##VIDEO ID:NGZ398EYlLU## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e and I am the chair of planning the Boston City council's committee on Planning Development and transportation in accordance with chapter two of the acts of 2023 modifying certain requirements of open meeting law and relieving public bodies of certain requirements including the requirement that public bodies conduct its meetings in public places that are open and physically accessible to the public the city council will be be conducting this hearing virtually via Zoom the the hearing is being recorded it is also being live streamed at boston.gov city-council DTV and broadcast on xinity Channel 8 RCN channel 82 and FiOS channel 964 written comments may be set to the committee email at cccp nde at boston.gov and will be made part of the record and available to all counselors public testimony will be taken at the end of the hearing individuals that will be called in order of arrival um and an order in which they signed up and will have 2 minutes to testify if you wish to sign up for a public testimony and have not done so please email our Central staff liaison Shane Pac shane. Pac boston.gov for the zoom link and your name will be added to the list today's hearing is on docket 0866 message in order confirming the reappointment of Hy better banza as a member of the zoning Board of appe deals for a term expiring May 1 2027 docket 1690 message in order confirming the confirmation of the appointment of Ryan Woods as a member of the zoning commission for a term expiring October 26 2026 docket number 1691 message and order for the confirmation of the reappointment of Michael Nichols as a member of the zoning commission for a term expiring October 1 2027 docket 1704 message in order for the confirmation of appointment of David Mah as a member of the zoning commission for a term expiring November 1st 2026 docket number 1692 message in order for the confirmation of the appointment of Ami denth um as an alternate member of the study Comm um of the study committee to prepare the report for a potential designation of the Monument Square architectural Conservation District docket 1693 message in order for the confirmation of the appointment of senam Kia as a member of the study committee toare to prepare the report for a potential designation of the Monument Square architectural Conservation District docket 1694 message in order for the confirmation of the appointment of s Saha as a member of the study committee to repair prepare the report for a potential designation of the Monument Square architectural Conservation District docket 1696 message in order for the confirmation of the appointment of Lindsey M Jones as a member of the study committee uh to prepare study committee to prepare the report for a potential designation of the Monument Square architectural Conservation District docket 1697 message in order for the confirmation of the appointment of Jeffrey Gano as a member of the study committee to prepare a report for the potential designation of the of a Monument Square architectural Conservation District docket 1698 message in order for the confirmation of the appointment of Linda nasham as a member of the study committee to prepare a report for the potential designation of a Monument Square architectural Conservation District docket 1699 message in order for the confirmation of the appointment of Julie Hall as a member of the study committee to prepare a report for the potential designation of the Monument Square architectural Conservation District and docket 170 message in order for the confirmation of Ian urart as a member of the study committee to prepare a con report for the potential designation of a Monument Square architectural Conservation District docket 170 one message in order for the confirmation of the appointment of Crystal galin as a member of the study committee to repair a report for the potential designation of the monument forare architectural Conservation District docket 1702 message in order for the confirmation of the appointment of Nancy Johnson as a member of the study committee to prepare a report for the potential designation of Monument Square architectural Conservation District and docket 1703 message in order for the confirmation of the appointment of in in Ina and brogi and Zada as a member of the study committee to prare report for the potential designation of the Monument Square architectural Conservation District today I am joined uh by my colleagues in order of arrival councelor Ed Flynn and councelor Aaron Murphy um I don't see anyone else on right now but I will update everyone um I do have an absence letter um from councelor GG Keta Zapata and I'll read this into the record um re absence on hearing dockets 0866 1624 and 1690 to 174 dear CH jerkin and Council colleagues I regret to inform you that I will be absent from today's Boston city council hearing on on the dockets mentioned a hearing regarding various appointments a portion of today's hearing involves my district specifically the potential designation of a study group for the Monument Square architectural Conservation District which which for which confirmation will be sought from the Boston city council I must express my surprise at suddenly how suddenly this hearing was noticed my office was not involved in the scheduling of this hearing as was the discretion of the committee chair I believe that both the nominees and the community should have received adequate notice of this hearing especially since nominations will also be put forward for city-wide positions such as the zoning Board of appeal and the zoning commission additionally I understand that the community has been requesting a Monument Square architectural conservation study for the past two years it is important for the public to understand that today's nominations are for the participation of the study group not for the commission itself there will be ample opportunities for those passionate about historic reservation to remain involved in the process and as it progresses a member of my staff will be listening in and I will review the recording kindly read this letter into the record sincerely Gabriella Keta Zapata Boston city council District 1 okay so um now that I've read all these dockets um into the record I'd like i' like to pass it to my colleagues for opening statements um starting with councelor Ed Flynn thank you madam chair I have no opening statement thank you so much councelor Flynn councelor an Murphy yes um thank you chair I will read my communication that I had submitted which is connected to the appointments um of new committee members so a few weeks ago I did put this communication in through the council agenda after speaking with the administration to make sure going forward there was um we were ensuring transparency in the appointment and replacement process for City appointees dear colleagues I'm writing to follow up on an important issue regarding the process for appointing and replacing city appointees as you know the city council plays a vital role in confirming appointments to various boards and commissions across Boston however it has become clear that there are significant gaps in transparency when it comes to understanding who is being replaced when we approve a new appointee currently the council is often asked to approve a new appointee without being informed about who if anyone they are replacing in some cases appointees may may be serving well beyond their original term and in other cases the council is unaware of whether the new appointee is filling a vacancy or replacing an existing member this lack of clarity can lead to confusion and unintended consequences particularly when appointees are not informed that their term has ended or that they will not be reappointed this is not just about any one individual or appointment it is about ensuring that we have a clear transparent process in place for all appointees going forward when the council is asked to approve new appointments we must be provided with all the relevant information including who is being replaced and the reason for the change this will ensure that the process is respectful of those who have served and that we avoid situations where appointees are Unknowing ly being displaced I have filed the hearing order doget 1399 to review and improve these procedures the intent of this hearing was to ensure that we have a clear system in place to notify the city council and appointees alike when someone is being replaced the goal is not to question the mayor's authority to make appointments or to remove individuals whose terms have expired but rather to ensure that the process is transparent and that the appointees are treated with respect and dignity throughout their service to the city I have been assured which I think is important today and I'm assuming that um the chair does have this information for us but I'm ass I was assured by the administration that moving forward when new appointees are brought before the city council for approval we will be informed of in advance of who if anyone is being replaced this is an important step in making sure we are all on the same page when these decisions are made and that no appointee is left in the dark about the end of their service as we look ahead to today because today we're having a hearing I ask for your support um so I'm going to end there but glad to be on this hearing glad to hear from those who are going to speak in support I did just also want to plag and maybe the chair will bring this up I'm not sure chair but I did receive an email a couple emails but one um from a resident Aon Woods in Charlestown so at some point maybe she's on here to give public testimony but but when it's my turn for questions I can read that into the record if necessary thank you thank you so much councelor Murphy um and I know um I just want to go on a little bit about um our process that we've had at the Planning Development and transportation committee since I've taken over as chair um I think um it's really important that we see all of our nominees and our appointees um in person or on Zoom um before we move them forward uh for appointment um I I know that we've been doing uh these hearings mostly quarterly um and because the city council calendar had been has been so um locked up um this date opened up on Wednesday after a grant was um approved um before it was um so there was some time uh I didn't have much time um to really get this together but I know I was awaiting and trying to find a date for for this particular hearing so I'm so excited that our um that those that have been appointed have been able to show up today and so I while I appreciate you know everyone's feedback about how um it feels like some of this is late notice we know that our last meeting of the year is Wednesday this Wednesday um December 11th so I thought it was very important particularly that we heard from our zoning commission um candidates prior to um prior to uh our last meeting of the year so um I'm gonna actually start with our first docket which is 0866 which is um the reappointment of hansi better beranza as a member of the zoning board of appeals um hansy I know you're currently serving as um you know in the you've you've um you are serving still um on the on the zba and have needed to be reconfirmed um so I just wanted to open up with uh my first question which is just um since you you're going through a reappointment just um sort of what are your qualifications and how are you liking the position and why do you want to continue to serve great uh thank you chair D durken I also want to thank um Council Murphy councelor flame Council warl who's on and for all the members of the council that might be um listening in later um in the recording I would like to let you know that I want to continue to serve on the zba um because I feel with my background I can continue to have impactful contribution to the CBA I have a training in architecture from Cornell University uh an urban design degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design um I live and work in Rosendale uh for over 22 years um I have also raised my family in Rosendale I have led uh uh stul architect which is a small minority woman Latin owned businesses business in the city of Boston um I find myself to be an activist uh a a mother an educator and urbanist that focuses on environmental justice in our built environment I strongly do believe that the planning process should have a progressive role in creating resilient communities I believe in participatory approaches towards planning to enable cities and citizens to work together to a more just green and racially harmonious Urban environment um originally born in Bania Columbia I immigrated at the age of six raised by a strong single mother who worked as a housekeeper to ensure that I was provided with the necessity to receive a very good public school education here in the USA um because of my live experience social justice diversity and Equity are Central to my everyday practice in ethos I firmly believe that access to clean air food housing and water are essential human rights and is my deep belief that it should be reflected in how we build and live in our Urban environment I have served on the zba since 2021 first as an alternate member and then appointed as a full member in December 2022 um councelor Murphy and Council Finn were at that hearing I have um completed the conflict of interest training per the mayor's executive order I'm an ethical leader honest and humble and always look at projects through a community perspective when making decisions that remove the I and think of the wi in regards to project impact and benefits I would like to continue to serve on the zba and help our city develop in a healthy way without displacement in equitably across all of Boston neighborhoods thank you thank you so much um I'd like to open up to my colleagues uh for any questions they may have in order of arrival so it'll be counselor Flynn then councelor Murphy and then I'd like to announce also we've been joined by counselor Brian moral go ahead councelor Flynn thank you madam chair and um thank you Hy for the important work that you're doing I have observed you and you conduct yourself with professionalism honesty and integrity I'm I'm going to vote to um reconfirm you I have no further questions Madam chair thank you so much councelor Flynn um and I have to say councelor Flynn has the best attendance record at my Committee hearing so I thank you so much councelor Flynn um counselor Murphy yes thank you um thank you Hy for being here and sharing your personal story I know you professionally and agree with Council Flynn that when you're on the meetings and the hearings you do um have the residents and you know all of the things you spoke about um you keep forfront and you're a good advocate for the city so we're looking forward to um voting in favor of reappointing you and thank you for going through this process with us thank you Council Murphy thank you thank you so much councelor Murphy now um Brian moral do you have any questions for hansi uh thank you chair and thank you hzi um for your service um mean you being here today um going to be voting in favor um I I do have a question um that I'll probably ask all um of the of everyone here today is how how do you you know weigh and factor in community voice um and then also balance our need for housing in your decision process so um um thank you Council well for that question uh in regards to community voice that is very important uh to me in terms of my personal decision as you know we are a body of other members that vote in on particular cases uh but because with zoning you do have to for variance you have to Def definitely sh show um a hardship to request one and also to show that you're not impacting the community or the neighborhood in any way and so therefore uh if a project does not have a majority um uh neighborhood uh a Butter's um support that heavily goes into my decision making at the end in terms of my personal vote and then in regards to um housing uh uh we don't necessarily have in regards to putting forth affordable housing one of the hurdles that I have seen has to do a lot with the negotiations of parking to kind of the density that's being brought into affordable housing um W with with that not necessarily being a hurdle anymore in regards to a requirement a zoning requirement in terms of parking for affordable housing um that has made it a little bit easier to facilitate that you put housing people first over cars in in regards to my personal decision um but I think it's a really good Balancing Act in regards to How It ultimately affects Transportation traffic um in the neighborhood uh in regards to uh the projects that are going in there thank you so much um Council R do you have any additional questions no thank you Shar thank you um so we're going to um I I am planning to move um given the testimony of my colleagues um and um your leadership and everything you do civically and we appreciate your Civic leadership in this way um I'm planning to move you forward at the next council meeting which is on Wednesday so thank you so much for all of your service and I look forward to seeing you again on the zba hearing so thank you thank you chair darkin and thank you uh world for that question have a good day thank you um so next we're going to move on to those that are seeking um and those that have been appointed to the zoning commission um so we'll do those in order of the dockets um docket we'll start with docket 1690 Ryan Woods and then up next will be docket 1691 um Mike Nichols who is the chair of current chair of the zoning commission so we'll start with Ryan Woods I know we all know Ryan from um his story uh tenure and incredible work at the parks department um now um really excited to see your name through come through our jocket list for the zoning commission um so I'll just start with the same question with you um Ryan um it's hard to not call you the commissioner um I'll just start with the um I'll just start with um you know why would you like to serve um and why you know why this why this is important to you and how do you feel like you're qualified for this role and then i' also like to announce that we've been joined by counselor V Weber uh go ahead Ryan uh good morning uh Madam chair and fellow uh counselors uh nice to see you all again it's been two months uh since my departure um I believe you all know but I've lifelong Dorchester resident um still proudly living there raising my three children in Dorchester I um just completed 18 years at the Boston Parks and Recreation Department the last six years as the commissioner and in those last six years I also served as the chairperson for the Parks Commission um so very familiar how the commissions work the role of taking in community uh feedback and incorporating that um also have been a member of the CED Grove civic association in my neighborhood and continue to be a part of that uh civic association and uh actively involved with my wife and my family in that um really interested in preserving the character of our neighborhood and making sure that the community voice is heard throughout our processes in making sure that we enhance our communities but also preserve that character so very excited for the opportunity and the consideration to join this uh commission thank you so much Ryan and then now I'll hear from my colleagues with any questions they have in order of arrival councelor edlin thank you madam chair I I had the opportunity to work with commissioner Woods for seven years on many issues across the city what I liked most about mission of woods is the way he treated people he treated the public he treated the people that he worked with he was always respectful to them um he was always considerate to them and he always conducted himself in a professional manner I know he'll continue to be a tremendous Advocate uh for the city of Boston um it's good to see you commissioner Woods you as well thank you counselor thank you so much councelor Flynn councelor Murphy yes um thank you Ryan for being on we can see your new view from your your new office there um it's a lot different from the last view counselor definitely I'd usually just see you either in the neighborhood or in a park but thank you for being here definitely um you know your time here on the city prove that you're someone who you know is more than capable of filling this position and care about the city and will make make sure that you know you do things the way you always have about you know putting residents first and giving of your time um so looking forward to supporting my opening statements I know I spoke with Claire after I spoke on Kelly she is going to sh me I just don't want there to be any misunderstanding going forward but looking forward to support you and just want to make sure that we on the body know that when we do add people right the next time we sit with you it will hopefully be a reappointment not an original but just making sure that everyone is clear on if there are shifts coming that we're all aware of it but thank you for your continu service to the city and looking forward to seeing you in the neighborhood thank you councel thank you so much um councelor Weber do you have any questions uh no I don't have any questions I'm I'm just here to to learn more about the process but uh you know also it's great to see somebody with with the experience of commissioner Woods uh uh coming back and so um you know strong supporter of of of his appointment and um look forward to working with him in the future thanks thank you so much um thank you so much counselor Weber and um given all of the testimony and um you're clearly fit and prepared and ready for this role um we will move you forward at Wednesday's council meeting um and we're really excited for your leadership um and your continued leadership in the city Ryan um and we and and we know we'll see you soon so thank you thank you madam chair thank you okay so next we're GNA move to um docket 1691 message in order for the confirmation of the reappointment of Michael Nichols Michael Nicholl Mike Nichols um is a district 8 resident so I'm highly preferential to this appointment but I also so um he has work on the downtown bid and now now uh the downtown Alliance um we're so excited um by your leadership and he's also the current chair of the zoning commission so um so we know that you are experienced um and this is a reappointment um so just wanted to let you open up um open up with um how the how the zoning commission is going and why you'd like to serve for another term thank you madam chair uh and distinguished members of the city council uh my name is Michael Nichols I'm a 17-year resident of Boston uh an admitted attorney in Massachusetts former real estate broker uh and formerly served for 5 years as the president of the ottomon circle neighborhood association in Benway uh proudly in District 8 and so I'm uh familiar with the impacts of proposed development projects uh not just within my my my day job but certainly in our um our neighborhoods and the impact that they have um I've served on the zoning commission for the past seven years um for the past 11 years I have worked at the intersection of urban planning and Place Management um currently with the downtown Boston Alliance both personally and professionally I've likely reviewed over 200 proposed developments of various types sizes um and potential impacts in order to ensure our city continues to evolve and improve in a way that is mindful of each of our communities and stakeholders and I would uh certainly look forward to continuing on the commission and I'd be happy to take any questions thank you so much Mike um and next we'll go in order of arrival to my colleagues um councelor edlyn is first thank you madam chair and I've had the opportunity to work with Michael for several years in the downtown area on many issues but supporting small businesses um representing the interests of residents as well in dealing with quality life issues in public safety issues Michael has been a tremendous Advocate and leader in the city and I'm looking forward to voting in in support of his um continued role on the zoning commission thank you madam chair thank you thank you so much uh councelor Flynn councelor Aron Murphy you're next yeah um thank you Mike for being here and for you know putting your name into be reappointed you know you've already been serving you've been doing a great job and I do believe that your you know special lens with downtown business Alliance we have a new name for it but you know your experience there in In Living in the neighborhood here like you you bring what is needed on the board and have always carried yourself professionally and looking out for the best interest and do have the understanding that you know we've had many conversations around zoning and development tied into quality of life issues and safety and supporting commercial but also obviously balancing that with residential so so definitely you bring that understanding that is needed and I know that you're a team player so that only lifts up the other boards so members so looking forward to supporting this thank you thank you councel thank you so much councelor Murphy councelor Ben Weber oh thank you very much I just want to join my colleagues and uh thanking you for for uh for for being willing to do this work and um you know I'm full support of the appointment um and uh no questions thank thank you very much thank you so much so um given the testimony and um and that this is a reappointment um and that you're currently the chair and are doing a great job of the zone at the zoning commission uh we'll plan to move your docket forward at Wednesday's council meeting so I know you're already there but congratulations thank you um so next we'll move to um I don't see docket 1704 here David Mah but maybe someone can correct me oh it might be the person who's raising their hand yeah I'm going to bring them over right now and change okay perfect hi David hi sorry about that I was thank you so much sorry I couldn't see your name um there so it's one of the uh you know one of the uh negative things about Zoom but um David thank you so much for being here um David is um being um this is this is your first time being appointed to the zoning commission um so wanted to ask the question first um what has what interests you in the zoning commission and and how um and and what has your experience LED you to this point of now being appointed at the zoning commission yeah good good morning to all the councilors and uh and all participants uh minor correction uh I've been on the zoning commission I've served under mayor monino mayor oh I'm so sorry so the two dockets so docket Ryan Woods and then docket Mike Nichols says reappointment and yours just says appointment so what I will do um David is when I bring this forward um we will edit it to say reappointment so that it's you know that it um we will we'll amend that when it's I think it was just filed in a sure yeah so thank you so much David for all of your service um so when did you start serving on the zoning commission uh I was trying to uh to think I'm old so it's hard to remember that far back but uh uh I replaced uh Bob Mah Robert Mah who was the former chairman um and I'm is that anything of relation to you that's my uncle oh wonderful okay thank you for your family's Legacy of service then um so I guess given that you've served um I I'll open it up to my colleagues unless you have anything else to say no I I've I've enjoyed my time on on the commission it's uh um it's helped me uh understand uh Boston better you know even though I've it's been a part of my entire life it's uh it's helped me see neighborhoods under a better Spectrum um you know when you're uh dealing with all these issues uh I'm from the construction world I think that has uh served and helped uh benefit the uh the commission on on certain features um as thank you for your compliment on the Legacy matter uh Generations uh of Mars uh have worked or or working now with within the uh uh the mar companies and um again I think it's been uh mutually beneficial for my past experiences in serving on the commission and for uh me gaining uh a perspective of all the neighborhoods in a greater level of detail and D David what neighborhood do you live in uh that is in uh South Boston oh awesome okay um so I will open it up to the South Boston counselor to see if he has any questions for you uh councelor Ed Flynn thank you madam chair I just want to say thank to say thank you to David his service to the city for so many years he he in in the ma family and uh his work has helped build a strong Boston there ethical they honest the professional people and they've contrib contributed greatly not only in Building Boston but also giving back supporting so many nonprofits and supporting so many families veterans um community members in needed so I want to say thank you to David but more importantly I want to say thank you to the ma family for their commitment to making Boston the best to can be in the most compassionate City it can be as well thank you David thank you so much councelor fly um and thank you David um so we'll go to counselor Aon Murphy next um thank you David for being here and for your family's Legacy um the Daniel Mah Boys and Girls Club in Dorchester and all of the um you know giving back to the community but also your knowledge in the construction world you're um obviously more than um you know reappointment also so thank you for your service to the city and looking forward to voting in favor of of keeping you on the board you bring a lot of wealth of knowledge so um and like we say Council Flynn and I say we're the dinosaurs I think right did on the council that your um years of experience are also important and I appreciate that that's important that we have a balance on all of these commissions and Boards so thank you for that thank you councelor thank you so much councelor Murphy we'll now go to councelor Ben we uh yeah no questions just thank you for your service to the city and uh you know look forward to supporting this um back to you chair thank you so much um councelor Weber and David um so we're planning to move your reappointment and we'll make sure that that's clear um we'll plan to move your reappointment on Wednesday um so thank you for your service and thanks for all you do for our communities um and it was great it's great to hear that your uncle also served on the zoning commission so thank you for your family's Legacy of leadership um and um and you know thank thank you for being here this morning thank you so um next um we're going to start to move into the Monument Square architectural Conservation District um and I just want to give some background on the conversations that led um to there being a Monument Square AR uh sorry sorry there being a study committee to prepare the report for the potential designation of a Monument Square architecture Cal Conservation District one thing that the city heard loud and clear through plan um Charlestown was that um the that folks um in the community really wanted the city to be intentional about preservation so this um committee uh that we are now hearing um potential um and appointments for um there are alternate members and there are members um that are being being put forward for appointment for the study committee to prepare the study report for potential designation um and this is of a a zone so essentially uh the Monument Square architectural Conservation District um which is uh what is called for in plan Charles Town is that um sort of those in terms of U preservation I want to be very clear that these appointments um or potential appointments to the um study committee it's just a committee to study um this is not the Conservation District commission so essentially there will be another slate of folks who if this is designated as an architectural Conservation District uh there will be other folks that we have to hear through this committee um to be appointed so this is just the the group that will be preparing um this this is just the folks that are on the study committee um and this is made up given uh the the numbers of this um these folks that I see on here a lot of them uh there are some from Charlestown there are others that um have other roles at the landmarks commission so it's not just it's made up of a mix of uh folks uh from the city that work on preservation uh folks that um are already part of the landmarks Commission because that's usually how these study committees come together so just wanted to give that context for my colleagues cuz in my time in this committee and chairing this committee there has never been um a study committee to prepare for a report for a potential designation of a of an area Conservation District so I just wanted to share that this is um a unique thing that we are uh that we are um talking about today um first I want to go I I know there's a there are some alternates and there are some members um I'm going to start with Ian art which is docket one 7 Hi Ian good to see you councelor der and thanks for having me and thanks to the rest of the Council on the call of course yeah and I I wanted to um first open it up with um I I wanted to First just ask you the question of like what does it mean to be part of this for you and um and why preservation is important um in and and why you're interested in serving on this study committee sure um so I'm born and raised in Charlestown I still live there in the house that I grew up in my mom lives on the first floor and uh my wife and two kids and I live upstairs from her and not far from the monument as well so you know I've Got Deep Roots in the community uh you know I've lived there much of my entire life I I care about Charlestown I care about the city of Boston and I um I'm also an attorney and I practice in in you know real estate permitting and zoning and land use and I've got some background with historical reviews and I I just think I can add uh you know from a community standpoint and a in a professional standpoint with my experience thank you and what does it mean to you that this um study committee came out of plan Charlestown and how do you feel about sort of moving forward that work of reservation in Charlestown I mean I think it's important to have Community engagement in urban planning and uh you know that plan charest toown was a long and thoughtful process and I think it's I I think it's a great thing that that additional processes are are coming out of that in thoughtful ways for our communities to grow thank you and yeah I think I wanted to call you first because I know you've been very engaged in the process over the last six years so um so appreciate you being taken out of order just wanted to sort of give some of that context so appreciate um Ian you being here I want to give a chance for my Council colleagues to ask any questions um starting with councelor Ed Flynn thank you madam chair I don't have any questions but I do want to say thank you to Ian for the professional work he's done in his career um in not only in Charles down across the city um we need honest and ethical people like Ian in city government state government and federal government so um thank you Ian for your commitment to the residence of Boston appreciate that Council um thank you councelor Flynn councelor Aaron Murphy yes umk thank you for being on being here um and wanting to be a voice and advocate for your community I did mention at first and I think um maybe the chair will bring it up or maybe public testimony and I know that the district council Council Keta when you read her letter into the record so before the vote on Wednesday there there may need to be more conversations about when we move it forward but I do think you're a good candidate and um you know looking forward to supporting just want to make sure that the district council and the residents do feel like we're we're not pushing this through and if there are any questions but also do recognize and acknowledge that um you know you're giving of your time and you're you know volunteering to support something that you care about so I do appreciate that and look forward to um the work that will come out of this study and the commission going forward thank you thank you um councelor Ben Weber yeah thank you yeah I don't I don't have any questions um just uh you know um how to uh handle you know uh planning issues and Community involvement is something that uh you know I have to deal with in Jamaica plane and West Roxbury and uh you know hope to look to the uh you know to this uh body is sort of um and what's going on in Charles Town is sort of inform how we proceed uh so maybe we'll be talking and I'm happy to take your advice uh but uh thanks for for your service and look forward to supporting this thanks chair thank you than so much councelor Weber um and Ian I um just want to acknowledge that I think um I don't know if you were here for the entire meeting but the I think one of the things that we're um dealing with here is you know there's been six years of process around um plan Charles toown and one of the key things that came out of that is the need for preservation and I do believe a delay to some of these dockets would delay the study report and then that delaying the study report would then delay the designation of Charlestown potentially as a historic neighborhood and it's you know whatever uh the study committee comes up with um and whatever those takeaways are um so I think it's all about balance and um I did think it was really important to hear this before the end of the year but I will speak with my district colleague and just make sure that we're aligned and what should happen moving forward but I think um in general I think the community is asking for preservation and the first step in that is creating a study committee and the city council's role in that is determining whether the mayoral appointees are fit and you are a fit candidate so thank you so much for being here and um uh and all of your work so um so you are relieved Ian thank you so much for being here thank you con thank you um so next we're going to go to um senim uh kumia who I know um is already a member of the landmarks commission and we've heard from twice this year so this is your third appearance son I'm at the Planning Development and transportation committee so thank you for all of your work um like I mentioned um the study committee is both comprised of members of the landmarks commission and other District commissions um who have that expertise as well as Charlestown residents so um I know senim I think I you you don't live in Charlestown right you're just you're a member of the landmarks commission that's that's correct I'm a member of the landmarks commission and U Bay Village as well uh I do not live in Charlestown but I do think it's important to bring diverse uh perspectives to to the plan and to the program moving forward uh I do have experience in real estate development throughout Boston it spans you know from Hospitality to affordable housing everywhere from Dorchester to Back Bay um and I think it's important to bring some of that perspective as we look at U what we're doing in Charlestown potentially I do have experience in historic preservation as well so um happy to lend that experience to uh to the process but excited to be here and looking forward to working with the group to make sure that we're u impactful in our study thank you so much um given that I've already asked you probably three rounds of questions at the other hearings I I know that I believe in your leadership and I'm grateful that you're willing to serve on another project and another um thing that we're working on at the city so I'll let my other Council colleagues ask questions councelor Flynn thank you madam chair um thank you senam for your contributions to the residents of Boston looking forward to supporting you um on on Wednesday when it comes before us um thank you for your service thank you Council thank you councelor Flyn councelor Murphy um yeah um thank you for being here and for your current service service on the landmark um and looking forward to continuing this conversation thank you for your service and thank you so much coming for us yeah councelor rubber yeah no questions uh thank you senum uh I appreciate your contribution to the city um and look forward to supporting this uh back to you chair thanks counselor um and thank you senam um I have no further questions for you since we've um I've you know looked at your resume three to different times now so appreciate your leadership and um excited to uh for you to be part of this um and this would be sort of one of the um this is would be the first architectural Conservation District in a long time so I appreciate um the city um promoting preservation um and what I like to call Proactive preservation which is uh preservation before there are proposals that you know and I think that's one thing that I've been super passionate about as uh counselor for historic neighborhoods is making sure that we are preserving what we care about um without you know with before there's a proposal for something different and I think I know that's something that you have threaded the needle on um in your work so so thank you so much Sonam and uh hope you uh hope you have a great holiday season it's good to see you tell your wife I said hi take care okay so next we're going to go to uh fod Samaha docket 1694 FY are you here okay I don't hear him being here so um VOD is someone um docket n uh 1694 that is part of the landmarks commission who we have heard from this year at the Landmark um when he um got through the landmarks commission um so he has come before the committee this year um next we're going to go to docket 1696 lindsy M Jones and and she is uh proposed to be a member of the study committee um and I know there's a couple that are proposed to be alternate so I'll flag those as they come before us but uh Lindsay thank you so much for being here um if you could talk a little bit about your experience um what neighborhood you live in and what qualifies you to be on the study committee for the Monument Square AR Ural Conservation District that would be great sure sure so I'm I'm trained as an architect um I've worked in architecture and also in Project planning and I have a lifelong Interest really in preservation and historic architecture I've been a commissioner on the Larks commission for seven years um and I'm also a 15-year resident of Charlestown I moved here when I was a newlywed and now I have three young children that were raising here in Charlestown we're living in the same house and um we've seen a lot of change in the neighborhood since we've been here I love this neighborhood I love our neighbors and um I feel that it's a historic neighborhood that deserves more protection than it gets in terms of architecture so I'm very interested in in serving on the commission wow Lindsay I knew you were on the landmarks commission and I knew you were an architect but I did not know you also lived in Charlestown for so long so um seems like you've got the triple whammy of being just totally absolutely qualified to to be on this study committee so uh so thank you for being willing to serve again um I wanted to open it up to my colleagues councelor edin starting with councelor Eden thank you madam chair thank you Lindsay for your service to the residents of Charlestown and to the residents of Boston as well strong leadership professionalism Integrity um looking forward to supporting you um at the city council vote when it's coming up thank you Lindsay thank you councelor Murphy yeah morning Lindsay thank you for coming on and sharing your experience and raising your kids always brings a different perspective when you're living in a community so thank you for that um added um experience that you would bring to this commission and looking forward to the work um once everyone is selected with the the work of this commission going forward making sure that we're uplifting all of the voices of the residents in Charlestown so thank you thank you so much Lindsay um councelor Weber do you have any questions yeah no questions uh just um you know uh we great to uh you're welcome Lindsay to move to district 6 uh use somebody with your qualifications out here I'm just getting jealous of all these uh great uh you know people on these commissions so um thank you very much for for your service and look forward to supporting you thank you thank you so much councelor we um and given that um you are a really highly qualified member and of the landmarks commission and given that uh your personal experience I'm excited to move your nomination forward um when the time is right so Lindsay thank you so much for being here you are relieved thank you thank you um okay so next we're going to go to U Jeffrey go um who I know we've heard from this year as well um Jeffrey um it's so good to see you I know that you are a historic preservation consultant so are a highly qualified um person to uh and have have worked at historic Boston and have uh looking at your resume I know you've gotten a lot of you have a lot of great experience um can you tell us why serving on the study committee um for this um for the Monument Square architectural Conservation District is important to you and and what you're bringing to that although I can very much see it from your resume oh sorry you're muted Jeffrey there we go goad first of all thank you chair Durkin for pronouncing my name correctly that's rare that that happens so G is appropriate thank you um yes so I'm a 27 year resident of Dorchester I've been an independent historic preservation consultant for the last 13 years and prior to that I worked at historic boster Incorporated for 13 years so and as a result of those work in those two areas I've worked on projects all across the city of Boston focusing primarily on projects in the city of Boston and in particular since we were fortunate enough to have CPA uh helping to fund historic preservation projects a main part of my work has been deploying CPA funds for strong historic preservation projects around the city including in I think all of the districts of the councilors here uh so um as you mentioned previously uh chair Durkin as part of our role as Commissioners on the landmarks commission we're expected to take part in some of these other planning activities um outside of the core responsibilities um that we have on the commission itself and uh serving on local historic district commissions as one but also the preparation of these study reports and I think it's really important to emphasize that this is preparing these reports is the start of a a long process but it's a critical planning exercise in determining what historic resources are um extent uh the potential boundaries of a new architectural Conservation District if the it makes its way through the process proc and the study report itself recommends that and the commission agrees and puts it forward so I'm I've never actually participated in this project before so or process before so I'm very excited to get in from the beginning uh in charl toown and to learn about the historic resources there and Jeffrey um can you talk a little bit I know you haven't been on a study um committee to prepare for a Conservation District before but can you talk about what mix of people might exist or might be helpful in building to like what different perspectives might be helpful and do you having seen some of the other names of folks that are do you feel like they are qualified and ready to serve and that this is a good mix I think that the the um the composition of the list of names is obviously very intentional and there are some super qualified people from the community itself and lots of overlap between Commissioners who live in the community um who not only know the kind of in technical ins and outs of the of this process but know the community well you know because of their residency there so I think that um you know it's I was actually surprised that there was a confirmation process for a study committee not just I actually was too so this is very rigorous and um the vetting and the review of the various rums I think is is a great sign that this process is being taken seriously that will end up with a good product that represents the wishes of the community and the kind of technical um standards of the landmarks commission yeah I was surprised too that there was a because usually study reports are put together you know study reports for individual buildings are just put together by those either District level commissions or the landmarks commission and so it's interesting that this does need a separate confirmation process but um I did appreciate I think we got some emails who I know we'll probably hear from at the end of testimony just saying we don't know every single you know some of the community members didn't know every single name um that was put forward because this uh this mix and that's why I asked the question this mix of people really does demonstrate a mix of preservation Focus people Architects people with like the preservation expertise but also people with the community expertise and it was just interesting hearing from uh Lindsey M Jones because she's actually both she's the community person who also was she's sort of like that triple threat of like has actually all of those things at once uh but I really did appreciate um I I really appreciate the mix getting to a chance to talk to them so it is really important um though I was surprised that this was coming through the committee I actually am really excited that it is rigorous and that it's coming through the committee because it sheds a light on that early step of a process of forming a Conservation District commission and I think that's important for my colleagues and I to be a part of that and appreciate that um appreciate just getting the chance to see that I know there is proposals for other neighborhoods to be landmarked and this is the beginning of that process so even though it's been six years of conversation of plan charl toown and and what it and honestly Decades of conversation about how we need to preserve um different areas of the city so so thank you so much Jeffrey um I'd like to open it up to my colleagues to see if they have any questions um starting with councelor Ed Flyn thank you madam chair thank you Jeffrey for your commitment to the residents of the city of Boston looking forward to supporting you thank you thank you thank thank you uh councelor Flynn councelor Murphy um thank you Jeffrey for being here we're neighbors in Dorchester yeah okay yeah so that always helps that gives you extra points now just um thank you for your you know expertise and your understanding of what's needed for this you know study like you mentioned the study for the work but it's all important and just looking forward to it being transparent and open and trust that you will do that so looking forward to supporting you thank you thank you thank you so much councelor Murphy counselor Weber yeah no questions uh just you know thank you Jeffrey and and looking forward to supporting this thanks chair thank you so much councelor Weber um so Jeffrey you're relieved unless you have any last comments nope thank you very much okay thank you so much take care okay so next we're going to go to am uh danath danath is that is that right Amit denat oh sorry you're M yeah that's right yeah perfect hi good morning so um am is being put forward to be an alternate member of the study committee to prepare for the report for the potential designation of the Monument Square architectural Conservation District and just sharing that I think alternate members come in handy when a member is unable to serve um but I think they may also be included in are you do you know if you'll be included in all the other meetings I I don't know okay perfect okay well um I guess we'll just um I'll just open it up with why is it interesting to you to serve on this and and sort of what um what has brought you to this point and uh thank you so much for being willing to serve yeah so so good morning everyone uh my name is Amit denan I've lived in Charlestown for now three years um I also am on the neighborhood Council I represent Precinct 4 uh so so Monument Square is sort of right around the corner I'm live on Lexington um you know so I have an MBA in finance and strategy and I'm a healthcare Tech consultant so my perspective is a little different from everyone else here uh but the ability to hear the voices bring a diverse set of eyes and ears um you know and and learn from from the process right because Charlestown and the neighborhood is is very important I've we've truly loved uh living here um yeah and so that's the whole reason you know for me to make sure that the voices are heard and the perspect there a different perspective than everyone else you know on the board so thank you so much and um am our role as city councilors is just to make sure that um everyone is fit to serve in the role so that's sort of what we're the process we going through today um so I'd like to open it up to my colleagues for any questions they may have starting with counselor Ed Flynn thank you madam chair um Amit uh thank you for your commitment to the residence of Charlestown I should I should call you counselor because you're in the Charlestown neighborhood Council so let me call you uh counselor um but just want to say thank you to your commitment to the residents of the city of Boston for your leadership as well thank you sir thank you okay Ami um councelor Murphy do you have any questions um no just thank you for your work on the Charlestown Council which I know does a lot of great work I've been to several of your meetings and just follow the work you do there and just thank you for wanting to be on this board and share your expertise thank you thank you councelor Murphy councelor Weber yeah no questions just thank you for your service and uh look forward to supporting this thanks chair thank you okay thank you so much am um I think then we're done with questions and um you know I I can't bump you up from alternate to member but hopefully you get to participate in all of the in all of the um discussions because I think your perspective would definitely be um would be valued so thank you so much for coming and you are believed see y bye bye thank you okay so next we're going to go to um Linda uh nashin sorry I'm going to I pronounced that wrong n sham Ken Linda Ken thank you that was quite good Linden yes thank you um thank you I would be delighted to tell you why I'm very interested in this I've been um a resident of Charlestown for 45 years um 39 of those on Monument Square itself um and um I should say 30 years of Monument Square itself and my late husband and I have had a architectural practice here in Charlestown for the last 39 years nemin French Architects um our work has very often uh involved Us in preservation and adaptive reuse projects in Charlestown uh I I can't tell you how much I have seen and how I have really appreciated the fact that it has remained a a very tight-nit Community I think that it has absorbed well um new people coming into it and I think that that that you know that's something that is it's to its credit um before starting our practice together I spent five years as the design review architect for the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency as well and I also have um some development experience because U there are a number of projects on which we were the Developers as well as the Architects here in in Charlestown primarily although some also in uh Jamaica plane and um our focus in in all of those cases has was always to preserve what what we were starting with I've I have over the years refused to do some projects which is always good as an architect when you can refuse to do a project because somebody came to me and said the first thing I want to do is tear this building down you know um here in the middle of Charlestown um so that's basically what I was going to say um other than that I am delighted to uh be considered for this thank you very much and wow I just I took a peek at your resume and just the fact that you've been part of preserving so many buildings in charl town like it's it's pretty insane just seeing the list um and across the city but specifically in Charlestown the amount of projects you've been a part of so so um I I really appreciate just the opportunity we have as a city to have you be part of this study report um sounds like you have like we couldn't have picked a better person um and obviously I didn't pick the list but um but I think as a city it's just very clear that you are absolutely qualified um I could I could read through these but um like you've got six buildings just on Monument Square that you've been a part of so and probably more this is just your selected work so um so thank you so much for um your qualifications and bringing those to this uh process um I am we're really um we're really you worked on the Zelma Lacy house you worked on like so many things uh wow I'm just seeing and and also some stuff in my district in the Back Bay so thank you so much for everything thank you so much for all that you do it's very nice to meet you um given the work that we do through this committee it's nice to just put a face with the name and um I'd like to open it up to my colleagues um so councelor Ed Flynn and then councelor Aon Murphy and then councelor Ben Weber if you have any questions thank you madam chair I want to say thank you to Linda for so many years of service to the residents of the city of Boston on so many different projects but what stands out most um about Linda is her professionalism and her integrity and that's exactly what we need um here in here in in City Hall um thank you madam chair thank you counselor thank you so much councelor Flyn counselor Aaron Murphy yes um thank you Linda for being here for your um service to the city and the knowledge and just expertise you would bring to this study um so looking forward to supporting that thank you thank you councelor councelor Weber she has worked on a ton of things in your District as well just so you know uh yes no was exciting to to hear uh you know something about Jamaica plane um I'm looking through the resume to see if I can find anything but uh I I I just I appreciate your service to the city and uh look forward to supporting this and hearing before us uh thank you chair thank you so much Linda I'm it's like not every day you get to meet your hero so thank you so much for all you've done and thank you for serving on this um as a highly qual qualified candidate when we move all these people forward you will also get moved forward I don't know if that'll be Wednesday um uh but I hoping it's Wednesday and we can uh move forward because I do think any delay to the study report would then delay the designation and I think given the qualified candidates we've heard from I hope that we can move forward as quickly as possible to get the preservation work going that really should have started decades ago and I know you've been working on for decades just individually so um so thank you Linda and I I neglected to add one thing which is that we raised our family here and both of my daughters and their husbands and children everybody chose to come you know to be able to find a place and come back to to Charlestown so I'm you know I think that's very important oh that's wonderful thank you Linda thanks for adding that all right so you're both in the industry and you have the family and you're you're all doing things in Char town so awesome thank you so much Linda you're relieved thank you um so next I I if I see is Julie Hall here I don't see her Madam share okay perfect okay so um we'll wait on that one um Nancy Johnson yep here I am hi Nancy hi Hi how are you thank you so much for being here thank you for inviting me I'm I'm really pleased to be asked to join uh the study group um and uh I'm assuming you're going to ask me the same question or did do you have something yeah yes if you just want to open with sort of how you're qualified and and what makes you excited about working on the study report okay great um so I um I'm a 20-year Charlestown resident but a lifelong Bostonian I grew up in Hyde Park um I am an attorney I've been admitted to the mass bar for 22 years uh prior to being an attorney um I worked for 15 years for Harvard University's real estate development and Management Group um and I've done everything from being a financial analyst looking at best use of land to um being uh an assistant construction manager to um instituting the first CAD systems that they had um I've also but sort of more importantly um I've been involved in uh Charlestown for the time that I've been here I've been a member of the Charlestown neighborhood Council um for uh 5 Years From 2019 through 2023 um and I'll be going back on as the the uh Precinct 5 representative in January um I was the uh the neighborhood council's representative to plan Charlestown um I've also independently been on a number of the impact Advisory Group for the article 80 large project um for Charlestown projects um and have attended most of those meetings um over the past six years um I am very I'm also involved in a number of other groups including um I was for a while on the board of the chareston Historical Society I'm a member of the preservation society and a member of The Bunker Hill Monument Association so I have a deep appreciation for the history of Charles toown um and its preservation I think one of the things that I'm most excited about seeing this uh study committee come about is that after being on the plan Charles toown Advisory Group as the cnc's representative uh for the entirety of the plan trial toown process um plan trial toown was really meant to be just that a plan but it's an outline and there are a number of recommendations that need to be brought to fruition and um I'm a strong believer as a member of the neighborhood Council who facilitated meetings both for plan Charlestown uh for groups like the helm um to come in and as a member of their um I was also the co-chair of the development committee for for the CNC and plan to return to that role um but the the value of the community process and having people have a place to speak up um personally I've and i' I've also seen this is that people come in with very you know they have points of view they may have good information they may have bad information but I think that once people hear what everyone has to say they walk away with a broader perspective and I think that's the importance of having the community process not only in in in this land you know in looking at this architectural District but as other parts of plan Charlestown are sort of brought down to reality over the next couple of years and I'm I'm looking forward to participating in that process um you know you've been on way too many Zoom calls when people stop you on the Whole Foods and start talking about what you've been saying but I really value that feedback because because again um everything I hear from a member of the community um everything um I hope the things that they hear from me um broaden the perspective and um I'll just also say I was also very involved when I was in High Park I was on um I was an officer for the one of the inaugural U Main Street programs in High Park when under mayor monino in the 90s so I've had like Decades of sort of working here and there in Boston and on various nonprofits and volunteering so I'm really I'm just like wow someone give this woman an award like you know thank you so much for everything that you've done just hearing the list of countless things that you've been involved with of preservation and uh preservation development Community conversations and Civic um you know and everything you've done Civic wise like Nancy sounds like you are incredibly qualified for this position and um and for uh being a study Committee Member um so thank you so much Nancy I just want to open it up to my colleagues for any questions that they may have um councelor Flyn thank you madam chair just want to say thank you to Nancy for her commitment to the residence of Boston she has an outstanding background outstanding resume education exactly the right person at the right time thank you madam chair thank you councelor Murphy um thank you Nancy for being here and you moved all the way everyone from Charlestown says getting yourself to High Park you could get to New Hampshire quicker so you did make the move over to the other side of the city um but as an at large city counselor um you know in Charlestown a lot and do appreciate your past work in High Park you know when all of these main streets and supporting small businesses were created under manino and just know that your experien experience and your advocacy and your commitment to the city will be a good voice on this so thank you thank you for having me councelor rubber uh yeah no no questions just you know thank you for uh all your service there's there's a lot of it uh and I think everyone here can uh commiserate over you know getting stopped in the in the supermarket um about things we we have said uh so um you know we're empathetic there and it's part of the yeah I have also been stopped in My Whole Foods about things that I've said oh thank you so much n part it's all part of the conversation it's all good stuff right thumbs up and thumbs down right so yeah no thank you so much Nancy I think one of the real like honors of being the chair of this committee is getting to convene folks who have been giving so much of their time and uh their civic leadership to the city and their volunteerism like knows no bounds and you're clearly one of those people so I just want to thank you on behalf of the city Boston for all that you do and uh I'm excited to move your nomination forward when we get to our next meeting so um so thank you Nancy okay thank you so much okay so next um I'm trying to see who's left um so I know we have intia are you still are you here hi nice to meet you Ina Ina nice to meet you sorry for the Mis pronunciation um so if you want to in Tia if you want to give um just a blurb about sort of why you're interested in serving on the study committee for the Monument Square architectural Conservation District that would be great sure um so I've lived in Charlestown since 2018 um I live around the corner from the Monument Square on Trenton Street I also own property on Russell Street and we walk our child to school past Monument Square and the Bunker Hill Memorial like every day so I was there this morning I'll be there tonight you know um and I studied Urban studies at Harvard um I grew up in Holo Massachusetts and I returned there as an adult as well and when I was living there I served on the historic commission uh in Holio which is a really important historic town even nationally um and I'm very proud of it and uh and later I served on the planning board there as well um so as a resident of Charlestown I was appointed to plan Charlestown Advisory Group um and I was very active in that process and I'm also um on the charlest toown preservation society's design Review Committee um among lots of other Civic groups and and work um in my day job I'm an affordable housing developer working for the Community Development Corporation uh which is nonprofit in Roxbury Madison Park Development Corporation um and an interesting fact about Madison Park is that it was founded in 1965 actually as sort of an act of resistance and response to the fact that the historic Madison Park in Roxberry was demolished um by the then Boston Redevelopment Authority and so I'm kind of like steeped in the importance of historic preservation in that way and and I think it was you earlier uh Council Durkin who said something about you know the proactivity of this kind of work and so definitely in my work at Madison Park um I think a lot about you know how things could have been different for that Community if sort of proper care would have been given to preserving what was there originally absolutely um thank you so much for bringing your expertise um and I know um it because you do a lot of work for Madison Park and you have real estate experience in addition to being a neighbor how do you feel like that Confluence of experience help will help you in this role yeah I actually think it's really helpful so I recently uh I think the most recent historic district to get um enacted or whatever the proper term is um was the Highland Park um Conservation District which was enacted earlier this year I believe officially um and so I've actually been as a developer um exposed to the process of having a project that was in development in the development Pipeline and sort of had gotten prior approvals before that District's uh creation and then having to Pivot as a developer to go in and respond um to that uh commission's you know work and thoughts and suggestions and I was actually one of the proudest moments of my career I would say was um there was a really contentious meeting um and then we were sort of second on the agenda and so after what had been a really contentious Dialogue on that call for several hours um finally got to our project and just hearing from the commissioner saying that you know my team was really respectful and thoughtful and responsive in every way to every suggestion that the group had made over the past few months that we've been in communication to them with them was just it's really nice to hear those words as a developer and and I think it speaks to the fact that I take that work seriously so I don't I know um um I can imagine why someone might see that as a potential conflict but I actually think the opposite I think especially because I do it as a nonprofit employee so it's not like I'm I joke that like I'm not making yacht money off of any of these developments right um is just that I actually get to see it from both sides and I think that on the charl toown preservation Society for example I think um my perspective has been helpful in that I've sort of helped other reviewers understand how to translate so some of the thoughts or suggestions into um the language or suggestions that developers might be able to be more responsive to and so I think it's a really important perspective thank you so much um I'd like to open it up to my colleagues to see if they have any questions starting with councelor Ed Flynn thank you madam chair um thank you Ina did I pronounce that correct did thank you yes okay um I don't have any questions but I enjoy listening to you and you have a great story you have great experience um you know you've you've contributed greatly to the city making it a better place for and an inclusive place for everyone so I just want to say thank you for your leadership thank you thank you so much councelor Flynn uh councelor Aaron Murphy thank you Ana and just enjoyed listening you know to your life in Charlestown and your work in Roxbury and across the city and just know that that experience will be helpful on this board so thank you thank you thank you councelor Weber yeah no questions just you just uh thanking intia for for all of your great work around the city and and uh hoping for more to come thanks thanks thank you so much um given your qualifications excited to mve you forward at the first um when I first first can so um so thank you so much and I think uh the start of a study report is um what the community has been asking for and I think this is a great first step so thank you for being willing to serve thank you and I'll just say I also really appreciate and support moving the process forward to get the steering committee going um and so thank you for that thank you okay perfect so um uh now I think next we'll hear from Crystal Galvin who is um similarly uh put forward as a member of the study committee um hi Crystal good morning hi so I like Ian I have deep roots in the community I grew up here and like am and Nancy I'm a part of a neighborhood Council and a lot of Civic activities but my background is really not in preservation it's in the nonprofit Human Services and and Community engagement space and I sort of dedicated my career to ensuring that life is better for Charlestown and residents of Charlestown and so the opportunity to contribute to this um study is really about maintaining the unique character that makes Char sound so special and I'm passionate about ensuring that that remains that this neighborhood and the city remains vibrant for future generations and so I guess not having the historic preservation lens but really coming from the space of why Community engagement is so critical um and really dedicating fostering inclusivity and engagement within charlestown's diverse communities and ensuring that more voices are involved in decisions that impact our shared spaces and having ownership of shared spaces not just around the monument but throughout the community and so I um really eager to bring my commitment to service and collaboration and and learn more and work together to benefit all of Johnson residents and thank you for your um time and today because I know you must be busy with this holiday season coming up and toys and everything else that you guys do as a community organization I think it's funny it's like if you want something done ask a busy person and you're one of those busy people so um so thank you for being willing to serve um I think the structure of this study committee now that I have heard from most of the folks who have been put forward is really to create a a lot of balance between the architectural expertise the neighborhood expertise the community expertise um so you clearly are filling one of those buckets and really um can have a great role and and making sure that the community's voice is represented I want to let my colleagues ask any questions they may have I'm starting with counselor Flynn thank you madam chair and thank you to Crystal for your work in Charlestown I know you've been active with the Kennedy Center for so many years but helping families in need and seniors in need especially on food access programs um you've been a tremendous leader in the community and just want to acknowledge acknowledge you and acknowledge your contributions and compassionate leadership so I I don't have any questions but I'm looking forward to um supporting Crystal and just wanted to wish her a happy season as well thank you you as well thank you so much counselor um counselor Murphy yes um thank you Crystal and thank you for staying on I know you have a busy few weeks with all the work you're doing at the Kennedy Center for the children and their families um just looking forward to your voice I know that you've um well respected in the community and you volunteer your time on lots of different boards and commissions and advocate for you know the neighbors and all of the all of the residents and will bring that voice that some people may be worried will not be heard during these discussions so appreciate that um and looking forward to supporting you okay perfect so C councelor Weber yeah no questions just you know thank you for for serving the city and uh look forward to supporting this as well thanks chair thank you um so I think um Crystal you are relieved thank you so much for being willing to serve um planning to move forward your nomination um so thank you so much thanks um so I think the two people we haven't heard from are docket 1699 Julie Hall and docket 1694 FY Samaha are either of those individuals here today I don't see them Madam chair okay so I think those um I think um let me just quickly look at the resume of um so I think um f is already a member of the landmarks commission so um that um maybe move forward we've already heard from him him twice this year at this committee um so I would plan if we're planning to move these forward I would plan to move F forward given that he's a member of the landmarks commission and I know they're trying to fill a certain amount of slots for landmark commission folks um but if it's important to my colleagues to hear a statement from him about why he wants to serve I can have that prepared for when we plan to move this forward um and then we haven't heard from Julie Hall so I think given that she hasn't at least come before this committee before um I would hold that one um given that um given that we haven't heard and then that one would be dealt with at the new year um so that would be the plan um I just want to be completely transparent with my colleagu colleagues on this call about sort of what I what we're planning through the committee um I do want to read a letter of absence from the council president rusy louisian dear chair Durkin I am unable to attend the committee on Planning Development and transportation hearing on the dockets mentioned a hearing regarding the various appointments I I recognize the importance of these appointments and the impact they have on the future of our City's development preservation and environmental regulations and planning efforts these decisions will directly impact our City's development the preservation of its historic character the environment and careful planning necessary balance um and and the careful planning necessary to balance growth with the needs of our neighborhoods these appointments will be instrumental in ensuring that Boston remains a vibrant sustainable and inclusive place for all residents I kindly request that any materials including candidate profiles and related documents be sent to my office and I am committed to staying informed and contributing to these decisions I look forward to reviewing the materials and should you or the administration have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to reach directly out to my office sincerely council president luy lisan um and then I did um want to make sure to Broach um one of the things that we talked about early in the hearing I know councelor Murphy asked um proactively and I know this was a filing that you had um to um Council mury I know this was a filing you had to know on each docket whether someone was being replaced um I just wanted to confirm on these dockets all are all seats are vacant or they're new seats um so we're not replacing anyone through the appointment of these three or these um dockets mentioned so um that that was sent to me by the administration so I just wanted to make sure to read that into the record um and um I think as uh I just want to say uh thank you to everyone for attending uh this morning lative nominations for zoning commission zba and Monument Square archit architectural conservation districts um these boards are essential to the oversight and operations of how development in our physical environment gets executed in the city as chair of Planning Development and transportation I look forward um to any comments that my colleagues have um after the hearing um and just want to thank all the nominees today for appearing um so with that um I want to give a chance for any of my colleagues for any last comments um and then I am planning to close the hearing um sorry madam chair I just want to um flag that we do have two people signed up for a public testimony as well just before you close out oh okay perfect um okay we can hear from both of them sorry um but I do want to give my colleagues a chance to speak before the public testimony um so counselor Ed Flynn Madam chair thank you and the those that appeared before us were excellent and I know they'll continue to do a great job in and do a great job in their new roles or continuing in the new rules um they're Highly Educated professional and um they'll be great additions to their particular neighborhoods in the city I know one person has that wasn't here has been um has appeared before us several times over the last year um I think that I think think I would recommend to have that person be added even though that person wasn't here in person um if that person already testified several times I think that um shows that person's commitment to the to the city council just my own suggestion suggestion but we'll obviously leave it up to you thank you madam chair thank you councelor Flynn and I know that person is your constituent so thank you for advocating for them and uh runs a great local business in your District so um so thank you for advocating for f um okay councelor Murphy no I'm looking forward to public testimony I may have closing argument um argument sorry closing statements after but right now I'm good thank you okay thank you councelor Weber yeah I don't have any comments thank you very much chair uh for convening this hearing thank you um okay so um now we'll move to public testimony Shane do you want to call call their names yes I'm bringing over Diane Valley now okay perfect good morning can you hear me thank you yes I can Diane you have two minutes uh I would like to um share my comments that I have shared with Sharon Durkin this notice on docket 16921 1704 we have requested to be post and reschedule for the following reasons most Monument Square or Charlestown residents are not informed of this matter there have been no public hearings and mayor W selected Representatives without public notice without public meetings which is publicly an issue of the administration about private selections rather than valid Community engagement in light of the current Administration credibility issues is in the city's best interest to allow the public to meet in advance to be informed and to have time to respond notice for this hearing was sent and is scheduled during one of the busiest times of the year during the holidays these matters were sponsored by mayor Michelle woo and referred to the committee on November 20th notice was po posted on the 5th of December at 8:59 a.m. Thanksgiving was November 28th one of the busiest holiday weeks this meeting today at 10:00 is a very in opportune time for public participation one working day for notice is insufficient during this busy season plan Charlestown which has been referenced number of times here was approved despite the community's really vigorous opposition and despite that mayor woo has stated publicly at CNC meetings and at the state house that she does not support plans going forward but it was so far along that she approved it Charlestown deserves proper process before this also is too far along charlest residents deserve to know about and participating meaningful valid community events and Monument Square is worthy of preservation however current preservation CH toown has not been complete or effective I bring your attention to Thompson Square Lawrence Street Soley Street and the Bunker Hill housing and many more examples of less than satisfactory quote preservation this is a conflict most residents are under able to complete compete in a Monday morning um because today at 11:00 the state is holding a hearing that will affect all of us that refers to the mayor's proposal to raise Boston taxes so I say to you that I would like you to PO postpone this entire process until after the first of the year because we have so many competing um issues happening and also so that we can review view with this committee how much the community of Charlestown opposes planed Charlestown and to use the very people that supported plan Charlestown when there were 4,000 signatures for a master plan instead of plan Charlestown really flies in the face of what we are trying to Define as valid Community engagement so I ask you to postol this until the first of the year we will try on the community level to engage more Community residents cuz they did not know I know you received a letter today from The Bunker Hill Monument Association the oldest organization in our community that was not informed and is not in favor of so I ask each and every one of you to please consider that we do not want to have a process that does not involve the community this is um a precedent and to date this sounds more like a performance than an engagement so I ask you to redefine what community engagement here is in the city of Boston and redefine so that we can have some faith in what the government's doing we really want to do the right thing here I have lived here since 1982 I've been very involved I started the Monument Square neighborhood association this is a very big passion project for many of us who've lived here for many years so there's more people that need to be at the table so thank you for letting me testify thank you Diane um is there anyone else left to testify yes we have oh I'm sorry Joanna Hines I'm bringing her over right now okay hi thank you yes I'm also calling um well thank you for for the opportunity to speak I I didn't hear about this until about I don't know 24 hours ago I'm on the neighborhood Council as well I'm an atlarge counselor this was not on the agenda for any meeting that has happened in the last year and it certainly wasn't on the agenda or brought up at the meeting that happened last week despite the fact that there are several people from the CNC being um you know put on this list so that's really disappointing I mean I am all for protecting charlestown's history that's why um Aaron Woods and I co-founded and are co-chairs of the Charlestown historic Battlefield District committee we are a 501c3 we've gone through the study committee process the whole process has been public every time we have a meeting it's in the newspaper we've had up to you know seven meetings with guests near 100 people at the last one we are um we are working to get a historic district um having to do with the entire neighborhood not just the rich part but that's that's neither here nor there I'm I'm opposing the process as Diane Valley said Charlestown really needs to know that we can trust city government and right now it doesn't feel like that the cast of characters that are being um submitted for this study committee are the same ones that led us astray with plan Charlestown if you were to come to Charlestown and ask people how they felt about planed Charlestown I think you'd get a unanimous were really upset about it it does not serve our community as the answer so this just feels like an extension of that for whatever reason a lot of people in Charlestown are wary of a historic district recognition and um most of that concern has to do with architectural restrictions as as I'm I'm sure you've heard and know if you're on the city Council but um the fact that nobody in the neighborhood even knows that this meeting is happening the fact that there's not a military historian on this submitt list I think all of these things I hope all of these things will will um encourage the city council to to come back with a closing statement and and give us a little more time to engage the city um Joan I just wanted to let you know you're at time okay great thank you that's so that was was it great thank you so much thank you Diane and thank you Joanna for your testimony um I I don't want to put anyone on the spot but I was just curious if Joe Cornish or Kathy citus could just get on um quickly and talk about the process um moving forward because I think in both of those testimonies there were a couple of um sort of feeling that this is like um the end of the you know or just you know this is just the start of the study report process so I would love for uh Joe Cornish to talk a little bit more about where we are in the process of historic designation and what that means and what levels of designation exist or whatever details he'd like to offer I I think that would be helpful to the community looks like thank you Joe I'm so sorry to put you on the spot oh no no thank you and um you know we so appreciate having the opportunity to have this committee meeting and and thank you to the city councelors um who are present um councelor Durkin councelor Weber councelor Murphy and councelor Flynn um this is just sort of the very beginning of the process or designating uh a potential uh architectural Conservation District um in 2022 uh the Boston landmarks commission received a petition um and that was accepted by the Lo Boston landmarks commission for further studies so the next step in that process is to appoint the study committee that will be moving the process forward um sorry to interrupt Joe but essentially we're doing something two years later that was called for like essentially someone kicked off the process two years ago and so given that context I don't think I really feel comfortable bumping this to next year given that it's been two years um and I was excited to have this slot um open up so that we could have this conversation prior to the last council meeting of the year um so I just not to think out loud or anything but just I don't really feel comfortable given the context of this study report being petitioned by the public being pushed any further than two years after the petition so sorry can you talk a little more to that you're sure I mean we're very excited to get this process move moving forward um all of the study committee um meetings will be open to the public so it's a very public process um you know we anticipate that the subcommittee will probably meet between 6 months and maybe even a year to make sure that they're being very thorough in vetting the study report which will be presented to the Boston landmarks commission with the opportunity for public feedback and public comment and then ultimately the Boston landmarks commission will vote to um hopefully accept the study report and accept uh a recommendation to designate the monument Square architectural Conservation District um but then um the mayor and city council will also have the opportunity to Moote to vote whether or not to move those forward and what um can you talk about sort of the different steps in the process um so there are going to be study report meetings that are open to the public will the community be able to weigh in to the study report committee about feelings that they have about certain um attributes of the designations abely certain levels like you know as I know I live in a historic district there are certain things that are called for in the Beacon Hill historic district so for example um would they be able to weigh in on those things if there are I think the last um person who testified talked about sort of some of the fears of historic designation so would they be able to weigh in at the study report stage yeah absolutely it's a very public process and part of the recommendations of the study committee will be the standards and criteria for the scope of protection in the district and what features will be protected um and just to throw it out there use is something that um the Bost landmarks commission does not um have any authority to regulate thank you so much Joe um and I knew our new director of historic preservation Kathy cus is on would you like to add anything thank you counselor and thanks to all counselors present uh for your participation in this process I too am learning so thank you Joe but I only will add because it was uh noted that uh for a military historian for example to be added to the process we will be able to bring whatever resources necessary to delineate community history and its broad a sense but also in specific ways that are unique to Charlestown so no fears no worries there that we will um be as comprehensive and as um as as diverse in the way in which we um elicit and compile the history of the community thank you so much um director codas and I just want to say um I think we we just had a working session um with the city council on the landmarks commission that I I brought in the landmarks commission last week after our council meeting and one thing um that I think was really important about that um session was um just one thing that sort of um really stuck out to me is the amount of like City resources that are used to get us to this point so I do think any delay in um Furnishing a study report or any delay in um creating the committee um just further andat that process which I know can be expensive and um and I think uh given that uh historic I I think even the folks who have testified have not had an issue with the historic preservation element of this they've they've had an issue with potentially the um the this hearing and it's and its notice time I just want to share that um to to those that may be listening who are not um in the city council's Chambers all the time we are completely out of hearing date so when this hearing opened up I really wanted to prioritize um the communities and the and the appointments that uh were before our committee um and I was I'm working hard to do everything I can as the committee chair to get everything off of my docket before the end of the session many of you know that January 1 many of the dockets wash away and so we've been working really hard to try to close up and sew up before the holidays everything necessary so I just want to um deeply apologize to anyone who felt like uh that this was a surprise to them um but given that uh two years ago uh a community petition called for the this start part of this process I think two years later um it's part of like my fiduciary to this duty to the city and also just my duty um as someone who chairs this committee to prioritize uh the things that um that I think deserve prioritizing so um so I just I will try to move these forward at Wednesday's meeting given all of the testimony and given the fitness of the candidates that have have come before the committee today um so um uh Joe Cornish would you like to sure yes thank you and thank you again for your time counselor um we did have two candidates who were invited to testify today um for other commissions one was a candidate to fill a vacant alternate position at the Bay Village historic district commission Craig Douglas um and that would be for an alternate position and then also um Peter sanbor um for the south end he was nominated to serve a resident um member position and they were invited to to testify today and um it was um considered that possibly that could happen during public testimony yeah so um during um because uh yeah if they would like to testify before the committee I just want to note that um they wouldn't have formally testified before our committee U because um we have not noticed those two dockets though I know that Craig douas Douglas and Peter Samar have both been noticed before um so they've already been on ETS they've already been in here they've already been noticed on hearings that we've had in the past so I'm happy to hear them if they would like to publicly testify um okay um so are they are they in the waiting room do we want to start with Peter yes I'm I'm bringing them over right now Madam chair okay hi Craig if you like to read a statement um Sor hi thank you can you hear me yes hi so my name is Craig Douglas um I'm an architect as well I've uh lived in Bay Village uh since 2019 uh I'm a member of the Bay Village neighborhood association and also a member of the Planning Group that we have over there um I would say in terms of my experience you know originally I was uh early in my career trained in traditional and classical design um over the years I've been practicing for about 30 years I've worked in um you know Rehabilitation and uh Redevelopment of projects um all sorts of things uh more recently I've been working um in the owner's representative category with schools to get highly sustainable buildings um built specifically passive house and I would say you know it's kind of my two twin passions one is you know the fabric of Boston is you know is why why I moved back to Boston uh it's also you know that's the character that that defines the city and at the same time you have to make it livable moving forward um which is you know that's where the sustainability com component comes into it for me in terms of resilience um you know understanding that I'll be an alternate and I'm new to this particular process I look forward to to learning about it and I would just like to uh you know say thank you to all the counselors who put in the time for this thanks thank you so much Craig because these dockets aren formally noticed we're not going to ask questions but appreciate your testimony uh Peter sandborn good morning counselor so my name is Peter sandborn a resident of the Southend East Springfield Street in the south end I've been a resident of the South End since 1977 and a resident of East Springfield Street since 1980 um I served as an alternate um on the south end Landmark District commission from 2007 to 2020 and I'm now under consideration as a full member um if um the appointment is approved um so I'm pretty familiar with the process processes of the uh Landmark District commission South End parenthetically is I believe the most active in terms of applications that are reviewed of any of the landmark District Commissions in the city so the workload is generally very heavy um when I served as an alternate I believe that I was a very conscientious and dedicated uh I rarely missed a meeting uh my personal belief is if you're appointed to um a commission or committee or something then it's important that you participate and take that um membership very seriously um I for more than 40 years was a planning consultant I was a principal in my own uh consulting firm with Partners I'm now largely retired since um um 2020 I still working part-time so our consultancy actually was um as Municipal Consultants to smaller communities throughout New England so I'm actually very aware and attuned to um dealing with the public and understand the importance of the um government agency uh being sensitive to public concerns um I love the city um I love the south end I think I was an effective member and I look forward to returning if that is the choice of the city council thank you so much Peter um given that this wasn't formally noticed um we accept your testimony but um what we not be asking questions of you today okay so thank you so much okay um so I want to leave it to my colleagues um uh counselors um Flynn Murphy and um and if Weber is still here to see if they have any closing statements I I have no no other question thank you thank you councelor Murphy counselor Weber okay hearing none um hearing no other um questions or statements I just want to thank um both the members of the administration that came forward at the very end um to provide some feedback um on uh on some of the questions that folks had um but also just um really we heard a lot of compelling uh stories and uh profiles of folks who are highly qualified to serve um on both the zoning commission uh the zba um you know current folks that are currently serving our city and then obviously this new um uh study uh study report um committee uh to create a committee or study committee for the Monument Square architectural Conservation District which I know any new District in the city is a super exciting process um so I'm grateful to all of uh my colleagues for being here um and also grateful to um to everyone from the administration who was able to make it thank you uh director codus and Joe Cornish um who I know has done such a great job um working um to help preserve the city and now um director cus now coming in after after a whole career of preservation really exciting to work with both of you um so now we'll close the hearing um I am planning to move forward all of these dockets on Wednesday for the for our last meeting the council agenda um so this hearing on dockets 0866 16941 1690 through 1704 is adjourned thank you