##VIDEO ID:raoPuWzX8CM## this government meeting is brought to you by eastw works and our local cable subscribers good evening welcome to the suton city council be meeting for Wednesday October 9th the meeting tonight is being recorded and broadcast as by edia on chat channel 193 and live streaming on their web page Isam media.org consors are participant in these meetings are gathering hybrid on the order extended until March 2025 which allow us to do so I remain both the member of the city council and the public participating remote remain mute on the recognize by the city council president also for the members of the public please remove your camera for the duration of the meeting unless you are participating in the speak time or public hearing thank you this meeting is now called to order Maran Connie denim here Salem Derby pres Omar Gomez JP Kinski Tom Peak here Brad Riley here Tamara Smith here JT Terrell here Owen zarett present let's take a minute of moment of silence [Music] please join us for the place of delance of flag of the United States of America and to the for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all at this moment I I'm going to recognize the fire chief chief Norris uh he's going to introduce the new member of the CT team Chief good evening and thank you Mr President uh good evening city councilors um tonight's a unique opportunity to bring before the city leadership the um Community Emergency Response Team for the city of East Hampton um this team has been in existence for well over almost 20 years now and over the last I'll say year couple a little bit longer but at least over the last year we've had 10 new members uh come forward and complete the initial training for this c um Community Response Team the initial training is approximately anywhere between 70 and 80 hours and then once they become members they continue monthly trainings and other deployments um required to be ongoing members of the team when you look at the East Hampton C team it certainly at least in my eyes uh a model organization that other communities across the state can kind of emulate and kind of you know build their own Community Response Team around this team over the years has deployed for State responses for tornado and certainly local responses here uh for plan events and certainly emergencies as well um speaking for the fire side um we added them to our run card so anytime there's a multiple alarm event here in the city of East Hampton they will automatically be not notified they'll do their internal notifications and they'll respond to that seam in a in seen in a coordinated fashion to assist with those operations essentially in terms of their training and capabilities um just some quick examples for you to understand what they bring to this community for resources they bring the ability to assist with traffic control they have uh the fire scene they can help with rolling of hose um assistant with uh Rehabilitation and Rehab supplies on the fire seam they can assist with air bottles fill in and other logistical needs shuttling equipment back and forth to the scene um I talked about wde wide area searches the their capabilities really are pretty vast and that's why we felt it was important to number one recognize the team and its entirety here and what they've done over the years and the value they bring to this community and region and then certainly bringing on those 10 new members here tonight um for all of you to get to know them see them put a name to a face and just to say to this entire team um how appreciative we are for all the services you provide to the community so at this time I'll actually ask um we have two members here um we have um Jason Dunham um from the fire and we have uh detective Briggs from the police department Who are the liaz for both agencies if I can have them come up here with me and then I'll have um the C team Commander Steve McGrath and the lead trainer is John Zimmerman if I can have both of you come up here as well and then with the 10 new members if you can kind of Chief yes sir just one second uh for the public um I have a question please first thank you for everybody who is in this team um for someone the community want to join the C team they have to be eastampton resident how they can find about this program so they don't need to be in eastampton Resident although that is um nice to have because most of their services are pried here but they can reach out to myself or um Chief scrier um and then we can get them in contact with the Liaisons for both agencies perfect thank you so you're welcome um and then the 10 new members if I can have the 10 new members come stand in the front here and what I'm going to do is I'm going to read off the names of the 10 new members and I'll have Mr McGrath and Mr zman hand you your certificates and she's for the record that's come out of there be best to position them Mr President that one why yes so face that camera be sure to smile yep so what I'd like to do is as as I uh please hold any Applause I want to just make sure everyone hears the name of the new members that go on the list here so in terms of the new members to the team we have Angeli Baker Joan Crowell Amy gleon Dennis Glick Anthony O'Brien Bob parent Linda Riley Sarah sinowitz David Vanos and Ed Ed Wagner so those are the 10 new members if we can have uh Mr MRA come forward and hand their certificates sure you get you get long as your face in the camera 10 survivors of 18 people that started this program about two years ago so that's pretty good so I want don't you go ahead and hand out those certificates to them's that way okay so Ang [Music] Jo C they're [Music] alphabetical Amy Dennis Dennis holds the record Dennis started in 2019 we figured and then Co stopped the training and he's stuck with it congratulations Robert K thank you Riley thank you Sarah squin David B thank [Music] you Ed Wagner thank you we've got one more that wasn't able to make it because of uh being called out on an emergency so again as everyone's up here in front of the city leadership again thank you for all you have done thus far and certainly looking forward to continuing to work with all of you as a valuable resource for emergency responses and plan events here at the city of East Hampton and so thank you all very much and then finally Mr President if it's okay with you can we get one group picture of the city leadership with take do it everyone can kind of get in the front of city council I'll get i'll get be there I need the men to stand their B no no you guys good don't worry I'm I know I know I guess I could stand on the chair there three one 2 3 perfect [Applause] and again thank you city council thank you Chief thank you keep clean on your way out just going to wait until so while they'll do that I will take a motion to approve the minute of September 18 so move second I have a motion in a second to approve the minute of September 18 those one any further discussion for those one in favor any against abstention I obain motion passes you [Music] just speak time this is the opportunity to address the council regarding any topic not listed under the public hearing if you are here to talk about the resolution about the resolution or anything that is not part of the public hearing this is the opportunity to talk to the council uh please state your name at address for the record and we're going to give you three minutes to talk to the conso anyone go to the podium please I'm going to start with the people in person and then I'm going to with the people that partic participating remote hi my name is Henry Morgan I am the executive director of the public higher education network of Massachusetts which is a student-led education non advocacy nonprofit that focuses on building free public higher education I've also been uh organizing as a volunteer around mushroom decriminalization for the better part of three years now um working on Municipal resolutions across the state to push for decriminalization to to make it a low priority for law enforcement to make sure that we're focusing on harm reduction and not criminalization recently we've seen the new approach political action committee a DC lobbyist organization come in and put put forward some amazing legislation that would decriminalize uh home growing and would decriminalize small amounts of possession um although it does also set up a regulatory model that would open up the door for this to be a life-saving treatment for people with treatment resistant depression which is incredibly vital um that being said I have some concerns about the way that it's written and the way the Regulatory Commission is set up it gives undue influence for business people and people in the pharmaceutical industry and I think that it's really important that we work together to address these concerns create Democratic accountability create democracy and transparency within the commission and ensure that the voices of indigenous people and herbalists whose tradition is steeped to who who tradition the Psychedelic medicine is steeped in have an adequate representation on on the board which is why I think it's so vital that we address these concerns through legislation and this resolution does address these concerns and so I begrudgingly do support the initiative I will vote Yes on it and I will tell people to vote Yes on it but um with the added stipulation that we have an incredible amount of work to do in the coming legislative session thank you thank you good evening city council my name is Sean MCD and I'm a senior at UMass ammer studying civil engineering I'm an aspiring professional civil engineer and I hope to contribute to my community State and Country through my work today I would like to share also why I support psychedelic legalization first of all it has had a long history of use especially within indigenous cultures across the world um secondly our society is currently facing a mental health epidemic that you can see every day most of us are affected in some way either ourselves or our friends and family um psychedelic medicine has shown promising results in resolving many mental health issues including but not limited to addiction anxiety depression and PTSD and this is all backed by science many of my friends and family members suffer from issues such as this um and seeing my loved ones in pain makes me feel hopeless and Powerless and knowing that they can be helped through psychedelic treatment paired with current um psycho therapeutic methods gives me hope um I also believe we should prevent regulatory capture by limiting the amount of businessmen in um and financial advisers on the Regulatory Commission to two out of the seven positions I believe the other position should be filled mostly with people um with indigenous or herbal um expertise because these communities have historically had knowledge and resources for successful implementation of psychedelic medicines um I don't believe big Pharm pharmaceutical companies should have a hand in the implementation of these psychedelics um and now I would ask you to vote Yes on the resolution and support of ballot measure number four and I will also be voting yes thank you thank you I will think a pause in um in the public speak time because we schedule a public hearing at 6:15 I will open the public speak time once again we finish with the public hearing so you're going to have the opportunity to talk to the council about any other topic including the resolution again if if anyone uh want to talk in favor or against that uh but we have to go to the public hearing I will take a motion to open the public hearing so Mo second I have a motion on a second to open the public hearing any further discussion see you no for those those are in favor hi motion passes cons uh thank you Mr President uh we have two uh uh hearings tonight uh for out of Finance both were approved through uh two to zero with one uh person not being able to be there uh the first is an interde departmental transfer of $ 48,6 42 from uh the peg access account to the peg access account um I think we all know the drill at this point but for the benefit of the public uh we receive money from uh the cable company uh through through fees when people have cable subscriptions and we sort of act as a pass through entity to send that money to uh East Hampton media to provide uh all sorts of great services including hosting uh these meetings and broadcasting them so uh I would just like to note as I've said before that this amount is steadily declining as you're seeing more more people cut the cable it has been kind of over this term it's been notable so just something that I just want people to keep in mind but we um that being said uh in terms of the uh the matter before us which is whether or not to transfer this money there's really no reason not why not to correct any consel have any questions or comments anyone from the public have any questions or comments about this um appropriation see all right I'll make this in the form of a motion uh request is hereby made uh for approval of the following appropriation amount requested $ 48,6 42 to be transferred from Peg access account $ 48,6 42 to be transferred to Peg access account $ 48,6 6642 the amount requested will be used for the following purpose to give approval to spend from the peg access receipts reserved account for cable related purposes consistent with the franchise agreement second I have a motion a second for in departmental transfer of 48666 with 442 Cent to the P access account for the cable related purpose any further discussion see none those one in favor I any against exstension motion passes cons Peak thank you Mr President uh the second item is a $100 supplemental appropriation uh for the mass uh Trails Grant match uh that would be coming from uh excuse me it's 100,000 did I say you said 100 I know what you meant yeah a thousand times what I said yeah my bad uh so $100,000 $100 would not really be um yeah to uh uh from Capital stabilization uh this uh for counselors I think you'll recall we had a conversation about this a few months back uh the bike path uh there are some safety issues in it uh routes coming up and and splitting the pavement and causing problems and so the city applied for a uh Mass Trails uh Grant uh we received the Grant and uh now as part of that we need to match those funds so this $100,000 again is coming from Capital stabilization uh and uh would be used to supplement that so that we can fix up the bike trail and keep it being a asset to the city and once again uh we did approve this 2 to Z thank you coun any Cel have any questions comments consel s more of a comment um you know these real Trails have become an integral part of um our uh both Transportation as well as Recreation here in Massachusetts um we just passed I think a very meaningful resolution to make sure that we do our best to connect uh across the state to Boston um riding the trail uh at any given time throughout the years is kind of this constant need for upkeep and obviously I support this wholeheartedly but I think that um we need to as a state uh start thinking more about how to these in a more sustainable manner um just as we have chapter 90 money for roads we're going to really start thinking as we increase infrastructure of these bike paths how we're going to have be need to be able to give money to municipalities on a regular basis to support what we have I support this wholeheartedly but we have to be more Forward Thinking um on uh Beacon Hill so that's all any other cons thereby um so tomorrow I will surpass uh 300 miles of commuting to work since school started on August 28th so my body my bike probably my dentist thanks us for doing this because it is very bumpy and it is honestly it's kind of dangerous like if you hit one and you're not expecting now the leaves are down like this is a safety issue so it's important and it you know it's a valuable resource to the community so fully thank you consor any other conselor I saw um Mr nman I don't know if you want to add something DPW director uh no I don't no good evening everyone greatman director of Public Works no um no I don't really have anything to add I was just here if there was any questions that came up we're really looking forward to getting this project moving and this is uh this appropriation being finalized is a big step towards that okay being able to get out there and get the work started so okay thank you uh cons Kinski uh just a quick question for Mr nlman uh and that was how soon can the project get going and what do you expect as a completion date for this project we need to have I'm hoping to have the work underway first first part of the spring and we need to have it completed by um the end of June so we want to hit the ground run in here as soon as all this is uh complete we have contracts in place with the VHB for the construction and construction oversight final design documents U that'll outline all the repair prioritization so just looking forward to getting this getting this where we're getting to work so and a quick followup which I think is a natural one with councelor Derby's comments about the trail now have are we doing everything we possibly can do you need anything else from us to help Mark those areas that are dangerous during the interim before the no we've got we've got some pretty good uh documents that we had created as part of our grand application and have a a pretty good idea of where the worst areas are and they'll be uh prioritized based on funding and bit out as an ad alternate so we can really stretch every dollar we're able to get uh to get as much much work out of this as we possibly can thank you we will need to though while I have you all we will need to have a conversation um possibly next year's budget about where the rail trail Falls as far as it being maintained by a city Department because it's not officially the responsibility of the Department of Public Works so a conversation about a transition From the bik Path committee to to my department or the parks department needs to needs to move along so Vice prin Derby I just wanted to um address councilor's comment um most of the areas that are kind of dangerous have been spray painted right now because of the leaves being down it is kind of hard to see but you know I don't think that there's I don't think the DPW has anything I I didn't know if there was anything like a flag on a on a on a tree nearby just to warn everybody might be using the trail hey you may not see it under the leaves but somewhere around here we got a problem so be careful and it's not it's not catastrophic it's you know if you're not expecting it and you're you know riding with one hand it could knock you off but right you know if you're expecting bumpy train which is a good expectation for the bike trail I especially think of little little children and and folks who went young people who may be out riding their bikes not really thinking about everything that they maybe should be attending to and all of a sudden anyway any other councelor anyone from the public have any questions or comments about this appropriation say I don't make there request in the form of a motion request is hereby made for the approval of the following appropriation amount requested $100,000 to be transferred from Capital stabilization $100,000 to be transferred to mass Trails grant program Revenue $100,000 the amount request will be used for the following purpose this funding will serve as a match funding uh for the mass Trails Grant manhand rail trail pavement restoration and repair project second I have a motion on a second for the supplement Prof $100,000 for the master Grand match any further discussion seeing none those one in favor any against abstention motion passes I will take a motion to close hearing second I have a motion on a second to close the public hearing any further discussion seeing none those one in favor any against exension motion passes now is the time to continue in the Poli speak time so if anyone in person want to say something please take your name and address for the record and please go to the podium and you will have three minutes hello East Hampton City councilors thank you for welcoming me me here um I'm Graham Moore I'm the educational Outreach director for the S on 4 campaign advancing The psychedelics Ballad measure I'm also a lifelong Massachusetts resident and I was also a Grassroots advocate for this PRI of joining the campaign this is really deeply personal to me because I am an obsessive compulsive disorder patient who found tremendous healing and recovery from debilitating symptoms using psilocybin I was empowered to talk to my psychologist and my psychiatrist MGH thanks to a de prioritization resolution passed in Cambridge in 2021 similar to the one you passed here I've also been a caregiver for two loved ones with severe suicide Audi leading to hospitalization including my best friend who died by suicide in uh in 2013 what was that noise it doesn't matter not time or anything anyway I I really really am grateful to councelor zarett and everybody here considering this resolution support of this policy I also want to recognize their good faith concerns of people in the community who want to make sure that is better than it is I didn't write this legislation I think it's great the foundation of treating substance use as a health issue not a criminal issue and providing additional option for people in need it is great but we can improve it with the input of the community post passage and I would encourage anybody with concerns to reach out to reach out to me or others on our team um who are in this state to Really Care um so thank you so much uh please please vote in support of this resolution I think it will do a lot of good and help a lot of people um really quickly also want to say I a family members a psychiatrist I have friends who are doctors one of my loved ones is hospitalized at mlan hospital in Massachusetts one of the best hospitals in the in the country I know what the top level of psychiatric care conventional psychiatric care can provide and for too many it's not it's not enough I know somebody in mlan who's been there for almost a year uh is on more than 12 medications and is now looking at being uh put into a state hospital for life and you know people people like that deserve something else they can try um so thank you so much for your help and support thank you anyone else hi my name is I'm a local and I do wanted to come out and share my story with psychedelics uh I come from a family of addiction and poy and as a teenager I fell into the same patterns of drink drinking smoking and basically um addiction was running my life um for many periods of time I just wanted to get high I like it was just completely absorbing my life when I came into psychedelics I was able to resolve um those GLE problems those spiritual problems the problem with my family Within Myself and I've been able to be stable now for 8 years from Alcohol Tobacco and other substances through psychedelic work um and I believe that by legalizing these substances that we can make this opportunity of healing and growth accessible for more people like me and my family thank you thank you anyone else that participating any person greetings Council my name is Step ble I'm a resident of Westfield and a local business owner here in eastampton a community which I love I'm the owner of go at the float we provide uh sensy deprivation and it's a healing process um which I won't get into that now but a lot of that has led me um from my use to psychedelics um like Tyler I used to struggle with um alcohol abuse and psychedelics have led me to um I don't drink anymore um it led me to my career now where I am helping this community uh I have nothing prepared to say tonight I'm really speaking from the heart I really just want to Second what um Henry said so eloquently that I don't know what the answer is what's happening I don't know what's happening with number four I just know that for myself personally and for people that want to use these substances um particularly mushrooms which is like completely organic I'm not really speaking for MDMA or some of these other synthetic LSD substances mushrooms has helped me and I just know that people who want to use these um should not be put in jail I'm not saying everyone should use them I used to have more of a soap box where I had that stance I don't think that anymore I think that people who do want to use them should uh not be like I said thrown in Jail uh I don't know who's going to be controlling this these these corporations again what Henry said I think there should be a little more um heart and soul put into this I don't know what that looks like I don't know what the answer is all I can say is it's helped me it's helped me heal it's helped me heal my community and uh whatever resolution Henry is putting forth I know he's been working with Owen um I completely support that and uh if anyone has any um need to follow up I would Owen I'd love to speak with you and uh thank you for all being here tonight and supporting this um thank you for your time appreciate thank you thank you hi everybody my name is Christopher Fato um I'm currently a resident of H yoke but I've grown up in eastampton schools my whole life I work in eastampton um I also didn't plan on speaking tonight but uh not to be redundant but considering what everyone's talking about I think it's important to show maybe the face of some of the people that this stuff has helped and as someone who has struggled with addiction in their family since birth both uh you know generational addiction um primarily the opiate and opioid crisis that's continuing to get worse uh I lost my mother a couple years ago to fat and all overdose I've struggled with addiction to opiates for about half my life I'm 34 now um I I've been clean for a little while but uh a large part of that is through use of psilocybon specifically uh which is considered very sacred medicine in uh some cultures and we don't tend to recognize that way um I also utilize the mental health systems and I've been seeing the same therapist for about 5 years um but what I've learned in my own experience working with these for a a long time is there's certain problems especially people struggling with addiction the root cause of our problems um can be very hard to figure out for some of us and there's some deeper work that sometimes our Western medicine system doesn't seem equipped to really get to the the root of some of these issues and nothing against that cuz I have gotten a lot of help from uh especially my current therapist but I just want to again second everyone's Voice who our every uh everyone who spoke said uh said spoke from the heart very well um and again I just wanted to add another face to uh who this has helped and and also I should say many people do consider this a drug and I'm sure hearing this from uh someone who struggled with addiction it's like well one drug for another but um reforming this more as looking at as a medicine um can be highly beneficial but we can also lie to ourselves that same way so it's a very thin line fine line to to walk uh in this hopefully eventual legalizing process of uh something that can help a lot of people thank you thank you anyone else no okay I'm going to the people that participating remote I will start apologizing in case I mispronounced your name U but I will start with Ella hi everyone thank you so much for um the opportunity to speak today I would like to also um submit my testimony in favor of the resolution support of question four that you guys are going to be considering tonight um I think psychelic legalization is incredibly important and powerful thing um you know people's personal stories that people have already said today are so much more important than any statistics that I could bring but I just want to mention some studies that have been done where after just one um experience of um psilocybin in a therapeutic context people have been able to quit uh smoking quit alcohol uh improve their PTSD like these are incredibly powerful medicines um and along that vein uh I really believe that the uh Regulatory Commission that will be created in the the ballot question as it's written right now um is going to be harmful for these potential good effects um the Regulatory Commission includes mostly business people which means that there is a potential for um you know profit to be put as the the biggest motive uh when regul regulating these substances um and I think we really need to be listening to the community to um indigenous people who of course have been using these substances for generations and also who have been historically punished for using these medicines um and herbalists and people that are going to be considering their Community Members First over profit um so that's why I support this resolution that you were voting on tonight I support the bot initiative but I do want to make sure that we address these concerns in the long run thank you thank you patri hi there can everyone in the city council room see me y yes okay great good um hello my name is be um I'm also here to speak about um uh question 4 and supporting it um voting yes um I know it's a point of a discussion tonight um I'm again beatric Rogers um I'm a local student at UMass um and in addition to like my traditional academic involvement at UMass I'm also helped to facilitate Community groups um on the campus one of which being the multidisiplinary Psychedelic Club um where we're involved D in like driven to educate and reduce harm in our community um we build this community Through like conversations connectedness um discourse like this today um we we really strive to like provide a forum for students to talk about um psychedelics their scientific medical cultural and philosophical implications um with like this mission to like facilitate mainstream cultural acceptance of psychedelics I have spent much time discussing with local people not just students community members that come to these meetings to talk about like what psychedelics are and what it means to them um and and often times in my own experience and in the experience of other people it's medicine um not necessarily the type of medicine that you visit your GP for um rather like it's a medicine for like the mind and it's a medicine for the soul and for the spirit and it's medicine for our culture uh this medicine is accessible for those who need it and it's contextualized by those who are very experienced in its use I think that this process what I'm seeing and experiencing being involved in this community can continue through its legalization um which I 100% support um but I also would like to highlight the incredible danger that it poses um to well-being and Healthy Growth when medicine is operated and administered for profit um when there is an incentive to capitalize off of needs that are being sought those needs are seldom met um take the case of Oregon for example who has legalized psychedelics um psychedelic medicine people are being charged thousands of dollars tens of thousands of dollars for psychedelic treatment which is just not acceptable um so with regulatory capture um comes like extreme capitalization and with capitalization comes extreme Financial barriers which limit people's access to this medicine um psychedelics are are are changing people's lives we are all here to serve each other that's why we're here that's why the city council is here to serve to be here for the people um but if the power is not in the hands of the people we lose like the undeniable Effectiveness that power has so I really implore um you all here today to you know not just not just those on the council but but everyone here to to use your power to invest in our future as like a healthy and a happy Society excuse me thank you it's already 3 minutes thank you okay no problem um I just want to say I support question for and for putting psychedelic medicine in the hands of the people that use it okay thank you thank you you thank you [Music] Nina can you hear me yes hi thank you so much for letting me speak today I'm sorry I couldn't be there in person my name is Nina sain and I'm currently a student at UMass amher studying Neuroscience I fully support the legalization of psychedelics because I truly believe that they're a life-saving medicine with the potential to help countless individuals we've heard so many testimonies today about people um how it's helped their life how it's helped their communities and the research is there to back it I have a friend who suffered from debilitating PTSD and had the opportunity to use S ayin and is now able to live a full life and as a student who is studying Neuroscience I have read countless research reports revealing the incredible healing abilities it has and I hope someday that I may be able to use this knowledge in something like psychedelic assistant to support those people in needs while I do urge the council to vote Yes on ballot measure 4 I do have some concerns um that be and Ella also mentioned um I'm concerned with the lack of representation on the Regulatory Commission I'm concerned that it's it's it's mostly made up of businessmen I think that we could go wrong there because I believe that this is truly medicine for healing and I think that when it becomes something for profit and not with Community interest in mind that's some that it like how beatric mentioned with what's happening in Oregon how it's so expensive I really hope that someday when if I ever have the opportunity to help people it's not just people who can afford it but people who need it um I think that there should be representation of mental health professionals uh I think there should to be representation of indigenous people who have been using this as medicine for thousands of years um so I do really support um this measure and I really urge you to vote Yes but I also think that there's a lot of work to be done on this so thank you so much for letting me speak thank you great hello East hampson Town Council thank you so much for your time and consideration I'm also a um student and lifelong Massachusetts resident I'm studying economics and math and I also wanted to um speak up in support of the resolution to support bolot measure 4 and specifically um the um and spe specifically I wanted to talk about the proposed resolution to that which was um I wanted to talk about how SE has already helped many people with addictions and mental illnesses a lot of people's personal testimonies have touched on that um and I'm also amazed already at the support from the community and making this kind of medication more accessible and decriminalized in my home state and I hope that people will turn out in November um you know I'm here to support the resolution to increase transparency decrease regulatory capture and to make indigenous perspectives more heard as other testimonies have noted still aside it's a completely natural medicine this isn't something that was cooked up in a lab or anything like that this is just a fungus that you can find on the ground and as such it's also been historically used by generations for you know people who have inhabited this land and you know since we have those perspectives that exist of indigenous people herbalists like people who are involved in natural medicine and who are involved in this kind of medicine already um really those are the kinds of Specialists we want to be looking for for this particular kind of substance so I think that also we have to be concerned about making sure to balance the kind of power structures that we have in terms of prioritizing one kind of voice to be heard on the council and I think that if we add some more Community oriented voices and some more natural medicine oriented voices and make that more um you know more balanced on the council and that could go a long way into continuing to prioritize the interests of the community as we make these great steps for the decriminalization of psychedelics um thank you guys again for your time and I Ur you to consider the resolution and to vote Yes for the ballot measure thank you anyone else see none police speak times officially close communication for elected officials supports and committee any conselor have anything for tonight cons denim uh thank you Mr President um first thing I just want to acknowledge um I wasn't intending to to say this but um there's just a a real tragedy unfolding down in Florida right now um and I just want to extend my hopes concerns uh that people will uh remain safe um we have a lot of East Hampton residents I'm sure who spend part of their time here in East Hampton and part of their time down in Florida particular for the winter months and also just want to acknowledge that I have family in Florida uh one of whom is is in the Sarasota Tampa Bay Region uh he is a superintendent uh and he is responsible for uh the emergency evacuation shelter right he's a superintendent but that was a part of his job description right and so I think a lot of people are really stepping up and um picking on responsibilities that that's not their normal everyday job um and so just want to acknowledge everyone who's trying to keep people safe down there um so that was just a personal thing I apologize but um I think we have a lot of residents who are going to be impacted by this um also um um we this year we had we did for the first time the municipal Leadership Academy um we had five residents who participated it was a very well-received um learning opportunity for those residents and I think it was a learning opportunity for our departments to be able to share their experiences with residents and their work uh and everything that they um their departments do uh for residents in the city um we had got some a lot of positive feedback from that uh in terms of people talking about I had no idea this is how the city ran right which is a which is a real main kind of um point of that um but also it it was intended to humanize our our um city staff I think a lot of residents don't understand the challenges um the amount of work that our department heads and our department staff put in and so it was a real opportunity for for residents to come face to face with their our department heads and ask questions and learn about their their work as well as their commitment um to Residents into the city in general so that was a really positive um experience but with that we're actually going to run it again uh and it's going to start on January 6th uh and I'm hoping next week we will um uh put out the application uh give it lots of time to to get uh residents involved in that we're hoping for at least 15 residents to participate uh myself councelor Smith and president Gomez Who at that time will hopefully build the State Rep um Gomez um given the fact that it's January 6th um but looking forward to actually embedding within that uh kind of Municipal and state partnership and how those two um how the two kind of entities work together so that's some exciting opportunity to to think about how to um build that into the conversations so just want to let people know that that's something that we're going to be doing uh again in January and hopefully we'll have a large turnout thank you so much thank you any other councelor con s thank you uh just a couple things uh the first I just wanted to give uh credit uh and give a shout out to uh everyone who organized participated and volunteered for porch Fest this last weekend uh this being the second year was an astounding success um and they expanded uh into Precinct 3 uh from Precinct 2 ran like a charm uh members of the CT team who were here earlier uh and some other members of Public Safety uh were very helpful and visible um and so I'm very much looking forward to building on this success as we move hopefully into next year um I just wanted to call attention to the fact that we're we altered our calendar a little bit this year um we had had a conversation when we set the calendar this year uh to avoid conflicts with the Jewish holidays normally we would have met last Wednesday and then uh next Wednesday um and the council uh in the Osa sensitivity chose not to meet on the first night of roshes Shana which would have been the Jewish New Year um and so during this time where we're between uh two high holidays for our Jewish constituents and Jewish people I just wanted to offer my support and solidarity uh at this time as certainly we should for all faiths uh during High holy days um this time of the high holidays was punctuated by the first anniversary of October 7th uh which was a time of great pain for Jewish people and whose reverberations have certainly even felt every day since in the last year with Collective pain for many communities um as we've seen pretty much every day in the news um I had an opportunity the other day to attend a commemoration of that day I think it was a very meaningful moment for both Jewish people and Jewish allies to come together and reflect and to mourn and to stand in solidarity I appreciate the elected officials who took time to be there including our mayor lelle um you know this is a time of probably the worst manifestations of anti-Semitism and Jewish hate in this country uh 10,000 reported incidents of anti-Semitism in the last year which is the highest ever since these incidents have been measured since 1979 uh the FBI notes that 15% of all hate crimes and 68% 68% of all religious HTE crimes are directed towards Jewish people and to put that in context this is a group of people in this country that represents 2% of the American population so I think last last year very thoughtfully we passed a non-binding resolution against anti-Semitism non-binding doesn't mean not acting the resolution laid out a number of actions we could take to protect and stand with our Jewish friends and neighbors the recent statistics demonstrate that there is a concerning rise in anti-jewish sentiment among students uh both College age and younger and so over the last year I've reached out to our schools to ask for some form of policy training or education or action plan to address this Rising tide of Jewish hatred these statistics don't stop at East Hampton's borders despite my efforts I haven't seen any sort of meaningful collaboration or policy offered but I'm hopeful that uh with time and convincing with the statistics and data that I just mentioned that we will move forward and so today again I'm imploring our superintendent and the chair of our school committee and our mayor who sits on that committee to reflect on these concerning statistics uh something I can I I personally feel is a public safety epidemic offer clear action plan how we can teach this generation that this kind of hate has no place here and certainly I call on all my colleagues again to reaffirm the work that we did last year to stand with the Jewish people especially in this dire time of me so thank you thank you celor s any other counselors I know mayor um leel already told me that nothing for tonight but just in case she change her mind uh Madame mayor anything for [Music] tonight look no um uh no thank you okay uh president com thank you uh correspondent announcement for the president of Vice President communication uh please vice president Derby I just have one I know that uh all of us here are big supporters of City space um and they are going to be having a fundraiser this month uh it's a buy Centennial fundraising event uh which is a um for Old Town Hall um and it's a celebration of the 1974 uh winterland concert that the Grateful Dead put on uh and M left body will be playing I believe it's at um 8:00 p.m. but it's October 26th at City space so if anybody's interested in that all the proceeds go go to City space thank you I just want to say something quick um first I want to say thank you to the mayor mayor La Chapelle I watched the last meeting that I wasn't here I was in Houston in a conference um is painful that so many communities forget about what the Hispanic are being doing for United State the Hispanic Heritage Month is to recognize what the Hispanic United States being doing for this country and watching some multiple meeting from Whole massachusett in United States it's painful to watch the not that many people care about it we have an election in almost 3 weeks and one of the hottest topic it is about immigration and a huge Shunk of percentage of those immigrants are Latinos we are we are crazy to take pictures to talk about in favor of the Latino Community the Hispanic community and we take every opportunity to do so but we have the opportunity to talk in favor of it and mention great stuff that we've been doing in this country we don't that we don't have that many voices but we have one in hison and I'm glad that the mayor La Chapelle did a proclamation in behalf of the Hispanic Heritage Month like the only Latino elected here in this city mayor thank you that was a great thing not for me that was a great thing for our community um as you remember and I'm being a little personal here but as you remember um at the graduation at the high school I say to the mayor we are doing something good here because of the color of the people at the graduation was people that look exactly like me so we're doing good we're doing some we're doing something really good inampt and and I know you're being part of it thank you thank you Nicole report of standing committees Finance thank you Mr President um we uh met two weeks ago now uh to discuss the items that we uh voted on at the public hearing tonight uh we will be meeting again uh in a week 16 yes uh but uh I will be uh we are going to move it up half an hour to 5:00 p.m. for this one uh meeting uh 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. it's usually 5:30 okay so we're moving it to 5 oh to 5 okay yes uh because there's not yeah scheduling thing um and that meeting will presumably be discussing the uh appropriation that we'll be introducing in a little bit um and uh time permitting we might continue to discuss the uh salaries uh for elected officials at appointed committees but we've not come to a resolution on that issue uh yet and that concludes we have to ex extend oh we sure do especially that that one yeah uh we sure do uh I would request a um extension to the end of the year I suppose because a 90day would be slightly too long uh well let's call it 90 days let's call it a 60-day extension uh I would request a 60-day extension uh to the to that one to give us some time to uh just continue to work through a couple of those things second then to extend the sh require review of salary of elected official appointment of the committee for 60 days any further discussion see none those one in favor any against abstention motion [Music] passes safety uh thank you Mr President we met yesterday at 6 PM in room 1 uh strictly to focus on the um traffic and pedestrian safety item on West Street uh we had interested uh invested members of the public there to once again uh explain their concerns about both um issues with speeding as well as concerns about pedestrian safety as well as canine safety um on West Street um we had two members of the police department as well as the DPW director there um and uh came up with a few good potential Solutions um so the first being that uh within the next I'd say 3 to four weeks uh but it's kind of an unpredictable schedule because of the contractor uh the DPW director committed to painting uh fog lines on West Street throughout which will narrow the appearance of the lanes and and is a well-known traffic and speed mitigation um uh tactic uh so that's something that can definitely happen uh we discussed things like speed humps um as well as the potential needs for cross walks with rapid flashing beacons um uh there's both are both of those items have issues in terms of expense certainly something we can come back to and then crosswalks also runs into the issue that there has to be sidewalks present or at least an ADA ramp that's built um neither of them are out of the question but both items are in the 50,000 range plus uh and so that's something that we have to put on the back burner uh another item we did discuss which uh the director indicated he would um entertain would be to uh put in a request for a couple uh permanent traffic feed uh speed feedback signs on that road um So that obviously requires both a request for an appropriation and then an approval of appropriation uh at the executive level with a discussion at city council so uh I certainly will advocate for that but stay tuned um also we discussed signage um they will do a review of the road and determine if that can be um set strictly to 25 M hour throughout which would obviate the need for uh some of the other items we discussed including uh decreased Speed Ahead Etc so we're waiting to hear from him about that study so all very encouraging and I think overall the uh the fog lines will make a huge difference and we agreed once those are painted then to do another study with the mobile signs that the um the police department has um and then come back to looking at average speeds and how that's affected and seeing if we have to uh deploy other mitigation um options uh that's all we talked about yesterday I I did review the fact um with the committee uh just in terms of um roadway infrastructure and public safety items that there was a meeting with um a business on Cottage Street where there were some concerns about both parking and pedestrian safety in terms of crossing and myself and um acting Chief Scribner had a very productive meeting with that business who is very invested in making sure that people are both parking appropriately on Cottage Street as well as Crossing an appropriate side crosswalks and we discussed some mitigation um strategies there as well um our next meeting should be at the typical time the second Tuesday of uh November which I could tell you right now unless someone else gets to it before I do the 12 the 12th yes at 6:00 p.m. hopefully in room 1 um and then um uh something we need to get to uh is the ordinance Review Committee final report I think there's a few items on there that probably need to be determined if we can remove them without prejudice but I obviously need to discuss that with my committee members so at this time I'd like to request extensions both for the ordinance Review Committee final report and the review of traffic language and traffic Rules of Order which will also be a discussion topic at our next uh meeting uh 90day extension requested for both of those please in the form of a motion second I have a motion on a second to extend those item for 90 days any further discussion see none those one in favor any against obtention Mo and again we we're attend to meet November 12th 600 p.m. in room hopefully in room 1 but to be determined thus concludes thank you coun s appointment C Ry thank you Mr President um we have not had any appointments before us since our last meeting um and we do not have any in new business so uh to extend and yeah um so when a new uh appointee comes forward that's when we will schedule that meeting so um I have an ongoing agenda item for the appointment committee um for board committee vacancy review and recruitment um I would like to uh in the form of a motion request a 90-day extension second I have a motion on a second to extend for 90 days that that item any further discussion see none uh for those one in favor I any against abstention motion passes all right thank you Mr President thus concludes thank you councel Riley orance cons uh thank you Mr President um on October 15th at 6: p.m. we have a joint meeting um with the planning board to address the uh zoning ordinance Amendment proposals um to amend section 10 096 regarding temporary election signage as well as to amend uh to add definition of surveyor um we will be um as I said meeting October 15th at 6 p.m. uh in terms of well I'll come back to that um additional we're going to have a regular ordinance meeting on October 15 same night at 6:30 in conference room um one um and we're going to be addressing the uh agenda of items that will be coming our way additionally uh in return in regards to the um the request for temporary moratorium on the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer um the agricultural commission is meeting in December um and I will be attending that meeting to get an update on where they are and that's uh everything that our committee has to offer Council this evening thank you Council denim property Council S no report that concludes rules cinski thank you Mr President we have two matters tonight uh both are rule changes to council rules uh let's deal with one at a time the rules and government Relations Committee recommends 2 to Z the council amend uh Council rule by adding Council Rule 15a and amending [Music] 15E this is regard to resolutions to the council whenever we have a resolution we generally attract a crowd and often times I'm sorry to say it's placed on the L ladder at late on the agenda we'd like to move that to being early on the agenda and that's what this this change is about uh so that we can if you care to stay and watch our our proceedings that's wonderful to participate however that may not always be the case um so uh I would be happy to read to make the motion uh but first let me do say uh this required uh a lot of work on on several people and I'd like to certainly thank everyone who participated in this process uh to help this to happen it was introduced uh by uh councelor zarit and councelor Gomez right this one was me and councelor Peak oh was councelor Peak I'm so sorry are you here do I see you no I'm sorry uh so I'd be happy to make the motion if that would be appropriate and then we could discuss it if there be any further discussion uh I move that uh we add rule 15a items for immediate consideration items for immediate consideration must be filed with the clerk of the council there was a typo in the draft that was sent around this weekend it should read Clerk of the council rather than city clerk as such when submitted for inclusion to the agenda such items will appear on the agenda to immediately follow public hearings and shall include a period of public comment specific to the item items for immediate consideration must comply with all other rules of the city council in regard to in regards there another typo there in regards to requirements for allowance at first reading or following referral to committee uh along with this is an amendment to uh rule 5e the order of business which places uh items for immediate consideration to 5B on the agenda much sooner you can applaud now they're speaking from experience that's an second second a second I have a motion a seconds to uh amend the city council rules rules 5 e and 15a for immediate consideration any further discussion cons thank you Mr President uh yeah this is just something that I think um I had spoken a little bit to a couple people including in ccors there brought it forward but I I did say that I'd support it and um I I think that it just makes a lot of sense for us to do this we've been uh you know the very early on when I started in the council we never put resolutions up for immediate consideration they always went to rules but at some point we realized that since they're non-binding uh it really kind of did make sense in many cases to just uh vote on them that night particularly when they concerned matters that were time sensitive so at some point uh I don't think it was necessarily due to anything in particular but we kind of we came to this new precedent of saying uh well PR like of saying in the charter we said that we were going to set it up that you could put things on but it had to specifically say for immediate consideration and in general the thing that that's been used for has been uh resolutions and uh I've you know my feelings about the prevalent resolutions in our business so I won't restate that but I do think that one thing that I've noticed is that fre ly uh our resolutions do attract a lot more people uh For Better or For Worse than a lot of our actual binding business and so that often leads to situations like tonight um where there's a large group of people who speak very passionately about an issue at the very beginning of the meeting and then sit for sometimes hours um just as we go through the procedures of appropriating funds or um you know uh confirming or rejecting mayoral appointments uh before finally at the very end of the night we we finally uh get to the item under consideration at which point uh we discuss the actual item read it but then at that point they cannot uh speak uh so if there's anything in in our discussion that comes up like that that's it's it's too late and so I thought and I I won't put words in councelor Z's math but I think councelor Zer um had the same thought that it it would make sense to essentially if something is considered important enough that we are going to discuss it tonight that it's essentially treated the same way that we would treat um a public hearing um where there just the procedure is sort of like the procedure that we just you know we just saw we like okay we come up we discuss it if there's any presentations we hear those presentations and then there's a a moment for for people come to come up and speak and then and then we vote on it uh and then if that's the only reason why these people are here not that I don't love having an audience when we're discussing sort of our procedural business but I do think it would maybe uh make uh participating in these meetings a little bit easier for a lot of people if uh their presence past that point was a bit more optional and so uh it just seemed like uh a thing that we should consider given that I I really do feel like through this year there's been a non-binding resolution for immediate consideration at near at least one at nearly every single meeting that we've had and for at least half of those resolutions there's been an audience that's shown up and then just waited through uh waited in silence after speaking passionately about it in the beginning and then just waiting in silence for sometimes hours um so that's sort of why I thought this was a good idea and I appreciate the uh rules committee uh vetting it and and bringing this forward thank you councelor any other counselor celor s yeah so everything that he just said um and you know the intention behind this also is just to kind of create some um procedural housekeeping so to speak uh again as as my colleague stated you know we often often certainly in the case of resolution have people who come out want to speak passionately um about things and want to be able to witness the vote for however it may go and so I thought it was fair to the public that they should be able to have um not again have to wait the entire meeting but also to really specifically attach any that period of public speak to the item as opposed to for instance speaking um at our regular public speak and then getting into interrupted by public hearings this kind of gives a space uh certainly in the case of resolutions uh to the public it also opens up the opportunity for other um vot items that we vote on that aren't um that don't need a public hearing to be placed there for instance these two items after they've they're not allowed to unless you suspend the rules they're not allowed to be a place for immediate consideration when first introduced but certainly after the rules committee considers them could then introduce them for immediate consideration and get them in a space where all of our voting is in one part of the meeting and then the rest of it is basically reports um so so that way you know again the way in terms of how we conduct our business I felt like it was a little more neat that way we we have something else for immediate consideration uh to today with uh approving the um elction thank you approving approving the election um and so I think it just kind of ties up how we do business and I and I appreciate the rules committee both both seeing that and uh and approving that um so thank you very much and um I think it will help the way both we do business and that the public engages with how we do business thank you any other consel coun Kinski if there are no other counselors I just wanted to say sometimes uh matters really do need to be referred to committee and not discussed under immediate consideration that option is still available able to the council by the objection of one counselor if one counselor objects the matter goes to uh wherever the council wants to send it usually to a committee and that gets a chance to be discussed there so that is available I wanted to point that out and also to say the vote for two to two 2 to Zer was as a result of there being an injury to one of the uh counselors and they're un being unable to attend any other coun who I think I believe is better now that's it that's it yeah I would also just one thing I forgot to say one reason I think that it would be a good thing is that um it would uh I think it would help us to so that when we're talking I think coun Zar sort of referred to this but I just wanted to put a slightly finer point on it that it would allow so that when we're talking when we're hearing uh testimony from the public it's sort of segmented by topic I think that um there was I forget which issue it was before us um it might have been uh the ceasefire resolution but it was it was one of the very sort of tense or you know and heated and people were very passionate and in line and then uh one person came to just speak and be like well I just wanted to say that the sidewalks on uh my street need maintenance and it just sort of felt like this very strange like I just kind of feel feel like that it makes a lot of sense to if we're going to have these you know big discussions to sort of uh group them in a way that I can it just makes it a little bit easier for people like me to to digest so uh that was just another thought any other conselor those one in favor I any against exstension motion passes thank you uh we do have the second matter which was also voted on by the rules and government Relations Committee 2 to Z and again for the same reason uh the injury to the counselor it is a little simpler it just is a rule change to rule 5c uh which accounts for using a following form and that's the language that is added here let me go into the history just a bit a bit uh the purpose why we're here is to discuss public business and to be public and transparent about it we have an agenda the the items that we present go to the clerk then get put on the agenda the press and any member of the public what they get to see is the agenda so if the agenda doesn't really get into the meat of the matter then you could be talking about something very different than what is is is cryptically written uh very simply in three or four words this this this measure helps to stretch that out and give us some some more information uh and and I think that's really important for transparency and for the public and I I hope that the public is able then to better take notice and come to the meetings uh or call us or text us get get to us U that's why we're here the matter was brought forward by councilor Zar and I'd like to andoun and Council Gomez yes that that was the council Zar and councelor Gomez uh but driven driven by him and I wanted to thank him personally for that I think it the idea is very helpful councilor Gomez uh took charge of it and the city clerk who also is clerk to the council uh was instrumental in helping to develop the form and it took some time and she course she had it went all organized and everything that's Barbara the bombard uh and and she she is terrific and I could go over and read the whole form I'll try to summarize it I think that would be be helpful it just lays out a process where you have a title you have the proposal you have written which committee it's likely to go to and while I'm on the subject of committees it helps to establish for the committee some sort of context also in addition to informing the public how this developed and and and what it what where where we're headed with this matter so uh which which committee is it a request for immediate consideration uh the chapter and section number is identified to be Amed amended that way you're not just saying oh let's study flowers at the pond or around town it it's it would have a category it would be listed you would know what you're discussing and what is to be amended or changed or added to uh there's a short summary of The Proposal the expectation is that it be two or three sentences and that would go on to the agenda uh that would be the the the purpose uh so that's a summary of the form I'd be happy to make the motion make the motion and then we can discuss it move to uh amend rule 5c by adding uh the following after the word packet in the U reading by adding using the following form uh and then description of the form motion would be I have a motion on a second to amend conso rule 5c any further discussion cons or Derby uh I think this is uh a good idea um the I have one request which is I think that uh we should request that the clerk put this into Google forms and email it to everybody uh so we don't have to print something out and or we don't have to download a PDF and try to type on over we should have a Google form that is dedicated with all the questions that we can just click on and be able to autop populate um so that would be my one request I I if I may I would think that matter could be handled administratively with the clerk and I I certainly feel free to talk to the clerk I think that we shouldn't abandon the the written form just in case some people just will feel more comfortable with the written form so be available to counselors for presentation either way uh but certainly the Google Docs idea is a great one yeah any other councelor coun yeah and actually that request was brought up by councelor denim too at the meeting I thought it was a good point I mean in general I don't want to get too off the topic but uh we should look to to um stand Electrify not in the way that that shocks you but the way that you can access it electronically all of our forums that's a whole other um you know this is this has been a topic conversation actually for a while as some of the members of the council are remember we had introduced a similar idea like this a few years ago but but I think uh we missed the mark and it got voted down what what it suggested was that the person introducing it could give a brief synopsis and I think there were some valid concerns about how that could go arai um and then in speaking with councelor Gomez um we already have a similar process when we introduce requests for financial Appropriations we have a form that's read and I said well why why don't we just do that we said why don't we just do that for um all other measures and so um the intention here is that um when new business is introduced it will get read into the record at the meeting just like you read an appropriation um into the record at the meeting so every item that's read is basically treated the same way um um I appreciate uh both my the efforts of my collaborator to make this work but again big shout out to uh Barbara Le bombard for um taking the initial draft and uh actually making it something functional um this is great thank you to the rules committee for their consideration um and um yeah I think this again will make our process more transparent for the public more transparent for uh the council and other Municipal stakeholders so looking forward to this being implemented thank you any other councelors before the votes cons ginski uh just probably because my other side of my brain says well you'd like to keep an option open for other things and maybe this ties it down too much in Cas just in case people did want to discuss flowers on the pond and that was something that was urgent for the whole Community it didn't quite fit the box that I think counselors should feel free to submit that to the clerk and then upon it be included in the packet and then be a request to Res suspend the ru rules at the next meeting so there's that other flexibility still open to people thank you um I'm going to add a few things to wrap up this um why I introduce this with conselor s is um to avoid open media law violations uh as soon we consors introduce something most of the time I would say 99% of the time we send we send that item or that top IC to the committee and sometimes when we send stuff to the committee um if we have five counselors participating in a in a committee there's a full conso Quorum and two of those consuls are not going to be allowed to speak so to avoid that we introducing this this new rule uh we don't want to be complicated right we don't want to make everything more complicated but we want to make everything more transparent that's why we're doing this um is we don't want to give it a uh give it a hard time to anyone or create more process just to create the process is again to avoid open meeting law and to give it more guidance to the Committees when they receive the item basically that's the idea behind it and I will thank you consar and I will say thank you publicly to our city clerk for the great job that she did with the um with the form um any other councelors before I take the vote for those who are in favor any against extension motion passes this concludes we have to extend we would ask for the extensions on the remaining item uh Council denims request to review rules regarding the council meetings uh 90 days please uh we are making progress on that I will say uh we have a motion second to Extended for 90 days any further discussion seeing n those are in favor any against extension motion pass thank you cons Kinski all business you want that um yeah we so we have some old business which is um the citizen request that was originally referred to us from the mayor um and I believe uh councilor zarat had um resubmitted it uh as per the charter and included some additional information quite a bit of additional information so I guess I'll pass it over to councelor there uh thank you Mr Vice President yeah uh just uh this is certainly a good idea we have uh rules on the charter about how uh citizen requests are handled uh but also just in terms of of uh General um submission of materials we also have rule 5C which we just uh mentioned so I just want to make sure that uh we were following our typical protocols this was sponsored by a counselor and seeing that there was not uh a petition that accompanied this uh from from a citizen I want to make sure that this was shephered through uh in an appropriate way um I believe that the materials submitted fulfill both our Charter and Council rules at this point and so I would like to make a recommendation that this be set to Public Safety second I have a motion on a second to send the citizen request referred by the mayor to consider a site a Citywide spit limit to the Public Safety Committee any further discussion seeing none those for in favor any against exstension motion passes new business uh Mr Vice President thank you Mr President uh the first uh request is uh for immediate consideration um we need to approve the warrant for the November 5th state election um so I would in the form of a motion um ask that we approve the warrant for the November 5th state election second Jo for the public because the microphone was off can you please repeat the motion uh yeah I would like to make a motion to approve the warrant for the November 5th state election second second I have a motion and a seconds to approve the state election for the November 5th any further discussion seeing none those want in favor any against exstension thank you motion passes and now what everybody's been waiting for uh we have the resolution uh in support of the 2024 State bot question number four uh councelor there do you want to take this sure um but obviously with difference to uh my co-sponsors I'll I'll I'll lead it off if that's okay so uh thank you to councilors Derby and Riley for co-sponsoring this important resolution uh and certainly thank you to the public to speaking to it earlier uh just for the for so the public is aware and certainly the councel is aware this was introduced um a couple meetings ago initially and after some I think very relevant feedback of what was spoken to during public speak today we withdrew it to make sure that we included some of those more Salient points those mostly being around and are included in the resolution about concerns with regulatory capture uh the transparency around how the commission would be formed as well as the general inclusivity of both The Advisory Board and uh commission that it should be certain to include people with appropriate experience in this field uh um and as well as um lived experiences um the resolution speaks to and we'll read it eventually about making people with expertise in herbalism people who have experience as as psychedelic guides um indigenous practices Etc so um I I very much agree with the people who spoke earlier that we don't we we want to do this right we have two other places that have done this so far we want to learn learn from both their successes and failures um and um there's opportunities with ballot questions pass and I hope this passes uh for these to be cured and amended um in um uh in in the legislature um just briefly we're in the middle of a mental health crisis um there's there's a exceeding number of people with mental health uh issues now that need to be addressed there is both a lack of appropriate uh clinicians to address it as well as significant access issues um and often times the way that these um these these issues these conditions are address uh does not necessarily meet the me of patients uh the allopathic Pharmaceuticals that we have are certainly not one siiz fits all and they come with significant side effects uh not to mention that many times they uh we run into the issues of poly Pharmacy um not to say that psychedelics are Panacea and might not have some side effects but these are plants that naturally occur and have co-evolved with humankind for thousands and thousands of years and so our brains have grown with these plants just as these plants have grown with our brains and um we we see Shaman shamans other herbalists as well as uh even early transition into what we call now Western medicine using these plants until they were deemed illegal in the early 1900s when the uh when um anslinger began his wargan drugs and that went all the way up to Nixon and Beyond and we're now just emerging from what I think is a severe error of History over A Century of criminalizing substances that have served humankind for Millennia um so I was very happy to support this and very happy to partner with councilors Riley and derby um one of the first things councelor Derby and I bonded over was um our understanding about how these these plants can can really help people um also just to follow up on the resolution that we supported I think councelor Derby was was one of the co-sponsors as well in 2021 which basically spoke to kind of where we are now and this actually is a good demonstration of government in progress right so 3 years later after a lengthy discussion about just the concept of wanting to decriminalize uh psychedelics here we are with with a real ballot question and an opportunity to actually put words uh and in legislation into action um I I don't want to forget the fact that um a representative sapid sent a very I think poignant letter to this Council speak to this I very much appreciate not only her support of the ballot measure and the vision to make this a ballot measure as well as uh the fact that she would take time to to send a letter to this Council and support um additionally I want to thank all The Advocates who gave input because um um I think that what is is here um and what was provided to us thank you uh makes this even better and and again is is provides a voice of the people uh to this not just not just a rubber stamp of a ballot initiative um so I'm very much hoping that the council will support this but even more so I'm just hoping that this ballot measure passes to bring much needed medicine and empowerment to people uh for um a plant that has a substantial amount out of therapeutic efficacy so thank you before you reading the resolution I I have to ask is any celor against to pass this tonight can I say something to vote on to vote yeah excuse me can you clarify what you just said to vote for this resolution tonight either for immediate consideration yes are you okay yes yeah uh want to read it a motion yes it's um uh I guess the co-sponsors will have an opportunity afterwards to speak if they wanted to okay I just want to make sure that they yeah it's a part of the okay so in the form of a motion I I'll read this into the record uh resolution for the Massachusetts state ballot question 4 to criminalize natural psychedelics or therapeutic use whereas one in three Massachusetts residents struggle with mental health challenges and whereas pioneering research from John's Hopkins and Harvard Medical School finds that natural psychedelics can be effective and man treatment resistant depression other forms of mental illness and whereas the FDA recently granted sosy in one of the psychedelics a breakthrough therapy designation for treatment resistant depression and whereas naturop psychedelics have been found to treat severe forms of mental illness including PTSD anxiety depression some forms of addiction and whereas the US Department for veteran affairs National Center for pcsd recognizes psychedelic medicines as an emerging therapeutic opportunity to treat PTSD and other form forms of uh other for forms of mental health conditions and whereas therapeutic psychedelics have been proven to relieve existential stress at end of life transforming the death and dying process for people in paliative and health cus care and whereas psychedelic medicines offer promis clinical solutions for alcohol and substance use disorders and whereas in 2021 the city council of East Hampton approved a resolution quote protecting adult access to plant medicines quote and whereas clinical care must focus on all viable patient care options not solely work within a framework dictated by the pharmaceutical industry in Western medicine and whereas the ballot question would create a regulated framework for psychedelic assisted therapy for adults 21 and older similar to ballots passed in Colorado in 2022 in Oregon 2020 and whereas the ballot question would decriminalize five natural occurring psychedelic substances and whereas the ball initiative represents an important step forward in regulating natural psychedelic substances concerns remain about fair and Democratic governance when applied and whereas herbalists indigenous practitioners and those with traditional ecological knowledge should be consulted respected and empowered to show difference to their knowledge in history be it uh this should just say be it resolved um that the city council calls on the state legislature to continue the following amendments to strengthen Community representation increase transparency and Safeguard Equitable access if the ballot measure passes one Implement a more democratic and transparent appointment process for the natural psychedelic substance commission two modify the composition of the natural psychedelic substance commission to include seven Commissioners in which the majority have expertise in herbalism indigenous practices or traditional ecological knowledge related to Natural psychedelic substances three strengthen the natural psychedelic substances Advisory board by increasing membership from people with backgrounds in herbalism indigenous practices Community organizations for the commission and Advisory Board should hold joint public hearings to gather Community input on regulations implementation of the natural psychedelics program uh now be it further resolved that on this day the 9th of October 2024 that the East Hampton City Council supports the natural psychedelic ballot question to expand much needed options for mental health care across all P patient populations in the Commonwealth second I have a motion on a second to support the resolution of 2024 State bot question number four any further discussion celor rley thank you Mr President um so you know before I give my remarks um you know I'm going to talk about some personal experiences and I recognize that even sitting uh at this bench I have a sort of uh Authority and power that should make me less nervous um but it does still make me nervous nervous and so I wanted to take this quick moment to um thank all of you that spoke on this issue um I know that not having the kind of positional Authority that I have uh with my microphone um I also get more time to talk about these things and you did this is a very hard thing to open up about trauma and healing in a public setting when it when you're being reported so I just wanted to honor that and and thank you all so 5 years ago um I responded to an advertisement on social media seeking human subject volunteers to participate in a medical study conducted by Yale University in the VA hospital in West Haven Connecticut the study was to test the efficacy of synthetic ketamine infusions in Soldiers with PTSD returning from active duty CC prior to the advancements in global transportation technology it could take soldiers several weeks or months from the time that they left active War zones to be fully acclimated back into society today that can take hours or days leaving veterans with little time to process the extremes of Modern Warfare on their psyche as soldiers reenter Society the abrupt transition often exacerbates the prevalence of PTSD making it challenging for them to reintegrate into uh civilian life the mental toll of their experiences combined with the rapid shift from combat to home leaves many struggling with anxiety depression and flashbacks underscoring the urgent need for novel and effective treatments as they navigate the complex journey of healing now I know the public knows this and and you all have that I've spoken in this room before about my history with poverty and homelessness and domestic violence coupled with the traumatic experience of witnessing the sudden death of a childhood friend being a youth in America where public shooting become commonplace and learning what it meant to be gay from watching news coverage of Matthew Shepard's murder and watching my mother die from leukemia when she was only 36 years old every waking moment of my youth was consumed by the idea that at any given moment I or someone I love could die or that in an instant I could lose access to basic Securities like a roof over my head or food to eat even if a psychedelic experience couldn't help me my altruistic nature felt compelled to let doctors study my trauma before and after therapy to ascertain its benefits for veterans though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't desperate for a self-actualizing breakthrough over the course of a few days psychologists took a careful and compassionate inventory of my entire life's trauma and suffering they ran physical and medical tests to ensure that I was healthy and capable of receiving the treatment and then when approved I underwent a series of MRIs to map my brain to understand where trauma exists and if the treatment actually heals trauma on the day of the infusion I was given an IV placed into an MRI machine and notified that the infusion would start within just a few moments the things that we commonly think of as reality began to dissipate I lost my vision the sense of sound sensations of touch such as the wind that was blowing through the MRI machine or how cold I was and even my spatial awareness simply became Brown it was in the brownness of that last thought that I had this must be death before fully surrendering to the L of self and before having a deeply spiritual Reawakening 2 hours later I had successfully undergone the psychological concept of ego death and rebirth it is a common element of psychedelic therapy I can't explain where I went but I left an awful lot of my pain and suffering before I came back to reality in the days that followed I worked with a psychologist to engage in a meaning making process about my trauma and different exposure therapy sessions more than finding forgiveness I was able to humanize my abusers I began to sleep better at night and instead of dreading the day that my husband or my children might die I began to cherish the days that I share with them I started to fly in airplanes for work and for vacations with no fear of dying in a plane crash it's what gave me the courage to run for public office and to then turn around 2 years later and let the public weigh my intentions and actions as a city councelor for reelection so in all of the ways that I hoped it would psychedelics healed me in a well regulated therapeutic setting and I know that it heals veterans too I share my story with you because there's a lot of stigma in our society about what psychedelics are and what they do I'm here to tell you that there is nothing that you should be afraid of if in these Last 5 Years that I've worked with you all in the city that you've had a positive impact in your life because of something that I've done if I've made you feel seen if I've advocated for your well-being or for all of the appointees that come before the city council when I thank them for their service to the city of East Hampton it's because of the empathy and the gratitude that psychedelic therapy gave to me I couldn't be any of these things that I am today without first having that experience I know that naturally occurring psychedelics offer the same experience and that's why I'm in support of this aside from healing childhood trauma or helping veterans return to civilian life psychedelic therapy can also help our family members who are dying of terminal diseases find acceptance during end of Life Care it can help survivors of sexual and domestic violence feel safe in the presence of love once more and across the Commonwealth about one in three residents have experienced some level of trauma in their life and with the appropriate level of therapeutic oversight they too may be able to self-actualize the same way that I did but only if the public votes yes on question four I'll be the first to say that this type of treatment uh it's not for everyone but for those who it's for it means everything please vote with your heart you could be giving the gift of healing to your friends your family members and your neighbors who are probably probably suffering in silence in the days leading up to the election I'm happy to answer any questions that either of you or members of the public have about my experience but for now I'm proud to vote Yes on this resolution and I will vote Yes in November um thank you for hearing what I have to say tonight thank youat thank you Mr President uh that's a kind of hard act to follow so all right um I just wanted to say uh one thing because uh it it just really struck me uh when we were hearing testimony earlier uh and that's this is sort of a nerdy point but as a ums educated Economist the number of people in their 20s in this room using the phrase regulatory capture correctly uh is just remarkable um just the idea that we've figured out like the the terms like that have found their way into this shows a level of sophistication um in the way that people are talking about public policy in ballot questions and I think that they should be commended for taking that really really seriously I've been involved in a lot of ballot campaigns and it's not always like that so good on you uh in terms of the rest of this like look I'm not a doctor I haven't read any of these studies if I read any of these studies I wouldn't understand them um so I can't really speak to a lot of that um I do know people uh I I won't name them obviously but I I I do know people who have really benefited psychologically and emotionally from the use of mushrooms people I really really care about and so it would it is important to me uh just I can look at this and say well clearly works for some of them um even without any of that I just personally am somebody who believes that uh consenting adults should be able to make decisions about what they do with their bodies and that includes what chemicals they want to put in their bodies and I believe that about alcohol I believe that about cigarettes I believe that about cannabis I believe that about marijuana like you're or about I'm sorry about about sde and like I just think that broadly like it hasn't ever really been shown to me that prohibition and and the War on Drugs has ever been effective with anything and so as much as I appreciate a lot of the the story really powerful stories about how this is benefited people I also just think that it's a sort of silly and backwards exercise to try and prohibit it um I also think it's really interesting to see uh and again just shows the level of sort of policy sophistication here to have people talking about sort of the balance of power on these Regulatory Commission that might come into place and you know this is something that I think probably if you're sophisticated enough to be making these arguments you know but just just putting it out there every single question that passes on the ballot I want to say maybe I'm Maybe I'm Wrong maybe there's one or two I I've never been involved in a ballot question that passed and was not then further amended by the legislature so whenever there's a ballot question the getting it ped is just the start of the ballot and then you have to deal with a completely different and challenging situation of dealing with a rather opaque State Legislature instead of just individual voters um but I I also don't think what that has taught me over the time is that I don't think that an imperfect ballot question is reason ever to vote against a ballot measure because a lot of the times if you just get the broad Strokes of something defined to say hey we we want this legalized then exactly like the de everyone I think that the state always understands that what people are really voting on is should it be legalized not what should be the precise representation of people on the theoretical to be determined Regulatory Commission um that would that would regulate it so I do think that that is something something that I I I I I completely understand people's concerns about it and I would also say um it's not been a uh detriment for me uh in my being supportive of this I I was a signatory on this ballot question and and and all of that does not dissuade me like you got to go and make the sausage on the other end of this one way or another but I do think like this could be written however you want it to be written and you're going to be back in that situation uh when it passes one way or another so I'm not overly worried about that I'm supportive of this I'm very proud of all the young people who came out and made very sophisticated and thoughtful arguments about why we should do this and uh that's all thank you councelor celinski I will be brief and not reiterate what everyone else has said tonight I think the personal opening up I'll say of those individuals who spoke to us tonight is not only educative for the members of this Council but I think for the general public who watches what we see on on on the on the on the streaming or on on cable TV and through the press and we appreciate having that message be delivered I think by having the personal side helps to enable individuals to see that those who need those who are in need those who will do anything to get better anything to heal try whatever may still be available just should never be denied that opportunity and for society to say no should never happen it's a human right to do whatever you need to do to heal to be better and to survive I support this wholeheartedly when it comes to the formulation of the of of of the commit of the of the uh Review Committee Council Peak you spoke to it very well I think in describing this is going to go to the legislature and they're going to do what they're going to do so there's a lot more work so the public must understand the work must be done but I think there has to be a respect for those indigenous and herbalistic populations that have dealt with this they're the experts they're the people who have the experience that should be leading and showing the way not profit motive industry stock markets stock value they should be advisory to the committee they should be advising the committee and those who have the experience and the ability to make this available to the public should be the ones in control that's my two cents on the matter thank you m Mr President thank you councelor councelor Derby thank you Mr President for me um this is about writing another wrong um you know as a abis and the work that we did with cannabis you know it was it was really a little bit contentious people had their opinions and they the sky was falling if you know cannabis was going to get legalized but you know I think some of us knew that it was rooted and racist and you know really kind of um the the origins of prohibition were not pure it wasn't because of the social harms that it caused it was because of who used it it was because of who wasn't making profit from it um and you know it kind of like makes me ask the question who decides what drugs are good and at the end of the day is it the pharmaceutical companies that have the billions of dollars to do the you know clinical trials and say that their drug is okay like oxycon right really okay um and because my doctor prescribed it it's okay and so I can take it and that's fine um you know and that's crazy and we know that we have you know hundreds of thousands of years of evidence well evidence isn't hundreds of thousands of years old but we know that we've been developing for at least 300,000 years as what we are now and we know that you know plant-based medicine has been a part of that um and you know and probably is a part of who we are today in some form uh and I think that as we write wrongs I it's important to you know do things like this to help people demystify the the you know the fog that is around these types of drugs because there have been so many you know false claims and scare tactics and misinformation um and and really you know humans have been using these for you know so long as part of rights of Passage Ceremonies and it's not just like one place was using this as right of passage ceremony it was across the planet um people were finding ways to change their Consciousness and um you know so I think that this is is being able to help write the ship and and I think I I appreciate my my fellow sponsors what they said you know oh and going into you know anslinger and and you know the waren drugs because at the end of the day there was amazing research being done with siloc cybin you know up until the War on Drugs when it got it got rescheduled and it was basically made illegal and all of that research stopped even though it was promising and it was really really powerful and so now it's time for us to be able to take that back to to write these wrongs um you know and personally you know I could go Council riy I appreciate your stories um you know and that's moving and I think everybody's stories are really moving I think it's really important for us to understand you I have many people that I have known that went to jail for possession of psilocybin right like and and that's another wrong that we have to write um and so for me this was a no-brainer um and you know I think that things will get worked out on the on the tail end once it passes and we can you know again voice our our concerns to the legislature which I think we did well in this resolution and this will get sent to them so we just need to stay you know diligent and and you know Circle back to it so I appreciate everybody coming thank you thank you councelor any other counselor um yeah I I want to thank the community for coming and speaking uh I want to thank counselors for their words and their comments um I [Music] also want to acknowledge that with this resolution the fight is only beginning um and I think that needs to be made very clear that this resolution going to them uh is really just giving them the okay to pass whatever it is that they want to pass as councelor PE said that they're going to rewrite this etc etc but if this Council this community uh the people who spoke if they really truly want the uh representatives of that that commission to be balanced uh or actually to be in favor of uh those uh communities indigenous communities herbalist um communities Etc to have more say in that commission then there needs to be more organizing that needs to happen I think right now um that that's not a guarantee and so I think I agree with everything that's being said and the fight is actually only just beginning to make sure that those things happen so I just want to acknowledge that thank you c c Smith thank you I just wanted to add one well a few points um as a sociologist I I think that I want to bring up a point particularly to anyone listening at home very often and a lot of this has already been covered but I want to contextualize it um you know I'm a gen xer I grew up during the 80s and '90s to the rhetoric of um say no to drugs War on Drugs and everything and I remember being socialized into believing that very very hard um as a sociologist um I'm Ware that a lot of your first response to things that are new and different is your socialized response it makes sense that in a society that criminalized any sort of drugs that were not based on germ Theory to really be considered either weird or scary or different um I can understand that it's your socialized response I think the one group that I don't see mentioned that I want to give give my my support to are the Educators within the community those who really have taken substantial risks for your own self this is a very interesting social movement because it's all for the rights of someone else to be able to seek relief from this and I just want to really acknowledge that even with councelor Riley the the discussion that you gave was also an approved study so there is a bit of safety to that and so I just want to acknowledge that that to come up to the podium for this particular matter or to stay in the audience when for many people there's a lot personally at risk I just wanted to acknowledge that and thank everyone for coming out thank you coun Smith celor ter oh I just want to say first off thank you to council Riley for for for opening up like that and thank you for everybody who came to speak tonight because I know that's not an easy thing to do it's not easy for us to S as councilor Ry said not easy for us to sit up here and speak either microphone or no microphone um with that being said um I I fully support um and very hopeful for the medicinal benefits current and potential benefits for for psychedelic substances I I cannot say I feel the same way about it being legal for anybody over 21 to possess use or grow said substances those to be two different subjects that should be addressed separately um and and then because of that um I don't think I can uh uh support this resolution this evening because of that any other councelors celor s um I just want to say quickly too just to clarify um when we when we do these kinds of processes sometimes with a lot of important public input um I'm very careful as much as I want to um publicly acknowledge people not to name names because for for various reasons people might um want to be helpful behind the scenes and remain but remain anonymous so um since I didn't ask people's permission I didn't think I had to ask people's permission if I can announce their names uh to here at this meeting um that's why I've only made vague references um but I will say that I'm very grateful from when we started this work in 2021 to now uh there are certainly people present who have been both um uh historically and more acutely um wonderful members of this community who have enlightened me uh as to the power and the uh the community surrounding this um as well as many that I've met recently who were able to provide us with the language to M really write this ship uh in terms of of making this so so thank you to all of you um and I'm really proud that East Hampton um is a place that has such a community that's welcoming to this so that that's the only reason I didn't mention anyone's name so thank you thank you celor any other counselors before we take the votes now I just want to say something really quick um thank you as simple as that thank you um it's a possibility that we only have to convince 159 of the state reps because there a possibility that one of these guys here is going to be the next day rep the number 160 so that person will bring your concerns your story to be conal because it's important for them to understand why this is important I make a commitment today that are going to be your voice there they going to push for the best for the community saying that um any further discussion I be um for those one in favor I any against I exstension mo one uh against it Mr Vice President um and so we have one more piece for immediate consideration which is the request to increase the senior tax workout program I believe that's Council key is it no just move it to the finance oh I'm sorry just move it to finance then I move that it goes to finance check it confuse me I have a a second for the request to increase the workof program abatement from 1500 to 2000 to the finance committee it looks like it's under request for Med that was just my mistake that was just a formatting thing yes it wasn't so that's why we are all right Co moving just making sure you did that right yeah um any further discussion see none uh for those one in favor any against exstension motion passes conselor Derby uh so we have two uh or a couple of ordinance Amendment proposals so one to amend chapter 8 to add section 8-36 East Hampton shy ordinance I move that we move that to ordinance committee second second are you moving both or just oh yeah and I can also move um the uh amending several sections of chapter 2 Division 3 Council on Aging second I have a motion on seconds to move those two items to the ordinance committee and if forther discussion seeing none for those one in favor any against abstention motion passes uh and we also have a proposal to reverse traffic direction on daily field uh in n Talk Park daily Field Road in n Talk Park I move that we send that to Public Safety second I have a motion on a second for the proposal of the reverse of the traffic direction of daily field to the Public Safety Committee and if further discussion seeing none for those one in favor any against abion motion passes um cons we also have a supplemental appropriation 60,000 for upgrades of parks and wck Department facilities I don't know if we need to do a first reading on that guess so I can so I'll pass that over to council PE all right I'll make this first reading as uh a uh in form of a motion and also to set a hearing for October 16th 16th the 16 or 615 wait 16 is I think it's 23rd no sorry October 2rd it's the 23rd okay all right oer 23rd at 6 look I'm looking November Tuesday the 23rd okay uh so request is hereby made for approval of the following appropriation amount requested $60,000 to be transferred from General stabilization $60,000 to be transferred to park site Improvement $60,000 the amount requested will be used for the following purpose Parks and Recreations facility upgrade proposal to upgrade the Parks and Recreation departments facilities I have a motion a second for the supplemental appropriation of $60,000 to the Park and Recreation of Department facilities and uh to the finance committee at the schedule public hearing of the October 23rd at 65 at this Chambers any further discussion seeing now for those who in favor I any against abstention motion passes move to AJ second I have a motion second to adjourn those in favor I against extension Mo passes wonderful evening uh we have to sign War yes please don't go e for