City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone. Today is Monday, September 21st, 2026. And it is not the time is now six o'clock and we will start the public speak out portion of our city council meeting. The first person on the list is Stephen Howard. Please come to the podium. Push the turn on speak button. State your name and address for the record. And you have three minutes.

Thank you, Madam President. Good evening, councillors and fellow Springfield residents. As artificial intelligence rapidly transform our world, technology alone kind of takes our most critical systemic failures. First, in education, artificial intelligence and internet access gives students unprecedented power to research and learn right from their desks, eliminating the need to travel to distant libraries or sit in fast food parking lots just to catch a Wi-Fi signal to finish your homework. However, technology alone cannot overcome deep structural barriers. Federal budget cuts threaten critical resources, stripping away both school meal programs and access to onsite school psychologists who provide vital confidential support for struggling children. Without meeting these fundamental needs for nutrition and mental health, even the most advanced digital tool cannot help a child who is simply trying to survive the day. Second, the healthcare artificial intelligence can analyze complex diagnostics to catch critical conditions early, but these life-saving tools mean very little when families lose coverage. The recent expiration of the Affordable Care Act subsidies, combined with major federal funding cuts to Medicaid, has pushed millions off their health plans and caused insurance premiums to surge. Coupled with health care facilities Wait. Coupled with the closure of healthcare facilities and hospitals since 2025, parents in rural areas are now forced to travel over an hour just to reach the nearest emergency room. In life-threatening emergencies, where every minute counts, that added travel time can cause further health complications and even result in debt, turning a breakthrough in AI technology into a benefit that rural communities and low-income communities, especially here in Springfield, cannot simply access in time. Even with rapid advancements across the medical field, these systemic cuts make it nearly impossible for under-resourced communities to benefit. Finally, an employment-specialized certification, such as Microsoft Office specialist certificates, offered locally through Hoyo Community College and STIC, proved that workers can master digital tools, boosting productivity and earning higher salaries. Applying these skills alongside advanced technology like CNC machinery, automatic software switches, and large language models like Chlor, Gemini, and GPT dramatically speeds up production and cuts down time when preparing work. However, an artificial intelligence rapidly automates these exact technical processes. Individual credentials and software mastery alone cannot prevent widespread job displacement. Without federally funded workforce retraining, targeting, wage protections, and comprehensive support services, millions of skilled workers will face sudden job loss, dividing the workforce between the small tech elite and those left without a plan. I could say more about it, and I really would like to suggest that this city council establish a subcommittee that will address AI, especially since the developers of AI are now putting out some drastic warnings that it could threaten the existence of humans within the next 15 years or so. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, everyone.

Thank you, Mr. Howard. Before we go any further, I would like to recognize councillors that are here in person and online. Councillor Jerry Martin, Councillor Zeta-Galvan, Councillor Justin Hurst, Councillor Katie Rewalsh is also here, Vice President Jose Delgado, and President Tracy Whitfield. Online we have Councillor Maria Perez and Councillor Michael Fenton. So thank you councillors for joining us for this portion of the City Council meeting. Next, we have Louis Sacco. Please state your name and address for the record, and you have three minutes.

My name is Louis Sacco, 26 Fins Hill Manor in Granby. Good evening, members of the City Council. My name is Louis Sacco, and I'm here again because we still haven't received any help to get justice for the death of my good friend Anthony Tony Castillo. Only two weeks after Mayor Sarno described gatherings within our car and motorcycle community as utterly disrespectful and referred to a me, me, me generation, Tony lost his life in a motorcycle crash following an encounter involving Springfield police. Mayor Sarno's prejudiced rhetoric and culture goes beyond words in the media. Tony wasn't just another motorcycle rider. He was a father, a son, a brother, and my friend. And because Tony can't stand here and ask what happened, I'm going to continue asking for him. Last time I was here a few months ago, Last time I was here a few months ago, you told us there would be communication. You told us that you guys would reach out, but no one has. We're still waiting. We still don't even know the names of the officers involved. I personally submitted a public records request on behalf of the family seeking footage from that night. The city gave an estimate of approximately $1,600 to obtain it. with a receipt that showed it would go to cops' wages. How is that transparency? Most working families don't have $1,600 just to get information from what happened to someone they loved. Accountability should not be a $1,600 entrance fee. Tony's family wants the truth. They deserve to know what happened. what decisions were made, and whether policies were followed. We know that Tony's death could have been prevented. There are witnesses from that scene who saw firsthand that it could have been prevented. I know some people will say Tony was responsible for his own actions. I'm not claiming Tony made every decision perfectly that night. But whatever mistakes people believe Tony made, none of them meant his life suddenly had no value. The cops shouldn't have swarmed that meetup to begin with. They were looking They were looking to make trouble. If there were any legal issues, cops should have made it a court date, not a death sentence. But their egos and carelessness killed Tony, and they left him on the ground to die for hours. He deserved the opportunity to go home to his family, and his children deserved to have their father come home. And this goes beyond Tony. Motorcycle pursuits can put an entire community in danger. We lost Tony that night, but it could have been more than just him. There has to be restraint, judgment, and accountability. At what point does catching someone become less important than protecting everyone around them? The goal should never be catching somebody at any cost. The goal should be getting everybody home alive. Don't condemn an entire car and motorcycle culture because of the actions of a few. Hold individuals accountable for their own actions, but don't treat every rider like a criminal. We should be working together. I'm asking for transparency. I'm asking for accountability. Tony can't ask those questions anymore, so I will. Tony's family deserves answers. Tony deserves answers. I'm demanding the city council calls for the immediate release of the body and dash cam free of charge to the family. If you guys want to claim you can't do that, then take action tonight to front the bill out of city council funds. Then maybe the city will think twice before charging it to a family. We're not going to leave again today satisfied with your empty promises. Stop this meeting and do something right now. Justice for Tony.

Justice for Tony! Thank you, Mr. Sacco. That was my fault. I said that I was going to reach out to you, and I couldn't remember your name to get your number from the city council staff, but I just sent you a text message, so... We can connect. Just let me know if you got that. And we'll connect and see what we can do. As far as our budget, we don't really have one. But the city does. So I just wanted to say that I apologize because I did say I was going to get in touch with you and I couldn't remember your name. So that's my fault. But now you have my number. Okay. So we'll talk. So this is public speak out, but you have to sign up to speak. So we're not going to. I apologize, but we have to move the meeting on because I have other people signed up for public speak out. But if you want to talk after we can talk after. Well, I gave him my number this time and we're not going to go back and forth anymore. OK. OK, then we'll talk about it later or you can leave. Those are the two choices. Next on the agenda is John Johnson. Is John Johnson here? All right, Jonathan Smith. Please state your name and address for the record. And you have three minutes.

There we go. Okay. Jonathan Smith, 15 Massachusetts Avenue. So today I just wanted to speak on behalf of bringing the trades programs back to the public schools. So for a long time, I know there's been talks, like my junior year of high school, I went to Putnam High School in Springfield. But for a long time, trade programs, it seems like, have been cut. And to give the reality of it, not everybody can go to a Putnam. You have some kids who are... You got kids that are intelligent, but don't have the GPA to show it, because maybe they're not book savvy, but they're hands-on savvy, so... With that being said, then you have the flip side of that. You have people who have the great GPAs, but don't want to take a trade. And I'm not here to say that everybody wants to go down the trade path, but I feel like there should be viable options. So it's like, if all the students or kids can't get into a Putnam High School, then there should be other viable options kids can choose from, you know? So obviously I do my part with the STEM and try to bring robotics and STEM and 3D printing to the forefront, but myself alone, I just can't do it alone, right? I need the community and I need everybody on board. So with that being said, I would like to see a lot more trade programs that are teaching blueprint reading. plumbing, electrical, right? And it's like, and it can start out as a program and like each school, you know, and I'm asking that, you know, that you guys will be open to presenting, you know, an opportunity to bring these trade school programs, you know, and like bring a trade school, like SciTech or, you know, bring it to like a central, bring it to, you know, a Libertas Academy, you know? So then that way, as these schools, these kids are in these lotteries, they're not having to be forced to like be in a school that they might not want to be in because they're the GPA, but they have the intellect that reflects that, you know? So creating these viable options for kids and being able to create those opportunities for kids to learn these different trades, because, I mean, realities, like, plumbers are making, like, $40 an hour. Electricians to twist up a doorbell are making around $60 an hour, you know? So it's like, you can bring the trade programs to this school, and like I said, you don't have to spend, like, hundreds of thousands of dollars to do it, right? It can start as a program, and then as other community partners come they can help fund that, you know, but I think we need to do something about the trade schools in the Springfield public school system because there's a lot of great kids here and I feel like we need to give them those opportunities. I mean, myself, I was born and raised here. Thankfully, I was able to get a trade of carpentry, and then I picked up another one welding, and then I became a mechanical engineer. And now I'm passing it down to the youth so that I can build generational legacies for the kids out of Springfield that have the same opportunity as me. So I say let's bring back the trade school programs and let's work together to make it happen. Thank you.

Thank you, Jonathan. Next, we have Mr. Naylor. Is Mr. Willie Naylor here? All right. Next on the agenda is Charles Stokes. Please state your name and address for the record. And you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam President. My name is Charles Stokes. I'm in Ward 2, Springfield, Mass. 01104. I'm speaking tonight on accountability and transparency on the vote that's going to take place tonight on Bella LLC. Council President, city council people, and the clerk, I am speaking out to object on a vote that's supposed to take place tonight on Bella Housing. I filed my concerns by email September the 15th, 2026 to President Whitfield, which she confirmed she forwarded to the solicitor and the counselors. On September the 16th, 2026, I filed a copy with the assistant clerk And to put the copies in all the mailboxes of the city councilors, I also filed a public records request September 16, 2026, that is due September 26, 2026. On September 17, 2026, I asked that this item be tabled to September 29, 2026 until the records come back. This is the same process that took place as Waller Street in February, seven months ago. The law that applies is Mass General Law, Chapter 268A, Section 19B and 1. It says, that the municipal employee has to advise the appointing authority of the nature and circumstances, make full disclosure, and receive in advance a written determination that the interest is not so substantial to effect the integrity of services. There is no written determination in the file addresses City Clerk and Commissioner of Elections under Charter 8-4, Manager of Bella LLC and Board of New North Citizens Council at 2455 Main Street, which receives HUD and CDBG and ARPA funds. Because of that, I believe that any vote tonight is void under Section 19A, and I object for the record, and I am preserving my rights to file with the State Ethics Commission and Superior Court at 50 State Street under Chapter 249, Section 4. Madam President, I would like for my written and my stamped documentation and my written letter in the minutes tonight so that they can be on public record. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Stokes. Can you hand those to Councilor Govan? And do you need a copy? Okay, thank you, Mr. Stokes. Next, we have Angel Rios. Is Angel here? All right. Students from Libertas Academy on the Youth Commission. Do we have Libertas student? Oh, student. And what's your name? Yep, state your name and address for the record. No rush.

Um... Lincoln Nichols, 70 Harrison Avenue, 0103. My name is Lincoln Nichols. I'm 17 years old. I've lived in Springfield my entire life. I forgot to say good evening. I'm a senior at Libertas Academy, and I'm personally invested into going into college to expand my mind, further my education, and create a career out of what I feel strongly about. Some colleges on my list currently include Vassar and Connecticut College, and I intend to pursue a political science degree. I'm here to speak today on the opportunity for a youth commission in the city of Springfield. In the spirit of looking into a political science degree, I wish I had this opportunity to speak out more and self-advocate in my community during my middle and high school years. If this opportunity was available to me during that time, I might have discovered my interest in political science sooner or have been able to discover another public service field that interested me more specifically. Moreover, I'd have more collaborative opportunities with students across Springfield and different schools. Me personally, right now, I don't speak to anyone outside of my school, but maybe if I had this opportunity, these relationships that I formed from the commission could have turned into future college roommates or city councilmate if I ever enter government. And for the future of Springfield, I believe the Youth Commission is an opportunity for more voices to be heard, more perspectives to be shared, and more action to be taken by and for the youth. For example, one topic I foresee Springfield students being interested in is mental health. And if more students have the chance to voice their concerns about mental health directly to city representatives, then more Springfield youth would have access to mental health resources. And another concern that I see circulating is the concern of teens loitering and trespassing in Springfield, like in areas such as Union Station. Every problem has a root cause, and in this case I see the root cause being that teens have minimal free opportunities outside of school to become involved in their community. This youth commission would address this problem by not only giving these teens something to fill their free time, but also giving them an opportunity to directly curate change in Springfield. And I want to end here on the middle and high school students of Springfield. Springfield students deserve opportunities that will benefit their future lives and careers. All highly competitive colleges look for students to show leadership and initiative prior to college. And the Youth Commission can help put Springfield students on their map. In conclusion, the Youth Commission would be a great way to invest the students of Springfield in work, a great way to invest students in college, and would foster lifelong learning for them in the pursuit of a better future. This concludes my piece. Thank you for your time. Love, Springfield.

Wait a minute. Don't leave yet. What's your name again? What's your name again?

Um, currently I'm sitting at a 3.8.

No, no, no, not your GPA, but that's great. Your name?

Lincoln Nichols.

Lincoln Nichols. So, you know, we are starting a youth commission and there are going to be some spots that we can appoint as a city council. so I wanted to get your information. If you could stop in our city council office right here, if you go out that door and go in there and leave your contact information, and we'll be in touch with you. Very proud of you for speaking up and advocating, and we definitely love to see that from our young people, so we want to give you a round of applause.

Thank you.

I didn't see Commissioner Helen. That's her department. And Chanel's back there too? Okay. That's their department that is doing the youth commission. So we all see you now. Need some pictures. But thank you, Lincoln. Next, we have Maria Lopez. Is Maria here? Okay. Okay. And then we have Ismael Rodriguez. Ismael Rodriguez. Well I'm gonna go back up the list because I just seen Angel walk in. So you have the floor. You're on public speak out. So name and address for the record. Go to the podium.

Hello, good day. My name is Angel Rios, and I currently live in Springfield on 61 Better Way, 01109.

You have three minutes, sorry, I forgot to say that.

No worries.

Okay.

Well, good evening, everyone. I want to appreciate the city council for us having the opportunity to speak out. Again, my name is Angel Rios, and today I want to address the green spaces in Springfield. Currently, we have 52 parks. Two of those parks are swimming ponds, and one of those parks is Five Mile Pond, which is a park that I'm going to be talking about today. The history of Five Mile Pond from 2020, it was closed because of social distancing due to COVID. And it was to be open until further notice. And there was a recreational plan from 2022 for 2027 that has been proposed to the city of Springfield to repave one of the entrances of Five Mile Pond. and also put up a fishing dock for our fishers. Also addressing some of amenities like picnic tables and other necessities that will allow to bring the back park alive. And also addressing that this is a park that is 48 acres big. Now, something that I wanna bring attention is I love the fact that now we have been able to start renovating the park, bringing it back together. Currently, there's a subcontractor doing the repavement right now. So right now we're in the process of getting it done. Now, I do know that the recreational plan does not address other things like trash barrels. This is a park that's really close to me in walking distance. And this park does not have any trash barrels at this point. There's a lot of homeless people that are stationing there, like full-blown tents. Also acknowledging that this is a park where people still go, whether it's closed with a sign. This is also connected to neighborhoods where people are potentially illegally dumping, since this is a park connected to the park. And I think it's important for what I want to propose is to potentially revisit Five Mile Pond and see what could be the specific and details to make this park more sustainable. My background comes from construction and I understand lead certification. And I think it's important to kind of acknowledge how big this park is, 40 acres big, and how much potentiality that Five Mile Pond can bring after being six years of it not being too much attention to, so. I wanted to leave it there, and thank you.

Thank you, Angel. We will look into those. Did the counselors write them down? Trash, barrels, homelessness, illegal dumping, and just looking at the recreational plan overall, right?

Yes, yes.

Okay, so we'll be in touch, Angel. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right, so I'm gonna go back up the list to see if anyone else is here. John Johnson. John Johnson. Okay. Maria Lopez. No, Maria Lopez. Ismael Rodriguez. All right, I just wanna welcome Councilor Edwards and Councilor Fenton that joined us in person, but that will conclude the public speak out portion of this meeting. We will recess until 6.30, so we have four minutes. Thank you for your patience. Good evening, everyone. Today is Monday, September 21st, 2026. It is now 6.32, and we will begin the regular meeting of the City Council. Will councillors call the roll? Yes. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Councillor Scantonello. Absent. Councillor Martin.

Present.

Present, Councillor Perez. Absent, Councillor Brown.

I see her, Madam Clerk, but I don't know if she's having difficulty. We'll just call her at the end. Okay.

Okay. Councillor Brown. Absent, Councillor Govan. Present. Present, Councillor Walsh. Present. Present, Councillor Hurst.

Present.

Present, Councillor Davila. Absent, Councillor Fenton.

Present.

Present, Councillor Delgado.

Present.

Present, Councillor Klick-Bruce. Present. Present, Councillor Edwards.

Present.

Present, Councillor Whitfield.

Present.

Present.

Can you call Councillor Perez again? Councillor Perez.

Present. Present.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Will councillors and our guests please stand for a moment of silence? Please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Are there any reports of committee at this time? Councilor Govan?

Thank you, Madam President. The Finance Committee had two meetings in the last month. We had one on September 8th where we had the financial orders. I think I already reported on that, actually, so that one might be mute. And then we had one on September 14th, and the topic of that meeting was the CPC grant that Bella Aparements Redevelopment is applying for. We had a good discussion. Councilor Centinello, Edwards, Hurst, Perez, and Davila were all there, as well as many other people from the city. Attorney Wilson was there. Attorney Foster from New North Citizens Council. Attorney Shea. Bob, of course, from the CPA was there, and we had a discussion on the item that we're actually hearing today, and I think Councilor Hurst has some information that we should be waiting on a report that was supposed to have been received last week. So that's my report. Thank you, Madam President.

Are there any other, Councilor Fenton?

Thank you, Madam President. the Intergovernmental State and Federal Relations Committee met In August, I neglected to make this report at the last meeting. I missed it, so I apologize. But the council staff, by the way, has been doing a really great job with these committee report writings. So thank you to the council staff. In attendance from the council at that meeting were Councillor Santinello, Martin, Govan, Walsh, Davila, myself, and Delgado. We heard, as well as Councillor Edwards and Councillor Whitfield, virtually. We heard presentations from many of the RFP respondents for the Springfield Justice Center courthouse project, including Mr. Peter Picnelli, Mr. Jeb Belise, Tom Dennis, Dinesh Patel, Mr. Penelopoulos, Mr. Ross, Mr. Paul McNally, Dave Fontaine, Jeff Daley, and others. It was a very good discussion about the proposals that were submitted for this site and some of the visions that these primarily local business owners have for their respective properties in the downtown.

Thank you, Counselor. Any other reports of committee? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll on the reports of committee.

On acceptance, Councillor Santanello. Absent, Councillor Martin.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Perez. Yes. Yes, Councillor Brown. Absent, Councillor Govan. Yes. Yes, Councillor Walsh.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Hurst.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Davila. Absent, Councillor Fenton.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Delgado.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Click-Bruce. Yes.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Edwards.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Whitfield. Yes.

Item approved. Madam Clerk, please call the next item on the agenda.

Next item is the Springfield Parking Authority Strategy Presentation.

Is anyone here from the parking? Hi. Please state your name and address for the record.

Can you hear me now? Okay, perfect. Good evening, Mrs. President and city councillors. Thank you for having me in allowing us to make this presentation to you, which I will find informative and useful. As you may be aware, the city has awarded the Springfield Parking Authority many years ago, 2008, I believe, the rights to manage the on-street parking operations, including meter collection, sign repairs, replacement, enforcement, etc. Under that contract, we are required to report to the city time to time about operations, revenues, challenges, etc. And I recall a couple of years ago, there was an article in the Republican about the Springfield Parking Authority's facilities needing significant repairs. We were scrambling to figure out funding. Following that meeting, we pursued several grant opportunities, including one from the Department of Transportation. The grant application was submitted for 25 million. Unfortunately, we did not receive any grants, but we continued to pursue other opportunities. The same meeting, we also discussed that we always struggle to get the news out about parking to the city, the city council, about the smart technologies that's out there. And our city is growing, so how do we keep up with our growing needs? Let people know that you don't always have to carry coins in your pocket to pay for parking. You can actually use the app. There are smart cards and several other opportunities that we have in our city. I just can't get the news out, so hopefully this will help spread some of the good news. Over the past several months, we worked with Stantec. It's a company based out of Boston. They're very prominent and reputable in inter-mobility transportation and parking strategies. We worked with them closely to consolidate some data about the on-street parking. where meters are busier, what needs to be repaired, how efficient we are in going around and collecting the meter coins, the tickets that we write for people who park against the rules of the road, that sort of stuff. Our consultant, following my few words, will actually make a presentation to you. During the several months we noticed the meter revenues that we collect are declining for new developments like MGM and the Mass Mutual Center went through some construction. So we are facing some challenges, but we also have some opportunities that I would like to present to you. With all that, I wanted to introduce you to Stantec. Jason Schreiber, he's one of their principals. I believe he is in Tampa now, and he has a presentation he would like to go over. And I will stand around for follow-up questions. And Jason, I hope you can hear me. Try to keep it as brief as you can. I anticipate some follow-up questions from the city council. Thank you.

Sure. Thank you. I'm happy to be here. Thank you very much for cool and thank you to the Council for letting us share this information as book cool said we've been working for the last several months. In order to assess the operations at the authority and in downtown Springfield in general, please somebody speak up if you cannot see the screen for some reason, otherwise i'll proceed. So I'm going to run through a number of topics rather quickly and just to keep this moving, but we did get into some very good details about the inventory of parking that is in Springfield, how it's used, and of course the revenues as we've talked about. We'll talk a little bit about some recommended corrections. If I get anything wrong, I'm joined by my colleague, Bob Williams. He is an analyst based out of our Toronto, Ontario office to make sure that we have all of our details correct. Our study was really focused on a few things. It's really important to understand how folks from out of town use your system. I think we all here in this room may be very familiar with it, but the lifeblood of the economy is going to be the folks who come in and visit downtown businesses and visit their friends and live in downtown. Often ensuring parking availability is a primary goal of a parking system, letting people know that they can find a space that's convenient where they want to find it. and of course behind the scenes running a system that has enough revenue to cover it is extremely important and that certainly is one of the reasons that we're talking here tonight that revenue has been flagging for several years and it also has impacted the ability to improve facilities particularly the off-street garages in springfield so as part of our work we looked at what was there on the ground today in Springfield. There are over 12,000 parking spaces on this map that are facilities of significant size. About two-thirds of that is in private hands, but the SPA helps manage those about 800 on-street spaces. But there are 11,000 off-street spaces. Everything in this study area, for the most part, is going to be paid parking. There's some that's just time limited, but for the most part, it's paid parking. In the evenings, as you may know, the paid parking shuts off on street. But most off street spaces continue to be charged. And that's also true on the weekends. And this can sometimes contribute to some patterns of demand where people, of course, would prefer to park on street than off street. So when we talk about the parking authority's facilities themselves. On street in particular, we were able to calculate utilization rates based on meter data and aerial information and some observations on the ground. You can see the area that's outlined in red, which is close to City Hall, Court Street, Main Street, near the Boland intersection, is the highest area of utilization, averaging about 77%. Other areas in the rest of the downtown are significantly less utilized. A few blocks near the Worthington District are busy. That's where there's some restaurants and entertainment. Around there, a little bit less busy, dropping off from 64% to 42%. And then it quickly drops off as you get further away. And there's many assets, Liberty over by the train station, Dwight and Chestnut, that have very low utilization, under 20% utilized. The overall on-street utilization on average throughout Springfield is under 40%. An ideal system in this very busy kind of downtown environment would be utilized at more like 85%. And this is based on daytime data. At night when it goes free, many more people will park on-street. Off Street has similar conditions. The overall utilization is a little bit higher, 43%. It's a little bit busier, above 50% at the I-91 South garage, the Taylor Street garage. But as you can see, other lots and garages are very underutilized, sometimes barely a quarter utilized at the peak of the peak. So what does that mean? From a revenue perspective, it's definitely something to be concerned about. While the total revenues for each and every one of these facilities is seemingly a nice amount of money, you're pulling in about a quarter million dollars a month. In general, as we look at that, that's still a really far cry from what you might be able to be having based on this extensive supply that's being maintained. A large part of it is a lost opportunity for transient revenue. A large part of it is you're continuing to rely on just steady permit revenue in your garages. But on street in particular, this is an area where it's 20% of the overall supply, but it's under 10% of the overall revenue. And so we immediately see a relationship that doesn't seem to follow exactly what we would normally be advocating in this type of a situation where Your average revenue per parking space at under $3 per day is significantly lower than peer cities such as Hartford. It's even really only comparable to Northampton. It's lower than a small city like West Hartford in Connecticut. But what's more concerning is that you have a very heavy reliance to make up maybe for revenues on enforcement. And so enforcement is bringing in about five times as much revenue as your on street meter take. A healthy parking system, it's usually a flipped relationship, about two times on street revenue to enforcement revenue. So this really says to us that there's a lot of chasing people around for expired meters and exceeding time limits and figuring out unauthorized parking, but not actually letting somebody kind of pay their fair way. And so you'll wind up with patterns of people finding their most convenient parking space and there's some really high demand areas that are very, very few. And then there's lots of other areas where folks are just avoiding enforcement. Utilization is low. They're traveling about the downtown to find the greatest opportunity they can, but not necessarily finding their most ideal parking space. And honestly, we have an oversupply. On street, a great amount of parking spaces just not being well utilized. Off street, a significant oversupply that isn't being well utilized. And amidst all this, we know the concerns about availability, safety, walkability, overall downtown vitality are important. So we want to try to figure out how we can make a system work better and fund some of the needed improvements. So as we look at potential for the on-street parking system, we have to just sort of acknowledge that the current system, which is 50 cents an hour, wherever you go with a time limit, is essentially like a flat tax. So I showed you earlier, there's very big variations in utilization. In some places, it's maybe hard to find a parking space, but if you were incentivized to go far away for some reason, you pay the same price. In fact, you may be more liable to get a ticket or an overtime ticket because it takes you a little bit longer to walk there. There is no incentive to actually do the right thing. So one of the things that we looked at was, The system could be making twice as much revenue in an ideal world, it should be, and that many best practice places not only here in the Commonwealth but around the country are instead using a tiered pricing system. They are also allowing that pricing to regulate the length of stay so they will lengthen if not completely eliminate time limits and make it much more of a carrot as opposed to a stick to park in downtown. This is happening in your backyard Where Northampton on Main Street, it can be four times as much to park in some of the remote parking areas. Amherst has exactly this. These are small communities who've learned from this tiered pricing and have been very successful at it. Even tiny little Greenfield up the river does just this. Pittsfield Mass has been a great example of doing this for a long time. where you can find a cheaper space as long as you leave the high demand areas. Were you to apply this in Springfield, we just mapped it against utilization patterns, you would see some areas of higher pricing, a couple areas where we think you could probably add pricing, but as you can see, it's only a few blocks at that higher rate we've modeled of $1.50 an hour. Most of the core area would be at a dollar an hour, which I'll show you in a minute is keeping in line with every place in the area, not just the few I showed you. But there's not only an area that stays at 50 cents, there's significant areas where utilization is so low, we're recommending that the price becomes zero and that the meters are removed. And this also helps reduce operational costs, but it helps to reward the people who will walk a little bit further. Under the scenario I'm going to model for you, this is actually a removal of more price spaces than we've added. nearly 100 spaces, a net of about 80 or so, are removed from the pricing system. And the way this works, you would likely increase revenues by a third. But most importantly, the system is designed to incentivize people to do the right thing and create parking availability. And somebody working well at SPA can monitor this regularly, use the same data that we've had, And adjust pricing. This is very important because sometimes the price that you're charging may actually still be too low. The market in the area is often $2 an hour. Similarly, for off-street parking, you have a large system, as I said before. These are the garages the SPA and LOTS is in charge of. But sadly, you know, there's still 1,800 empty spaces at peak. But you're only about a third of the overall parking supply again in downtown. There's many other players, and we don't have all the data to know exactly what's going on. But we do know that the SPA facilities are for the most part in a different sub area of downtown. They more or less have their own market more on the northern side of downtown at least. compared to the Convention Center and MGM. And that's kind of helpful because some of these markets can operate in different ways, but the reality is many of the current costs across all of downtown are the same. So it doesn't matter where you go, you're going to get the same price. As I'll show, these are also relatively economical rates. And part of that problem is that there's no flexibility in the system and it's not responding to demands. So there's many more people, as I said, interested in Taylor Street and the I-91 South garage. And then we're winding up with the same rates, far fewer people wanting to bother going to the I-91 North garage. or other parking lots so one of the opportunities here is to say can we look at those lower occupancy places as places to give discounts on the current rates but then reflect better more realistic market conditions at the places that are in high demand and so this would pretty much say you would have different rates for different facilities and in this model that we've run This would actually attract some people because you've created some discounts for monthly parking and get an overall system-wide revenue increase. We're saying here about 6%, but that's fairly significant since most of your revenue right now is in the off-street facilities. So rates that are again relatively flat amongst even the SPA facilities, we would make some adjustments that respond. to their demands people would see that some have a pretty greater deal at for instance the columbus center garage but that some of the rates for instance for unreserved parking at the ninety one south garage may go up These types of variations, overall, only have a minor increase in the total average permit cost, but in many places, there's a discount for people, which is helpful and drives up demand. We also tested, just before I conclude briefly, a way of also layering in how you might tailor these types of permit costs, even with individual tenants. We took four of the largest tenants that are on SPA's roles, and looked at just what their revenues are from those permit holders And if we were to actually offer to them a discount permit at a second garage that's just a little bit further away, but a more premium price along the lines of what we were just talking about for the place that they're in, we've modeled that a lot of people would go to the discount, but some people would be thrilled to be able to know that they can get a convenient space where they wanted it. And this can also be a jump in revenues. We're modeling at about 9%. I think in conclusion, one of the most important things to think about is where you are. Many of these other smaller communities generally should not be charging more than you off-street, though Amherst actually already is, and they definitely charge more on-street because they've recognized that this is where the market is at, but they also have those tiers of demand. We look at some of the bigger markets in the area. You're absolutely below what's going on in Hartford and West Hartford for off street as well as on street. And Worcester, which hasn't quite at least municipally gotten to quite as high for the monthly permits, is definitely charging more on street as well. So Springfield may need to start catching up, not just from, oh, are we charging the right price, but definitely from, can we make our system work better for the customer? When we start to look at the revenues that are operating in other places and you start to look at the actual activity on the ground in downtown Hartford and places like West Hartford and even small Northampton, it's also about access and economic development. And that's sometimes reflected very well in parking revenues. And so we know that if we follow some of the tiered pricing recommendations from all these other precedent communities, that that will be better for customers. We also know that you're already, while charging rates that may be higher, at least off street from some of the other smaller cities, you're absolutely lagging behind, for instance, a pier like Hartford. And we know that revenues would go up if we followed those tiered pricing recommendations. What does this mean? Well, this means that there's many things in the system that could be improved. We have needs for better way finding parking technologies, information about where to find those spaces. Yes.

I'm sorry to interrupt, but we do have a whole city council meeting to get through. We would love to have you back in a subcommittee meeting at some point and we can go fully into the details, but we actually have a whole ceremony for a street naming and we have people in the audience that came for that tonight. I guess I didn't realize this presentation would be this long when it showed up on the agenda. But we can definitely dig deeper into this strategy at a subcommittee meeting.

I'm happy to have you do that. And this is actually my last slide. But thank you very much for listening. Thank you. I think there's some opportunities that are worth exploring.

Thank you, Jason. I appreciate it. And Mr. Bocul, I don't know if councillors have one brief question or comment, but I would first like to recognize councillor sitting in seat number one.

Councillor Santanello.

Here.

Present.

And councillor in seat number eight.

Councillor Davila. Councillor Davila.

All right, we will come back to Councilor in seat number eight. I do see him online, but he might have stepped away. So thank you for the presentation, Councilor Edwards.

Thank you, Madam President. Councilor Davila and myself both attended this meeting and saw this presentation in its entirety. And my question to you is, would it be appropriate for me to make a motion for it to be sent to the appropriate committee for further consultation? Chair, I think that's great. I make a motion to send to the appropriate committee.

Okay, motion made by Councillor Edwards is sent to the appropriate committee, seconded by Councillor Santanello. Okay, Santanello. And so we will send this to the, what is this? Oh, I think Finance Committee, because it is talking about revenue. So we will send it to the Finance Committee. And we will get that scheduled with you, Mr. McCool and Jason, so that we can have the full presentation and we're able to freely ask questions, because I do have some questions myself. Okay, thank you. So we'll be in touch. Thank you for joining us today.

Thank you.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, please call the next item on the agenda. On the motion to committee. Motion to committee.

Councillor Santanello.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Martin.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Perez. Yes. Yes, Councillor Brown. Absent. Councillor Govan. Yes. Yes, Councillor Walsh. Yes. Yes, Councillor Hurst.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Davila.

Please recognize Councillor Brown.

Present and yes.

Present and yes. Councillor Fenton.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Delgado.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Click-Bruce. Yes. Yes, Councillor Edwards.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Whitfield.

Yes. Item approved. Madam Clerk, please call the next item on the agenda.

The next item is an honoree street sign in honor of Cornell Forbes.

Will the family and friends of Mr. Forbes please join us at the podium. And please state your name and address for the record.

Hi, my name is Tilesia Hunter. Sorry. And my address is 162 Rollins Street in Springfield, Mass. Okay. Thank you for allowing us all to be here today. Cornell is my uncle, but more like a father figure to me, as he is for many people in the Springfield community. However, knowing some of his life story and the humble beginnings that he comes from to single-handedly see the legacy that he's acquired makes this a little bit more important to me. I personally grew up going to his restaurant alongside his children before school, and early mornings on Saturday as he'd prep food for the day and teach us how things are done as we try to help. In high school, I worked in his restaurant and saw how many people he's helped within the community, from giving free meals, donating to charities, giving opportunities to the downtrodden and overlooked, literally helping anybody who would ask. Even now as an adult, when I come across complete strangers, I'm met with long-winded stories about how Cornell is such a great man or how he's helped them in some way. He's brought the community out and together for, as long as I can remember, from his yearly customer appreciations to simple pop-up events. He's fostered a community within a community, a safe haven for people to meet and be merry, all while enjoying a delicious meal. And he's done so for over 30 years. Through all that he's done, he's never asked for any recognition, praise, or thanks. But me, as well as the rest of my family and the members of the community, believe that he is more than well deserving of this street sign and the recognition it comes with not only for his contribution, but his humility. And thank you guys so much.

Oh, thank you so much. Is anyone else speaking? We have any questions or comments from counselors. Counselor click Bruce.

Thank you, madam president. Also want to, uh, recognize Catalina for being the catalyst behind this street honor on behalf of Mr. Forbes. And the location, those that don't know, is Talk of the Town. It's a staple in our community. And Mr. Forbes, as already been stated, has done a lot of just goodwill. He's a great man. I've known him. throughout the years, and he's always, always been about the community. So again, I want to thank Catalina for bringing this up, played a small role in helping her achieve this for her friend, Mr. Forbes, and I want to thank the family for coming out, and this is a great recognition for a great man. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Councilor Click-Bruce. ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS FROM COUNCILOR HURST?

I'D BE REMISS IF I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING. I APPRECIATE, I TOO APPRECIATE MR. FORBES' INVESTMENT IN THIS CITY. IT'S NOT EASY TO RUN A SMALL BUSINESS. IT'S ALSO NOT EASY TO BE A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER OF COLOR IN THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD. do so much for the residents of Springfield and to give back in the way in which you've done. So I appreciate you. The success is well deserved. And thank you for being a staple in the community with amazing food.

Yeah, the amazing food. When I saw them, I thought I was getting some red bean soup or something. I was like, what? When I saw the whole family in here. So I would be remiss if I didn't say some words. How long has Talk of the Town been in our community? 35, 40 years? Oh, yeah, 35, 40 years in the same spot, delivering the same fantastic service and food that you have been serving for so many years. But more than that, you are so personable, easy to talk to. Community can come to you, Mr. Forbes, and ask you for anything. And if it's within your means, you will give it. So it's a privilege and a blessing for me to be able to speak on this subject. I might be not following the rules, but for you, I'm going to not follow the rules today because this is such a great honor and privilege. So thank you, Catalina, for doing this. And Councilor Click-Bruce is the right person to go to. If anybody want a street name, Councilor Click-Bruce got the whole guideline on how to get it done. So thank you Councilor Click-Bruce also for your fantastic work. I send everybody to you. I'd be like, I don't know. But Councilor Click-Bruce knows the pathway for that. So thank you for that. All right, any other comments or questions on the petition? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll on the petition.

On approval, Councillor Santanello.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Martin.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Perez. Yes. Yes, Councillor Brown absent. Councillor Govan. Yes. Yes, Councillor Walsh. Yes. Yes, Councillor Hurst.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Davila.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Fenton.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Delgado.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Quick-Bruce.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Edwards.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Whitfield.

Yes. Item approved. Congratulations. Do you all have a date or when you will be... October 1st. Counselor, click Bruce.

Yeah, I did advise Catalina. It's a little process. It has to come to a vote here. Then we'll, once approved here, it goes to DBW. I don't know if they can turn around and sign that quickly. But what I can do is send them an email tonight and have them get in contact with you.

All right, thank you. You're trying to put some pressure on us. Thank you. Mr. Cornell, Mr. Cornell, did you want to say anything?

She told me I wouldn't have to say anything. You did. But I would like to say thanks to the committee. And I can't say enough to Catalina. She spearheaded this whole thing behind my back. And I so appreciate her and appreciate all my friends here who came to support me. But to the city council, thank you all.

All right.

Well, congratulations again. Madam Clerk, please call the next three items together.

The next three items are Eversource petitions for Oakland Street, Plainfield Street, and Dwight Street.

Is there anyone here to speak on behalf of the Eversource petitions? Oh, I see Zach Berry. Oh, oh, oh, Hector. Yeah, I didn't see him. Hi, Hector, please state your name and address for the record.

There we go. Can you hear me? Okay. I'm Hector Velez, DPW Engineering Department.

Okay. Are you going to speak to these three petitions?

Yes. I have Oakland Street. It's a petition from Eversource. They want to improve and upgrade the system of building 41 Oakland Street. It's for an emergency elevator they're going to install in that building. I think this is the city, it's part of the city. And they want to upgrade. They're going to install 155 feet of pipes, conduit to that building, 41 Oakland Street.

Any questions on Oakland Street from councillors?

Okay, the next one. Okay, the next one is Eversource Electric. The petition is to eliminate a switch gear behind the library, Springfield Library in Plainfield Street. They have a switch gear behind and they want to eliminate that switch gear and install like a box on the sidewalk in front of the parking lot to eliminate the system that is going back to the parking lot. It's just like a small box on the sidewalk and just abandoned the other country that is going through the parking lot to behind the Springfield Library.

Okay. Any questions from counselors on Plainfield Street petition? All right. And the final one, Hector?

This is Dwight Street. They're going to start like 500... around approximately 500 feet of concrete, 405 inches. This has to do with the upgrade and service to a new building on 195 State Street. Let me see. Let me be sure the address.

Do, do, do, do.

Yeah, it's a new rental building that's going to be on State Street and Maple Street. This service is to upgrade and create better service to those buildings in that area in Dwight Street and Maple and State. It's going to run from... It's going to run from Hillmar Street to State Street on Dwight Street. It's a new paving, but they agreed to pave Dwight Street from curb to curb and all the painting on all the bike lanes and parking, all the paint. And they have to restore that like it is right now.

So you said they're paving? I just didn't understand what you said. I'm sorry.

DPW paved that last year.

Oh, DPW.

Yeah, and it's in a moratorium, but Eversource agreed to pave curve to curve the whole section like brand new again.

Any questions from counselors on that one?

Council Fenton. Thank you, Madam President. Hector, whenever source agrees to do that, do their contractors do the work or do we perform that complete repaving and then invoice them for it? Their contractors.

Their contractors will do it. And we have to supervise the contractor. They have to do the work that we already done. Okay. Thank you.

Any other counselors? All right. Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll on the three petitions. On approval, Councillor Santanello.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Martin. Yes. Yes, Councillor Perez. Yes. Yes, Councillor Brown absent. Councillor Govan. Yes. Yes, Councillor Walsh. Yes. Yes, Councillor Hurst.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Davila.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Fenton.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Delgado.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Klick-Bruce.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Edwards.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Whitfield.

Yes. Items approved. Madam Clerk, please call the next item on the agenda.

Next item is an order granting easement to the City of Springfield at 82 Crystal Book Drive.

Hector?

Is it the same easement? Six and seven, yeah. It's two easements.

One moment. Madam clerk, please call item number 7 as well. So item 7 is an order granting easement of the City of Springfield at 74 Crystalbrook Drive.

Thank you. This is requesting an easement between two houses on Crystalbrook Drive. It's an extension of Crystalbrook. It's a subdivision. Right now, Crystalbrook is a public way. They have a drainage pipe between two houses, lot number 10 and 11, address 74 Crystal Brook Drive and 82 Crystal Brook Drive. DPW is requesting Eastman to have access in case they have to repair that pipe that is connected to the main system, the main drainage system on the street. is about 10 feet from one side and 10 feet from the other side by 80.

Councilors? Councilor Martin?

Thank you, Madam President. I just want to say quickly, the street is in Ward 7. I did speak with the Outer Belt Civic Association president earlier about this, and it's non-controversial, no problem. very administrative, so supporting it. It's all good.

Thank you, Councillor. Any other question or comments? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll on items six and seven.

On approval, Councillor Santanello.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Martin.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Perez. Yes. Yes, Councillor Councilor Brown absent. Councilor Govan. Yes. Yes. Councilor Walsh. Yes. Yes. Councilor Hurst.

Yes.

Yes. Councilor Davila.

Yes.

Yes. Councilor Fenton.

Yes.

Yes. Councilor Delgado.

Yes.

Yes. Councilor Klick-Bruce.

Yes.

Yes. Councilor Edwards.

Yes.

Yes. Councilor Whitfield. Yes.

Items approved. Thank you, Hector. All right. We are at unfinished business, and I see commissioner Helen Carlton Harris, councilor Hurst.

Yes, I'd like to take this item out of unfinished business. We had a subcommittee meeting on this particular issue. This is on for second and third step. I was joined by myself, as well as councilor Walsh, and we didn't have enough Folks to approve this to the larger body Favorably, but I would imagine that many of my colleagues will be in favor of this item we We got to hear from Chanelle and Commissioner Helen Colton-Harris, and we were extremely excited by the youth commission. And if you were here for a public speak-out and you heard the gentleman speak on why he felt it was important for us to have a youth commission, you all would have been just as touched as I was. There are a number of issues that I believe our young people can inform us about, and we certainly need to have them at the table, and this Youth Commission will do just that. So with that being said, I'd love to hear from Commissioner Helen Cohen-Harris or Chanel, and you can sort of just give us an oversight as to what this Youth Commission will do, as I am super excited to support this.

have the voices of young people as we move the city of Springfield forward. So I am so excited to be a part of this effort to bring those voices to fruition in our city. I'm going to ask our health and racial equity individual who is going to move this forward to say a few words as we think about transitioning this city into the hands of our younger people. Please, Chanel Ford. Thank you, Commissioner. Chanel?

Hello, our amazing city council and Madam President. Thank you all for the opportunity to stand. Before you yet again, just to I'm just overwhelmed with gratitude, honestly, at this point. I'm just excited for our youth to be able to amplify their voice because it's not our job to give them their voice. It's our job to provide an opportunity for them to use it. And just the simple fact that they'll be able to engage on this level I am ecstatic and I just can't wait to really just talk to them. And honestly, more importantly, just listen because that's absolutely what we need more of. And the fact that this is going to be a collective effort across the city, across departments, that's exactly what being in community is all about. So I am honored and I'm humbled to be able to coordinate this out of the department and work with all of you. So again, I just say thank you.

Thank you, Chanel. Any questions or comments from counselors? Counselor Walsh? Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here. Counselor Chambers. Counselor, can you turn your mic on again?

I attended that meeting, and I think it's very important for us as elected officials to always listen to when any member, a young person who attends our schools, when they come forward with petitions and requests, I think it's very important for our future and their future to support all those efforts. The young man tonight, I think that's a perfect example of the enthusiasm reflected by Helen and Chanel for this project, and I hope this is gonna be unanimous, and I hope that there's something in place, a mechanism, so that we, the full council, hears back what the Youth Commission comes up with. I don't know, Councilor Hurst, if that's included in this. But I'm 100% for this.

Thank you, Councilor. Councilor Hurst?

I spoke to Chanel, and she assured me that she will be briefing the council regularly, and more importantly, she'll have our young people brief the council regularly.

That's fantastic.

Councilor Click-Bruce? Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Commissioner Harris. Thank you, Chanel. for this. I'm excited about the Youth Commission. I just have a question. When are we looking to get started with the process, application? I don't know how it's going to roll out, but when are we looking to get started?

We have considered a process. We do have some documents that we are excited to share with the city council and with the mayor around talking about a process. However, we know that it will be your decision what that process looks like. And so we expect to meet with the president of the city council or her designee and the mayor to talk about the process that we're outlining and hopefully we can all agree on that process and begin to recruit those youth who will be excited and interested in being a part of the council with the recommendations.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Thank you, Councillor. Councillor Delgado.

Thank you. I just want to thank everybody involved. I was just surprised that we didn't already have this going on. I'm like, what were we doing? So thank you, everybody involved, for bringing it back. I agree that, you know, our youth are some of the most important, if not the most important voices that we need to be listening to. Just as Councilor Hurst mentioned earlier with the young man, that's our future. We say that a lot, but like, if we keep dictating to them, like, no, we need to listen to them. They have ideas. They have solutions for the Type of city that they want to live in so I'm just excited that this is going on and I'm proud to support it Thank You councillor Delgado councillor Santanello.

Yeah, I just want to say that I'm in favor this also and also I want to point out for the record that we have dozens of vacancies on boards and commissions in this city and we should be looking for our youth and to be on those boards and commissions. Because every time a nomination comes before us, it seems to be the same old, same old. And I think that's gotta change. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Santanello.

Councilor Govan. Thank you, Madam President. I want to commend Commissioner Calton Harris for moving this forward and Chanel for doing the work and Council Hurst, of course, for holding the committee meetings. I think I agree with what everyone said. We now should just be saying that the youth are our future. We need to be acting like it. And this is a great opportunity for them to do that. So I'm really excited to see what this looks like and to see what comes of it. Thank you. Thank you so much, Madam President.

Thank you, Councilor Govan. And this is on for second and third step, is that correct, Madam Clerk? Yes. Okay. Any other questions or comments from... You're not a city councilor, ma'am, sorry. You can email us. We'll be glad to read it. Send us an email, text us. Yeah, you can ask her soon as we vote. But maybe you'll be up here one day. All right. Madam Clerk, please call the roll for second and third step.

On second and third steps, Councillor Santanello.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Martin.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Perez. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Second and third step pass, congratulations. Thank you. All right, go youth.

Councilor Govan. Thank you, Madam President. After our committee meeting on Monday regarding item number 11, would it be appropriate to take it out of unfinished business so we could have a discussion and possibly a vote? Then I will. I do want to have, if I may, through the president, Councilor Hurst was waiting on a report from the commission. Is this an appropriate time to bring that forward?

Council Hurst, do you have something you want to add?

So I'll say a couple of things and then I'll and then I'll get to your question. I get to your question. Councilor Govan. First of all, my my concerns on this particular issue remain the same. The City Council was set to approve $100,000 in taxpayer money, Madam President, to a for profit company managed by our clerk. to me that that is Problematic and it just doesn't look good Our clerk is also the president of the board of the New North Citizens Council, which also stands to financially benefit from this hundred thousand dollar appropriation and once again to me, I think we need to be extremely careful and considering that there is a financial benefit. To my knowledge, there have been no disclosures. And certainly, there have not been any formal disclosures, not from our clerk, to my knowledge, nor from ourselves, considering that the clerk does indeed work for the City Council. We've yet to receive any guidance on how to handle this issue. Certainly, if we have received guidance, it hasn't been independent, and in my personal opinion, it hasn't been credible. What I can tell you is that at the very least, there is an appearance of a conflict that I believe this body needs to be knowledgeable of and extremely cautious of prior to us voting. You know, and I think it can be easily perceived that we are giving preferential treatment to someone who is employed by or hired by the city council. And for those reasons, I believe that this particular item, Madam President, ought to remain in committee. As it relates to the Ethics Commission and what it is that I was supposed to be receiving, unfortunately, I'm not able to speak to what it is that I've received. And the reason in which I'm not able to speak to what it is that I've received is because for doing what I think we all are charged to do, which is to represent and advocate on behalf of the residents of Springfield, I am now the subject of an investigation. I would imagine it probably is an attempt to silence me, although I know anyone who knows me well understands that that will never occur so long as I believe I am spot on on the issues. I will continue to raise them as I've done with this particular issue. And there is no one who can honestly say that this here is not a legitimate issue that is of concern and that ought to be looked into. I also want you all to understand that the same way that I'm being investigated, it is quite possible that all of you very well may be investigated depending on what side of the aisle you're on. And so I think you ought to operate from a sense of cautiousness and from a sense of understanding that if you choose to speak out on a difficult issue, you too may be the subject of an investigation. And so unfortunately, I've had to retain outside counsel as a result of a frivolous claim and what ultimately may be a frivolous lawsuit. And so while I hope it doesn't occur to any of my colleagues, I will tell you that what I don't think we should do tonight is vote on this issue until all of these issues have been resolved. Those that have that are taking place with myself and potential litigation that may come, as well as us having a better understanding and a better grasp as to what is exactly going on here, because we have yet to get to the bottom of a lot of the issues and concerns that I believe many of you have. And unfortunately, I cannot disclose what it is that I know because, again, I am the subject of a lawsuit or of a potential lawsuit. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Counselor Hurst. Any, Councilor Govan.

Thank you, Madam President. So I'm not clear. At our meeting last week, we were told that you sent a request, that Councilor Hurst sent a request to the Ethics Commission at the state, and that we were waiting on a response from them regarding the issue. So, and I said at that meeting that we would, you know, take a vote on today so that we could dispose of this item, which has been lingering for a very long time. And I don't know if we got a response and if we could be privy to it because it affects the council, you know, um, I'm not sure what's going to happen to you personally. I hope nothing. However, you know, we as a body should be taking a vote because that's what my task was at our last meeting. I was tasked with having a committee meeting, which I did. We had a lot of, um, people there. We had, um, new North citizens council, their attorneys, our attorneys, council Wilson was there. Um, Attorney Wilson, I should say. And, you know, we heard what I heard. Maybe I didn't hear right. What I heard was that there's no ethical issues for us to be scared of, I guess I could say, and that we should take a vote on it. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Counselor Govan. Counselor Santanella?

Yeah. I AM I WAS AT THAT MEETING ALSO. AND WE DID ASK THE ATTORNEY IF THERE WAS ANY FINANCIAL INTEREST ON THE PART OF THE CLERK BEING ON THAT BOARD. AND HE ANSWERED NO.

WHICH ATTORNEY? IF YOU CAN CLARIFY WHICH ATTORNEY COUNSELOR SANTANA.

THE ATTORNEY THAT REPRESENTED THE NEW NORTH CITIZENS COUNCIL. And we were told at the meeting that there was no financial interest on the part of the clerk. My problem here is that we're holding this up and this could be held up indefinitely. And we did hear at that meeting that there's a time limit. There's a time frame for the developer on this project. So I'm prepared this evening to take a vote on it one way or the other. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Santanello. Councilor Delgado.

Thank you. I was not at the meeting, but I did watch the video of the meeting, and I pretty much heard the same thing from the attorneys representing New North. They broke it down pretty clean and simple, in my opinion. It was stated that the city clerk created this LLC by Councilor Hurst. The attorney said this was created prior to her even being there or even the interim executive director. So it wasn't created by her. Actually, the names on it were Maria Ligas and Jose Claudio. So that to me was one piece of it. What I also took from it was that they create LLCs, these organizations separate from the nonprofit so that if anything happens on these builds, the nonprofit is not helped. liable for a lot of that stuff. No different than when we vote on that same agenda where Wayfinders came to us, and Wayfinders also had a separate LLC for their construction and what they're doing. On top of that, the CPA committee, which is the committee that reviewed it, awarded it, they did the work. And from what I understand from New North, their developer was the one that did the work between the CPA, between New North, I'M ON BOARDS OF TRUSTEES FOR DIFFERENT THINGS. YOUR JOB IS YOU ARE THE BOSS OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR IS THE ONE THAT CONTROLS THE OPERATIONS AND THINGS, ANY THINGS THAT HAPPEN WITH THAT ORGANIZATION. SO WHEN WE GO ON, NOW WE GO ON TO THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST BECAUSE THAT'S BEEN STATED MULTIPLE TIMES ON HERE THAT CONFLICT OF INTEREST, VIOLATIONS, CORRUPTION, WHAT HAVE YOU. I THINK ATTORNEY WILSON WHO was on the subcommittee, I think said it pretty much himself, independent person, attorney himself. He said the city clerk has no control over what is on the agenda, does not participate in the debate, and cannot vote on the items, which when you look at the repeatedly what's been looked at as the conflict of interest, that is the piece. You have to have participation in that to be able to have, I guess, a conflict. So what he said is there's nothing for her to recuse or disclose. Again, this is what I'm hearing from that piece. And I looked at the conflict of interest stuff. I read it. I don't think you need to be an attorney to look into and to read that. You just need to look it up. But the key definition is participate. And participate, and that means approval, disapproval, decision-making, recommendation, none of which The city clerk has anything to do. She adds stuff to the agenda. That is the role of the president to add the stuff to the agenda. She does not vote on the matter again. She is the administrative mechanism. So we're going around in circles. I think to me this has been dragged long enough. I think it's been a big distraction for the city. I think we need to get back to voting to the stuff that's important to the residents. I can appreciate it being flagged. When it was flagged, I looked into it. And then when I saw it, I was like, all right, so I'm ready to vote on this today. And I don't think we should be holding up anymore.

Thank you, Councilor Delgado. Councilor Hurst.

Thank you. I think everybody should vote their conscience. If you think that, you know, at the end of the day, you won't be subject to an ethics violation claim yourself, then. than vote in favor of. What I will tell you is that the idea that we don't know when our clerk is coming before us and is looking for money that is going to benefit her organization is a problem. I had no idea before a resident flagged it for me a few hours before the meeting that there may be an issue, that our clerk was the manager of this company, which is what I've always said, the manager of this company. And if you go to the Secretary of State's website, which I had to do to verify, she was indeed the manager of this company, and it's a for-profit company. We would have never, ever known that. The idea that that is acceptable for this body is a problem. I won't speak again on this issue, Madam President, as I know everybody wants to get this over with and go home. I recognize it's a difficult issue, but that's what we're charged to deal with. Something like this can't continue to occur, and we just say it's okay. It just can't. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Councilor Hurst. Councilor Hurst? No. I would like to say something, Councilor Delgado, if you will come.

Oh, did you want to? Okay. Yes, you go first.

Thank you, Madam President. I'll be very brief. There's aspects of the accusations that may be litigated outside in a different form. But let me just say this. I agree with Councilor Hurst. We should all vote our conscience. This issue has gone on long enough. It needs to be settled. The CPA committee, which is charged with vetting applicants for the application of those funds, has done their job. I think at this point it's doing a disservice and a besmirchment of their service to the city. that they put in as much effort to that and to make sure that it was appropriate for this entity to receive these funds. I'll just simply say this. Just because something is said repeatedly and often and loudly does not necessarily make it true.

Thank you, Councillor. Councillor Delgado.

Madam President.

Thank you, Mr. President, for right now. Just a couple of things I want to say. First, this is regular city council business. To just say we need to just vote our conscience, pass it or not, Is not doing it justice. This is the work no matter how long it takes. There has been items that has taken longer. That we've had in front of the Council. So just to say because it's been on the agenda and it is. Like controversial. We should hurry up and pass it. I personally am not going to put myself in the position of any litigation. So. I'm just being as honest as I can. I will not be voting in favor of this item. And that is my conscience. For a couple reasons. I don't trust the law department for the city of Springfield. And I'm definitely not going to trust the law department of the New North Citizens Council, who is actually going to say everything that they need to say in order to get this passed because it's for their benefit. I have nothing personally against the city clerk. Nothing. So I want to put that out there, and this does not have anything to do with the city clerk's character. She does great work. Me and her have great communication. She does a fantastic job, and I like working with her. But when it comes to ethics, I think that the process should be the same process that I went through. The same exact process. I did go through an ethics investigation. A 101-page report was written from multiple people in multiple departments. And I went through that. And it took some time. And it was brought up again. And I was in front of the media. And all these things happened. But now we should just pass it along without knowing if we're going to face litigation in the future We can all put in a request for our own ethics report just to see. Counselor Hearst may have his report, may not, but because of the litigation he's facing, he's not going to present that at the time. But that doesn't mean any single one of us can go out to the Massachusetts Ethics Department, which I intend to do. I'm just going to say that on the record for my sanity and my safety. And I want all of you to consider your own safety and potential litigation that we all can face if ethics don't necessarily agree with our personal feelings. We've got to take feelings out of this situation because it's not saying that we don't like and respect the city clerk, but we have a job to do as city councilors, and I intend to do my job, and I intend to do my job. So I just wanted to put that on the record. It's not personal. It is not personal. It is our job. It is the work that we have been set here to do. When our law department cannot give laws, actual findings of the mass general laws, any type of laws based on a request that I asked for and said, just go by the memo that had no substantial laws to follow. I cannot trust a law department that will do that. So that's my take. I'm going to vote against this and I will be voting my heart. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam President. Anyone else? Anybody else on TV land? No?

Councillor Fenton. Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to reiterate some of the confusion that Councillor Govan raised earlier about what documentation has been requested and what the status of that was. I also watched the tape of the meeting. Thank you for holding it. And it was also my understanding that there was a PENDING ETHICS REPORT FROM THE ETHICS COMMISSION THAT WOULD BE FORTHCOMING. I WASN'T AWARE OF ANY INVESTIGATIONS THAT COUNCILOR HIRST JUST ALLUDED TO, AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THOSE INVESTIGATIONS ARE ABOUT OR FRANKLY WHO'S EVEN INVESTIGATING THEM, BUT CAN ANY FURTHER INFORMATION BE SHED ON THE STATUS OF THAT REPORT FROM THE ETHICS COMMISSION AND EXACTLY WHY WE CAN'T GET IT AT THIS TIME? Concerns.

Yes, you can get it because I'm not giving it to you. I'm not giving it to you because I am the subject of an investigation that since that time is taking place. In fact, I'd imagine that some other colleagues probably have been made aware of it. And As a result of a claim, folks have retained outside counsel to investigate me. In an effort, I would argue, to silence folks from raising legitimate issues that are of concern to the residents of Springfield. And so with that being said, I've been advised not to share anything that I've received in all of the documentation that I have, which as an attorney, Counselor Fenton, you ought to understand.

Thank you, Madam President. Well, Mr. President, thank you, Counselor Hurst. I certainly understand. What I don't understand is the nature of the investigation. I appreciate you shedding light on that, and I suppose that answers the question. Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else? Madam President. Sorry, I have forgot to mention, you made a comment that I add all the items to the agenda.

I don't. I go through the items and I approve the agenda.

You approve the agenda. Yes, I approve the agenda. So there is, I just wanted to make sure that we're clear on sometimes how the items get on the agenda. The city clerk does actually put them on the agenda. But you approve them, correct? But I do approve them, yes.

You don't put them on the agenda? No. Who puts them on the agenda?

Because I usually get the agenda from you. Yes.

Can she respond?

I'll allow it.

Okay. The items are put on by the respective departments. So, for example, finance puts on the finance items. Hector puts on the petitions. So each department adds their own.

All right, so I stand corrected is the departments and probably sometimes the counselors. But yes, I don't personally do it either. But I do review and approve.

Thank you for the correction. Counselor Govan.

Thank you, Mr. President. I guess what I'm thinking about is all that has transpired since we first saw this item on the agenda on, I want to say August 21st, when the CPC put all their 20 items on the agenda for us to approve. After that meeting, We put this one, send it to committee. We don't know what committee it was sent to. But we did get, I guess, an opinion from the law department, which I know some of us may not trust. I don't trust attorneys. No offense to attorneys here. But we got some opinion. We got an opinion at last week's meeting. We got an opinion. We have an opinion from the Ethics Commission. We don't know what that is yet. Because it's not being shared. What I'm thinking is, you know, it sounds like the opinions that we got, some of us don't like. So because of that, we're looking for more opinions. And we keep getting the same opinion, in my opinion, right? We heard a lot of testimony last week. I know Mr. Stokes said, shared his comments about mass general law. There's really a big difference. And I do not want to seem like I'm defending or taking sides. What I'm doing is trying to be fair, trying to just do the work of the council. And there's a big difference between what happened with our council president and with this city clerk situation, right? Because Madam President, of course, had a stake in that agenda item. She was able to vote on it if it had gone through. So I understand that mistake.

I was deliberating.

I know that. But, you know, as a city councilor, you could vote on it, right? Madam Clerk has no opinion, has not even any comments that she can make about it. And based on the information that we got at the meeting last week and in previous opinions, we got, you know, that there's no conflict. There's no issues. I don't know what the Ethics Commission said. You know, maybe we'll reach out to them and my many different... Well, I'm going to wait for Councilor, Madam President, to let me share her report with me if she gets one soon. You know, but I have no... you know, qualms, this is, and I know that this hundred thousand dollars is not going to make or break the Bella apartment redevelopment. This is the Brightwood school that's in the North end. That's the school. Like I said, on, on Monday that I went to school at from first kindergarten to fourth grade. And I would love for it to see it turned into the apartments that we need in our city. Right. And there's no, you know, one way or the other, It just so happens that New North Citizens Council is doing the work. You know, there's been a lot of controversy about New North Citizens Council over the last couple of years. But we're not here to debate that. Right. We're not in court. We're here to either vote yes or no on them getting the $100,000 grant from the CPC fund. And that's what I would like for us to do today. Again, what Councillor Edwards said, vote your conscience, yes or no. And that's what I would like to do today. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Councillor Govan. Not seeing anybody. Councillor Walsh.

Yeah, I have a couple of questions. And one, I think we were recently talking about the agenda and how items get on the agenda. And who puts on, because for me, having unfinished business on the agenda is something new. Who decides that unfinished business should be part of our regular agenda?

Madam President.

So when I first started on the council, we had unfinished business. and then it was removed and then someone asked me because we were forgetting items that went to subcommittee and there was a particular item that Should have came back in front of the council. That was never on the agenda at all. It was voted out of subcommittee and it should have been on the agenda, but it wasn't. And so I said so that we don't forget what went to subcommittee, then we'll put everything that goes to subcommittee under unfinished business. So we have a record of what went to subcommittee.

Well, based on my experience, I think it's unusual and not a precedent to have it. And maybe we should have a discussion on whether or not we want that included on our regular agenda. You know, there's no question, this has been a very difficult and uncomfortable issue. There are many aspects that are uncomfortable, and I have several thoughts. First of all, I don't think it's unusual for us to question grants, and I think it's too bad that this has escalated, and I'd like to say that I think all of us would be concerned to have a fellow counselor who is following his conscience, and I would like to think that we follow our conscience on every issue, that there's repercussions for doing what you think is right. I mean, I am going to support the grant. It doesn't have anything to do with the difficulty that I think Councilor Hurst is I think he's a counselor with a great character and he's doing what he thinks is right but I think it's I think it's been very uncomfortable for all of us and I think it is time to vote on it Thank You counselor Walsh all right I'm not seeing any more hands madam clerk can you call the roll on I don't even know what item number this is but Bella

On approval, it's item 8. Councillor Santanello.

Yes.

Yes. Councillor Martin.

Yes.

Yes. Councillor Perez. Recuse. Recuse. Councillor Brown absent. Councillor Govan. Yes. Yes. Councillor Walsh. Yes. Yes. Councillor Hurst.

No.

No. Councillor Davila.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Fenton.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Whitfield. No. No, Councillor Click-Bruce.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Edwards.

Yes.

Yes, Councillor Delgado.

Yes, item passes. I think we're going to thank you for everybody coming.

You're gonna take it over? There you go. Let's see, I think we're done.

I think we're done. Our next meeting is the 28th of September. I know that's Biggie Day, but unfortunately we will be meeting because I didn't change that meeting date, not knowing that it was Springfield Day at the Biggie. Sorry about that, everybody. Meeting adjourned.