think that Somerville believes, that America's support for Israel's actions in Gaza and in Palestine is a profound moral stain on our country. And this support from our government has caused immense and painful divisions right here in our community. And to say that again, what is causing these divisions is our country's support for what is happening in Gaza. So I will say that for myself, I have on multiple occasions at public events in this chamber, I've been told by people that I'm not a real Jew. To be clear, this is not about me. I don't care what people say about me. This is nothing compared to what other people in our community have faced. But I just say this, it's a small sign of the divisions that have been caused by our country's ongoing support for this genocide. So why are we talking about this in a city council meeting? I think that's a fair question. The answer to me is straightforward, because the people of Somerville asked us directly to do so. Somerville residents passed a ballot question directing the city to ensure that we don't use our public funds, our investments, our purchasing to support companies that profit from these horrific acts. 10,000 people signed to get this ballot question, and then the majority of the city voted for it in the same election that put all of us in our seats. So the ordinance, that is before us tonight, it is our attempt to do what is being asked of us and to do so in a way that is legal and practicable. It says that where Somerville has financial discretion, let us protect our own reputation by ensuring that we are not supporting companies that profit from violations of international law or from violations of international humanitarian law, in other words, laws of war. This ordinance, it looks to organizations like the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations Human Rights Council, and it says, if a company is on the wrong side of the investigations of organizations like this, we will choose to take our public dollars elsewhere. And I want to be clear, this ordinance includes anywhere where serious violations of international humanitarian law are occurring in the world. It specifically mentions Israel and Palestine because we were asked to do that specifically by the people who elected us. But of course, we are not arguing that we should give our public support to these same violations elsewhere in the world. No one would argue that. We know that Somerville cannot dictate foreign policy. We are not trying to. We are seeking to use the discretion that we have to ensure that when we spend our taxpayer money, our residents know that it is not going to companies that profit from violation of international law. Thank you, Mr. President. After we hear from colleagues, I will ask that this be referred to committee for deliberation and discussion. Thank you, colleagues.

Mr. Willard, do you want to speak on the item as well?

Thank you, Mr. President. I want to start by saying that my intention with this proposed ordinance is to put our existing, long-standing community values into law and apply them evenly and fairly. Somerville already tries to spend money in line with publicly held values. We accept that the city should not, where it can avoid it, use its money to support grave injustice. The idea here is just to put that into codified law. I also want to say as clearly as I can, all people are welcome in Somerville. Jews, Arabs, Israelis, Palestinians, Muslims, and people of every religion, ethnicity, national origin, and political view are welcome here. Thank you. Many residents fear that putting this ballot initiative into practice will become an effort to exclude or alienate Jews from our community, and that cannot happen.

Folks, if there are more interruptions, I'll clear the chambers. Okay? The council is recognized. No one else from the public is recognized. The council is the only one in the room that's speaking.

Councillor Wheeler, please continue. Thank you. We should never have a policy that suggests that Jews, Israelis, or anyone else is less welcome here because of who they are, where they come from, or what government they are connected to by birth, family, religion, or history. The painful violence that we've seen to date and the long-running oppression experienced by multiple peoples, these are the source of the intensity that we see expressed when these issues are brought up anywhere in our city. That's where this pain comes from. This pain and this intensity is part of what our entire community has been going through, and it forms the backdrop to the ballot question that was before us last November. This question did not call for a boycott of Israel writ large. If it had, I would have opposed it. Instead, it pointed to the question of whether companies that we contract with or invest in are actively supporting these narrowly defined acts of egregious injustice. So this ordinance is not meant to single out Israel or any country. It is not a boycott of any government, any people, any civil society, or anyone with ordinary financial ties to the Israeli government or any government. This is about involvement with specific grave harms recognized in law and human rights standards. This is the source of concern, no matter where it happens. Many residents have asked Somerville to do more than just pass a statement about this. They have asked us to translate our values into policy. A non-binding resolution can speak to principles. A law has to adapt those to be practical, legal, fair, and capable of being administered by the city. This proposed draft reflects the real divide between the council's legislative power and the mayor's executive power. The council can pass ordinances. The executive branch has to administer the law. So the ordinance asks the mayor to produce a policy explaining how the city will assess compliance with this. The goal here is to make discretion visible and to provide clarity about the standards being applied. It is reasonable to ask why Israel and Palestine get so much attention compared with other grave injustices. The answer, in part, is that there is a debate. There is a passionate debate about this in a way there isn't about many other cases where there's already widespread agreement. And like any debate, this one pulls in some arguments and assumptions that are valid and consistent and others that can be flawed or troubling. And that's why we have to be precise here. I am aware, and my family has long been aware, that antisemitism can be subtle, and it can show up as double standards. We should keep this in mind as we try to craft policies that capture our principles and apply them fairly. We cannot treat every indirect financial connection as moral complicity. We cannot treat any single link at all as making a company untouchable. That way of thinking is the wrong way to approach this, because we're all connected. We all live under governments that do things that we sometimes oppose, and people everywhere still need education, health care, public services, and ordinary civic life. No ordinance could provide perfect separation from every injustice in the world. My hope instead is that this ordinance joins the many rules that imperfectly guide our city's decisions. Rules that we hope work well, that we know sometimes disappoint, but that help us get things right a little bit more than before. The best version of this ordinance would be modest, clear, and fair. It would continue Somerville's values and not depart from them. It would oppose direct support for specific grave harms, not condemn a whole country or a whole people. It would be strong enough to matter and narrow enough to be just. If the wording here falls short of that, then I want to improve it. We are representatives. We represent people who voted for us and people who didn't. We represent people who voted yes on question three, people who voted no, and people who abstained. We represent people with strong feelings and fears on many sides of many issues. my job is to represent all residents as best i can while taking seriously the law the city's finances and the real work that our rules will create for staff that's what i'm trying to do here and i hope that we can keep working together even across deep disagreement in a way that keeps everyone together in this community thank you thank you council bob

Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to sign on to this. But before I say any word, I want to briefly explain my position and why I've chosen to support this ordinance. Over a year ago, I publicly stated that if Question 3 passed, I would support efforts to implement the will of the voters. On Election Day, a majority of Somerville residents voted in favor of Question 3. As elected officials, we will not always agree with every outcome, but we have a responsibility to listen, engage thoughtfully, and honor the commitment we make. One of the most important lessons I've learned from my friend, good friend, Mayor Emeritus Gene Bruhn, is that our word matters. Public trust is built when elected leaders do what they say they will do. For me, this is fundamentally about integrity, accountability, and respect for the democratic process. I also want the public to know that I have not arrived at this decision lightly or in isolation. Over many months, I have consulted with members of our state and federal delegations, local elected officials, faith leaders, including leaders from the Jewish community as well as Israeli and Palestinian friends whose perspective and lived experiences I deeply value. I've listened carefully to those who support this ordinance and those who oppose it. Those conversations have challenged me personally, informed me and reinforced the importance of approaching this issue with humility, empathy and compassion. And as an immigrant from Cameroon, I have witnessed how conflict, violence and displacement can leave deep and lasting scars on families and communities. Whether in Cameroon, Israel, Palestine, Sudan, Ukraine, or elsewhere, I believe that every human life has equal dignity and worth. My support reflects a commitment to human rights, peaceful coexistence, and the principle that our action as a city should be consistent with our values. I recognize that reasonable people of good faith would disagree with this ordinance. I respect those differences. And I'm grateful to everyone who has participated in this conversation with sincerity and conviction. Whether our views, whatever it may be, I hope we can continue to engage one another with respect, empathy, and a shared commitment to a well-being of our community. With that, I would like to sponsor two speakers, Mr. President, Amina Awad and Erin Axelman, to speak to this item.

Councillor Baugh would like to sponsor the aforementioned individuals. Any objection? All right, seeing none. Councillor Baugh, we spoke earlier about this, and hopefully you had a conversation with Councillor Baugh about this. We're gonna keep each speaker to two minutes, okay? And that goes for anyone who's sponsoring a speaker for this item, okay?

Oh, okay. I was not aware of that.

Councillor Mabau, we had a conversation about this. You had a conversation with the folks that you're sponsoring today?

I'm surprised you say you're not aware of that. I never communicated with you. I communicated with whoever reached out to me. So you should just, you have two minutes to speak.

Okay.

Each speaker will have two minutes of the two that Councillor Mabau is sponsoring. Yeah, each speaker has two minutes.

Very good. Okay.

And to be fair, we just say your name again for the record so we can make sure.

Yeah, it's Aminatwan. Good evening. I'm a member of Somerville for Palestine and a resident of Ward 6, and a member of Somerville's beautiful and resilient Palestinian community. Today we are gathered by the power of the people of Somerville to enact the Somerville Boycott Ordinance for Palestine. But first, I want us to collectively honor the story of this ordinance to reflect on all the work, community building, and unflinching resilience that have led us here today. In fall 2024, members of the Somerville for Palestine gathered weekly to first imagine a future in which our city divests from Israeli genocide, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing. In April 2025, after months of research on our city contracts, building an understanding of procurement law, and educating our community on the fundamental principles of boycott, divestment, and sanctions, we finalized question three. During the writing process, we gathered our Palestinian leaders, our Jewish caucus, our BDS leaders, lawyers, electeds, to purposefully craft language in a way that was intentional. We thought through every word precisely so that it aligns with creating material impact and honoring our commitment to Palestinian voices that guide our work. Then we saw throughout the blistering summer months over 300 canvassers spending day, night, weekends, rain or shine on the Somerville streets talking to neighbors, knocking on the doors of strangers, reaching out in English, Spanish, and Arabic, starting conversation after conversation about Palestine with the ultimate goal of sharing why Palestine matters to us. We found creative ways to connect with one another, with our neighbors, and with our city and remind them that we do not have to sit silently watching genocide unfold. And in November, I watched my community show up for Palestine in ways that I could have never imagined. People showed up to vote in droves, with 60% of Somerville voting yes to divest, a momentous win for grassroots organizing. The people of Somerville spoke, and they said, not with our money, not with our taxes, and not in our city. In my time in Somerville, I could have never imagined the amount of passion, care, and solidarity for Palestinian liberation. This was a monumental win, not just for our city, but for the larger Palestine and BDS movement across the world. It was our way of honoring the BDS movement's collectivist and creative approach to change and continuing the legacy of Somerville as a city that divests, the way we did from prison labor in 2020 and in the 80s from South African apartheid. Back to the present. Today we are enacting the will of the people, heeding the call of the 11,599 Somervilleans who voted yes to divest in November. But the reality remains that there is an ongoing genocide of Palestinians being live-streamed as we sit in the comfort of this room. As I speak, Palestinians continue to endure unimaginable state-sanctioned violence, murder, and destruction funded by our tax dollars. We are seeing the expansion of Israel's settler colonial project as Israel bombs, destroys, and kills civilians in southern Lebanon.

Please conclude your statement. You're welcome to submit the entirety in writing. We will read it because this is going to go to committee, so we'll have lots of debate on it. Got it.

Let me just go to the action item. So now is your turn for action as the Councillors of Somerville. The ordinance is historic and clear call for justice in Palestine, but it can be strengthened in the following ways. One, the addition of the American Friends Service Committee list, which identifies the most complicit companies. The addition of the list will provide clarity around who to boycott. The edit is essential in countering vague wording and creating a path towards implementation.

Folks in the gallery, I am presiding over this meeting. I asked the speaker to try and keep it under two minutes. She obviously was not informed of that. I'm going to provide a little leeway, as I will to the other speakers. I do not need your help looking at my watch. Thank you. I appreciate your silence. Please wrap up your statement. You are beyond the time that it was agreed significantly.

Let me do the second point and I'll finish.

I suggest it takes no more than five seconds, please. You're being disrespectful to the other people in the room.

The second point is to tighten the procurement loopholes presented to ensure the ordinance has directed free material impact beyond symbolism and directly end our complicity in apartheid, genocide, and ethnic cleansing. Free Palestine. Thank you.

And again, please do submit the full statement in writing. By all means, please do submit the full statement in writing. I understand there was a miscommunication, but as many pages as you like in a written comment. The public comments at SomervilleMA.gov, that way it'll get automatically in. Okay, thank you. State your name for the record so we can get it.

Aaron Axelman.

Thank you. Go right ahead.

Hello, friends. My name is Aaron Axelman. I've been a Somerville resident for about 10 years. I'm a proud Jewish American. I feel completely safe and loved in Somerville. In fact, I've never been more proud to live in Somerville than I am now. I'm also a proud anti-Zionist, and I come from a long tradition of Jewish anti-Zionism. I'm a filmmaker, and I'm the co-director of the documentary Israelism, as well as the co-creator of Beyond Israelism on Zateo, and I led the U.S. digital release and social media campaign for the documentary No Other Land, the first film on Palestine to win an Oscar in history. I'm a member of Somerville for Palestine and a part of the group's Jewish caucus. I once supported Israel, but like a majority of young American Jews now, I came to understand the brutal, colonial, and oppressive nature of Israel. According to the Israeli government itself, 42% of young American Jewish teenagers believe Israel is not only an apartheid state, but is committing genocide. There are many young Jews in this room right now, and all of them are part of the pro-Palestine movement. None of them came with the pro-Israel camp. There are also, of course, lots of older Jewish folks in our camp as well. I've made it my life's work to try to help Americans, especially younger American Jews, transform on the issue of Palestine. Today is a beautiful day. A beautiful day. Today, despite the smears and threats of frivolous lawsuits from pro-Israel organizations, Somerville moves closer to becoming one of the first cities in the U.S. to divest from companies complicit in Israeli genocide and apartheid. For the first time in history, a majority of all Americans support Palestine, and we will be an even more commanding majority in the coming years. Already, a massive, massive majority of Democrats support divesting from Israel, and our numbers are only growing. There is so much more work to do, but we are winning the narrative battle. Somerville is part of winning that narrative battle, and I'm so deeply proud to be here with all of you. Today, we are calling on you, our elected officials in this room, to heed the call of your constituents and pass a boycott ordinance for Palestine. We need you. We need our city council members to be brave and follow the clear will of our citizens. This ordinance is a step in a long process to end our city's complicity in Israeli crimes. Today, we're asking all of you to stand on the right side of history. Please add the American Friends Service Committee list and tighten the procurement loophole to ensure this ordinance is acted upon and is effective in giving the people of Somerville what we clearly voted for. Somerville is one of the most progressive cities in America. A hundred percent of our city council members are Democrats. As our ballot initiative showed, and as polling over and over and over again shows, the era of pro-Israel Democrats is over. We need our city councilors to vote with the will of the people, and we will vote you out with a righteous fury if you do not. Thank you so, so much.

Thank you.

Thank you, folks. If I may, I just want folks to understand too, excuse me, sir. We do have a very long agenda and there's a number of items that we're gonna discuss. And so I try and keep things moving because this is gonna go into committee for as much reason as anything else I don't like keeping our staff here too late into the night, and we're going to be here late tonight. So that's why I wanted to just keep things open, just so you know. That's my primary motivation in setting time limits for these. As the submitter of the item suggested, I do anticipate this will go to committee. So I saw, Councilor Bayou, you all set? Okay, I saw Councilor Saeed. Thank you.

Go ahead. And as you know, Mr. President, I have speakers as well. All right.

Thank you, Mr. President. First, I would like to thank my colleagues, Councillor Wynkampen, Councillor Wheeler, for putting this ethical procurement proposed ordinance before us. I would also like to thank some of the Palestine community members for their advocacy work on this. We wouldn't be here without that work. As my colleagues have already mentioned, the majority of the voters said yes on the Palestine ballot question. And through this ordinance, we will be fulfilling the will of the people who voted yes. So it's time to turn that into policy. We all have seen it. Thousands of Palestinian parents taking children out of the rubble. You don't need to be a parent to know how it feels. We watch schools, hospitals, all of Gaza being destroyed. This genocide is the most horrifying thing of our lifetime. Here we have a chance to take action. I wholeheartedly support this. If we can take action on Israel's genocide in Palestine, then I don't know how we can still talk about human rights or community values. I genuinely cannot go around in the community saying that I care about children, women, women's rights, human rights, if I cannot support an ethical procurement ordinance. That's the least we can do.

Thank you, Catherine. just splashed water into my eye. All right, Councilor Estraza, you're up next.

Thank you. I would like to sponsor two speakers. I would also like to share my thoughts.

You have the floor.

Okay, and I will expect that my speakers will have the four minutes and 30 seconds that they are entitled to.

I will show grace to everyone within 30 minutes.

So first I'd like to have Jeremy Burton, CEO of Jewish Community Relations Council, come to speak for the floor. I'd like to sponsor the speech.

Councillor Scherzo would like to sponsor the aforementioned individual. Any objections? All right, seeing none, please approach and just state your name for record. As I said, try and keep it to two minutes-ish, if you can.

The first speaker had four minutes and 30 seconds, so that is as far as they can go. They will respect that.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you this evening. I'm Jeremy Burton, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston. With 40 member organizations and representing three denominations with over 130 congregations, we are the broadest collective voice of the Jewish community in Greater Boston. I am here tonight not to debate the conflicts in the Middle East that bring great pain to many of us, nor to argue about solutions to these conflicts and our role in this work. I am here to talk to you as civic leaders in Somerville and as someone who believes that all of us as civic leaders in Massachusetts have First and foremost, a duty of care to our neighbors in our communities here. A duty to ensure that all residents of this city and our Commonwealth are welcome, safe, and know that they belong here. You have heard time and again over the past year that the campaign around ballot question three has made members of Somerville's Jewish community feel unsafe and unwelcome in this city. Throughout the past year, this campaign has led directly to a climate of intimidation. It has included explicit anti-Semitic rhetoric directed at your constituents, and it has resulted in a broader demonization of well-meaning Jewish residents of this city. I am here along with members of Shalom Somerville to urge you as civic leaders to take a pause and to lead a change in the discourse of this city. We need to heal and bring all residents of this city together to commit to all of Somerville's people belonging here. Moving forward with tonight's ordinance will continue to stir division in this city and will lead to more intimidation of some of your neighbors and more fear among some of your residents. And I have to say that in a pluralistic democracy, with great respect, we cannot just bend to the will of the majority. That is tyranny. We also need to stand for the vulnerability and the fears of the minorities within our community. We need your leadership to build a pluralistic and welcoming city that can be a model for Massachusetts and America, that starts with placing this ordinance on file and coming together to find a better way forward. Please do not send this to committee as presented. Together, and with your leadership, Somerville can become, again, a city where all, including all the members of its Jewish community, are welcome, safe, and know that they belong. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Councilor, all right. Quiet, please. Councilor Scherzer, did you say you had a second speaker? Thank you, yes.

I would like to, I have a second speaker. I'd like to sponsor our resident, Leron Baton.

Councilor Scherzer would like to sponsor Leron Baton. Seeing no objection. Mr. Baton, go right ahead.

And he as well, honoring the longest speaker for probably 30 minutes, and then I will speak as well.

Thank you, Counselor. Mr. President, honorable counselors, thank you. My name is Liron Betone of 1087 Broadway, and I'm speaking tonight as an Israeli-American who resides in Ward 7. I know the topic of Israel and Palestine is deeply personal for many people, including myself, and there's no way for me to speak for anyone other than myself. I was born as the only child to two Jewish people who came from very different parts of the world and of different Jewish experiences. On my mother's side, I am descended from Ashkenazi Jews from the Bessarabia region of Moldova in Eastern Europe because they fled from pogroms before they would have been murdered in the Holocaust. On my father's side, I am descended from Jews from Morocco and from Kurdish Iraq. There are almost no Jews left in either of those countries. I am literally here before you because Jews fled persecution and found safety in Israel and in the United States. Unfortunately, today persecution has followed us. This measure before you is without a doubt an act of hate and discrimination targeted at the only Jewish state in the world and exacerbates the very real persecution that Jews are now facing here in Somerville, across Massachusetts, and throughout the world. Leaning into this hate instead of fighting against it The city of Somerville is going back on its promise to be a welcoming community for all. In effect, it's becoming a place where only some people are welcome. Members of my family have confided in me that they feel angry, scared, and afraid. Your actions here, your actions here are contributing to that. They're contributing to a Somerville where Jews feel increasingly unsafe and also where Palestinians are increasingly unsafe. While I cannot remove the hate in some people's hearts, I can speak to how it is illegal, unjust, and unethical, this law that singles out the only Jewish country. And I will continue to fight, whether this moves to committee or not, with every fiber of my being, to uphold the Somerville that I was promised, a place that should be safe and welcoming and ensure belonging to all the people who reside here, not just those who look or pray or act in a certain way. I urge you to reject this discriminatory and illegal ordinance and, frankly, to cease all actions that continue to divide us. I love Somerville. I have built my life here and raised my family here. I have given countless hours of service. But now I'm getting the strong message that my own family's particular brand of diversity is not welcome here. So I begin to share my family's emotions of anger and of sadness and of fear. You have time to step back from this action. I hope that you do. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President. I'm just going to collect my thoughts. And first, let me mention it's hurtful to hear from my colleagues trying to say that if you only believe in what I believe in, and if you don't, then you can't support women or you can't support children. That simplistic black and white thinking is what helps divide us as a community unequivocally. And it's offensive and it's hurtful. And also, the whole ageism concept that only some people like this, black and white think of them, some people like that, ageism of who supports what country or what not. We're far more complex than that, and so is our community, and I believe in us as that. You know I'm someone who loves this city deeply and is committed to this city deeply every day. I am someone who has given her energy, her voice, and her full commitment to every single person who calls Somerville home. And I'm a proud Jewish woman. And I say that not as a caveat, but as context, because it shapes who I am and how I serve, and I will not set that aside. Our city has long prided itself on being a welcoming community. That is a value we have built together over decades, and it is something I cherish and hold close. I believe in living with genuine care and concern for our neighbors. I love that. I believe in ethical governance. I believe in our city's spending should reflect our deepest values. And I also believe with equal convocation that those values must extend to everyone, without exception. Last week, I asked Mayor Wilson how his administration defined equity. He said, all means all. I want to hold us to that standard today. All means all. It means fighting for our black residents, our immigrant neighbors, our unhoused community members, our LGBTQ families, our seniors, our young people, and it means standing up for our Jewish constituents and our Israeli constituents too. The people who have sat across from me over the years and have told me directly that an ordinance like this, this version of a BDS ordinance, makes them feel singled out. That should be enough. And if we are a welcoming city, that welcome cannot carry an asterisk. The moment we start deciding who is and who isn't fully included in the community's embrace, we have failed the very principle we claim we uphold. The principle that our city should not contradict our values is one I stand behind completely. I don't think we should support noxious companies. I believe we should make intentional financial decisions. But this ordinance proposal, as written, has problems I cannot, in good conscience, overlook. The operative languages in subsections A and B speaks broadly about conduct recognized under international law. And yet, the preamble to this ordinance, which frames its entire purpose, names a single country explicitly. Legislation that singles out one country while remaining silent about other countries in the world raises serious questions about equal application and legal consistency. This is not a matter of opinion. This is structural flaw. I want to also address something about how we got here. Ballot Question 3 was presented to Somerville voters and promoted publicly, including by its own proponents, as a non-binding advisory measure. This is documented on public record. Now those same voices are insisting it must be enforced as binding law. Our residents deserve honesty and transparency about that distinction. They voted on something they were told was advisory non-binding. That matters. And here is the hard truth. This ordinance, as drafted, is discriminatory and will be challenged in court. The question is not whether a lawsuit comes. It is how much it is willing to cost us and what we will have to give up to pay for it. That doublespeak matters. Colleagues, I'm hearing from the people we represent every day in our Somerville life, and I'm wondering why we're contemplating international policy and overshadowing the needs of our constituents we'd swore we served. I have constituents in this city who could not afford their asthma medication this year because their insurance policies have changed. They can't afford their asthma medication. I have some seniors and not just seniors, a lot of families in the city surviving on $25 of SNAP benefits a month. $25 a month. Could you go to the grocery store? Could you go to any grocery store? And your whole allowance for the month on groceries is $25? Right here in Somerville. Women and pregnant people lost their body autonomy. Anti-abortion centers are receiving triple million dollars in federal funds now to carry on their destructive agenda. Can we talk about that? Actually has an impact on our city. Yesterday and today, Teen Empowerment told us that some teenagers in the city are afraid to simply go outside and be teenagers because of ICE. And at the same time, we're fighting alongside the school committee and parents across the district to secure six full-time staff positions that our schools desperately need. We are being told that SBS does not have that money. And we're facing another round of proposed water and sewer rates. Stay tuned on that one tonight. And yet, we're looking down the barrel of a lawsuit. We have infrastructure needs, et cetera. You know, these are all these things that our constituents are living with every single day. These are the conversations happening in our kitchen tables across Somerville. And now we're being asked to consider an ordinance that I believe will genuinely cost litigation. Litigation that will drain exactly the resources we are fighting so hard to protect. Every dollar spending defending a lawsuit in court is a dollar not spent on teen empowerment. On our schools... And on those six staff members that all of you claim are so vitally important, our food security and our most vulnerable residents on housing stability that all of us claim are so valuable, all of this affects our families. We can't play callous games with our constituents' lives or play callous games with the finite resources of this city. And procurement process, if this is enacted, will be even harder and will slow down city processes. You know you're going to hear about that if that goes through. I will not turn my back on any part of this community. That is a promise I made when I chose to run for office, and that is a promise I intend to keep for everyone, for every person in Somerville who deserves a city government that sees them, hears them, and fights for them. Because all means all. and our Jewish Somerville and our Israeli Somerville community that feels targeted, and I can't ethically ignore them, because all means all.

Thank you, Councilor Streisand. Other discussion? Seeing none, Councilor Unkampen? Oh, Councilor Link?

Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to, I guess, reflect on all the conversations that I've been hearing. And I hear time and time again that something like this is divisive. And I can't help but notice that the divide is not The question that we're debating here, the divide, the division is the attack on human rights and it is not what we do here. I understand, I understand so deeply the hurt that this causes and I understand the hurt it has been causing everyone and I just find it impossible to ignore suffering. I want to see all of the people here. There's no way that we can continue on like this, ignoring what's happening in the world. I think that means we have to pay attention and say when someone tells us that there is a genocide and apartheid, when someone tells us... When someone says that there is children dying, whether that is in Gaza, whether that is in Tibet, I don't care where it is. It's human suffering. And we must see, yeah, and we must see that stop.

as i said i'm trying to allow a reasonable amount of grace as long as the speaker can continue gone let's keep it okay all right then that's enough that's enough silence council link has the floor i'll wrap it up quick because it seems like we've gotten to uh the conclusion here i uh plan to support this i would like to co-sponsor and uh

I look forward to talking to anyone about this at any point in time, but I think that it's really clear to me where my moral compass lies, and that's why I have to be. Folks, folks.

Any further discussion? Silence, folks. Not recognized. Council Member Camp, do you have a motion? I'd like this to be sent to the Legislative Matters Committee, please. Council Yuenkampen moves for this to be sent to Legislative Matters. Is there any discussion? Councillor Scott?

On the motion, Mr. President, I believe our next Legislative Matters meeting is scheduled for June 30th due to all the issues in budget season. So I will be taking it up at our earliest reasonable opportunity, and I'll be sure to communicate to the

the committee process that will be followed and the expectations there clearly to all committee members and members of the council thank you motion before us is to send this item to legislative matters is there any objection to voice vote all in favor aye okay all opposed okay eyes have it that'll go to committee thank you Do we want to, do you all want to stay in here about water and sewer? Or do you want me to give you a recess to head, for folks who want to head off?

Let's take a brief recess for the folks who.

We'll stand in a brief recess while the chamber's clear. all right if counselors could come on back in and find your seats and we'll keep kicking this one forward All right, folks, if you wanna stick around and hear about the rest of the agenda, including a really thrilling presentation on water and sewer rates, which is gonna be really difficult, then please do. Otherwise, please clear the chambers so we can continue the council's business, all right? Folks, if you're here to watch the rest of the proceedings, please feel free to stay. I love a good crowd. If not, please clear the chambers. I see the bulk of us back here. I will call this meeting back to order. I can see that we have a quorum. Thank you, folks, for all the cooperation in getting through the last few items here. We have a few more items that we want to take out of order, including the one that Councillor Scott noted that there's some members of the public here. As I mentioned earlier, it's always my policy to put members of the public who are here to see or speak on an item ahead of city staff, and all of those folks go ahead of the councillors ourselves because we're going to be here until the bitter end anyway. So at Councillor Scott's request, I'd like to take 9.16 out of order, unless there's any objection to that. All right, seeing none, Madam Clerk, would you please read item 916?

9.1689 registered voters submitting a petition requesting a public hearing regarding police body worn cameras pursuant to section 2-11 of the city charter.

Councillor Scott. Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to make sure that we got this before us. This was a petition that was collected by quite a few members of the public, obviously. It has a cover sheet, which is just one page. It's very short. And it functionally requests that the Somerville City Council convene a public hearing regarding the potential adoption of police body-worn cameras. and requesting specifically that we hold that hearing before we act on any approvals that would allow the adoption of body-worn cameras. So to that end, I would like to sponsor one of the lead organizers of the petition. Yes, Mr. Rice, Derrick Rice, without objection, sir.

Mr. Scott, I would like to sponsor Derrick Rice to speak. Seeing no objection, Mr. Rice, please approach.

Thank you, Mr. President. Derek Rice, 49 Crikey Street. I don't have written remarks prepared. And I think I join you all in feeling a little energized. So pardon me as I collect myself. The gist of this is to ask for what has been promised and what has expectations that have been set through the city's own studies and paid consultancies, including the SPD operations report, which says that it is vital that robust public engagement process be undertaken, that the policy be shaped by community input. The engagement should be varied, including opportunities for individuals to submit comments online, listening sessions open to the public, and direct engagement with community groups i'm grateful for our charter reform ability to have a citizen petition for public hearing i do not think the public hearing in and of itself would satisfy myself or many others expectations of what true and broad and diverse public engagement would look like on this issue I draw attention to the fact that I know that you are maybe blue in the face talking about this, but all of those discussions have been an executive session, which have been difficult for the public to understand where our own elected officials stand. And those executive session minutes and videos, should they exist, will not be accessible to us until negotiations are complete. which creates, I think, a bit of a conundrum from a democratic principles and values perspective. So we request this public hearing, and in particular ask that you not take any final actions that would be very difficult to undo should you find from your constituents that you were moved to do otherwise. That's all. Oh, I'm sorry. May I add? Go ahead. I would also like to add that it would be in the public interest to have the administration on the record with their intentions on timeline and that they be aware that this public hearing request is on the table and requires a two-week notice and therefore will not be able to be had until some time from now. Thank you.

Thank you. Councillor Scott? uh thank you very much mr president uh in terms of scheduling a public hearing of course that will be at the discretion of the president unless you'd like to send this to a committee for a public hearing but i just appreciate it and look to you for which action what action you'd like to take on this

So this is a request for public hearing because these, the related items, so let's take a step back. There are actually three other items, well there's four items technically, but three that are sort of directly related to the ultimate determination of whether to approve the use of this type of technology. The two direct ones are the Surveillance Technology Impact Report and the Technology Specific Use Policy. It's my expectation those will be sent to legislative matters. This has been the standard practice for other surveillance technology impact reports. Wait a minute, I'm getting, yeah, impact reports, requests, ultimately sort of the initial request to use the technology. So I think it would be appropriate to refer this item to legislative matters, if that's okay with you, Mr. Chair, that way we can have that conversation all together. And let me take the opportunity now, as Derek said in his speech, it's fair to say that we, the Council, has had a lot of conversation about this topic recently. The vast majority of that has been executive session because it is been framed around collective bargaining. But to be clear, whether or not to, so there is in both of the police collective bargaining agreements that currently exist, the old ones, there is a section that says body worn camera policy. That's been there for years. We've never used the technology. We never used the technology because it wasn't approved by the Council through the Surveillance Technology Ordinance. That remains the requirement to use the technology, is that it be approved through the Council through a Surveillance Technology Impact Report. And nothing that is in the collective bargaining agreements changes that. What has been up for discussion, and because we have one of those collective bargaining agreements before us now and it's public, you can see that the section of that that is labeled body-worn camera policy is now different. We had a lot of conversations about that thing, and folks can now see the differences. So the decision as to whether for the council to approve that collective bargaining agreement is in part everything else in the agreement, and in part whether we think the changes from that one section that refers to body-worn cameras is better now and preferable now. Even if the council decides to go forward in that, that doesn't mean that we will use body-worn cameras. Body-worn cameras will not be implemented unless and until a surveillance technology impact report is approved, and in this case, a technology-specific use policy is adopted. Those are the two items that are also, before I said I mentioned, I anticipate will be sent to legislative matters. Sort of pulling a bunch of different eyes before us here But I thought what now that we're on the topic we might as well get sort of everything out on the table So folks understand the process so that I to that end I think having this conversation and having this hearing seems like the right place to have because that's where I'll actually decide whether to go forward and And whether to that whether there are additional issues that aren't reflected in the collective bargaining agreement and that might apply to the use of this technology the collective bargain agreement needs to address things that are legally required for collective bargaining that's not the entire universe of what a policy might say and we'll obviously have our council to guide us on that as we go forward with that conversation but um yeah long long-winded way of coming back around to saying i think this ought to go to legislative matters mr sheriff unless there's an objection from anyone um look i'll look to you first if you have any uh discussion on that no objection to taking the item in legislative matters uh it will take a while to schedule that public hearing but

Fortunately, we have time. That said, you were also referring, I believe, to items. Oh, geez. There's a lot of items out here.

They're in the sevens. 5.1 is one of them. Is that a good counselor from Ward 2?

it's true so the other two i was referring to are oh shoot 7.31 and 7.32 sir are both uh surveillance technology impact reports related to body-worn cameras so yes so counselor scott i i do however i think i'm inclined to to um take those up in order, only because my understanding is the administration has some folks here to sort of talk on those a bit and allow folks who aren't in committee to maybe have some initial questions. But I don't want to bump those ahead of everything else that's in line. But at your request, we took this item up because we did have a member of the public here on it. So we'll come back to the issue, but I wanted to speak to all of it so the folks get the full picture and all the connected pieces. Does that all make sense to everyone?

MR. All right. So, Mr. President, if I understand, you anticipate taking up 5.1, 7.31, and 7.32 in their regular order of the meeting tonight? MR. Yes, sir.

unless there's a request to take them up out of order a member can always make it make that request and if there's no objection we can certainly do that However, as I said, there are other members of staff here to present to us on various items. My default position is to go with the administration's request based on who has the earliest bedtime that they get to. But as always, if there's a compelling substantive reason, then it's up to us at the end of the day.

Perhaps I can simply ask that we take it up after 7.2 through 5 and 14, which is, I believe, the last early item that we're taking up because I do know there are members of the public here who are very interested in the outcome of those.

Okay. That seems like a reasonable request. Very good. Councillor Hart, I saw your hand up.

Thank you so much, Mr. President. And I appreciated your overview of all the different items and the procedures. And just for my own understanding and perhaps the public as well, I'm curious, there's also the item that I believe is still before the Finance Committee of the acceptance of the grant related to body-worn cameras. And I'm just wondering if you could say a word about how that fits into the timeline.

That remains in finance committee pursuant to the surveillance technology ordinance. And unless I'm just misremembering, because it's been a long week, the grant can't be accepted until a stir is approved by the council. So that's why it remains in finance. Councillor Wheeler, do you want to speak to that?

Just on that topic, I've been informed, and I hope I'm summarizing this correctly, that there is a plan to replace that item with another one relating to the same grant process but with a smaller grant amount to refer specifically to a body-worn camera pilot with the superior officer contract. um so that that is my current understanding uh just sharing that openly uh we have not seen that replacement item but i am anticipating it okay so the um that item will not be taken up until after the stir if if and when the stir was adopted is that correct

That's correct. The grant can't be accepted until the STR is approved. And I may be oversimplifying that, and forgive me, as I said, it's been a long week, but more or less, that's how it works.

Thank you.

Very good. Other discussion? All right. So on the item before us, which is 916, we'll refer that to... Well, let's just see. What is the... Do we need to... So we will place that one on file with a copy to legislative matters for that public hearing to be held. Very good? All right. All right, so now we're going to go back to the aforementioned. Now we get to the really exciting stuff, water and sewer. So we're going to do water and sewer next. Then we have a series of financial items that the administration has requested that we consider this evening. And then after that, we will come back around to the body-worn camera items. And perhaps, Director Najeeb Williams, do we have Attorney Sirigu here as well? So do we want to take up 5.1? Well, I guess we'll take a 5.1 before we go back to the regular item so he can go to bed at some point. All right, so we'll lump 5.1 in there as well so that we can let our chief labor counsel. Turn off the Zoom after all that. All right, so that brings us back to our list of out of order items, back around to item 7.1. Madam Clerk, would you read the item please?

Yes. 7.1, requesting approval of fiscal year 2027 water and sewer rates.

Director Raish.

good evening how many slides do we have today davis only 38 tonight uh city councilors for your record richard rage director of infrastructure and asset management i think soon to be director of infrastructure or maybe czar of the built environment or mr um mr president if i may thank you to director rage there better not be any rush uh any any rush references in this references in this one I will, however, try to rush through the slides in the interest of everyone's time tonight. So we'll start off tonight. This deck does have a number of slides that you may have seen before. They are here for the benefit of the records that we can attach this to the item if anyone wants to refer back, also for the benefit of the newer members. If there's anything that we want to drill down on either tonight or after this in my office, I'm happy to go into any more detail on any of these. So to actually kick us off tonight with what are our expenses that drive our rates, I'll hand it over to Michael Richards, who has been the Director of Finance and Administration for Infrastructure and Asset Management, and in the past year has been pulling double duty also Director of Finance and Administration for Water and Sewer, and under the RE-ORG with the budget that we will be discussing on Wednesday night, it will be one administration with both under the same. So with that, I'd like to turn it over to Michael Richards.

Great, thank you all. My name is Michael Richards, I'm the Director of Finance and Administration, speaking in my role as Water and Sewer. So tonight we're before you to ask for and propose our rates for increases to water and sewer. So we want to talk about why we are before you now, what these rates pay for, what is it that we do with this. These rates

remind you we are could you do me a favor and just try to get the mic a little bit closer i'm seeing some some hands going to ears in the room here behind you thank you better

Excellent. So as a reminder, we are a public utility. We are not a money making or money profiting enterprise. We are here to raise revenue based on expenses we've identified to meet those expenses. So the rates before you are based on our expense projections for the coming years, particularly for this upcoming FY27. So what we have before you are operations maintenance for our system it's a built system intended to deliver safe drinking water effective sewer and wastewater removal and providing on-demand fire prevention services and fire protection services through the fire hydrants These services are required to meet constituents' needs on a 24-7 basis, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We're on call. When you turn on the faucet, you're expecting clean drinking water on demand. When you see a storm in your neighborhood, you expect the sewers to be open and the floodwaters to recede and roads to be clear. When you call a fire hydrant and they're tasked to come out to open those fire hydrants, you expect that to be ready on demand. to maintain these systems. Our teams are there working in the background tirelessly to maintain and operate these, manage these systems. So when you need it, it is there on demand. What we have are hundreds of miles of built infrastructure, underground, out of sight, out of mind, that you can't see. We take it for granted. This functioning system is so often taken for granted, but it requires a lot of maintenance to ensure that they continue to function properly. The same goes for the above ground assets. We have thousands of physical assets above ground here with the manhole covers, catch basins, fire hydrants. All of this maintenance requires time, effort, and money. And that's part of our expenses in our annual operating budget. And we are an old city. We're built on an old and aging infrastructure. It's just the nature of who we are and where we are. Many of the pipes, water pipes, sewer pipes that we see below our feet or below our roads are so old they can be termed and aged in terms of pre-sinking of the Titanic or pre-Civil War. Many of these pipes are generations old and the cost of maintaining and the cost of failure to these pipes is a real cost that we bear and that is funded through these consumption and base charge rates that we have. In addition to the aging infrastructure, there is rising maintenance to maintaining these pipes. As they fail, it's no longer a simple fix to just go and pick up the hole and fix that one pipe. Every time you're touching these old and aging pipes, there's a risk to damaging something further on down the line. So as we maintain manage, repair, and ultimately have to replace these, these costs continue to increase. And similarly to consumers, as we all are, and go into the store and see rising costs for clothes, eggs, gas, all that, the city is no different. We have to purchase products, materials, pipes, brass fittings, and we also bear that cost as we are purchasing through contracts, and those contractual costs continue to rise. So brief snapshot of our water operations team, what they do, when they get that call, they're in the field to handle emergency management calls, day to day operations overnight, 24 seven, conducting monthly water tests in homes and samples to make sure we have clean drinking water. We're doing lead sampling again, to make sure that we're not being exposed to dangerous levels of lead. This is daily operations that require dedicated staff and time and money. Again, same goes for our sewer operations. We're out there 24-7 responding to the sewer main call outs overnight. Emergencies, day-to-day operations, it's those manhole covers, you call in sinkholes. We have staff there that receive those calls, those 311 alerts, the queue alerts, and have to be in the field to respond to those. Now, I mentioned our staffing. This is something that we've struggled with in years past, and we have been addressing this slowly, but this is a real challenge. And so we have recently hired one laborer on the water division to help out, to expand to... our field operations, but unfortunately, we still have a number of vacancies that you can see here up and down through water and sewer divisions, our field operations. We have a very lean team, so we have to supplement this with contractors. Obviously, we've continued to work with our HR team to host these positions, interview positions. It's been very difficult to find, attract, and retain talented staff, or any staff, for that matter, for these positions. The other half of that equation, aside from the field operations, are the billing and administrative functions. Now, as we have those teams that are repairing the operations of the field, so too do we have the administrative and billing staff that are core to assessing our charges and billing them accurately to our constituents. So up here we've got a snapshot of a few of the things that we've done here with our administrative team, with our billing team. We successfully transitioned from a tri-annual and some bi-monthly bills to a quarterly billing system, reduced the number of districts down to three regional districts and one non-profit with the intent of Simplifying this for all of our bill payers so they understand that they have a better ability to budget for their bills. Greater frequency of bills means that they're each time out of pocket, they're better able to budget for the whole year. It did not impact their rates or change what their year over year would be. It was just a greater frequency and a reduced cost for those bills. um our our team has sent out thousands of mailers this year both for notifying folks at the quarterly billing we're endeavoring now to notify for delinquents delinquent accounts which is a very big effort that we're undertaking and we'll be undertaking fy 27 something that has not been completed by our department in recent years and i'll again get to that in a moment why that has such a big impact on our operations, our function, and ultimately for our other rate payers. You'll see we have 76 new accounts created, over 76 new accounts created this year. Those are new water taps. That's more stress on the system, but that's new development. That's great for us, but it also means additional operational costs to maintain that system. And we have over 915 meters replaced. Members of Council may be familiar with this meter replacement program that's been going on for four years now. It's been a very large effort for us and we're nearing the end of it. But this is key to our operations to ensure that we're billing accurately and having these new meters replaced and getting an accurate representation of how much consumption our constituents have used so we're accurately receiving those funds to recoup our costs and payments to MWA and others. On our next slide we have at the top here, it's over 15,000 accounts in Water Scope. Water Scope for those unfamiliar is our online free system for all accounts that have a new meter. This is a very powerful and useful tool if you do not If you're not signed up for it yourselves already, I highly recommend this. This allows you to go online and see your minute-by-minute consumption and it breaks out by when you're washing your hands, when you flush the toilet, when you're running the sink. It's a very powerful tool for us to monitor when we are receiving requests or calls from our constituents to see how things are working and if they're having a leak or something to that effect. You see, we have roughly a third of the accounts in the city, however, are signed up to receive those notifications. That's something we're working with communications to send out mailers and let folks know this is available to them. This is a tool for them to monitor their own consumption, monitor their own leaks. below that I have the leak notification program. I think this is a great tool that we've, and frankly, a common sense tool that we've initiated this year, where it's similar to if you see something, say something. When our teams are interacting with constituents, when we take a phone call, when we get an email from someone asking about a bill or changing their address, we are now taking a look in Water Scope and saying, hey, hold on the line, or let me get back to you. And we provide them with that information to say, Yes, we identify your bills larger than expected. We believe there may be a leak here. In the past, that may have just gone unnoticed if you're not signed up for this and then you get hit with a big bill and it's no one's benefit, really. Again, we're not making money on this. It's not our intention to profit from this. If there is a leak, it's consumption. We have to pay the MWA for that consumption. It doesn't benefit the department. It doesn't benefit the residents to have a leak go unnoticed. So we're making a bigger push to make sure that folks are aware what the system has, what we can do for them, and just overall provide better customer service. I mentioned the meters here and with the meter replacement program. Sorry, stepping back one. There have been questions in recent years about the accuracy of the meters, and we have wholeheartedly supported our meter tests and the accuracy of our meters. This year we were 25 for 25 on requests to say, I think there's something wrong with my meter. pretty typical when we say a resident has a question on a high water bill and they come in and say there's something wrong I think my meter must be wrong that's the problem our team looks at this and often we identify there there's a leak in the system or some other unintended use or mechanical failure that's leading to higher than expected consumption that's our first step to make sure because there is a cost to them to request a meter test but obviously we share the policy with them, let them know their rights. And if ultimately they say, nope, it's the meter. I want to have that checked out. We pass them on to our teams. We now have two contractors providing those services. And again, we have not had a meter fail these tests. I'm kind of bearing the lead here. These last two bullets, I think, are the core function of our office and the success of our function. It's reconciling our accounts and the lien to tax amount. So in recent years, we've had some difficulty in the office with data accuracy, with account accuracy, which has led to some difficulty with billing, meaning if we don't have an address correct, if we don't have a property owner correct and we're issuing a bill, that bill is not being paid. that means we're not getting revenue we are assessing our revenue based on our expenses if we cannot receive our revenue as as projected that burden is carried by the city So in recent years, we have been unable to lean to tax delinquent bills. These bills are over a year past due, up to three years past due. These are not, hey, I missed a bill and it's going on my tax for the next year. These are long-term delinquent bills. And for a number of years, we did not do this. That means with rate payers that are not paying their bills for many years, their neighbors are picking up that cost. This year, we endeavor to fix that and to identify accounts that we were positive and confident that we had the accurate information. We're happy to announce that we did lean over $1.2 million to tax on select accounts. Our goal this coming year is to increase that volume as we have more confidence in these accounts that we continue to reconcile. Our last slide before I hand it over to the main attraction here for the rate payers and the rate presentation. Want to share the update on our staffing. Our success is largely driven by our staffing changes this year. We've had a great opportunity to promote from within. We have a lot of qualified and exciting and passionate staff members. We've also had an opportunity to fill some new positions that were created by this council last year. particularly the director sorry the service operations manager and the utility billing manager position this allowed our professional admin teams to build out and have more leadership and direction and with that i will be available for questions afterwards but i will hand it over to director rich race to get to the rate presentation thank you

Thank you. So those are the items that go into the annual budget, right? The water and sewer field operations, the billing, the service managers, all the business that we need to execute on a daily basis to keep water and sewer running in the right directions 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and operate what's essentially a business within the city. It is a utility. A large portion, though, of what drives our rates is the capital investment plan. And as we've discussed before on the next slide, our pipes are very old and were ignored for decades until essentially the past 10 years where we're now playing catch up on that. On the next slide, you can see it's not just that the pipes are old or in risk of breaking. Because the system itself is old, it requires a whole bunch of upgrades to meet modern needs. And this is just sort of an example of the things that we need to address in terms of the capital investment plan, including permitting requirements like the CSO requirements that we talked about a couple months ago. On the next slide, you can see sort of our driving principles for that. The first thing is fulfill our regulatory requirements, improve the level of service, mitigate flooding, and reduce risk. I think most of the members of the council have heard me talk about this. Many of the newer members have had one-on-ones. Happy to have a deeper dive into the capital investment plan and what drives these rates anytime you like. so you know that's what our expenses are the the annual operating the looking forward to the capital investment so then how do we use this information on the next slides to determine the rates what goes into this rate recommendation So first we can look at the fiscal outlook for fiscal 27. And first up we have the water outlook. As we discussed a couple of months ago, it's true on the sewer side, it's true on the water side. The largest portion of our expense the MWRA bill and this is non-negotiable. We buy water wholesale from MWRA and we then have to pay. So in round numbers 64% of the water bills that we collect go directly to the MWRA. The next largest expense is that debt service. That is the prior years and the prior several years capital investments. Most of those are funded through bonds. We have a balance of funding mechanisms, but the lion's share are commercially let bonds, which then have, depending upon what asset it is, either a 15 or 20 year payback period. And by law, the first thing we have to pay back out of every dollar we bring in is that debt service. Then the smaller pieces of the pie are that operations and maintenance, the personal services, and the capital outlay. Those are sort of the more discretionary annual items that we can play with in the budget. But again, the biggest drivers are somewhat outside of our our purview, that MWRA and debt service. On the next slide, you can see the same breakdown for sewer. The numbers are larger on the sewer side. The percentage of MWRA, well, the number is larger, is smaller, but it's the same sort of story. And again, debt service is the next largest slice of pie. Now, we also have to think about what tomorrow's debt service will be as we're raising these rates, because the capital projects that we're not here asking to be authorized today, those are all separate appropriations. But all of these things that are necessary to keep the system operating, because the alternative is far worse. It means the system fails and we have service interruptions, and it's far more expensive to fix a broken pipe live in the field than to proactively upgrade the system. We have to look forward on that. Historically, we had not done that very well. So on the next slide, you can see that the volatility that we had in rate adjustments annually prior to 2019. We even had some negative adjustments year over year that then led to higher adjustments the following year. So we've been trying to have this more disciplined approach and forward-looking approach to avoid annual rate shock. Now, two years ago, the Water and Sewer Department and the administration were unable to come to an agreement with the city council. And as a result, there was a 0% increase in fiscal 25, which then for fiscal 27 led to a rebound and also anticipating further rebounds in 27 and beyond. But again, on the next slide, what we're looking at here when we're projecting these rates are all of the components. We have to have revenue sufficiency. We cannot, by law, operate an enterprise fund in a deficit. We have to have the cash on hand to serve what we need. So let's take a look at what our tool is on the next couple of slides. How do we do these long range projections? So we have a rate model, if you go two slides forward now. We have a rate model, it looks at a 10 year picture. We know what next year's budget is and we sort of project out annual increases for that budget. But again, the bigger driver for that is the capital investment plan and the debt service that results from it. And so we look at a few key metrics on this rate model. So if we advance one slide, you can see that I highlighted a couple of graphs there that are our operating fund versus our target. What we strive to have is that our incoming revenues and expenses are very close to each other and above minimum thresholds. On the next highlight, This is then the stabilization accounts, much like the general fund, we have stabilization accounts in case something goes horribly wrong and we seek to maintain a minimum balance in that. The next one highlighted is the bar of debt service coverage and debt service to revenue ratio. As we discuss on the general fund, there are several strategies that we need to keep, several financial metrics that we need to keep on the general fund to keep our AAA bond rating, which is vital to keeping those borrowing costs low so that future debt service payments are minimized. We have to do the same thing with the enterprise funds and the debt service coverage and debt to service to revenue ratio are the key metrics that the bond rating companies look at and we have to keep those within the guidelines that they establish. let's take a quick look back uh on the next slide in the slide after that uh at you know what we said last year um again in fiscal 25 we had zero zero we had the uh rebound with an 18 increase in fiscal 26 and we anticipated that we would also need an 18 increase in fiscal 27. to maintain all of the metrics that we need for a healthy water enterprise fund and anticipated that we could drop down to drop to 10% in fiscal 28 and 29. Over on the sewer side, that was a 15% increase, I think, on the next slide. it was 12% increase, sorry, and projected 12% again for fiscal 27 and 28. Those projections were done before we advanced the combined sewer overflow plan. And on the next slide, as you recall, from our CSO update in March, once we accounted for the larger CSO expenses that we are apparently on the hook for, our model, which was a different model because we had to play with a number of different scenarios, we were projecting a 20% increase for fiscal 27 at that time. Which now brings us to where we are today and the item before the council for action this year, the fiscal 27. So where we wound up landing is 15% for water. That is lower than what we had projected last year at this time, the 18% for water. and there's a primary driver for that. That is the success that Director Richards just described to you. With the new hires in the billing and operations and service groups over in Water, and with Director Richards' leadership, and with Tom Treanor's excellent work on the front line, Our cash receipts this year were much better than they have been historically. We are actually catching up with billing. And as a result, because we're taking in that money from the delinquent bill holders, we don't have to spread that expense over onto all the other people who are paying their bills. So as a result, rather than needing an 18%, our projections are now at 15%. um so you know we don't come forward uh in any frivolous manner we know that these rates are a large burden to our constituents and we don't propose anything that we don't absolutely need so in the the development of this rate proposal we've already negotiated against ourselves it would have been very easy for us to double down on the 18 and and say that's that but we took a hard look at what our expenses, what our projected expenses are, what our actual revenue intake was in the past year, and decided we can responsibly move forward with a 15% increase rather than 18%. uh this keeps our our short-term metrics in line you will notice the the debt service to revenue ratio line goes into the red which the way we operate this model for you know this year and projecting into next year we're comfortable with that because if you look at the operating fund those those bars are above the target that means we're building up a little bit of cash which means that in fiscal 28 or 29 we will be able to cash fund a project rather than than bond fund that project and so we'll be able to bring that down We don't go into a lot of details on those projections at this point because every year we've got different funding mechanisms. We don't really commit to it. But all these metrics tell us that we have the capability to operate the fund in a responsible manner. Over on the sewer side on the next slide, it's a similar story. In March, we were thinking we were gonna need a 20% increase. There are two stories on the sewer side. One is that increased, yeah, on the next slide, is the increased intake that we're, are we out of slides? Okay. Again, it's the same story, because the cash receipts are better than we were anticipating, and the other thing that we were able to do was take a harder look at the CIP and defer some projects. We were initially being very aggressive with where they were. on the timetable, we're able to defer some and bring it down. So again, instead of a 20%, we can responsibly go with a 15% there. Again, we've already negotiated against ourselves. The story here is the same. Those red bars are the dangers, but we're building up the cash so that we can cash finance and avoid the debt in the future years. Now, on the next slide, I want to sort of project where all of this is going and why it's important for us to be making these rate increases now in anticipation of all those things, cash financing and having revenue sufficiency. We anticipate that over the next 10 years, again, the duration of this model, that those operating expenses year over year will only grow modestly, essentially at a 4% increase per year. But the debt service that we need to take on for the capital projects, again, mostly driven from the combined sewer overflow program, will increase over 300% and be 14%. year over year, and the MWRA assessment is also anticipated to grow sort of above inflation at a 5.6% increase per year. So that brings us to the bill impacts for different customers for a single family home, a condo, two family and three family. These are the sort of numbers that we show every year. Again, it's a 15% increase, but this shows what the dollars are. And on the next slide, you can see the same thing broken out for a couple of different kinds of businesses. And then finally on the last slide is the specific increases. If you look at your water bill on the back of the water bill, you'll see what the breakdowns are on the volumetric rates and the base rates. And this will be what the new rates will be with the 15%. And again, we're proposing only adjustments to the volumetric rate and keeping the base rate, which we adjusted last year, where it is because it is still consistent with industry standard. So thank you for bearing with us through that presentation. I'm happy to have a discussion, answer any questions now.

Thank you, Mr. President. Two questions. So first, my recollection, we always get a slide that shows what the average will is going to look like this year compared to next. Did I miss it?

Yeah, I just rushed through the last three slides. So if you go back two

Okay, thank you. Can you just leave it?

That's for commercial. If you go back one more, there's the residential. And that's for a typical condo, a typical single family, typical two family, typical three family, and then a larger condo unit.

Okay, thank you. The other question I have is when you showed the projected next 10 years, the rates, the green, yellow, reds, it looks like this year is the high point in terms of rate of increase, right? You're going to ask us for 15% this year, the projection is next year 10, 10, and it looked like it turned to fives and threes. That's good. I guess the question is, it looked to me like it was 15, 10, 10 for the next 10 years, two years, three years. Is there a reason that it's not 12, 12, 12, you know, spread it out? How does that work?

Yeah, to the chair. It may be next year, you know, instead of doing 15, we might do 12. If you're doing 15-10, we might decide to do 12-12. The challenge that we have in any given year looking out is, again, one of the biggest drivers is that future debt service and managing that future debt service. And right now we're trying to build up cash so that we can avoid a year of debt altogether. But that isn't our, you know, the commercial market isn't our only source. We also look at some MWRA programs. Sometimes there are grant funds, sometimes like for the lead service a couple of years ago, DEP under the Biden administration had a big push on that. And we switched over to that, which was, I forget, it was almost like a 40% grant. That was something that we couldn't have anticipated two years before that, but we jumped on it. So we don't gild the lily too much in the two to three to four years out because we don't know exactly where we're gonna fall on opportunities for financing. But in broad strokes, we do anticipate that it's only a few more years of the larger increases and then we can definitely level off.

Mr. President, I'll just say I obviously want to hear what all my colleagues have to say. Last year, I made a formal proposal. I don't know that many colleagues agreed that the City Council should not be the body that approves these. I just think it's a crazy way to run this process because I view a lot of this as non-discretionary, basically critical infrastructure. i think we should do what a lot of other cities do and have a commission that's appointed that has time to review this not just in one night 30 slides i still recommend that we go that direction ultimately but my basic view is this is not really discretionary in my mind other discussion counselor

Thank you, Mr. President, to Dr. Rich. Thank you for your complex presentation. I guess I'm looking at wondering, let me not, let me just maybe try to harmonize it. You guys had explored like this residential discount or resident exemption. And you said some of the explanation was that the discount landlords would transfer them to renters. Can you explain why? Because if that is a possibility, I mean, we could close those loopholes instead of assuming that, oh, you know, if we exempt, you know, owner occupancy, you know, that then they will sum it up, you know, the landlords would, you know, like increase. Can you explain how that thinking came about?

To the Chair, this was a few years back, I want to say seven, maybe eight years now. There was initially a resolution championed by Alderman at the time, White, for a residential exemption the same way that we have a residential exemption for the taxes. The administration, the Curtatone administration, took a deep dive into that and analyzed the data and analyzed the impacts. And the industry research and anecdotal evidence that we got here in Somerville is that landlords do generally pass the additional utility costs onto their tenants. That is essentially the understanding in the industry and it was what we were hearing in the city. And again, the idea What we were chasing with the residential exemption was sort of an affordability program and that a residential exemption might be a proxy for an affordability program. And in the investigation of the data and the understanding that the landlords are passing that additional costs onto their tenants and that the income distribution that we were able to find was that the tenants um generally had lower income than most than the majority of the owner occupies there's certainly exemptions to that particularly aging in place seniors but the but the majority of the owners had better financial standing than the renters and therefore an owner occupancy exemption would then shift from financially capable owners to poorer renters so this was something we explored in great depth with both both within the curtatoni administration and with uh the finance committee which i think bill white was then chair of if i recall correctly and at that point was counselor white uh and and the council and the administration came to the same conclusion that a residential exemption was not a proxy for affordability and in fact would burden disproportionately the people that we were attempting to serve better.

And to you, President, I almost said President White, so Alderman White, I was fortunate to have lunch with him like two days ago. I guess, so we cannot, you're telling me in front of this council that we cannot close those loopholes?

Through the chair, we were unable to find a way to close those loopholes, and so we abandoned that as an approach. Thank you. All right.

I have Councilor Scherzo, then Link, and then Said.

Mr. President, through you to Council Member Baugh, thank you for bringing up that point because as I recall in the past couple years of this conversation, my recollection of that whole exploration of the residential exemption was not exactly the same as your reporting. So that's very curious. And I absolutely heard when we passed that rate increase um the first time around from in passing july i immediately heard in august from um from renters saying that it was now enveloped into their lease the water bills were not water never before had in some residents saying that they've lived in their homes numerous years And suddenly, never before in the lease was this included, and suddenly it was. It is entirely a rent burden. And as I've said numerous times, which, by the way, I'm not in supporting this increase, because I think if we are not actually working to make sure that our most lowest income renters and homeowners and fixed income Residents here that this is a death by paper cuts blow to them and one more reason they can't stay in the city especially as utilities are increasing this year and everything is increasing this year and May we all have the blessing and the privilege to not have to consider this on our own bills but a lot of people in residence in our city and and As I spoke about an hour and a half ago, how some residents are relying on $25 SNAP benefits per month, that's it, for food. Okay, they may not be paying their water bills, but SHHA will be. So how does that affect them? And how does that affect our affordable housing complexes? SCC, have we had a conversation about that? No, we have not yet because I believe I asked about it a couple months ago when we talked about it. So yes, this is absolutely a burden on our community. So again, colleagues, you all do what you wanna do. But I'm not gonna support this increase, whether this year or next year, until we can find a way to actually create a program. And yes, I think the HRP should still be on the table, but until we create some kind of program, which we've hired consultants to do before in the past, to actually explore this and find an answer the way we can. Should we all have the benefit to not have to consider this to be too much of a slice on our bottom line? But for many residents, it is. I'm already hearing about it. I'm already getting calls from my constituents scared about this. So no, I'm not voting to support this, and I think we should send this to committee.

On that point, Councillor Davis. On that point, Councillor Bob. Yes, thank you, Councillor Strezzel. Even myself, I've gotten three calls in the past, just today, about the water and sewer rate. So I'm not saying you can deduce where my vote is going to go.

Is that it? Okay, Councillor Link, and then Said, and then Hart.

Thank you, Mr. President, through you. I guess my first question would be the biggest driver of this is, if I'm remembering my history as well, is the CSO, right? And we have yet to figure out a way to get the MWRI to actually come up with a fair way to distribute that cost, depending mostly on us and on Cambridge. Am I right in that?

uh to the chair yes we we um i can report that uh mayor wilson and i are pushing on several fronts um on on that um but at this point we can't uh anticipate success so we have to plan uh for for the impacts moreover um on the sewer side we've got two projects that are near bid ready. Gina Cortese is here with us tonight. She's project manager of the MROS project that we want to advance. It is a project that will help with the CSOs. Moreover, it's a project that will help with significant flooding in the Foss Park neighborhood. So it's a project that's important to us. Another project that is at risk if we don't advance sewer rate increases is the Morrison Ave project, which is It's a critical infrastructure redundancy program to serve a good, almost all of wards five and six, but also alleviate flooding along the bike path in the Davis Square area and elsewhere. So it's not, the short term one, the short term increases are not just the CSO, but also other critical infrastructure work.

I appreciate that distinction, thank you. So my question would be if we were to find that suddenly level heads prevail and the cost of CSO is not borne specifically on this city, how would that change things going forward?

uh it's an excellent question so so uh through the chair i'd say that the the 15 is still an important um i think this year both for those two projects the morrison now project and uh the foss park project um and to um put us in a good position as as we're saying 15 for the water too to give us that flexibility for cash financing um but you know the other things that we're looking at for that CSO program, we're looking at that 15 to 20% increase every year for the next four to five years. That would essentially double the rates in a four year window. If we're successful, then that continued pressure on the sewer enterprise would fall off. And we could fall back into that 5% sustenance one range. for maybe fiscal 28. It's a little too early to tell how successful or unsuccessful it will be, but certainly for fiscal 29, 31, and 32. Thank you. Oh, yeah, and thank you. One of the big drivers also for sewer is the debt service we've already incurred for the Poplar Street Pump Station, which is the largest infrastructure project other than the high school that we've undertaken to date. And that debt service is hitting us over the next few years. Got it.

And shoot, I just lost the next follow up for that. Oh, sorry. So I guess I'm just, would it be accurate to say that Somerville has at this point the highest water rates in the Commonwealth?

So if you look at combined water and sewer rates for fiscal 25, which is the last fiscal year for which we have all of the data, we were second to Winthrop. I fully suspect that when fiscal 26's rates come out that we'll pull ahead and we'll be in first place again, yeah.

What a terrible prize. My last question, then thank you for all these answers, is just I remember last year there was a lot of talk about the stormwater overflow plan and I'm just curious, I know that was meant to maybe help tamp down some of these increases. Is there any update on that?

Yeah, through the president. We're still plugging away at it. It's both the issue of continuing the work that Michael has explained on getting our billing right, because we want our billing 100% before we get to it. There's also the complexity of getting the... This is... It's astonishing to me that in 2026 these two databases aren't already synced up, but the address database at Assessors, our GIS database where we've got the impervious area per lot and what is in Munis billing do not line up. Getting those things to talk to each other is a technological challenge beyond anything I can articulate, but the team is working on it.

MR.

Thank you very much, Director. All right, thank you. Councillor Sait and then Hart.

Through mr. President counselor link you asked one of my questions, which is a stormwater fee I think it makes sense. We want to have all our bills Ready for that But I have other questions so been visiting my ward the constituents they have been hearing the most about for like butter and sewer bills are the ones with old meters old meters, 1,000 plus, a quarter, it's like, yeah, what is it now, like four quarters, four bills a year?

Estimated bills?

Yeah, it's just like really high bills because this is the estimate. These are the W ones. And I want to say that Michael Richards has been really good at reaching out to those constituents, making sure they understand the importance of replacing their meter. Yeah, getting the credit if it applies and all that. So I'm very grateful for your work because that's one thing, at least in my ward, that has been a really big issue when it comes to the bills. And so a couple of questions about that. Do we know how many people old meters we still have that need replacing. People watching, they also wanna take advantage to say that if, yeah, you can also say it, Michael, if you have W on your bill, it means that you get an estimate and you have an old meter. and reach out to water and sewer so you can fix that. So if you can speak to that.

Yes, through the president, thank you for that question. I am very passionate about this topic. It's a lot of my day for the last nine months has been discussing W bills. I can't tell you how many times a day our staff talks about W bills. It is our most effective tool right now, but also a very confusing tool for a lot of folks. to understand what that means on your bill when you are used to seeing A's, meaning actuals, or E's, meaning estimates, or your bill is unchanged for years and you may not have received information to say something's changing, or you hear in the news in recent years that other people's bills have increased after they've received a meter replacement, and there was this perception that a new meter means that you're being charged more and your bill goes up. There's been a lot of misconceptions over the last few years and we've been working to combat that both with our department and our customer service efforts but also with our communications team so to those w bills for folks that have heard earlier we've we're four years into a meter replacement program four years ago in october of 2022 the old meters for many of these people that have current old we'll call them dumb meters stop reporting their consumption to the city And so at that point forward, all of those bills have been estimated by our system automatically based on reasonable assumptions from their previous periods. Now, after you've gone three bills, those estimates are now copies of copies of copies. And so these estimates have gone out four years, we've realized have been far underestimating actual consumption. So once we're able to get in touch with these folks four years later, and we say, hey, you've been billed X based on estimates of estimates of estimates, and we're able to get into their home and replace that meter and get that physical read from that number that hasn't been transmitting, but it's been recording accurately, and we say, Well, we thought it was X, but what it actually was was Y, and that difference, that gap in that catch-up bill has been substantial. So we've been trying to, with these W bills that were enacted last June and ever since, each successive bill, that estimate value has increased one and a half times in an effort to say, hey, we're going to catch you up a little bit over time, each of these bills, to get you possibly closer to that deficit. So when you get that meter replaced, you're not hit with a large deficit. multi-thousand dollar bill that you didn't expect to have. A secondary effect of that is when you're getting that bill that's being increased one and a half times your previous bill, it also catches your attention to say, my bill's going up. What is this? And you see that W on that bill, you call our office and that's our code to notify. That is a water department code that you have an old meter, lets us know, thank you for contacting us. You've been estimated for four years. We need to replace your meter. And that's our point of contact to say it's, kind of an effort for them to come to us catch up that that difference on their their reads and then we can put them in touch with either our installer or our head meter technician to replace those bills now after that meter is replaced we have that data from that replacement read we have that data from what we estimated and then there's an adjustment based on the difference we also understand as we've seen rates have gone up year-over-year here, some of that consumption is from three years ago, four years ago. So as a credit and benefit to these residents that haven't been billed accurately for those four years, we're billing all of that difference at the lowest possible fiscal tier rate. We call the fiscal tier adjustment. So rather than having all that catch-up rate billed at the highest current FY26 rate, we're crediting that back to the FY22 rate or in FY23, depending on when their meter last reported accurately.

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. But just to go back to my question, do you have the number? Excuse me. How many old meters do we still have?

Through the President, yes. So as of a few weeks ago, we were at about 450. We made a concerted effort with a dedicated staff from our team to make thousands of mailers, callers, emails to our lists and have culled this list down to about 350. Our installer, we continue to get emails every day from folks and phone calls from every day saying, hey, I got an email or I received this letter in the mail to my property. And that's our contact that we've been sending over to our installer. our installer mass installation, they've been replacing about eight meters per day. And we have another list that we're due to send over with I believe about another 70 of good contacts to say, mass install, please get in touch with these folks. Now, we understand that there, as we've mentioned, we have a data issue with our addresses. And we recognize that a number of these meters that have not been replaced yet, we don't have good contact information for them. We don't have the correct account for them. So we're looking for properties. We've identified that the biggest driver of this is properties have sold in the last few years. And we haven't recorded that. They haven't come to us to say, I'm selling my property or I'm buying my property, please close this account and move it into the next person's name. So we're working with the assessor's office to identify and compare our data sets to say, has this property sold? And we still have a date or a name from years ago and we have to transfer that account over. So we're getting closer, but we think that there's more no contacts because they don't know that we're trying to contact them.

Okay, through the president. Yeah, thank you for that clarification and thank you for all your efforts to try to reach those constituents. And then the other, yeah, that was actually my next question is how is outreach being done? But it sounds like the fact that the addresses you have are different from like the assessor's office database. It's creating, you know, this issue. So hopefully once that's addressed, it will help get in touch with these people. Because one amount of those people, you know, were like, you know, purchased a property and, you know, it had like a W meter. I realized it had W meter and it kind of, you know went through that and just like the idea that for especially for properties there were rental properties if that is passed to tenants or the landlords are increasing the rent because of that yeah that's that would be like very unfortunate because Director Rage said, it's like these folks who are already not making very much that are bearing the burden. So thank you for your work. Thank you. Yeah.

All right, Councillor Hart, and then Councillor Clayton.

Thank you, Mr. President. I wanted to follow up on my colleagues at large who were talking about affordability and any ways that we can address this, and I appreciated the history, Director Raish. And I wanted to ask specifically, Councillor Strezzo mentioned a home rule petition, and I'm not familiar with that. I would love to know a little bit more about that. And I'm wondering, I'm assuming that we can't offer reductions for seniors because of state law, that's my guess. Okay, just wanted some confirmation about that. If you have any more information about the home rule petition that was mentioned or the law about seniors, I'd appreciate it.

through the chair that the home rule petition was specifically for the residential exemption um and that was uh what in you know once we finally analyzed it decided not to move forward with um there are affordability programs for seniors there was also another affordability program unfortunately those programs are are um generally indexed against national definitions of poverty level for inclusion, which have almost no applicability to the greater Boston area. And so while we did implement them and have implemented them, there are very few People that qualify for them there is an effort in the Statehouse I've been a little busy with our own budget to track it down on the status of it to sort of address that gap and And and change some Massachusetts laws that will give us more flexibility and affordability and and I don't have a report for you on where that is. I believe it was reported out of Senate and back to the House, but I'll have to do some research and get back to you on that one. I have one further question. After June 25th.

Yes. I have one further question.

Sorry, excuse me, through the president. Speaking more to the elderly credit there. So these are administered through the assessor's department. There's two tiers to that. That is updated every April. We received a list of qualifying applicants this April and have applied those credits to their account. Those qualifying constituents do receive a 25% discount to their water and sewer bills. So that is something that is updated and collected and administered through the assessor's department.

Okay, that's great. On that point, please. And as far as I remember from that program, there were less than, what, like 60 or 100 residents out of 82,000 residents that actually, like only 62 or so, qualified and were able to actually access that program with the qualifications of it. So it's... Not actually too helpful for a majority of the people that are technically pun intended underwater with their bills and Yes, we can get a little creative and if we want to twiddle our thumbs and wait for whatever Feelings happen at the Statehouse and possibly this year possibly in five years where maybe we'll get some changes and adjustment for a water bill relief that weight is too long for far too many residents and

Thank you. Just thinking about affordability, we are lucky in New England to have abundant fresh water, unlike a lot of places in the country and the world. And one way to save on your bill is to use less water. And I'm wondering, are there... you know educational programs through mwra or um you know where we can let people know and provide things that are um water saving devices to residents to save money through the president thank you for that question uh so that's that's a new uh initiative that we're

planning for FY27. We've just today got some contact information for some folks at the MWA. We're looking into partner with them. There are some other communities that have done some engagement opportunities like this. perhaps working with the schools and having a day where teams from MWA our department go in and share make this a kid-friendly competition this is something we've seen like I said in neighboring communities it's been very successful and we think that's a great avenue to get that information back to parents We also, I mentioned water scope before, as we're looking at consumption patterns and use, that is a great tool for folks when they start seeing how much they're using every day, when they start seeing that's a 30, 45 minute shower. Like that's a big, that's a big, task or a tall order on your bill when you have that consumption you can also see we've identified from these accounts where occasionally there are homes older homes we have a lot of older homes here that have out of code shower heads and you would be very surprised by how an old shower head how big of an impact on your bill that can have so that's again that's part of our customer service when we're identifying leaks when we're identifying and say That shower that toilet or that faucet that's that's showing up that could be addressed and that could be a major cost savings for you Excellent, thank you Cuz I did have a question around that track point just on that.

Thank you for that question Just something that comes to mind we all have received letters from the sustainability environment about the massive program and That's actually part of it They just remembered, because I've done it, where they come, they change the shower heads for free, and they do an energy assessment, but that's part of it. And I'm just wondering if there is a way to, if Sustainability and Environment intends to send another letter like that, because it's all Mass Save, it's all state level, to add also a section, this is from Water and Sewer, know that Mass Save also can address these things. So yeah, from the faucet to the shower head, again, they're little things, but they do make a difference. So that's just a suggestion to try and partner with the department when they send their first, yeah, when they send mail about this.

Yeah, thank you. Through the president, I think that's a great recommendation. I think that's something we could easily partner with them and demonstrate just the cost on your bill of having an old five gallon per minute shower head versus something that changed in 1992 to 2.5 gallons per minute. And if you have that old shower head, that's a big sustainability issue, but it's also a cost to those residents as well. That's a great recommendation. Thank you.

So I have Councillor Klingon, and then if there's, then we'll go to Councillor Wheeler.

Thank you, Mr. President. Through you, I will say, you know, I mean, this stinks. You know, having to raise the water rates is a really difficult thing to do. I took my tantrum two years ago. I'm going to vote for this increase. All it did two years ago was, you know, brought us back to even higher numbers because of the infrastructure projects and whether or not we want to, you know, Complain about well, we should have to pay for certain projects. Certainly the the CSO thing I'm glad to see that the mayor is firing, you know firing off responses and and you know I Having some say you know having something to say about how it you know that we've been sort of jammed up as a municipality Over this but I agree with council you and camping this doesn't feel discretionary It feels definitely like a gun every time you know that we're here Certainly my my words been mentioned again. The M Ross project is really important to the people whose basements are flooding in my area but I you know, so I do think that this would be better served with another body. It definitely makes it political. I've stated in this chamber before, and I'll say it again, I have a benevolent landlord who is retired and on a fixed income. I've raised my own rent because I can't in good conscience vote for these increases, and then she's not the type of person to do it. Luckily, I was able to increase a little bit, but when I see these, and by the way, the The water scope, that's surveillance technology. I don't want anything to do with that in my house. Nobody needs to know how many times I'm flushing the toilet, bro. But, you know, that said, I have a couple of questions just because I'm not on the Finance Committee and, you know, other people have been asking questions in general terms about the water rates and increases and so on. So one of the things I have to ask is we're now on a four quarter cycle instead of three times a year we're on four. It seems, though, that From 1 16 like from January to April Basically, it's two and a half two and a half two and a half and then from 6 16 2025 of last year 11 1 the highest usage of water Comes out to four and a half months of a bill billing cycle So it's two and a half two and a half two and a half and then four and a half is that by design or

Through the president, thank you for that question. So that was a product of changing billing cycles. So shifting from three to four in a year and reducing the number of districts. And just the staffing changes that occurred with the department. So when I took over in the department in end of September, this was proposed to have been initiated to start the fiscal year it was not yet initiated by the time i had an understanding in the grass of what the department does and how to unveil this we and the billing cycles themselves that first quarterly bill was going into effect november 1st so The budget was already set with the assumption that everyone would receive four bills because those base charges are still assessed and they're reduced to keep that four or five eighths residential meters, I believe it's $120 cumulative for the year. If we were to miss a bill cycle, like sure we would catch up on the consumption, but we would miss that base charge and that is a considerable part of our revenue as well. So as a result, we had to kind of truncate some of those billing cycles. So you're looking at a two and a half month for some of these and then as it stretches out, some other districts were getting four and a half month or four month cycles just to get them all on a pace where it's consistently going to be every three months for everyone. That transition period took the whole year. uh this whole this whole fiscal year the last shortened bill period will be august 15th i believe and then after that and we're sending out mailers with a little fridge cling again for every uh account holder to put on their fridge to say here's your when you expect your bill should should be sent out and it's going to be every three months for every account this year

Okay, through you, Mr. President. So just for clarification, you're saying that that was just to get it going, but now it's going to be pretty much three months, four times a year?

Correct, through the President. So because of that period where it was not initiated to start between July and November, we missed some bill cycles in there. And so to make sure that we could still get four to get those base charges and the total revenue, we had to shrink some of these things in and really shoehorn these districts in. But we're in a position now where it's a one, two, three, four. Every month there's a new cycle and it comes back three months later.

All right, thank you. And then one last question, Mr. President, through you. I know I brought it up to Director Raish and others, and I have some items in my committee, but since you're here or whoever wants to answer, has any thought been put into, I know we have only 400 meters left, but I have this I don't want to say pet peeve, I mean it's a real thing where as far as there are for some reason condo units that have a one inch pipe and rather than the installer suggesting, hey, you don't have a sprinkler system, right? You're just one unit. Even if it has two bathrooms, you don't need a one-inch meter. We can put an adapter on it for you because it comes out to be, and this is for people, if they don't know any better and they get it, it comes out to be like an extra $400 or $500 a year on their water bill because they have this bigger, unnecessary... because whatever, the pipe coming in the house. So I don't know if this has been, I know you guys have a lot going on, but I mean like ultimately this is something that could have been avoided with a little thought and care, although I guess it's probably hard to do actually on the ground in terms of like who needs it, who doesn't? Does somebody have a pool? Do they want to have that extra?

Otherwise you lose pressure, right? I mean... Through the President, thank you for that question. I know we've had a few constituent questions on this topic this year as particularly it's more noticeable this year as Director Raich said our tier structure for those base charges did change to better align with industry standards. for residential five-eighths which is the majority of our meters and service lines nothing changed so we didn't get those questions for those larger lines when you're looking three quarters inch one inch on particularly some of these properties that like you said don't really require that that level you're not getting added pressure you're not getting a better shower or more effective clean it's just it's a line that you don't need and they they do now see a different quarterly base charge in that increase that is something that we you're right we can't determine who which property actually needs that larger line and which one does not we have discussed at the the recommendation to look at some of these upon requests to say if they need to downsize what does that cost because they're they may no longer qualify for the free meter replacement at that point they're requesting a new meter and there's an additional charge to that and so it's Now we're saying, do you charge for the meter or do you charge for the base charge? And from a resident's perspective, they don't think it's fair to be paying for that. So it is something that we are aware of. It's a new challenge for us and we are looking at the adapter or the downsizing step down and what have you.

Yeah, I mean because otherwise we have to keep answering to people that when this happens if they you know If they figure it out my constituent in this case did pay for the new meter even though his one was only like a year old but He we don't we couldn't Just swap it out for another used one. Anyway, I know this is a little bit in the weeds But the reason why it's important is because we're talking about like the little extra cost and affordability now when you look at the big grand scheme of things, let's let's just talk real talk for a second rich told us one time that mwra looks at our median area income and says that we can feel more pain we could squeeze more we have wealthy people you know on this horseshoe really you know that uh you know so like from their point of view there's more to squeeze and so when you talk about 80 000 people or 30 000 units do we have a number of how many Places are either seniors and owner occupied and how do we deal with I don't even want an answer because I know but I'm just saying I'm thinking out loud here as far as like, you know, a lot of these people are, you know, making a profit as landlord. So I want to get to the people that we're all asking about that are vulnerable and that are, you know, And maybe there's a way to thread that needle, and maybe it's through a different, like a benevolent landlord program that isn't giving, because we can't give people freebies on water, I understand that, but maybe there's another way that we can get to this issue. So that's all I wanted to say, but like I said, I'm obviously voting in favor of these increases. Here we are again, and I'm with Councillor Ewing Kemp, and we shouldn't have to do this.

Councillor Wheeler. Thank you, Mr. President. For the sake of time, I may reach out with some questions later. Is this presentation something that is publicly available and will be available to us? I didn't see it attached to the agenda item. Thanks. And if we could just briefly... Director Reyes said that they can attach it to the item. Thank you, Mr. President. If we could just briefly go back to the typical cost slide. I wanted to just have the chance to take a decent look at that before we move on.

It's later.

They made us change our password to a ridiculously long one. Safety first? Safety first. 36. Maybe 37 on yours. Thank you.

I see. And just to understand, these totals, you know, for the first line, this is 15 units, not meaning housing units, but meaning water service units? Correct. It's a cubic feet.

I forget what it's.

One unit is 100 cubic feet. Yeah. It's 148 gallons.

748 gallons, because a unit is 100 cubic feet. Thank you.

And the bottom line, that is a total that would be across eight housing units.

And the reason that we show it broken out, because there's the base charge based on the size of the meter. But then there's also increasing, like as you use more water, that additional water gets charged at a higher rate. And just because of the way that plumbing works, we typically, whether you have a single family, two or three family house, there's typically only one meter. And there's really no way to sub-meter it because of the way the plumbing works in the house. So because like a three family house in theory has three times as many people, they tend to get charged at a higher rate even once you divide by three. So that's why we show the different size houses.

I see, thank you. And then just briefly, am I right in understanding that the previous projections of future rate increases due to the CSO plan, there's been a downward adjustment of the projections

correct through the chair and when we were here in march i was anticipating needing a 20 increase and right now we're comfortable with 15. and not just talking about this year's increase but talking about many years to come likely um there as a sort of intimated we're we're tracking down this cso thing on multiple fronts simultaneously um so there's still a lot of volatility i mean there there's still a possibility that DEP will agree with Charles River Watershed Association, say we need to do more. Like the $1.5 million plan isn't enough, billion dollar plan isn't enough. And so then it would be higher. And there's a lot of things at play that will come into focus over calendar 27. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President. I just have one question. Well, one question for you and one question for Director Raish. Is the intention tonight to call for a vote on this item?

At the will of the council. The administration would love to have a vote one way or the other, but if it needs to go to committee, it can. All right. Put it another way. If it's the will of the council for it to go to committee, it can.

All right, thank you. Although it's also hard to imagine how many more questions we could ask on it. I'm sure there are plenty. Mr. President, it has now been well over an hour that we have been discussing this item. So if our goal is to ensure that everybody in this horseshoe shares the pain of these rate increases, I think we're doing a great job. Just to Director Raish, we've talked about the stormwater fee before and how it was going to be rolled in in January. Not there yet, not ready for prime time. Is there any update on the timetable for implementing that?

Through the Chair, there are a couple of critical items those dominoes have yet to fall. So I'm hesitant to commit to a timetable. I will be angry and embarrassed if it's not January of 27, but there's gremlins in the machine that need to make their way out.

I think there's several gremlins in my water meter. All right. Thank you, Director Raish. So I appreciate all this conversation and discussion, Mr. President. I took a moment and dug through some of my email archives here to find the study we paid $90,000 for back in 2020 to look at affordability and the owner-occupant exemption. And for that consultant to tell us, no, we don't like it. I looked at the study that we got from Raftelis in 2024. I forget how much money that cost us. That one provided such sterling insights and conclusions as the recommended path forward is to diversify revenue sources, formulate new policies and practices, and enhance communication. I think we're really getting our money's worth with these consultants here. I just, it is, It's been brutal. And I, along with my colleagues who have been through numerous changes of administration in water and sewer, to call it a parade of horribles would, I think, be underselling it. So here we are today. We have the same infrastructure challenges that we've been facing. We do have some tools that really can make a difference. The stormwater infiltration fee, fundamentally would change the way that we bill for water and sewer, right? Instead of it all being a bucket of base and usage, there would be base usage in stormwater, and that is a way that we could actually offload a great deal of the costs to the large surface parking lot owners. I am tired of paying for consultants to give us vague answers about what affordability might be, or in one case, paying consultant to tell us that we can't do anything about affordability. I understand all of the distress about these current rates. I applaud the director for the work put into, I believe as he described it, negotiate against himself. And I have a great deal of hope based on the positive change that we've seen to date in the water department since the new administration. So it's, I understand it is a challenging environment. It is one that I've been personally torn on based on the failure to deliver any measures around affordability despite it being a conversation that Councilor White had started before I joined this council. Just let me just say I'm grateful for the work that is ongoing, and I look forward with great hope to more concrete results. Thank you, Mr. President.

Councilor Young-Kampen.

uh thank you mr president i was just going to offer to share this this study that counselor scott just mentioned from raftelis this was the result of the council requesting more information about exemption affordability programs that has been mentioned a few times i'll share it with the clerk so it can be shared with the full council i think it's worth looking at although i very much agree with my colleagues overall description of the value of this study. But the conclusion of it is under state law, you cannot charge one group of people more in order to charge one group of people less. That really is the answer to the question, right? You can't do it without a change in state law. I just want to say I'm really, really grateful to the work that Mr. Richards described, the billing work. I think that he's just knocking it out of the park, the department is. I do like those old showerheads. They rock.

Thank you.

let the record reflect councilman camp and likes the old shower heads i could uh have an indulgence any further discussion just just uh one point to both counselors counselor whatever although in 10 years i will be very happy to be the the commissioner of of the water commission and set the rates for you um in about 10 years when i'll be 65 and ready for retirement um So to the point on consultants and perhaps some of the slow progress on the stormwater, I think we heard the term insourcing coined last week. We are insourcing that. It's the engineering department and it's the water and sewer billing folks who are doing the work on that. We are not using a consultant to do that because I was a little disappointed with where the consultant was taking us, and so we're just dedicating internal resources with our own employees who are determined to get it right.

Anyone care to make a motion? Council Yuenkampen? Motion to recommend approval. Council Yuenkampen moves to approve the item.

Single vote, or vote, individual vote, please.

Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, roll call vote, please.

Councillor Ewing-Campen?

Yes.

Councillor Link?

Yes.

Councillor Scott?

Yes.

Councillor Klingon?

Yes.

Councillor Scherzo? No. Councillor Saeed? Yes. Councillor Wheeler?

Yes.

Councillor Hart? Yes. Councillor McLaughlin? Yes. Councillor Umbau?

No.

Councillor Davis. Yes. Can we get a count? Yes. With 10, it is. And I'm sorry, with 9, it is passed.

All right. Thank you very much. Thank you, Director Raish. Thank you. I'm going to throw a quick audible here, because I see that there's still some other folks in the audience. And I want to make sure that we don't keep anyone here unnecessarily. So I'm going to pull the room. I'm going to ask that we take up item 10.1 out of order, which is a citation that I submitted on the supplemental. And I will explain why in a minute. And we mentioned we're going to take up 7.31 and 7.32. I think if folks, if there's no one here from the public on the 7.2345 or 14, we might bump those down the road a little bit, because if there are people here on 7.31 and 7.32, as well as 5.1 and 8.3, which is related. Point being, anyone, if folks are here to hear about a particular item, please let us know or let Director Najim Williams know now. Going once, going twice. So while we're sorting that out, let's take up item 10.1. This is a citation that I submitted when I found out on Tuesday, Chris? When I found out on Tuesday after the deadline that one of my constituents, Alex Epstein, is moving out of the country this weekend. I didn't know about it before the deadline and clearly time sensitive because I had hoped Alex would be able to be here in the room and he was here but had to go home to get the kids to bed and presumably pack. So perfectly understandable but in hopes that while Chris is still here, Chris Tawan has worked with Alex on a number of the items that are relevant to this citation. I thought we could take this up while Chris is here and allow him to say a few words. So if there's no objection, we'll take item 10.1 out of order, Madam Clerk.

Item 10.1 by Councillor Davis, commending Alex Epstein on his commitment and activism to safe streets.

And if you'll indulge me, I'll just read the citation from up here because I'm just reading what it says. The citation, be it hereby known to all that the Somerville City Council and the Mayor offer their sincerest commendations to Alex Epstein for his outstanding dedication and commitment to safe streets, traffic design, and inclusive activism during his time on multiple city working groups and task forces offered this 11th day of June, 2026. It's on by all of us. Now, I will note that the suggested text for this was very long, and that's only because you literally can't fit on probably two or three pages the amount of stuff that Alex has done to serve this city over the years. But we summarized it so it looked pretty on the citation anyways. Mr. Mayor, did you want to say a few words? I'd be happy to recognize you. And then, Chris, I'll be happy to recognize you as well if you'd like to say a few words. And I'm going to bring this over here while the mayor is speaking. Go ahead, Mr. Mayor.

Mr. President, through you, yeah, Alex came into my orbit in 2022, and I was immediately just blown away by his passion, his expertise. I learned so much from him about a lot of really important things, large and small. He's someone who just... Clearly, you know, loves the city, loves keeping people safe as they get around the city. It's a big loss for the community. Our loss is Europe's gain. So, yeah, grateful for you for bringing this forward. Thanks to Mr. Dwan for making sure that this got in tonight. And we just wish Alex the best in the next chapter of his life.

Thanks, you're here and I will note because it came up just I was at last two weeks ago councillor Scott when you noted that we received a report on the sideguard ordinance and and I I get a lot I get a lot of credit for that and I'm proud of getting credit for that but boy the vast majority of the credit goes to to Alex because He was the he was the real lead on that and and and did the bulk of the work and made me look good for my for my first ordinance and for that and all of the other things, I'm forever grateful. Chris, do you want to say a few words about your work with Alex? I'm sorry we couldn't do this while he was here, but let's give him as much of a proper send-off as we can.

Thank you so much. Chris Duan, 26 Ivaloo. I'll be incredibly brief. I just wanted to add that Alex has been on the Electric Vehicle Advisory Group, the Vision Zero Task Force. He chaired the Bicycle Committee for several years. He has been with the Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets since the beginning, and if many of you have seen the Safe Streets Guide, he was the primary author of that, and he somehow managed to blend input and build consensus between pedestrian cyclists, parents, children, elders aging in place, persons with disabilities, transit users, and green space activists. He's a remarkable individual, and we will all miss him here in the city. Thank you.

here here and hopefully lunatic neighbor can find a new porch next week next uh porch fest to uh to sing from um

Yeah, thank you, Mr. President. I just want to add that, you know, thank you, Chris, for, you know, flagging us about this citation. And I just want to double down that some of it is safer, more sustainable, and more inclusive because of Alex. So we thank him for his service, his leadership, and commitment to our community. Thank you.

All right, seeing no further discussion, that item is approved. Thank you all for indulging me on that. Thank you, Ms. DeJuan. Okay, anyone, other than the items that I mentioned, is anyone here for any particular item? Okay, we've got it covered. So then let's jump, so is anyone here specifically for 714, 7234, or 5? All right. But there are people here for 731 and 732, is that? MR. And 5-1, sir. MR. And 5-1? All right. Unless there's any objection, let's take those up so that we can allow members of the public to make their own choices as to whether they want to stay for the rest of it, including to when we get back to the beginning of the agenda. So let's take up 5.1 first. That was an item that was laid on the table last meeting as it was submitted late. Madam Clerk? MS. Yes.

Item 5.1, requesting the appropriation of $15,015 from the salary contingency account to the police department personnel services salary account to fund a collective bargaining agreement with the Somerville Police Superior Officers Association.

All right, I see that we have our Labor Council, Matt Serrigo here. Council Serrigo.

Good evening, Councillors, Council President, through you. The appropriation before you tonight is approximately $15,000 to fund the cost of living adjustment contained in this memorandum of agreement with the Somerville Police Superior Officers Association. The appropriation here will cover the initial salary increases where this contract, this appropriation approved. The contract before you tonight includes, is a one-year contract for fiscal year 25. So to start when this, if this contract were appropriated tonight and finally approved by this council in that form, we would still have fiscal year 26 to negotiate for this group. The high-level items in this agreement are a 3 percent COLA for fiscal year 25, a detail rate increase in the creation of a priority detail rate for the superior officers, the creation of a detail fund, which is something of a revolving fund that the patrol officers have had for many years, and this revolving fund. Enables the city to more timely pay superior officers and then a slight acceleration of the vacation schedule to create a There's already a seven-week tier for 30-year officers. It accelerates that to 25 years. And then there's a significant amendment to the body-worn camera policy that is included in both the Superior and the Patrol officers' contracts. The amendments here would only apply to the Superior officers' contract, so were the City to roll out a body-worn camera program in the coming months, It would be pursuant to this policy, and it would be a pilot program involving the superior officers alone, unless and until there's an amendment made to the patrol officer's body-worn camera policy. With that, I will answer any, and also with us here tonight, I'll mention we have public safety for all project manager John Hillman, who's here and prepared to speak on the history of the body-worn camera program. discussion and the city's general thought process on that or some members of the city obviously it's not a uniform consensus and then police chief shumain benford here as well to answer any questions the council may have thank you any question because for you incumbent

Mr. President, through you, I guess more of just my thoughts on this. As a general matter, I like to approve collective bargaining agreements. I'm supportive of them. This one includes the body-worn camera policy, which is something that we've debated a lot. And I am very happy with the policy where it wound up. I think it's good, definitely compared to where it was, the status quo. I hope the public has had a chance to look at it and see the improvements in it. That said, I am not at all ready to move forward with the body-worn camera program until I understand the financial impact on this year's budget. The way that I view it, this is not the right year to be asking us to spend money on this. I would like to wait for a year where we have the money to do it. This is a year where we've seen layoffs. I personally am comfortable moving ahead with this, but I do not want that to be interpreted by anybody as I'm then also ready to approve the grant, the stir, like those are active discussions. We're going to have a public hearing. I want to hear what my colleagues have to say, but that's where I am at this.

I'll just echo everything that the council from Ward 3 just said. I'm definitely ready to move forward with the body warrant. Sorry, it's getting late. I'm definitely ready to move forward with the collective bargaining agreement, but I'm not ready to talk about the body-worn camera being agreed to or whatever. I don't want to move forward with that program until we've had, at the very least, a very robust public hearing and conversation about it.

So we'll be going around the whole show.

Thank you, Mr. President. Let me ask this question. Is there any change in the way shift differential operates in this contract? Is there any language impacting that?

Council Vice President, through you, there is no amendment to the language of the contract related to shift differential.

All right. Or any 5-2 buyback changes or anything like that either?

5-2 buyback? Council, Vice President, through you, no, there's no change to the 5-2 buyback. Okay.

This is what looks like a very small appropriation, but ultimately it's a ratification by this council of a contract. Through you to Attorney Sirigu, have there ever been clauses that we've negotiated that we've later been able to claw back from one of these contracts? Have we been able to remove items from a contract before?

attorney suitcase uh council vice president through i can't speak to ever um i've been with the city for three years um you know it's it's rare to uh well it depends on financial times and the circumstances of the city but in my three years with the city we have stricken language from contracts we have increased the monetary value of benefits in contracts. I'm not aware of clawing back a financial benefit in a collective bargaining agreement in my time with the city.

Mr. President, I point out that it's 1030 at night and we're being asked to ratify a contract that not isn't just about a COLA and an increase the detail pay, it also places into the contract, into a signed document that the city commits to and that the city council agrees to a certain upper bound on what our ability to regulate the use of body-worn cameras in the future going forward is. I would also point out that we're doing, we're being asked to approve the superior officer's contract absent the patrol officers. Customarily, those get approved together because the language moves in lockstep. I guess I'd ask through you, Mr. President, did the patrol officers vote not to ratify this language in the contract?

Council, Vice President, through you, the patrol officers did not agree to the same contract as the superior officers have. I can't speak to the exact motivations of the ratifying body. to with respect to the comment on uh setting a ceiling for the policy if i'm understanding your previous court question a little bit better now we do frequently amend the substance abuse policies that are in collective bargaining agreements so there is a procedure terms drugs listed in the substance abuse policies that are in collective bargaining agreements and and in my time with the city and quite often we we update and amend those policies in cbas

okay all right well that's good to know uh yeah mr president i just i i don't feel it's appropriate i feel like this is uh part and parcel of the entire discussion around body-worn cameras and the single largest amendment as a result of this contract will be around the body-worn camera language and so as such i don't think it's appropriate until we've had that public hearing that was requested earlier and that we committed to so that's where i stand on this item tonight thank you very much

Thank you, Councillor Scott. I think my understanding is that these are two separate, you know, stuff. So I'm not sure why you're combining them together.

Thank you, Mr. President, to answer your question. No, this is a contract. This is an appropriation that serves as the City Council's ratification of the contract, which includes the amendment, which has the entirety of the body-worn camera policy. That is the item that was requested as part of this public hearing.

Would you like me to read the front page of the petition? Mr. Scott, we haven't funded the body-worn camera agreement yet, so this is... So this is two separate, you know.

Mr. President, in my opinion, the body worn camera policy that is attached and appended to this SPSOA contract forms the upper bound ceiling of what the city can do in any future policy and forms as an upper bound for the surveillance technology impact report policy, for example, or the surveillance, the specific technology use policy. So in my opinion, again, I'm just one of 11. I don't feel like it's appropriate to move forward with this at this time. I would prefer we refer it to committee in the same way that we are referring all the rest of these items to committee. Thank you, Councilor Scott. You want to...

make any last comment before i keep going around the hot shoe uh no okay thank you mr president through you to um attorney saraguso um so when was this originally bargained for like it was what 20 20 council president uh 2021 i believe is when that contract was ratified okay so this is the contract obligation that has been on us for quite some time now uh that you negotiated that they agreed to that we imposed on them

Council President Thue, yes, both unions have been expecting the rollout of a body-worn camera policy for many years with which comes a 2% increase in their salaries. Those are real dollars to real employees who have had an expectation based upon good faith negotiations with the city that there would be a body-worn camera program in the city.

And then through you, Mr. President, I think this is what Councillor Scott asked the question. So I wasn't sure the way he asked it, but nonetheless, I think what he was asking is what I heard was he asked if we have ever taken out like a provision of a contract. Is that doable? Is that possible?

council president through you it is theoretic yeah yes it is possible to remove the pre the question i was answering was if i was aware of when or if it happened in particular and in my three years of the city i can't i can't identify but we strike language we amend language in cbas you know a policy wholesale getting stricken from a collective bargaining agreement that is a very significant thing to ask of a of an employee's exclusive representative

Thank you, Mr. President. And through you, yeah, I imagine any union that agreed to something and then we tried to take that back. But more importantly, I'm asking what are the legal ramifications in terms of can they go to the DLR? Is it something that we could just do without any repercussion?

Council President, through you, unilaterally pull the policy from the collective bargaining agreement. There would be various risks to the city if we were to do that. Legal risks to the city if we were to do that is what I would say.

Okay. I share some of the financial concerns, but as this is something that was bargained in good faith, and as somebody who is a labor advocate, and also who doesn't fully understand what stripping away a bargained thing, what that would result in, and also just being that I'm I think I'm glad where we landed on the language. So as far as approving this this evening, I mean, I am, like I said, this was bargaining good faith. This is what the people wanted at the time, apparently, you know, now there's been a shift. But ultimately, I stand by my commitment Assertion that sunlight is the best disinfectant and a recorded record is the gold standard for telling the truth. So I will be supporting this language and I do still moving forward share the concerns financially which I've shared with the administration as well. Thank you.

I probably refer this to finance if before the president takes stage

All right, where were we? Further discussion? Councilor Stresa? We don't have any further conversation. I see folks that want to speak on the item. Is there a motion on the floor? Yes, Mr. President. Who made the motion? Yeah, make a motion as the president.

I'm asking, was there? The Vice President, I thought this was supposed to be an easy approval process. So I just thought instead of wasting time deliberating, we can just send it to committee where people can actually come and ask questions.

All right, I saw Councilor Stresler's hand, and then I saw Councilor McLaughlin's hand. Yeah, Councilor McLaughlin's first.

Go ahead, Councilor McLaughlin. I support the $15,000 to ratify the contract. People want to vote on body cameras, on the free money from the state later. Do what you like. I support it. I think body cameras, six years overdue. But in the meantime, I think we should pay the superior officers for doing their job. And I would move to approve tonight.

I just wanted to clarify one point that if there had been no update to the body-wearing camera policy and this appropriation was before us, compared to that situation, Given the general consensus I'm hearing that I certainly agree with that this is a better body-worn camera policy than the one that we had before, the situation is certainly no worse and only strictly better than if there had been no work to update the body-worn camera policy because there already was one. I just want to make clear my understanding unless there's anything about that I'm wrong about.

Council President Thurio, If I'm understanding the question correctly, there was a body-worn camera policy in the contract from six years ago that the city council in the past had objected to. I only say it that way because that is a policy prerogative that I'm not here to express policy. And so, yes, the strategy of the administration was to substantially rewrite the body-worn camera policy before bringing it back to this body. And we... engaged with the council more than i have in any other collective bargaining process than i've been since i've been with the city we appreciate and and thank the counselors for many many hours spent in executive session not in an open forum in executive session given the nature of the discussions one-on-one meetings with counselors to go over the policy and to deliberate over strategy in terms of what should be in the policy and what the city values in a body-worn camera policy I believe four Executive Sessions over the last couple of months with Councillors, revisions to the policy, better defining the right to access, restrictions on use, timelines for accessing footage, timelines for retention of data and footage. prohibitions on surreptitious use of the cameras, prohibitions or guidelines in terms of how the cameras should be used in and around First Amendment protected activities, specific references to rights of access for police oversight bodies and other members of the law enforcement community. and just really a wholesale rewriting of the policy, I would say. So yes, we were starting in a place where the policy was deemed unacceptable. It was in the contract, though, and we cannot unilaterally change a policy applicable to organized, unionized employees unilaterally. And through this MOA, we have made significant strides that we think reflect the community's values for this type of program.

thank you well on the motion uh my understanding is that i wouldn't hold this contract appropriation up on the basis of an old body-worn camera policy for fiscal year 2025 funds and given that i i can't see a reason to hold it up now with a better policy So I would concur with the approval.

Further discussion on the motion? Councillor Scott. Thank you, Mr. President. I presume this is going to a roll call vote. So just to explain very concisely my vote here, the Superior Officer's unreduced contract or reduced as of 2018 contract is 101 pages long. It is extraordinary. The previous body worn camera policy that was there was frankly a stub. Simply said that at some point, the city of Somerville might want to put body cameras on cops. This step is a much, much more structured step, and I would agree. I think this has been a very collaborative process with the council through executive sessions. I'm not comfortable with where the body-worn camera policy included in this contract is. I don't want to commit future councils to the restrictions in it, and as such, I will be voting not to ratify this contract, but for anybody who would like to read the entire 101-page contract, I have a copy of it I can send you. Thank you.

Further discussion on the motion? All right, seeing none, I heard a call for a roll call vote. Yeah? Is that a request, Council Scott? Okay, I will take a roll call vote.

Okay, roll call on item 26-0915. Councillor Ewing-Campin?

Yes.

Councillor Link?

Yes.

Councillor Scott?

No.

Councillor Klingon?

Yes.

Councillor Strezzo? Yes. Councillor Saeed? Yes. Councillor Wheeler?

Yes.

Councillor Hart? Yes. Councillor McLaughlin?

Yes.

Councillor Umba?

Yes.

And Councillor Davis?

Yes.

With 10 votes in total, it passes.

Thank you. Attorney Sergu, are you here to speak on 7.31 and 7.32 as well? Or is that where you're handing it off to someone else on that?

I'm happy to start, Council President, through you, but I certainly will need the support of the others here. I was a co-author of that.

Very well. So let's take up... Then if there's no objection, we'll take up 7.31 and 7.32 together as I think they more or less move together. Should we read the item in first or is this on the taking the items out of order, Councillor Scott?

On the taking up the items, Mr. President, is it the intention to move for a final resolution on these items tonight?

I would not support that. I just think it's entirely necessary for an item of this nature to go to committee and have once as we have there have been multiple committee meetings on probably every new Surveillance technology that we've had and I don't expect this to be any different.

Okay, great. It's we're four hours into the meeting.

So I'm gonna go to Mr. President, I'm just one vote on the matter is cancer Scott, but if you're asking that's Thank You mr. President All right, very well. So, Madam Clerk, if you could read in 7.31 and 7.32.

Yes. 7.31, requesting approval of the surveillance technology impact report for body-worn cameras, and 7.32, requesting approval of the technology-specific surveillance use policy for body-worn cameras.

All right. Is there any presentation on this, or are you just here to answer questions?

Largely here to answer questions, Council President.

Okay, very well. I just want to make sure. If anyone puts some slides together, I don't want those to go to waste.

I think, Council President, through you, if it'd be all right, I think Public Safety for All Project Manager John Hillman could say some opening statements on that. Absolutely. By all means, please approach.

Good evening, Council President, Councillors, very happy to be here finally. I'm going to be very, very brief. I know this has been an extremely long night and I very much appreciate you listening to me for a couple of minutes. I just want to quickly share some foundational information regarding the potential body worn camera policy in relation to the impact report. and sort of what led us here to this discussion. So in June of 2020, the City of Somerville officially declared systemic racism to be a public safety and health emergency. In doing so, it reiterated its commitment negotiating and implementing a body-worn camera policy. This was amid ongoing discussions, as Attorney Seregou referred to, with police union leadership on the subject as far back as 2015. After years of negotiation, the city and the union reached an initial agreement in 2021, as was referenced, for the implementation of a body-worn camera program, including a policy for doing so. In early 2023, as part of a staffing study for the police department, it was further recommended to re-engage the community to refine the policy, which we did through the Public Safety for All Task Force. This was done led by the city's racial and social justice department and once again had community leaders, subject matter experts once again recommend the use of body-worn cameras to support the goals of transparency, community informed policing techniques that build trust and legitimacy with our residents. So, that community informed process and recommendation ultimately led to the creation of my position. Thank you. For which I was hired in September of last year. And I believe the creation of my position shows a clear commitment by the city, the clear commitment by the city to the policies and recommendations crafted as part of the Public Safety for All Task Force, which body worn cameras was a key component. Soon after my onboarding, I had an opportunity to lead an application process to support the establishment of a body-worn camera policy through a state grant, of which the state ultimately awarded us 93% of the maximum grant value in March of this year. And so that application and eventual grant reward spurred a renewed effort to refine and negotiate a policy, as Attorney Seregu referenced, that directly incorporated community input And that strength is of this revised policy approved by the SPSA this month is a result of not only responding to community feedback on specific policy points, but the input and focus provided by this body in recent months. So I thank you all very much for that. I appreciate the continued consideration and discussion for this initiative this month and look forward to discussing it more. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilman Yuenkampen?

Thank you, Mr. President. Through you, thank you for that. It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry it's at 11 p.m. I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to meet you since September. I very much move to send these two items to committee. It's 11 p.m. I can't even begin to think about this. But I look forward to this discussion.

Through you, President. Thank you, Councillor.

Any other questions or discussion? OK. I want to reiterate a point that I've made before just to make sure that everyone's on the same page, particularly for those in the public, because we've had this conversation in executive session. It's now perfectly OK to have it in the open session. I completely agree with everything that's presented. But the one wrinkle I will make sure it's clear, and this is not a discussion on the item. I'm just talking about the process from the presidency up here. I'm using the air quotes when I say policy that's in the collective bargaining agreement. That is what it's called and that is what it is from the context of that collective bargaining agreement. Our surveillance technology ordinance requires that a surveillance technology impact report be submitted and approved. And in this particular case, a technology-specific use policy is also submitted and approved. That policy will be the actual governing policy for if and how body-worn cameras are used in the city. It can't contradict what's in our collective bargaining agreements, but it might expand beyond that as long as it doesn't contradict. And this is what was explained to us by counsel in the executive session. So just so everyone knows. So there may be more to talk about that we didn't cover in the collective bargaining agreement, because it's not subject to collective bargaining. That might be a very small universe of things. Who knows? But as we go into this process, it is this process that will decide, as I said earlier, if we are going to implement the technology. And if so, then, as I said, the terms of the collective bargaining agreement will apply. And ultimately, the impact report and the use policy will need to align with the terms that are in that collective bargaining agreement. So that's our task now. We now get into that public process where we have the conversation in open meeting about policy, about any terms. whether or not we feel that we want to go forward. And that's at the council's discretion. So thank you very much. I echo, it's very nice to meet you in person. Thank you for being here so late. All right, so seeing no further discussion on this, Madam Clerk, well, so items 7.31 and 7.32 will be referred to legislative matters.

Correct, but the next item was actually 7.14.

Well, 7.14 is a different topic, right? But I want to also, I think we have an item 8.3, which is on the same, is on a similar topic. It's a communication from the chief, and I think we should dispense of that one way or the other. My thought was to, it's more of a financial item, but I think my thought was to, unless the chair objects, to send that along with the committee, just so we have, we got everything there. We could throw it all on the table and kick it around when we're there. So would you read an 8.3 as well, please?

Item 8.3, the chief of police conveying information regarding item 26-0378, a request of the mayor for acceptance of a grant for a body worn camera program.

And so, as I said, this is more specific to the money, but given that the place we're going to have the conversation now is in legislative matters, let's try and keep that there at the very least so that it might not ultimately be relevant, but, you know, better there than having things going to different places. So we will refer that. That's, I guess, what, placed on file with a copy to legislative matters. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Okay, thank you everyone. Is there anyone else here for anything other than 7-14, 7-2, 3-4, or 5? Because that's where we're going next, if not. Okay, very good. With that, Madam Clerk, we'll continue on our list of order items and go to item 7.14, please.

Mr. President.

Who is that?

Me. I'm going to get up in a second or possibly request a five-minute break. break but you know what if you all want to just keep on plowing through this that's fine too but when we get to 8.1 which we're not yet but I'm bookmarking that because I do want that such a committee remind me when we get there Matt I'll make I'll make I'll make a note I'll make a note here madam clerk would you read 714 please

7.14, requesting the appropriation of $6,600,000 from the unreserved fund balance to the facility renovation and reconstruction stabilization fund to support the five-year capital investment plan.

And, Mr. President, I think I want to move to take this item up together with items 7.2 to 7.5. All of them together? Yes. Okay.

If there's no objection. Okay. Madam Clerk, would you read those items in as well? Yes.

I'm sorry, 7.25 and?

7.2, 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5. Got it.

7.2, requesting the appropriation of $2,500,000 from the Facility Construction and Renovation Stabilization Fund for replacement of the Department of Public Works building roof at 1 Franny Road. Then we have 7.3, requesting the appropriation of $2,000,000 from the Facility Construction and Renovation Stabilization Fund for replacement of the West Somerville neighborhood school roof. Then we have 7.4, requesting the appropriation of $900,000 from the Facility Renovation Stabilization Fund to convert existing space at the Healy School into five functional classrooms. 7.5, requesting the appropriation of $500,000 from the Facility Construction and Renovation Stabilization Fund to replace the boilers at the Argiano School.

Director Rice. Thank you, Mr. President. Tell me you have a slide deck on these.

I'll pull one up real quick if you want. Thank you. Again, for your record, Richard Reich, Director of Infrastructure. In the Mayor's budget presentation last week, he alluded to the fact that one of our strategies to sort of confront The fiscal crisis that we are is to essentially cash fund a number of very needed capital projects. This is essentially following through on that. So agenda item 7.14, which is an appropriation from free cash in the amount of $6.6 million to facility.

Director Raish, I'm sorry. I'm going to, Councillor McLaughlin moves to lay these items on the table briefly because I forgot that we have Jackie Duffy still in the audience. When I pulled the room to see if anyone else was here, it was my intent to also take those two items up off the table and I completely, it was my own idea and I completely flicked and forgot. I'm so sorry. This is, you know, it's just, I need, this is, I just need more Red Bulls up here. Hi, Jackie. So, item 3.1 and item 3.2, and there was a member of the public that was here to speak on item 3.2 but couldn't, and my understanding is that that That member did join back in at some point but has since left. So spoiler alert, when we get to that, I'm going to suggest we send that one to committee just so that we give that member of the public an opportunity to speak to the item unless there's any urgency to it. But we'll hear that from Ms. Duffy. So Ms. Duffy, if you're still with us and haven't fallen asleep because of our thrilling, riveting conversations, let's take up item 3.1 off the table, Madam Clerk.

Yes, we have Ms. Duffy here, and she is available to speak.

All right, so I see, to some extent, I did accomplish what I was trying to do, which was make sure there was no one in the room here for these items. I just forgot that this was one of the items that someone might have been here for. So we've established that no one else has come in the room and wants to speak to it, and there was no one else that wanted to speak to it online initially, so unless there's any objection, we can approve that item. Madam Clerk, Councillor Hart.

Yes, given the fact that there could have been someone who tried to come in person and left.

Physically and then maybe left.

Does it hurt to send it to committee as well?

I think that's an excellent point. Jackie, is there any urgency on either of these?

I think the one that the man was questioning was Prospect Street.

Yeah, I know. Jackie, our chambers were full at the beginning. Oh, I could tell. I could tell. It's possible that somebody may have tried to get in and wasn't able to and left. Councillor Hart is noting that just out of an abundance of caution, because that has happened before, and as you may recall in the past, that person did ultimately come in and we were able to hear their concerns, which was good. But unless there's a particular degree of urgency, I think Councillor Hart is suggesting that maybe we send this one to committee as well, just to make sure that there's no one out in the public that didn't have an opportunity to speak to it. Any concern from your end on that? Yeah, that's fine. Okay. I think that's a very appropriate request, Council Hart, so thank you for making that point. So item 3.1 will be referred to committee, and we'll take item 3.2 up off the table. the Prospect Street one. And if there's no objection, Jackie, from you on this one, we'll send that to committee as well, because we know that there was somebody that appeared to be trying to speak to it and wasn't able to. So I want to make sure that we give that person the opportunity as well.

Yeah, there was something wrong with it. It wouldn't on mine and it wouldn't bring up the unmute. I didn't get the square to say unmute. That's why I couldn't get on. So maybe that's the problem. Maybe he was having also.

From the very outset on this meeting, there was some glitches, something going on with the system. So no surprise that it wasn't working properly. And my apologies for that. Oh, no worries. No worries. Well, thank you for your agreement on that. I think it's a good recommendation. We'll send both of these to committee, make sure that members of the public have their opportunity to let us know of any concerns they might have or questions. And SOC and Objection 3.2 will be sent to licenses and permits as well. Thank you, Jackie. I'm so sorry for keeping you here so late.

Don't worry. It's fine and done. All right. Take care.

have a good night everybody thank you council mclaughlin for reminding me of that fact and and um um doing doing my best up here okay um with that uh let's take items 7.14 7.2 3 4 and 5 back up off the table thank you director ray i apologize for the the interruption but um you understand given what you just heard so um please uh continue and i hope you haven't had a chance to

put any slides together in the interim if if i haven't already uh i want to thank you all for your service as a resident of ward seven it's you know probably the there's probably only two jobs that are worse than mine and and you're one of the two um I think I'm still Director of Infrastructure and Asset Management after that comment. But yes, so item 14.7 is the action that takes the free cash and appropriates it into the Facility Renovation and Reconstruction Stabilization Fund, which we just called Facility Stabilization. And then the first set of critical capital projects are 7.2 through 7.5 that we immediately want to appropriate out of that facility stabilization into accounts that capital projects can access and spend. These are high priority projects that capital projects have been working on with the assurances from Director Bean that we would find the financing to do them. We anticipated that we would have the financing and against my typical policy, actually bid out two of these because they're critical in terms of time. Specifically, the 7.4, which is the subdivision of a room in the Healy School. This was a former science room that was underutilized. They have a lot of need for breakout space for intervention on one-on-one. So we're subdividing this and making it soundproof so that those sort of services can be done in the manner in which they need to. This will be our summer slammer for this year. I don't think we're gonna hit September 1, but as close as possible, which is why we're asking for immediate consideration because we want to get the contractor in there as soon as the kids are out on June 18th. Similarly, we also have, and so the bidder that we had for that is a strong bidder. It's actually the same one that did the warming center, bless you, at Cummings. We've got good experience with them, and we're happy that they were the lowest bid. The bid was below our estimate, so we're within budget on that. We also finally were able to get the bid out for the DPW roof. This has been a long-standing problem for DPW. With the exception of the two-story administration building, all of those garages that have offices in them, all of those roofs leak on our union employees that are trying to do their work. That roof is in horrible condition. We've got a contractor, a good low bidder to do that work to repair that roof and make it so that it doesn't rain on our DPW employees.

Sorry, I'm just thinking of the image that I see every year of the fire department hosing it down during before the fireworks and just Imagine what it is that like rain it rains then inside.

Yes, so We want to proceed with that as quickly as possible the other two are bid ready and also time constrained one is the replacement of the roof at the West Thornville neighborhood school and This will be somewhat disruptive to the school operations, and so we wanna maximize the summer to get a jump on that. And also the replacement of the boilers at the Urgenziano School, we wanna get those in before we need them this heating season. So these are all time sensitive, so I wanted to bring. both those sorts is the two actions is the one from free cash to stabilization and then the four Appropriations out of stabilization so that we can start these projects immediately All right.

Thank you director. Ash any discussion Councilor Wheeler

I just want to recognize it would be amazing if somehow in this free cash that we're using in part on education, if there were a way to find some funding for the roles that the school committee recommended. With that wish stated, I would like to see these move forward, and so I move to approve all of these items.

Council Willow moves to approve. Do we need to vote on 14 first and then the other one, or can we take them all together? Technically, yes. Technically, yes. All right. I figured as much. All right. So first on the motion to approve item 7.14. Any discussion? All right.

Council Scott? On the motion to approve 7.14, just for anybody who's still paying attention after 11 o'clock at night, this is the moving of $6.6 million from free cash, that's the extra leftover money we have, into a stabilization fund so that it can then be used in the future to... in the very near future, to be appropriated out to fund other things. As we come to the end of the fiscal year, there will be a raft of these free cash appropriations. I believe there's something like 16, 17 million dollars of them on the agenda tonight, and there, I'm sure, more to come. So just helping people understand procedurally what's happening here, and I echo the Chair of Finance's sentiments about seeing all this money slushing around here when we're being told that there's just not $600,000 for teachers. So thank you.

Thank you, Councillor White and Councillor Scott. Seeing no objection then, that item is approved. And then Councillor Wheeler on the motion to take 7.2, 3, 4, and 5 up together, right? We don't need a roll call on this either. Any discussion? All right. Seeing none, those items are approved. Okay, I think we're done with the out-of-order stuff. We can start the meeting now. Good job, gang. Let's see. What is it, 7.15 now? I will remind everyone that it's 11.15 and we're starting at the beginning. So choose your words with that in mind. Let's see. 4.1, Madam Clerk. And I'll also remind folks that things don't need to go to committee. They can just be approved if you want to just follow up. That's an option, just not suggesting. I'm just objectively noting that is a thing that can happen. Madam Clerk. next item mr president actually we do need to take a roll call for not 7.14 but the other items we do i apologize well that's fun let's take a roll call for for each of them individually can we take one roll call for all of them let's take one roll call for 7.2 7.3 7.4 and 7.5 together Councillor Ewen Campen, let's take a roll call for those things that we just voted on, but it turns out we needed a roll call in case you want to be here for them.

Mr. President, for the sake of time, maybe we should proceed.

Madam Clerk, go ahead. Go ahead. Call the roll on those items, please.

Yes. Councillor Ewen Campen. Councillor Link.

Yes.

Councillor Scott.

Yes.

Councillor Klingent. Yes. Councillor Strezzo. Yes. Councillor Saeed. Yes. Councillor Wheeler.

Yes.

Councillor Hart. Yes. Councillor McLaughlin.

Yes. Aye. Hey, you gotta call my name twice. Yes.

Okay. Councilor Umba? Yes. Councilor Davis? Yes. With 10 votes, that passes.

All right. Very good. There we go. Now we can start the meeting. It's now, I know it's still not 1115. It's not even 1115 yet. Come on. What are you guys doing? Madam Clerk, next item.

Next item is 4.1 by Councillor Saeed, that the administration address the ongoing public health and safety concerns at the Broadway Salvation Army site.

Thank you, Mr. President. I'm going to try to keep this short. First, I would like this to be sent to Public Health and Public Safety. And I just want to say constituents have been reaching out to me about this location now for the second time. The situation is getting worse. There's public health and safety concerns. This location is becoming an overnight gathering area, the issues involving loud arguments, fights, public drinking, public urination, and the other issue is theft and organized resale of donated goods. These are goods that are supposed to go to people in need. Butters have seen like the same trucks, you know coming and taking those So I reached out to Chief Benford who is working with the Salvation Army to Make recommendations and send in police officers regularly, but again the situation is still not it's not better um so i'd like to have a public discussion on this uh in public health and public safety all right counselors mclaughlin and bob would like to sign on that item is approved to the copy to public health and public safety next item please

Yes. I'll also note, it's also not necessary to say anything about an item if it speaks for itself. We could just say that item is approved. So if you want to speak, raise your hand, even if you're the submitter. If not, I'll just assume that you don't, and we'll approve the item and move along. Next item, 4.3, Madam Clerk.

Yes. 4.3 by Councilor McLaughlin and Councilor Mba, that the Director of Veterans Services update the City Council on the status of any veterans memorials currently in storage, as well as the status of the Central Hill Memorial Plaza.

Councilman McLaughlin.

Thank you, Mr. President. I'll be brief and begin with a short history of armed conflict in this country. Beginning with the Spanish Civil War, I can see the monument from Chuckie Harris Park and move to approve. I would like the city to take this seriously. I don't need it to send a committee, but I'm just gonna constantly remind us about the memorials that are in storage. Very happy the Vietnam-Korean memorials were brought back. Veterans have asked me to reach out and make sure the rest of the memorials come back.

Here, see no further discussion. Oh, councilor Unicampen.

I just moved to collectively refer to them as Mbloughlin. Mbloughlin.

Very well, that item is approved. Next item, Madam Clerk.

4.5 4.5 yes councillor hart that the counts that the chief of putin i'm sorry briefly councillor ba i just wanted to say that you know to thank you memorials are more than monuments you know they are communities

Next item, Adam Parker. The next item is 4.5 by Councillor Hart, that the Chief of Police increase traffic enforcement in Teal Square, especially focusing on the lights and crosswalks between Broadway and Holland Street, and especially in the morning when students and families are walking to school.

Councillor Hart. Thank you. ask really, Mr. President, for should this go to traffic and parking or is this the kind of thing that could just be a communication?

MR. Oh, I mean, it certainly can just be a communication. I think if you want to follow up on a – and the follow-up conversation can happen individually as well. But if you want to – and especially at this time of year, I think practically speaking, remember where we are on the calendar and the likelihood that something's going to get into a committee meeting. It may, but you know.

Right. Actually, I think I would like to send this one to Traffic and Parking.

Traffic and Parking? Yes. All right. That item is approved with a copy of Traffic and Parking. Next item.

Next item is 4.6 by Councillor Hart, that the Director of Mobility prioritize Curtis Street for pedestrian safety improvements, including traffic calming measures and an Americans with Disabilities Act accessible crosswalk in the vicinity of Sunset Road. Send to committee, please. committee um oh i'm sorry it's too late i meant just leave it as a communication okay that sounds good so that item is approved thank you next item next item is 4.7 by councillor hart that the director of mobility install additional signage and the chief of police increase enforcement to ensure compliance with the one-way traffic direction on whitfield road Move to approve, please.

That item is approved. Councillor Sait, on the items?

Actually, if we're asking them to install something, I recommend that we send it to the committee so we can follow up. Excellent, thank you.

Sorry, Councillor Sait, I missed that.

Yeah, I think if we're asking them to install something, It's good for it to go to committee, traffic and parking, so we can follow up with the director on that.

So that item is approved with a copy of traffic and parking. Very good. Next item.

Next item is 4.8 by Councillor Hart, recognizing and expressing appreciation to the Department of Public Works, the Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health, and the Inspectional Services Department for their work in addressing rodent issues at the West Somerville Neighborhood School.

Councillor Hart.

Thank you so much, Mr. President. So, some concerned parents brought it to my attention that there was a significant issue with mice in the West Somerville Neighborhood School. With my colleague, school member Betone, we were able to find out that a lot of work has already been done on this issue to address it, also with the help of the Somerville Educators Union. And so, I just wanted to recognize that work and I would like to ask Director Naga-Williams if she would like anything done with this, like sent to committee, for example. There is a question about possibly more information that DPW or other departments might want to share.

Mr. President, could we maybe send it to school buildings, facilities, and maintenance?

Sure. Let's approve this item with a copy to school buildings, facilities, and maintenance. Thank you.

Next item. Next item is 4.9 by Councillor Hart and Councillor Umbau that the Chief of Police report to this council on the response to the recent upsurge in drug use and other drug-related activity in public spaces in and around Davis Square, including in Hodgkins Curtin Park.

I would like to say something. So just over the past couple of weeks, I've gotten numerous you know, reports and questions from constituents that, you know, discarded needles and open drug use. And it appears to be moving further out from Davis Square and Seven Hills Park. And so we'd really love to send a copy to Public Health and Public Safety.

Okay, that item is approved to the Copy of Public Health and Public Safety. Next item. Councillor Bott on that item?

Yes. Go ahead. picture here from like a constituent with the needle. If you have a picture, it's not a playground.

No, no, no one else can see it other than you.

You could do that. No, thank you, Mr. President. The main takeaway is that this is a serious issue that we need to address and look at our policies. And I think We must reject the false choice between compassion and safety. Our responsibility is to deliver both. So I just want us to take this seriously.

So a copy of that is sent to Public Health, Public Safety. Next item.

Next item is 4.10 by Councilor Wheeler that the Director of Parking discuss with this Council the possibility of administering a parking permit type intended for vehicle owners with driveways at a lower price than standard residential parking permits, which would allow only daytime and evening street parking, but not overnight street parking, and which would not be usable during street cleaning or snow emergencies.

Thank you, Mr. President. Through you, the lengthy title of this item is somewhat self-explanatory. Just briefly, this is an idea I first encountered or an adjacent idea to one in the 2022 curb study commissioned by the city. And the idea is that instead of a single residential parking permit, we could have two categories at different prices. The regular permit we all know and love and a lower cost permit that's valid during the day, but not overnight. not during street cleaning and not during snow emergencies. The hope is this would encourage people with driveways to use them when competition for parking is highest. And because concerns about parking are one reason residents are often reluctant to support denser housing nearby, anything we can do to reduce competition for parking helps us say yes to more housing. I'd be eager to hear the parking department's perspective on this idea. Thank you.

Councillor Hart would like to sign on. He will send this one to traffic and parking. Yes, please. Council Sight would like to sign on. That item is approved with a copy to traffic and parking. Next item.

Next item is 4.12 by Councillor Scott, that this council schedule a public hearing regarding construction parking permits and the impact of current enforcement policy on neighborhood residents.

Councillor Scott. Thank you, Ms. President. I'm happy to have this item go to traffic and parking. This is part of a continued conversation that's happening around the citizen position from

oak bolton and houghton rather than make them go out and gather 80 signatures i'm simply putting this in as a council member thank you so that item is approved to the uh councillor bob would like to sign on council wheeler council state council link would like to sign on that is approved to the copied traffic parking

Next item. Next item is 4.13 by Councillor Scott that the city attorney advised this council on the mayor's compliance with section 6-4 of the Somerville Charter as it relates to the submission of the fiscal year 2027 budget, particularly the school budget as adopted by the school committee.

scott thank you mr president i also sent this request to the city attorney the city attorney has provided a three-page memo however that memo is not available to the public so i would request that we have this attached that item that memo attached as a to this item Also, it is 1130 and I don't think it's time to dig into that item. So given that legislative matters does not meet until after the budget is adopted, I would request that this item be sent to finance just so we can lump it in with any other conversations there.

That makes sense. I will note, and God bless her, Attorney Amara is still with us in case there's any questions tonight. But I certainly think setting this to committee is probably in everyone's best interest. And I think the idea to send it to Finance to have the conversation seems reasonable. So if there's no objection, then this item will be approved with a copy to Finance. And thank you, Attorney Amara, for bearing with us. We are very grateful. Next item.

Next item is 4.14 by Councillor Scott that the city clerk informed this council as to the final status of item number 25-0905, a unanimous vote in favor of adopting Chapter 329 of the Acts of 1987 on May 22, 2025.

Thank you, Mr. President. I also received an answer in writing to this, however, in an email, which is not attached to the item, so I will be submitting that as well that we can attach it to it. I would also like this to get sent to the Finance Committee because we have received questions from constituents about what happened here. There was a 10-0 unanimous vote of the council to adopt this section. and it shows up in Legistar as a vetoed item. As it turns out, it was not just a vetoed item, it was a section 16 approval, which means that the council approved it, the mayor never responded to it, and so it was considered approved. However, given that this relates to the special acts of 1987, it was the interpretation of the law office that it required the mayor's approval And so when the mayor withheld approval, it did not go into effect. However, it was also considered that it was not a veto and could not be overridden by the council despite it being a unanimous adoption of this. So I wanted to send this to finance so that that conversation could be had at a time when anybody is awake and watching and that we can consider the implications of that interpretation.

The chair of finance gave me the nod that he can find a way to fit this one in, so I see no objection. That item is approved with a copy of finance. Next item.

Next item is 4.15 by Councillor Scott that the city clerk provide the procedure followed upon a mayoral veto of any measure approved by this council.

I see no discussion. That item is approved with a copy of legislative matters.

Next item. 4.16 by Councillor Scott conveying the award to councillors opposition to placing armed police officers in Somerville schools.

Councillor Scott. Mr. President, with apologies, I logged in to the school committee meeting and I waited for an hour and I was not welcomed into public comment, which I got to say I was pretty damn furious about. So in lieu of being able to provide direct public comment to the school committee, I will just say it briefly here now, which is we had a whole community process around removing these resources officers from school, removing these armed officers from schools. The injustice that happened in Ward 2 in our Genziano School is part of what kicked off this entire thing.

I'm going to rule this one out of order, as this is a matter that is the purview of the school committee. I am very sorry that you were not able to speak as a member of the public. I was not aware of that, and I certainly will raise that with the chair to make sure that that doesn't happen in the future. Having been reminded by the members of the school committee that there's a very clear separation, and this is, in my opinion, clearly an issue that they are taking up. I think opinions on this should be directed towards the school committee. And with all due respect, I hope you'll understand that I'm gonna hold the line on this one and request that this item, we can place this item on file. With a copy to the school committee, please. Being that there's a member of the school committee here tonight, I am sure they will all know about it. And you are, as always, a member of the public. Welcome to send communications to the school committee on issues over which they have purview. And thank you for your understanding on that, Councillor Scott. Next item, Madam Clerk. So that item is placed on file. Next item, Madam Clerk.

Next item is 4.17 by Councillor Link that the Commission of Public Works or the Director of Mobility provide an update to this Council on the policies in place to ensure pedestrian safety when closing sidewalks on both sides of a street, the criteria used to determine when such closures are necessary, and the process for notifying residents and businesses about upcoming sidewalk closures as well as the timeline for reopening.

Ah yes, this old chestnut. I'd forgotten that I had put this issue in many, many times myself. Thank you, Councillor Luke, for reminding me, for caring about this thing as well, and for bringing it back up.

Go ahead. MR. Thank you, Mr. President, with apologies for the long-windedness there to our clerk. um so yeah i know that this is a conversation that we have semi-regularly um and i love the updates to bow but i couldn't help but notice uh that at times there was uh sidewalks closed um sometimes even on the weekends um and with no construction happening so i just want to make sure now that we're fully in uh you know construction season that we're just kind of having this conversation again and making sure that uh you know the

we're having good communication with the people who are on the sites and they're being mindful of the fact that we you know there's many people who have to get around the city and we want to make that safe and easy oh it's a train it's gotten very quiet in here i'm hearing things that i never heard before thank you counselor like any discussion um do you want to follow up on that conversation committee or you want to have uh I don't know. I think we could probably leave it at that. I think that's probably the best approach. And feel free to ping me on it earlier, and we can share some war stories and maybe come up with a new way to try and help address the problem. It's not that anybody doesn't think it's an issue. It's just hard. So thank you, Councillor Link. That item is approved. Next item.

Next item is 4.18 by Councillor Link and Councillor Wheeler that the Director of Procurement and Contracting Services provide this City Council with the report of all artificial intelligence vendors and services for which the City currently has contracts or ongoing payment obligations. Councillor Link.

uh just i'm looking for a high level accounting of a high level of where um the city is when it comes to ai and i think we can just um just we can approve this and move on all right very well yeah that's the kind of thing if once once we get that information if there's another item we put it in consent so that item is a concert wheel around the item

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm sorry, your name is on there. I should have looked over to you.

No problem. Just super briefly, just acknowledging that the line between clear AI products and tools that may use AI in the course of what they do, like Outlook, filtering email, it's a tricky line. We are trying to get an understanding of the shape of our city's current use. Thank you. Okay, very good. That item is approved.

Councillor Klingon on that, Adam? Real quick on that item. What committee, I mean, AI is an issue that is in the forefront. It's a monster of an issue. Is there any particular committee that, or maybe this item's not necessarily appropriate for it, but I'm saying just for these two who are sort of the, this is in their wheelhouse, like where could we have a discussion, a broad discussion about AI in what committee? Does it make sense? I can't, are you asking me, Councilor?

I'm kind of, yeah. I think it probably depends on what we hear, right? Depending on what the answer to this is, certainly one could envision finance being if there are contracts that are more direct. If not, you could probably squeeze it into whichever committee has some room to actually have the conversation and where the folks in the administration would otherwise be attending for other reasons. We'd probably look for more sort of practical options. guidance on that but you know if it's not a matter of direct contracts i suppose but let's we cross that bridge when we get to it but good good question um all right next item

Next item is 4.19 by Councillor Link and Councillor Scott that the Director of Mobility and the Director of Engineering discuss changing Hawkins Street into a two-way street for bikes, considering it is already being used by families as part of a safer route to school, allowing parents and children to bypass the dangerous and unprotected intersection of Somerville Avenue and Washington Street.

Councillor Ewing-Campbell would like to sign on. Did you want to speak to the item, Councillor Link? I think it probably speaks for itself. So that item is approved. Next item.

Next item is 4.20 by Councillor Lincoln, Councillor Ewing-Campen in support of House Bill 3587 and Senate Bill 2334, an act to grow and maintain space in cities and towns for the creative economy.

That item is approved.

Actually, Mr. President, if I could just really quickly point out one thing on that. Go ahead. It's just the one thing that would really be great if this passed is that we would be able to get, it allows the creation of a municipal creative space trust fund, which is something that we as a city have wanted for a while.

And I neglected to say to add, we wanted to send a copy of this to our state delegation, I assume? Yes, please. Okay. Very good. Thank you. Boy, okay. Councillor Scott, you want to come on up here for a minute?

recognizing Councillor Davis.

Mr. President, just doing a mic check. Okay. Given that you're the next longest serving item member that's still here in the room at the moment, I move that you act as president in my absence for the purpose of this item.

Happy to do it, sir. So approved. Please recognize Councillor Davis.

Thank you. So this is my communication on apartments to the Wage Theft Advisory Committee. Councillor Baugh put a lot of work into this, and this came from a collaboration with a lot of the members who are actually on the list. I did reach out to a few councillors, a few members of the public and received nothing but glowing excitement and praise and good thoughts on the list. We do need We do need to send this one to committee, however, because the positions need to be staggered by years. And so it's my opinion that it makes the most sense to do that, to let the Committee on Confirmation of Appointments make that determination. rather than me sort of picking or trying to do that informally. So my request would be to send this to committee for that purpose. I did have a conversation with the chair of the committee earlier this week, so that he, I won't speak for him, but didn't hear any objection to that. So that would be my request, Mr. President, to send this one to committee for the purposes of, well, certainly, determination whether the council wants to approve these folks each of them individually but also to determine uh how to slot the specific um you know specific seats by by year uh thank you uh counselor davis uh for that introduction that sounds like a judicious way to handle the item but to be procedurally correct we're going to need the city clerk to read the item oh gosh and introduce it first i got so excited i got to talk to something here

item 4.21 item 4.21 by councillor davis that the city council appoints rodrigo badaro b gomez moccad marianne wells martin sanchez jessenia alfaro and marcy goldstein gilp to the wage theft advisory committee mr president everything i just said before i mean now

Understood. And with that, I will also add that that is a positive murderer's row of awesome people in that list. I will refer that to confirmation of appointments.

Yes. Yes, no, thank you, Mr. President. Yes, those are amazing folks. I'm excited, you know, for all the names that were put forward. Thank you. All right. Thank you. It's all yours again, sir.

Golly, you can't take me anywhere, you know. All right, thank you for that. Next item, Madam Clerk.

Next item is 5.2 by Councillor Scott that the Chief of Police provide documentation in writing regarding the circumstances surrounding cyclist traffic enforcement in Union Square on the morning of May 28th.

Council Scott. Thank you, Mr. President. I received a communication about seven hours ago now in an email that answers these questions to reassure some folks. It was not part of grant-related municipal road safety activity. However, it was at the discretion of... of the police department that somebody was dispatched there to do targeted enforcement on cyclists. So I would ask that this gets sent to Public Health and Safety simply so that this information can then be attached to the item and then they can place it on file.

Any discussion on the item? All right, seeing none, that is approved with a copy to Public Health and Public Safety. Thank you, sir. Next item.

Next item is 7.6, requesting the appropriation of $196,000.

Let me just interrupt. Sorry, clerk. I'm going to move to take up, sorry, to waive the reading of items 7.6 to 7.13 and 7.15 to 7.27 in the interest of time and to refer them to the Finance Committee.

Through 727, you said, right?

Yes, 7.6 to 7.13 and 7.15 to 7.27.

All right, seeing no objection, we will waive the reading of those items. They will be referred to Finance. Next item.

Next item is 7.28, requesting confirmation of the appointment of Efkan Yigitbasa to the position of police officer.

We read 729 as well.

requesting confirmation of the appointment of Josiah Nardelli, oh, Joshua Nardelli to the position of police officer.

Councilor Ba? Yes, I move to approve, Mr. President.

Any discussion? Just as a reminder, it's been our practice recently for new officers to not go to committee, given the limitations on our ability to review by law. So seeing no objection, those items are approved. Next item.

Next item is 7.30, requesting approval of the surveillance technology impact report for the smart tree inventory.

Are the trees watching us? You don't know? Okay, that was a question. Only the smart ones, Chief. Well, let's not be judgmental about which trees are smart. That item is referred to legislative matters.

Next item is 7.33, conveying the updated 2025 surveillance technology annual report.

That item is referred to legislative matters. Next item.

Next item is 7.34, conveying the update regarding item 26-0825, a resolution that the administration submit a written report to this council regarding the timeline and process for staffing the Americans with disability coordinator role and update this council on the plan to process ADA complaints and accessibility coordinations when this position is vacant.

This item is a place on file with a copy to housing equity and community development. Next item.

Next item is 7.35, conveying information regarding changes in positions in the fiscal year 2027 budget.

This item is placed on file with a copy of finance. Chair Weller, you want this in finance as a reference? Sure, why not? Thank you. Just so that members of the public are looking. They don't have to look in multiple places, I guess, right? So that's placed on file with a copy of finance. Next item.

Next item is 8.1, Director of Communications and Community Engagement Conveying the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, 2.1, Accessibility Compliance Update for City Website and Digital Assets.

All right. That item is placed on file with a copy to HECD.

Thank you.

Next item.

Next item is 8.2, City Clerk Conveying Block Party Licenses Issued.

Madam Clerk, could you please read out every block party and the dates that they... No, I'm kidding. We like block parties, have block parties. If you don't have a block party on this list, then go find out how to make block parties, because they're awesome. No, make block parties. Have a block party. Meet your neighbors, it's the year of the neighbor. Eat donuts, drink a beer in your street, drink whatever you want to drink, I don't care. Just have a block party. Next item, Madam Clerk. So that is placed on file. Next item.

We are now under new business.

Councillor Hart.

Yes, thank you. I move to waive the readings of 9.1 to 9.13 and approve.

Any objections? Seeing none, the reading is waived and those items are approved. Next item.

I'm sorry, she said until 9.13, right? Yes. Okay. 9.14, St. Benedict Parish applying for a public event license for A Mile with Jesus on July 5th from 9.30 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Council Hart on this one.

Apologies. I'm moved to approve this evening. I'm sorry.

We can approve. We can send it to committee. I think we should approve it. I think we should approve it. All right. Any objection to approve it? Seeing no objection, that is approved. Next item.

Next item is 9.15, Horizons Trio applying for a public event license for relations and exploration through music on July 21 from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m., rain date July 27th. Discussion? To approve as well, yes.

Councilor Hart moves to approve. Seeing no discussion, that item is approved. Let's see, next item.

Next item is 9.17, for residents submitting comments regarding police presence in schools.

That item is placed on file. Next item. Next item is 10. Can we take 10.2 and 10.3 together, please?

Sure can. Items 10.2 and 10.3, by Councillor Umbau, commending Jane Gardner on the auspicious occasion of her retirement, and by Councillor Umbau, commending Kimberly Baker on the auspicious occasion of her retirement.

Councillor Bott.

approved mr president those items are approved the aforementioned individuals are hereby commended and wished the best in their retirement next item next item is 10.4 by counselor saeed and counselor ewan campen that the director of engineering and the commissioner of public works provide an update on highland avenue temporary paving

Mr. Clerk, Madam Clerk, can you read that item again?

Yes, I can read it again. 10.4, by Councillor Saeed and Councillor Ewen Campin, that the Director of Engineering and the Commissioner of Public Works provide an update on Highland Ave temporary paving.

Councillor Saeed.

Through you, Mr. President, I would like to send this to traffic and parking. All I will say is let's pave the rest of Highland Ave.

I wholeheartedly agree with you, Councillor Saeed. Let's pay fine enough. And Madam Clerk, I would like to sign on as well. Councillor Lane, Councillor Scott, even though Councillor Scott didn't ask, the whole council would like to sign on to this. So thank you, Madam Clerk. Oh, except Councillor Davis. Next item I don't click.

Yes. The next item is 10.5 by councillor Wheeler in support of rent control negotiations between the keep Massachusetts home campaign in Massachusetts developers

Thank you.

These... Councillor Wheeler, can you just, before we get into this, and I should have noted just from a procedural standpoint on the last item on which I was confused, recused substantively, that was initially submitted as a potentially supplemental item two weeks ago. It should have automatically gone onto this agenda, but it didn't. So because I was aware of it, I allowed it to go forward. And we're going to make sure that we have a process that anything that is not put that is submitted late and isn't put on the agenda will automatically go, so you don't check on it, but we'll sort that out. But that's the reason for this one. So in this one, the reason it's okay for supplemental, so in terms of being unanticipated and time sensitive, speak to that first, Councillor Willey, if you would, just so we're all clear, and then go ahead.

Thank you. These negotiations, as I understand it, have just been happening recently. They only came to my attention through coverage and newsletters from other folks since Monday. Degree of foreseeability, maybe a little vague. I don't have to make extensive comments about this, just I think it's a good thing, and I want to recommend approval, hopefully with a copy to our delegation.

Okay. Any discussion? All right. Seeing none, that item is approved. And if we could send a copy to the state delegation, please. Very well. Next item.