##VIDEO ID:_EC8keHCo_Q## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e let get ourselves ready can I got to get myself ready here uh the council will come to order and we'll start with the Pledge of Allegiance uh I pledge allegiance to the flag the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all please remain standing um as we take a moment of silence in honor of our veterans service men and women and those who have given the ultimate sacrifice um uh we honor and acknowledge the Massachusetts Penacook and Paka peoples whose ancestral lands we now call home and on which We Gather today we Express gratitude to the inous people who have cared for this land for Generations predating European colonization and continuing to the present moving forward in uh particularly this time of year we are committed to ensuring that the histories voices and contributions of indigenous people are recognized and respected in the life of our city this uh Thanksgiving week um and then uh clerk will call the role councelor Hayes councelor Condon councelor Crow here councelor linahan here councelor McDonald here councelor rali here councelor sea councel simonelli councelor spora councelor Taylor council president Winslow here um under the provisions of open meeting law for those of you in attendance please be informed that Uma Urban media arts will be recording this evening's meeting and is broadcasting this um on cable television and on online so sue just be aware there will be an audio and video recording of this meeting a first order of business the Malden 375th committee will appear before the council to share the voices of Malden Banner program all right uh your name and name and address for the [Applause] record all right Mr 375 himself uh I am the committee hi uh my name is Mark lenan 83 Bloomer Street in Malden uh for those of you watching at home who don't know me I'm the proud husband of City councelor Amanda L aan um just in case someone thought it was a conspiracy I didn't I love Amanda so hi everyone thank you so much for having me tonight uh I'll make this quick I know your time is precious I'm here tonight primarily to unveil the banners of our voices of Malden project which we just saw out in the hall there uh but I also would like to quickly update all of you and the public on Malden's 375th anniversary uh so over a year ago our mayor created an advisory committee to plan out a full year of events and experiences to celebrate the 375th anniversary of the establishment recording in progress 1649 uh since January over the past year the committee has incorporated this Milestone into regular City events such as the Fourth of July Events and the inauguration but we've also created a series of special events lectures exhibits and tours U meant to generate excitement curiosity and pride in this amazing City that we call home so very quickly I want to first thank our mayor for his dedication and planning and passion for our history and diligence in lifting up all the voices of Malden I want to thank the numerous members of the committee uh Deborah Burke Donna denen cour Doris St Martin Hilda Torres Anders o Rose Ron Cochran John parsin Kevin Duffy Linda Klein Linda Thorson Becca mcfeeders Joan Ford monjo uh and also the incredibly hard work of Kathleen Manning Hall Maria and Elena Elena svino I'm trying to be short so I'm I'm speaking too fast so uh I'm here specifically to talk about the voices of Malden project uh which we just unveiled out in the lobby uh this was lovingly stolen from the Boston Women's Memorial in downtown Boston on comav uh they have three statues of Lucy Stone Abigail Adams and Phyllis Wheatley and they've been there for about 20 years but last year uh current leaders of Boston had their voices recorded in The Voice of these famous women and QR codes were added to the statues so that passers by have the opportunity not just to look at our history but can listen to it and add another layer of connection from our past to our present so Abigail Adams is voiced by attorney general Andrea Campbell Lucy stone is voiced by mayor Michelle woo and Phyllis Wheatley is voiced by congresswoman Ianna Presley and it was so successful I immediately thought of it as an idea for our 375th and when I came to the committee with the idea it had already been proposed and scrapped um like all great ideas that I have someone else thought of it first um but the idea was because we couldn't think of a single location to have all these QR codes we didn't have a single space for them so the committee then decided to create a banner so we can take all the histories of all the communities of Malon and have them in one spot and then we can move them wherever we see fit so these portable banners uh the plan right now is to have one in City Hall and one at the library to reach as many people as possible but this is also an ongoing project we could add more voices we could tell more stories uh and have it in an engaging way that people can listen to unfortunately this meant I had to find primary sources and writings to record and that took a lot of time and effort I want to thank Doris St Martin and Linda Thorson who are both immensely helpful with getting the research on this started a huge thank you to Ryan Reid and Philip Wright at the molden public library who are doing amazing work as our local historians I also want to thank Megan Sandberg zakian who directed the recordings for the Boston Women's Memorial and was enormously helpful to me and a huge thank you to the gracious and incomparable Lisa kago for putting up with me haunting the city council offices for much of the recordings uh I want to thank quickly the people who lent their voices to the project first I would like to thank you the Malden city council for reading our famous Malden Town instructions uh with the way things are these days I don't think there are many legislatures in this country where if you asked the members can one of your colleague spouses record your voice you would get unanimous support uh and participation but you all trusted me with your voices and your talent so I just really want to thank you all so much you all knocked it out of the park I want to give my particular gratitude to councelor spora who uh hosted me at his house only a couple of hours after he landed at Logan so thank you so much for having me he he had better things to do where I got off a plane and he had me over instead um we have so many we have so much wonderful history in this city and it's just a snapshot of some of the things we have our first mayor Elisha Converse I Learned was often described during his lifetime as the first citizen of Malden not just our first mayor but he was known as our first citizen and so I could not think of anyone better uh no one better than our first citizen today our principal our coach and my friend Dana Brown I want to thank Dana Brown so much for being Elisha Converse uh we had over a hundred years ago a molden State Rep named George Howard fall used the occasion of his very first speech in the state house to call for the immediate granting of the right to vote to women 20 years before the 19th amendment was ratified and so I want to thank our own State Rep who has a legacy and reputation for leading the fight on civil rights our own Steve alino uh one of our most glorious former residents is the great Emma fall scoffield the first woman appointed to be a judge in Massachusetts and a giant in zanta so I want to thank our current president of Zant Malden Maria Louise for uh being the wonderful voice of Emma fall scoffield uh James red path was one of the nation's most radical abolitionists and the man who got the Lincoln Administration to open diplomatic relations with Haiti and for the voice of James redpath I enlisted my neighbor and friend Jamie Wilson who I knew best as a fellow girl dad and BB dad but it turns out he's also arguably mold's most successful historian professor at Salem State and the author of six books including his newest book Martin Luther King Jr in American life so a huge thank you to Dr Jamie Wilson uh I of course had to get the dulet tones of Neil Anderson on the project and he does a beautiful job with Herbert Jackson's post elction Victory letter so thank you councelor Anderson for that Dora St Martin found some amazing texts of a young Mill girl named Harriet Hansen Robinson uh who got her fellow workers to go out on strike before the word strike even existed uh and Dora lent the voice to that so thank you so much I uh I wanted to find something special for our mayor to record and after going down many rabbit holes and dead ends I compiled the military orders that the Massachusetts provincial Congress sent to the molden militia in the two months of the Revolution where the war was basically just Massachusetts against England and Malden was on the front lines and we had a lot of amazing orders back and forth and the mayor did an awesome job with that and it also includes a passage of a letter that George Washington sent to the people of Massachusetts Thanking us for our service dated July 4th 1775 I want to give a huge thank you to Elena Savino for Designing those beautiful banners out there uh and I want to thank you all so much for your support for the 375th anniversary thank you everybody can we actually bring the banners in so people at home can see what they look like maybe okay we need a hand or what they're slightly delicate so we'll find out all right I'll give you uh just the the podium just face it this way yeah oh what oh oh the other oh now turn okay now turn it around okay now now now they now they're going to all right so all right hold it up higher all right so also okay I we went to Van white territory very quickly um so these recordings will also be on the city website and what's so great about this is that this is a dynamic project we can always add recordings anytime we find new primary sources primary text uh different communities that we want to be reaching out to we have such a wonderful diverse City and we want every Community to be represented so if we find more recordings of you know firsthand accounts of mden we can add in we can record as much as we want um the the limit does not exist so um yeah this was a really fulfilling project this is such a wonderfully culturally and historically Rich City we're all so lucky to call this place home so uh this was a lot of fun to research and the work has only begun so there's so much more to do to celebrate this great city right so great thank you councelor simonelli thank you thank you you know I just want to take my hat off to you because you know without this without you this wouldn't have been possible and I know it was a lot of hard work and it was you know something something different and you really had a lot of patience especially when it came to me so I really appreciate that thank you very much I didn't know how bad my voice was until you know he let me know so thank you great work I I I have to thank you councelor simell no I have to say you know I thought this was a pretty good idea but then listening to how you all recorded it it sounds magnificent like the the way that you're Town instructions I really encourage you to listen to them the way that all your voices speak in one voice and flow one right into the next one uh and each one of you there's I didn't plan it this way but each one of you there's some moment you only get like 72 words each and each of you there's some moment that like is just punches so hard and you know the fact that we declared independence and pushed the idea before the nation thought of it you know it's a Our Town instructions are really a special thing and I think it's easily my favorite interpretation I've heard so far as all of you doing it in your own unique voices and what you bring to it so thank you all so much thank you thank you thank you all right all right thank you so next order of business then so members of the disability commission police chief croner and fire chief Royo will appear before the city council to give a report on energy cards emergency cards right excuse me emergency cards my bad all right uh Maria Louise good evening Morgan is um Amanda bellison I am so I have the privilege of serving on the disability commission as the ADA compliance officer and I have to say this is one of our most proactive commissions they work on a lot of projects and are always really busy and one of the projects we did this year had to do with um a collaboration with the mass um let me make sure I get this title right the mass commission for the deaf and hard a hearing and thanks to Amanda Bellis our chair um we collaborated with them to bring emergency cards to um our police chief and our fire chief um that will assist um the deaf and heart of hearing when they have to communicate with an EMT or a police officer or a firefighter so I'm GNA hand it over to Amanda Bellis to explain the project and then we'll probably hear from the Chiefs all right thanks Maria can you guys hear me yep y okay um hi for those of you who don't know me um my name is Amanda bis and I am the chair of the disability commission um I first and foremost want to thank the members of the council for this opportunity um to speak before you on behalf of the commission um in in conjunction with both Chiefs um and I especially want to thank council president winow for providing the time on the agenda this evening to be able to do so so excuse me many months ago um like Maria introduced um the commission became aware of these emergency service service this car um they were created by the Massachusetts commission for the de and heart of hearing in partnership with the Department of fire services and o the office of emergency medical services um so what are these cards exactly um as Maria alluded to essentially um they help First Responders and individuals who are death or hard of hearing be able to better communicate in emergency excuse me situation so for example um I don't don't know I think each council member I believe you have one of a copy of the card in front of you if not I know we have copies to provide you but essentially so if an individual who is deaf or heard of hearing um is in an emergency situation the First Responders can find out information from them the images and information available on these cards allow that individual to to point to an image point to information that helps um First Responders determine things such as you know what pain level the individual is experiencing what is the location of the pain they're experiencing and also what is the individual's reference um when it comes to communicating with them likewise ver responders can in turn also point to image and information on the cards to essentially ask questions of the individual we know that in emergency situations effective communication is crucial so as soon as the commission um we learned more about these cards we very much I would say literally every member of the commission was very much on board with figuring out how do we bring these cards to molden and how do we work with our First Responders to implement them so that's where Maria comes in um as we all know in the city we are extremely fortunate to have Maria um at the city she coordinated a conversation with me Maria and the two Chiefs um to discuss these cards and I have to say if I recall quick correctly I don't even think the conversation with the Chiefs was 20 minutes long both right away were 100% on board and ready to figure out how to implement this Communications tool I I do want to extend a tremendous thank you to both Chiefs on behalf of the commission um just your willingness to be super responsive and jump on board um with this done so thank you to both of you um I actually do want to turn conversation over to the Chiefs um but before doing so I am going to pull a point of um Personal Privilege if you will and I want to acknowledge and recognize every member of the Malden disability commission every single member is extremely talented and 100% dedicated to and passionate about uh making molden as accessible as possible for every single person you know residents and visitors and I encourage and invite each member of the council if you have not yet attended one of our meetings to attend one of our monthly meetings to not only you know get to know each member um but also to get a better understanding of the work we are doing for molden so with that thank you for your time I'm happy to answer any questions you may have at the end and I turn the conversation over to the Chiefs thank you very much Amanda all right uh Chief Cronin will go first good evening uh city council I appreciate the opportunity for myself and chief fro uh to present this new this new resource this new tool for us um I especially want to thank Amanda Bellis of the malen disability commission and Maria Louise uh for collaborating in getting this put together um I can tell you that um as a police officer for for years uh I was in a Traffic Unit on the motorcycles and I've I've you know um conducted a lot of traffic stops and countless times I have come upon individuals where I could have utilized something like this so to get this now is is incredible um right now if you have the cards I'm just going going to talk to you about this one that's law enforcement related specifically this this is in Malon Police Department cruises as we speak uh the sergeants have them all the sector cars have them um and what they have when we get these distributed to folks they have this in their car and this is inside this envelope it's typically on their visor or in their door readily accessible you know and the first thing they do they'll put it up and it says I am a deaf person or I am hot of hearing one of the other so with that right off the bat this is this is a good start um you can see the card the first thing we look at when we look at this card is the Blue Area here on this side right up the bat we're going to establish how we communicate whether it's an interpreter texting writing uh lip reading gestures or or an assist of uh listening device so right off the bat um that's critically important because I know that communication is the key in almost every situation and if you don't have good communication things can go sideways particularly in a cast stop rapidly so have this this tool I consider this A deescalation Tool uh to have with us right now so that that's how I'm looking at it um another thing I look at when I when we when we're looking at these cards is it it strengthens our relationships with with vulnerable communities uh they're going to know that the malen police department is in the malen fire department in the city of Malden has taken the time uh to consider them uh and include them uh in our planning so that's incredibly important if I can go back to that Cod for a minute you can see this is there's a lot of information on the other side of this card uh we point to the license the driver's license registration for the car um license to carry U identification and you'll see a host of uh other things here stop sign red light speeding U texting while driving crosswalk violation broken headlight or tail light um we can point you're being warned or you're being ticketed it does say arrested but I don't even want to think about that we do our very best not to ever arrest anybody um on the bottom you can see where it's says help and it says the person you know they could be lost or they need gas or they're looking for a hospital or some other reason and the best option on here for me is where it says notes where they can put their name in a phone number or somebody else's name in a phone number for us to call as well so um that's extremely handy for us um when you're looking at the other card of course this is this is you know more for the fire department obviously it applies to the police as well but that card is very similar if you're in a situation you can from a medical Aid to a to a house fight and everything in between you can address almost anything with this even if a person even if they're not out of hearing or deaf um if there's some other reason a catastrophic injury something like that where they they're unable to communicate we can start pointing here level of pain um things like that so youve you've seen this so these are incredibly uh useful for us uh simple symbols to use um you know and for me it it just when you're looking at the safety of people in a car the operator passengers um going back to the law enforcement side of this um it does increase the safety for everybody in their car for the police officer um so with that I I uh the last thing I want to say and that it it it does um reflect modern inclusive policing with this so U with that going forward we're going to be looking to hook up again with the disability commission to see how we can get this distributed widely across the city and if anybody wants to know any more information on this they can go to mass.gov for mcdhh that's the mass commission for the death and heart of hearing you can also go to their we uh email mcds safety mass.gov if you need any more information on that and I I thank you all for your time uh I me to thank you so much for this this incredible tool Maria thank you Chief Ro you have anything to say or just you're good okay thanks for coming out okay all right thank you thank you okay thank you I just want to recognize that one of our members of mar Marilyn Andrews is also um on the screen thank you all right thank you very much great um do we have anybody signed up for public comment or any written comments yeah okay let me uh we did have one person uh signed up for public comment they emailed me but also uh he's present John uh I don't know if do you want me to read your email or okay so uh John did email me uh regarding paper adequately protected against harmful effects of exposure to RF radiation unrelated to cancer two fcc's conclusions regarding adequacy of its testing procedures were arbitrarily in capricious three fcc's conclusions regarding impact of RF radiation on children were arbitrarily incom arbitrary and capricious and four fcc's conclusions regarding long-term exposure exposure to RF radiation pulsation or modulation and in and implications of recent technological developments were arbitrary and capricious in light of this ruling I would have to believe that Malden's city council is incapable of determining that the installation of Wireless infrastructure in Malden could be deemed in the public interest sufficient information to make an informed decision is not available and If the counselors were to claim otherwise then the decision should also be questioned as arbitrary and capricious if the city council pretends it is informed enough to determine that additional small cell equipment is in the good in excuse me is in the public good that could subject the city to additional threats of litigation both from utility companies and from the public it would also further jeopardize Public Health over above the 100 plus small cell antennas that have already been approved and tax the health of malen residents many of which aren't even aware furthermore just on the technical side Wireless technology is less secure and very energy inefficient compared to a wired TR data transmission we are literally bathing ourselves in wasted energy one way or another all of our bodies are paying the price for that both of the City's map of sell small excuse me small cell equipment and a map that I have generated based on posted agendas and minutes are attached to this email please vote no to counselor McDonald's proposal if I have not misunderstood the language I did send him an email with questions but did not receive a response sincerely John sea 37 Pierce Street Alden okay um no further public comment then that was all the public comment all right so that uh concludes that part of the agenda um so moving on to the consent agenda um this evening's consent agenda consists of meeting minutes to be approved two appointments to be placed on file two appointments to be confirmed six orders to be referred to finance and two papers to referred to rules and rules and ordinance committee so I have a couple uh uh comments um I did look at the minutes for November 12th and I did have some comments so I would at my own volition I'm I'm taking that off so we can um can have Morgan make those changes and and we'll re-update those um and then there was a typo on paper 41 42124 um that Comm confirmation does require um consent of the city council so that um rather than um just being um confirmed and put on file we will um the the consent agenda will be to refer that to Personnel appointments for inter interview and we will interview um uh meline McCormack um you know uh in the future and then um uh let's see uh I just want to make a note that there is an appointment here for uh Council Anderson um to be um a member of the Mal Redevelopment board I uh suggested that that be on the consent agenda because I think we're all familiar with councelor Anderson I don't think we need to um have him in for an interview or anything like that so um so those are just some of my comments on it and then councelor McDonald did you want um we did get a communication from the mayor on uh some of the finance papers did you want to have that read into the record or let's see let me just uh yeah um I it is it's a longish uh letter yeah so it's about a page and a half so I I think I wasn't going to propose that cuz the point of the consent agendas to just like move it to Comm talk about it right so that is in your packet I think count uh clerk uh kago has given that to everybody so that that is in your packet that will be go along with the um consent agenda to the finance committee on those papers so that's how we'll handle that so and it will be attached to the papers it'll be attached to the paper so just so you have that um a little more explanation so suggest you you all read that before those come into Finance so does anybody other have any just to State this this letter discusses the status of cash reserves for the city in it as as it relates to these proposed Appropriations so that that'll be attached to this agenda and to the agenda of the finance committee so it'll be available there so and it is in your your packet tonight so does anybody have any questions or or comments on any of the papers that they would like to take off yeah councelor Al I the only question I have is what what does it mean to approve the consent agenda so you're saying we're we're removing the meetings from November 12th the minutes yes yeah the minutes that'll be removed yeah but the minutes from the 19th would be approved yes yeah the 21st would be removed um 4 you mean 421 yeah four yeah 421 421 that that is that we're just changing that to being confirmed to being referred to personal appointment so and then 422 would be approved approve yep approved yep referred to finance Finance yeah okay all right thank you that everybody clear on what we're doing here uh motion by Council sea to approve the consent agenda as uh amended second by councelor Taylor all those in favor say I it's a roll call because okay we we actually we have to take a roll call sorry so uh clerk will take the role because there are confirmations so like councelor Anderson's uh confirmation so we're under our rules we have to take a vote on that so all right so take a roll call vote on the consent agenda okay all right uh councelor colen Hayes yes councelor Condon yes councelor Crow yes councel linan yes councelor McDonald yes councelor rali yes councelor seika yes councelor simonelli yes councelor spatap for yes councelor Taylor yes council president winow yes so the consent agenda is uh confirmed and those appointments are are confirmed so next order of business paper 433-4637 term subject to confirmation by the city council to commence upon the retirement of Deborah Burke and to expire November 21st 20 27 okay um so I'm gonna actually hand the gavl over to councelor Ali because I'm GNA take responsibility for the paper and um as I'm chair of the Personnel appointments committee and my recommendation tonight is to um I asked Mr Pratt to come and speak to us and then um you know rather than referring this to Personnel appointments um since we're all pretty familiar with Mr Pratt's work it it just uh to do the confirmation perhaps tonight um unless counselors would prefer to just have referred to uh personal appointments but just seemed that all right is everybody comfortable just uh going forward and having uh Mr Pratt um maybe speak a little bit about the appointment and then people can ask questions uh so uh uh Mr Pratt uh welcome congratulations let me turn the podium mic on and uh thank you so much for being here tonight so great you're on thank you uh council president thank you all of you for having me here I also want to thank uh obviously mayor Christensen for appointing me and for supporting me not just in this appointment but over um many many years of working uh in the city I also want to thank Maria Louise Ron Hogan and of course Debbie Burke who I've had the privilege of working for and learning from over the last six years uh I started at the Malden re Development Authority in 2018 um now the office of strategic planning and Community Development um when I started I was the community development director so managing the cdbg program which you all know and love um and are familiar with every uh Every Spring when we go through the budget process um but focusing on managing our Park projects um our social services or our Public Services Grants um and then helping with the rehab program um my responsibilities have grown over time um from that um focusing just on that program to um during Co and even before Co working more on affordable housing development um working with the team that was working on inclusionary zoning creating a new affordable housing trust um and then when Co hit we had an influx of funds and a huge demand um from our residents who are facing eviction or for foreclosure and from um our small businesses who are at risk of of shutting down so um working with the team was very proud to be a part of our covid-19 response efforts which included our small business assistance program our rental assistance program program and an eviction prevention program um and that last program also worked on foreclosure prevention as well so um yeah have been really proud to be a part of that work for a long time um and then about a year and a half ago uh as you all know the department was reorganized and two deputy director roles were created I um have been in the role of deputy director of Housing and Community Development for the last year and a half um in that role I manage a team of five uh professionals we have a great team we work on affordable housing development um housing rehab down payment assistance um Mass Save we do a little bit here and there with um climate resiliency um we just work on a whole boatload of projects um that many of you see across the city and your Wards or uh just across the city um in the deputy director role I've also taken more a bigger role in helping um assess with the Department's finances um particularly making sure that we maximize the use of federal funds to cover administrative costs that the impact on the city budget of opcd staff is as limited as possible um so I've done that work uh in Partnership obviously with Deb Burke but also with our senior accountant Roberto Connelly um and we've really um done a lot of work really since the merger in 2021 to make sure that the city impact of opcd staff is limited that we are maximizing theral funds um to col salary Fringe and other um eligible costs um more recently working on planning work so open space and Recreation plan um which um many if not most of you have been involved in um assisting with the climate action plan which you all approved earlier uh this fall and then preparing for the next master plan which I know you all are very uh excited about especially when um we're talking about building commercial Revenue focusing more on economic development and making sure that we have a long-term plan for our City's finances um so really eager to get to work on all of those issues um I really can't say enough about how much Debbie has left oscd in place um where it's really set up to succeed um she has done a lot of work with the merger with um the Department's finances with hiring a great staff training a Great staff and and um retaining good folks so um really grateful to her for that um and I count myself among uh among that her her impact on me is is uh hard to overstate she taught me everything I know about Community Development um so um when I think about what what has made her successful in her role the role that I'm before you all um tonight I think about communication I think about consistency I think about hard work um Debbie has a relationship with each of you that she has built over many years of working together um I have many of those relationships already but I want to keep um working and growing and deepening those relationships and learning how to work with you in this new role um and that means being uh you know doing things that Debbie does calling you back the same day or the next day you know as soon as as soon as she can um working with you um on your projects um as we all do um and trying to get you the information you need um whether or not um you're happen to agree with the administration or the office on a particular issue or not doesn't matter making sure that we're sharing information and all on the same page and communicating um so those are all things that I hope to emulate I know I have uh very big shoes to fill kind of like clown size shoes to fill um but I'm going to give it my all um I'm going to be learning I've been learning now under your Deb for six years and I'm going to keep learning in this new role uh with your confirmation so I just want to say thank you it's an honor to um do this work alongside each of you it's an honor to serve the city that I live in with each of you um I'm excited to get to work with all of you thank you right thank you uh councelor simonelli you were up first thank you Mr President well Alex congratulations on the appointment and uh you know I just want to say that uh you're right it's a a it's a big roll to fill and big shoes to fill and you know Debbie's been around since urban renewal uh but you know since I came back on to the council uh you know I've been able to develop a a good working relationship with you we've worked side by side on several projects ongoing some finished and they all worked out well not that we always agreed on everything constructive criticism from both sides is great uh that's what it's all about but at the end of the day you know we got it done and you know there's a young staff up there now uh you know and you know you're a young guy that's been working up there and and working your tail off from what I can see and uh you know the only thing I can say the information the advice I could give you is you know just like listen to the counselors on you know where they want to go and and I think you've been able to do that and just trying to you know you know ease their way into new things sometimes us counselors aren't uh you know we're not so easy on or on uh going into new things uh we don't like change sometimes you know and uh but you know I think that uh you know things are changing and uh you know obviously as long you know our relationship will be a good working relationship just as long as I continue to get the Lion Share of the funding no I'm just playing uh I knew you'd like that Steve no but honestly probably should some of the cdbg money point I just I just happen to live in the right spot but what I'm saying is that Alex you know I I I I I think this is a good a good fit for you and I I I welcome you on aboard and congratulations uh for you know for you know taking this position because it's not an easy one to take um and uh I'm a True Believer uh Pro promoting from within and I think the mayor mayor's office did a fantastic job by doing that so it listen and feel free to call every one of us counselors too uh you know when you start to run into some unfamiliar Waters so congratulations and just keep up to good work my brother thank you thank you Mr President thanks thank you C C conon thank you council president uh I've had the pleasure of working with Alex the last couple years uh on the de Park project uh which he was um excellent working with the neighbors and making sure the line of communication uh we never crossed it just kept them informed um and I know Janel the Vitz who played a tremendous part in U as the neighborhood layers on um she I think she respected Alex too uh I know you always go back to me quickly we got the punch list you did that too of course I was driving you crazy but uh but good luck and uh I'm so happy that we uh are promoting from within especially capable people like yourself you can just look at your resume and see that you'll be able to get the job done if you want to get it done we'll get it done that's for sure so good luck good luck in the future and uh anything I can do for you or our colleagues up here I'm sure they'll be very helpful thank you Al great thank you councelor counselor lenan thank you um Alex congratulations it's so nice to see you here tonight um I don't have much more to add than what my colleagues have said other than to Echo the sentiment that it's amazing to see the career growth that's happened I'm sure you remember this but I was in your interview when you've joined the MRA particularly memorable because my child took a header off the playground in the middle of his interview and I got a call from the emergency room and had to leave and then had to call him an apologize and he still took the job I was I was so excited about his candidacy and I thought oh my God now I've ruined it by doing this really unprofessional thing but um Alex stuck around and to see the growth and the programs that you've started and the new position that you're in now and watching how you've taken on a lot of Debb's mentorship um I see how she does that for folks at all levels of your staff and I feel like you've really um taken seriously what it means to be a good manager and you know because there's the programmatic side there's the engagement side but there's also a people side and one of the things that I learned a lot through being on the MRA board and then watching it become part of OSP or part of City Hall as we created oscd is that there's people who spent their whole career in that department and there's some very young newer staff and as someone who manages people as well um at my job that is so challenging and I feel like you've done a really really remarkable job at just balancing the different needs um there's so many different disciplines and areas of expertise that our staff have in that department so kudos to you for navigating all of that and building a career I love to see that we've made a culture where people feel like they can stay here and actually want to move into these department head jobs so um thank you so much for putting your name in for consideration and for getting to this point it's really great to see you get to this level thank you very much councelor colon Hayes thank you um so thank you uh congratulations um I know we spoke on the phone and we talked about how um it was good to also speak a little bit about it um for anyone watching for transparency so um you have great skills um I've seen you organize things and and and I think it's great I think that um Debbie was so awesome about calling back like immediately and she was always a straight shooter I respected her so much for that even if she was telling me something that she knew I didn't want to hear she would tell me um and so I expect that the same thing from youut um yeah and so communication we talked about um being able to communicate um you know quickly but also honestly and like just be vulnerable when when you have to with people in our community when they're looking for answers um and the other thing that we talked about when I was looking at the um at your resume and I don't know how many people applied but the one thing we talked about was the not a lot of experience managing people you manage projects but not people and that's going to be extremely important there's so many people to manage and like navigate and so um you did tell me that this last past year um that you had um managed five people in um you know in your role now which makes me feel better and I know um that you'll grow that it's very hard to manage people probably harder than the projects and so just as long as everybody you know you make them feel comfortable and have come in and you know have a place that you want to come to work um I think you'll do a great job thank you very much right you're welcome councelor McDonald congratulations rations Alex I'm so excited that you've got this nod um from the city um I Echo all the comments about your um skills and professionalism commitment dedication um and follow through I actually have questions for you um and I have two questions the first is uh could you talk a little bit about your commitments to equity because I think in planning and in looking ahead we have some of the greatest opportunities to uh serve and benefit the residents in this community that need the most support um from housing to supporting people who take the bus our seniors our young people um making sure that they're involved making sure that their needs are front and center um and we're not just listening to the loudest voices so can you talk about how you would approach that in this role absolutely and I think Equity is not just about the planning side and getting the feedback from folks and making sure that that feedback is representative although it is and must include that but it's also about making sure that our programs are accessible to people from different backgrounds so one of the things that we do in the cdbg program is we get um so we fund Social Services by nonprofits we call it our Public Services Program um and every quarter will get information from those nonprofits that we are funding about who they are serving and at the end of the year we look and see okay well is this serving a uh you know we're a diverse Community are the people we are serving represented in uh representative of the community that we represent and that we're trying to serve so we do part of this I think with data um and then part of it is just um kind of the oneon-one that Personal Touch I think you alluded to it counselor Cen Hayes um when someone comes in and they're not speaking English or they're speaking English but they're if you're talking about like a detailed rehab project or something where maybe there there's not a full understanding um making sure that you're making resources available um so part of equity part of the equity work that we're doing is we're working with Elena Martinez as many other offices are um to create a language access plan specific to the department and specific to many of the programs that we operate um and then of course that also means um making sure that there's access and accessibility when we do community engagement sometimes that means having interpreters or translators um at a meeting sometimes um it means having focus groups not everyone is going to be able to come out on whatever week night we're doing a park meeting and even if we provide a a translator doesn't mean they're going to have the time or maybe even the interest in showing up so I think we're always learning and trying new things um when it comes to equity and also when it comes to just Community engagement RIT large um one thing that we did new this year um for the open space and Recreation plan is we have a number of um small gift cards from Stop and Shop um and I think we got one from rockpot as well and so we when we advertise the survey which we ask asking people to take a 10-minute survey so it's a significant ask right and it was translated in all different languages and so forth um we said we're entering you into a raffer ENT it so they kind of can understand that there's there's some value in it to them but we also want to emphasize that we're actually gonna run with the feedback you give us um and to the extent we're able we're going to we're going to take your comments and and we actually want them we're not just doing this to check a box we're doing community engagement because we want to actually understand what people are asking for um and then do our best to to Sur that the last thing I'll say about that because I could talk about this all night and I'm not sure that's what anyone wants um is when we do community engagement and we're asking people for feedback we need to be careful to be asking for things that are actually on the table um sometimes we run into trouble unintentionally I think when we say hey tell us what you want about this project but if we don't say oh but we're Capp to $800,000 people are going to build the Taj Mahal in their heads and they're going disappointed by what we what we show and that that kind of erodes that trust with the community so I think being honest with our constraints whether that's Financial whether it's regulatory whether it's just the space we have or whatever it might be um being forthright with people so they they understand okay you're asking me for feedback about this this and this that doesn't mean you're going to turn um a playground into a a swimming pool but it means we want to have want to hear feedback about what type of Play Elements you have in the you want to have in the playground for example um so those are kind of my some of some of my thoughts on both equity and Community engagement um I think the the last thing I'll say about it the last last thing I'll say about it is it's about intention and it's about openness to learning and trying new things what worked for Equity 10 years ago 20 years ago is not what works today um we're still figuring out what works today and whatever we figure out is not going to work 10 years from now so it's having a growth mindset um the whole way through yeah thank you Alex so much I appreciate that answer and and I have seen you and your staff really try out and develop new approaches that are of above and beyond what other communities have done in order to reach the broadest possible set of residents those who are yes least likely to be able to show up on a weekday evening and sit in a meeting in city council chambers right um and so I I really look forward to working with you on that I could talk about it all night but I don't think I agree with you not everybody wants to hear that um but a more systematic approach where we can really knit those efforts together um I think uh could could be really helpful in making sure that we're really casting the brightest possible net so I look forward to working with you on that um the next question is just what do you need from us as the city council in order to be able to succeed in this role I'm particularly mindful of the staff retention challenges that are before us we've spent some time supporting the evolution of the office we know we have staff who have a lot of runway in their careers ahead of us we can't do things in this this city that Tak strategy and planning without your staff uh and I think we've seen that when we lose people things can grind to a halt um losing our transportation planner most recently just meant that a whole bunch of projects have to be sheld while we do the hiring so I do think that's actually a serious issue for the for the city and I would love to hear your thoughts about how we can support you and how we can support um the continuity in the staff in that office sure thank you um I think it's twofold I'll take the I'll take that as a two-part question sure um I think the the things that will help me succeed in this role from all of you is the same things that help every relationship succeed which is communication expectation setting and if I'm screwing up or if I think you're screwing up on a project that we call each other and we talk about it um and I think we have uh we have that relationship um with with with many of you and I'm um you know I think that's that's a big part of it um it's just communication communic communication Communication in terms of retaining sta I think um there are some things we can do I think a big one is showing that we can promote within and that there's a path here the reality of um the economy today and especially um a younger Workforce is they're used to changing jobs not even every two years but every year every year and a half so how do we retain those folks and make it instead of one year or one and a half years how do we how do we make that two or three or even four um and then that can you know depending on the person and how much they get used to working here and and hopefully Ling working here um that can extend beyond but it's making sure that we're focusing on that um one way to do that is by having um more opportunities for internal promotion when we um did the reorg of obcd a year and a half ago that was one of the things that I know Debbie was talking about and passionate about um that wasn't just to provide me with you know more management experience your point counselor um of people it was also to help the whole organization kind of grow and we have a number of folks on our staff um besides myself who have had other roles in the office who have moved up and these tend to be um again it tends to be a younger Workforce that is used to changing jobs every now um every year or two and if we've been able to as we've been with um with some folks to move them into the next role in the office um that's a great thing when it can work and it's not always going to work um but to the extent we can um I think we try to um and that's that really helps have the um helps the team have a cohesion as well um the other thing is just when we know that there are some roles where for um for bringing in someone who's newer to their career they might not stick around for very long because that's that's what people are doing so how do we anticipate that and how do we build around not having all these projects stop when turnover inevitably happens because whether it's two years or 10 years people aren't staying here forever um so how do we make sure that we're anticipating that and I think that has everything to do from um making sure that more than one person kind of is involved in a project that doesn't mean you need two team leads but you can have or project leads but you can have like if there's a transportation planner involved in something is the senior planner also involved um or is uh the deputy director Kevin Duffy involved so if there's some continuity um when turnover inevitably happens great well thank you for those answers and I look forward to supporting your appointment thank you thank you um councelor Taylor thank you council president um I just really briefly want to say congratulations Alex I've um enjoyed working with you in many different areas over the past few years and on projects um I've seen firsthand your commitment to our community um and the hard work that you do and um I know you do have big shoes to fill but I have no doubt that you will be able to fill them and I am just really excited to be able to work with you uh in your new role thank you all right uh Council Crow thank you Mr President I just want to say congratulations I can't believe it was six years but I think I definitely seen the growth over six years even with some of your answers to council McDonald's questions of council p is really seeing um more of the bigger picture and sort of what Debbie um has always done with us is being honest and pushing push back and not just you know taking your own visions and running with it but really knowing what the community is looking for with the council with the administration um and most of all the community but I think you know i' I've seen that growth in working with other projects and you know push back on me if push back on you and um and it does make for a better project when we when we can really do that and I'm so I'm excited to continue to work with you thank you very much councilor Ali thank you council president thank you very much Alex for joining us um I think that as as you know and probably the public knows like we agree largely on policy so like for for me this is really not turning on policy um coun to what councelor Crow said you know there can be times when we might disagree but knowing that the person across the table from you is being honest with you and trustworthy that is really essential to making this succeed um and so that's really what I'm focused on when it comes to this um you know particularly with with the shoes that we were talking about of of um director Burke um she is trusted by every counselor up here she's trusted by every department head in our in our city um and that is something that is so valuable um that it should be emulated by by each and every one of us not just you but by really all of us um because as councelor Crow said that's how you get a better product by having those honest dialogues um I have never hesitated calling Debbie I have never hesitated sharing my concerns or my ideas with Debbie knowing that she will even if she disagrees with me we can work it through um so I hope to develop that type of relationship with you I look forward to developing that type of relationship with you um one of the questions that I do have is how do you think you would like to grow in this role oh man uh I have a lot of uh lot of thoughts on that but firstly thank you counselor I appreciate the your remarks and I agree with you and I look forward to doing that as well um I think I think it's all about relationships but at a different level right um I think it's the relationship balancing the relationship with the mayor and with the council um as a whole as well as the counselors individually um I think I have a lot of experience working with um you all on Park projects and that's one type of relationship but it's a different relationship is when we are talking more about policy or we're talking about Economic Development or zoning or planning or these bigger things so it's building that trust to your point counselor um that you all know and I know that we can trust each other we're all even if we're not working towards the same um idea or outcome that we're all working for the same cause and I believe we are and I think that really really helps now being of course working for the residents and trying to make the city um better for everybody um the other pieces to excuse me um to councelor Hay's point I'm sorry to councelor colen Hay's Point um managing a larger staff so I've I've managed um five staff for the last year and a half um I've had great mentorship from from Debbie and others and that um and we have a great team um so just making sure that um as this transition happens that I'm not upsetting the apple cart I think a lot of times when there's a a retirement and someone younger comes in there's this wonder is there going to be a totally big change um and when Debbie and I talked to staff about this transition um one of one of the things I said was I want everyone to know they're coming back to the same job you know day one as they were the day before um I think that's really important that changes that happen are measured that they make sense and that people feel included and involved in them um and I think that as it applies to the staff it also applies to the city um our city is going through changes that doesn't mean everything changes overnight um and we have to do that in a measured way that is is realistic and considers the confines that we're working in thank you let's see um councelor spaur thank you Mr President welcome Alex congratulations uh I I will try to be uh offer some new insight uh but I think my councils have been uh very descri descriptive in terms of uh the accomplishments you've done uh and certainly uh the shoes you have to fill and and you know I'll take off where I want to pick up where councelor uh can't we want to say this Ali left off is uh you know I think uh I I think trust is important uh not just in this role but I think any role with inside a city um and I know we have outreached to communities and and I mean citizens and that's that's certainly part of the journey uh but Debbie was very good uh and so was Karen andison and recognizing there's 11 different personalities up here there's 11 11 different bosses she made every one of them including Debbie both of them interchangeably feel different feel unique and was trustworthy I always knew when I could said something to Karen it would not get back to another counselor even I'm not saying bad things it was just a matter of bouncing your ideas off and I think Debbie does that same thing uh Debbie was very good of making sure that it was not her responsibility it was our responsibility to communicate that uh and one of the things I'd tell you is listening uh whether you are a leader of five or 50 the the best um advice I can give you is somebody who manages upwards of about 150 different employees is listening and it's an active skill that you cannot just do it's very hard for me to sit there and listen everybody knows that right um but the voices it's not that funny the voices the voices of all all the stakeholders right and the success of this community relies on that and I think listening to your employees listening to the other council members listening to the city citizens listen to the mayor all those perspectives make you a better leader right and then hopefully give you a better Outlook and a better product um and those actions and open dialogue I think are very important attributes it say and the last thing I would say in terms of something Karen Anderson always said to me and and it's stuck with me is she would say to me in the council meetings Craig I am the smartest partn in that room but I make sure that everybody else doesn't I make sure the public knows does not know that I'm the smartest person meaning she was she was the person that stood behind the council and made us look better and understood her role and I'm not saying that's not your role but that's what Debbie has been blessed with the ability all those Mayors all those councilors all those projects right and sometimes she got up there to defend them but she was always good at making sure that she recognized all the supports through the building and that's not an easy thing to do right because personally you want to reflect on hey I did this it's great but I think that type of leadership will get you a long way not just with a political body but I think your staff yeah so good luck yeah thank you very much councelor sea thank you council president I too would like to congratulate you Alex um I want to Echo Council spatap for's um remarks I think that working with Debbie for the past 12 years um she you never knew what she thought of something she always listened to you so I think that's a very important um characteristic that you need to bring on to this because um I'm while I'm in support of you and I am going to be voting for your appointment I over the last 24 hours I'm going to be I'm going to be the bad person here but there has been a little bit of Rumblings like I I think some councilors may feel that you are more with others than with them so I think that you need to take this like with an open you know open mind and just try to make sure that you're being fear to absolutely all 11 of us I'm not saying it's me but I'm saying you know I I have had some conversations where you know some people don't feel as heard and you know we just want to make sure that you know you're working for the city as a whole as a community and you're not going to be put into this role um you know to push a particular agenda for you or somebody you may like better than somebody else I think Debbie never gave us that feeling I I could not Debbie could have hated me and I would have never known like literally she just had that way about her where she was nice to every single one of us I couldn't tell you which if she had a favorite of one of us 11 I have no idea who it was Chris I'm I'm not quite sure it was you Council simonelli she's also still here but if you can just you've worked with her for the last six years and that is just one characteristic that when I think back of how Debbie has managed that department she all you know you'd call her and you'd ask her her opinion of something and she would oh yeah like that's great like and then she whether she hated it or she didn't she supported you wholeheartedly and helped you to try to accomplish what it was that you were trying to do so I can just I just hope that you know you can they really are they might be boo the clown shoes that you need to fill so I I I wish you well and I I I hope that you know it's everything that you dreamed of in more in this role so thank you that's a well very well taken okay all right thank you thank I actually want to thank all my fellow counselors for their respectful questions and and advice here because I think that that bodess well for our city because I do having worked under six different Community Development directors and seen other Dynamics where where that that relationship was poor um it it makes the position very difficult so I think it's great that um uh people uh you know uh have done you know I think that that relation relationship has been good I mean I was worked under Steve wasas I worked in Somerville I worked in Gloucester there was particular in Gloucester was a lot of turnover in this position um and I think it um you know there was just somehow in that Community a lot of distrust between the councelors and the community development director I think we haven't had that pattern and it's good to know that's continued on and that I think people have that relationship now that we have confidence that you know Alex will make that same effort so it is you know I had no here about you know it's important for the community development director to be a good listener I think there's all that expectation as councilors I always say that you know we have all the constituent input but often not the the resources so we're looking the Community Development Department becomes a problem solver I mean I think and as we as a council I mean one of our objectives is that master plan and is that creating that balance between you know the new and the old I guess the one question I had for you was that you know one of the things when I worked in summer like I was started in the first month of the Caton Administration and within a year almost everybody had left big big positions and so and and and I think it was unfortunate because I my my boss at the time really forced out a lot of a lot of people who had a lot of community knowledge but didn't necessarily often have the the right degree from MIT or tus or Harvard um because that's where he taught and so what's your balance of um an approach to making sure that um the skills and input of people who are are you know the born and raised folks um get in there because I think it's important to mix the quality of life which makes Malden great but also to reach greater so what's your thought on that and how how have you worked through those issues so yeah yeah thank you great question uh in opcd we have uh staff who have been there a couple years and we've had staff who've been there are with the city for a very long time um and all of them are excellent so we have a lot of talent and um perspective and the perspective of the newer folks who are newer to the organization is very different sometimes from the perspective of the folks who've been here a long time um my goal is to make sure that everyone feels that their opinions and perspectives um and skills have value and continue to have value in the organization um I think that scenario you described um in which there's a big change everyone leaves is my you know that's my night nightmare situation um so um there will inevitably be over time turnover as there are retirements or people who but my hope is as much as possible to make sure that people know they are valued here their work has meaning here um that's why I love working in Malden um is because I feel that our work has an impact um and I want to make sure that the staff knows that as well and to councelor spap for's point um that means you know uh what's the expression sharing the uh sharing the credit or you know um you know giving the credit to the staff and taking taking the blame um that's definitely something that I'm gonna be working on making sure that um you know I think that's how you make sure Staff feel appreciated and stick around and also feel comfortable sharing their perspectives because people are um if you don't ask people what they think they might not tell you um and that would also be a be a loss all right thank you so um I guess I had taken back the gavel anyway sorry about that um I I guess any other further questions I don't have any more so uh councilor uh lenihan's motion to uh approve the appointment seconded by councelor Crow um clerk will talk take the role confirm to confirm the appointment councelor colon Hayes yes councelor Condon yes councelor Crow yes councelor linahan yes councelor McDonald yes councelor om Ali yes councelor sea yes councelor simonelli yes councelor spatap for councelor Taylor council president Winslow yes all right the appointment is confirmed unan thank you very much all right thank you congratulations so good all right um moving on to the next order of business paper chapter 8 section 70 licensing of marijuana establishments is hereby amended as follows under subsection D striking striking paragraph 2 C and inserting in its place the following applicant shall enter into a host Community agreement HCA with the city of Malden and also amended by under section under subsection D striking paragraph 2D in its entirety and also amending by striking subsection e in its entirety so councelor linan for the paper thank you thank you Mr President um so this is actually pretty straightforward this is something that the mayor's office and um I have been working on this fall essentially the Cannabis Control Commission at the state has issued new guidelines that really streamline host Community agreements um for equity and parity among communities and parts of our ordinance are now not compliant with that it's a simplification and so essentially what they want communities to do is to either adopt their template host Community agreement or you can wave your right to have an HCA an agreement completely um and so this language would essentially just take out the sections of our ordinance that go into greater detail on areas that we're not allowed to really reference or talk about anymore and bring it into compliance with what the state wants us to do so it really is just aligning with the new state law um My Hope Is that we can refer it to ordinance to discuss in case people have questions or want to look at that model the template that the state has put out um I don't I don't want to speak for everyone I think we probably don't want to wave our right to have host Community agreements but it's something that we could talk about in committee it really limits you from doing things like asking for extra charitable contributions or fees above and beyond what it costs um or what any other business that could go in the similar location would cost so it's a simplification very straight forward hoping to refer to committee all right any questions uh so on Council Lan's motion to refer to rules Nord second by councelor om Ali all those in favor say I all right that paper is referred to committee um next uh order of business paper 435-2475 series of 2024 having considered the same make the following report committee recommends this appointment out favorably to the council all right um so on councelor colen Hay's motion to accept the re the committee report seconded by councelor lyand all those in favor say I uh any opposed all right so the report is received um clerk will read the paper paper 37-24 mayoral appointment Roy Watson 108 Hatley Street Malden as a a member of the Conservation Commission said term to expire September 15th 2020 2026 confirmation required all right so councelor colen Hayes for the paper as the vice chair of personnel appointments it's been a little bit okay okay it's been a bit bit of time okay yeah sorry I should have so yeah oh one second sorry put put you put your light on there you go sorry okay Roy Watson all right so um we had interviewed and met with Roy okay it's coming back to me now sorry my apologies yeah sorry and no no he was great he had tons of experience um and where he had come from um previously and um we had a great time talking with him and he was voted out favorably unanimously by the committee so yeah I'll just have a comment so yeah he okay oh yeah okay sir go ahead then yeah great sorry thank you I had my light on I didn't think you I just wanted to um congratulate Roy Roy used to be a W8 resident before we redistrict him into Council sell's wood um he was uh an amazing constituent over on Hadley with our flooding issues over there um he has a wealth of knowledge in this area and I think that he is going to be a huge asset on the conservation committee so I welcome Roy it's nice before he was redistricted I should say not many people in W8 actually like to come and be on our commissions we H we have a little bit of a problem getting people to get involved over in what eight so it's nice to see people on that side of the city that are actually getting engaged and Roy is going to be a huge asset so I welcome him and I congratulate him thank you so much yeah that's true he did mention that um and yes he seems very active took a little bit of time off and then jumped back in wanting to come back out yeah no he um you just I'll say um he is was the on the Carlile uh Massachusetts Conservation Commission the chair chair I me he's taken all the mass Association of Conservation Commission training um and and it's particularly I know line Brook which is near Hadley Street that area really needs some dedicated um uh people to focus on so it's great that Roy step forward so I think that's something that I've been you know focusing on a bit under the uh some of the arpa work and and working to get that that Brook and and the whole east side of Malden to focus on the flooding issues so uh it's great to know that they'll be someone on the Conservation Commission who will have that very much in mind and he even did some great work uh reaching out to to Everett to to deal with some of the flooding issues that were caused from Everett so definitely someone skilled and motivated and uh you know he's an attorney by training so he will be a great asset to the commission so so a lot of lawyers in that meeting I remember that so on councelor colon Hayes's uh motion seconded by councelor sea um clerk will take the role councelor colon Hayes yes councelor Condon yes councelor Crow yes councelor ly yes councelor McDonald yes councelor omali councelor seea councelor simonelli councelor spora yes councelor Taylor yes council president wissow yes so that appointment is confirmed there right so um on uh next uh clerk will'll read the next report oh let's see we okay okay paper three sorry paper 43624 committee report the standing Comm on personnel and appointments after meeting to review and interview candidates for the W 2 pres resident member of the community preservation committee having considered the same make the following report committee recommends leet elado to fill the unexpired term of Cameron Lane so councelor colen Hayes for the committee oh let's say I guess we to motion to accept the committee report seconded by councelor Crow so all those in favor accept the report and then I would um all right so then counselor colen Hayes for the committee what okay okay sir sorry paper 43724 Council appointment leet Alvarado 492 Pleasant Street Malden as the ward 2 Resident member of the community preservation committee to fill the unexpired term of Cameron Lane expiring March 15 of 2026 okay count now Council col for me yeah okay sorry that's all right hi so um yes we had met with the good thing here is um LTE had uh applied before and she did not um get the appointment the last time so I was really excited that she came back again that shows that you know fortitude and that how how much she really wanted to be a part of the CPC um so we did interview her and I know a lot of the um folks one of the things that stood out is she had talked to her experience on historic um conservation issues and this something that you know we felt would go nicely um compliment the board that we already have um so it was a pleasure meeting with her and she was reported out favor you unanimously okay in favor all right um councelor Crow yeah um thank you Mr President I'm actually gonna make a motion that we put this back out to um for a member we had a really wonderful full conversation um with the two candidates that we did have and it really was about and um miss alado it has nothing to do with the you know the candidates that were there talked about the historic preservation I know people were really gravitated towards that and we also talked about the importance of the affordable housing as we have lots of other things you know happening with the MBTA Community zoning the auds adus the um think other things that happened that really put that in um into perspective Ive and after that conversation that night when I thought about it and I went back and looked at who is on the um the CPC now and that's a that's a glaring Miss and I think we need to should put it back out there to the wards that need to be representative that really is a little more focused that that's what we're looking for putting together we do have somebody for the Housing Authority except they've never developed affordable housing it's very complex and our other candidate that has done that in the past but a while ago so I do think you know if we're really going to be serious about affordable housing we should put this out there and be a little more just as we talked about Mr Watson before um you know really someone that has that that skill set and that can sort of bring that to the um PCP Mo um yeah that's I guess a motion to um to not make this appointment and to reopen for appointment so councelor Semel second that so um I guess it's not a motion to table so we'll I guess we'll continue to have we'll put that we'll just Contin continue discuss this uh and then we'll um then we'll we'll take up that motion before we uh uh that motion will be ahead of any motion to app Point all right councelor om Ali oh I put my light on at the wrong time okay okay so all right okay um so um I know that this is this is unusual motion to make um you know it's not it's not common for us to do that um you know I I it's hard it's hard for for me to to to support that knowing that um Miss Al Alvarado um has applied multiple times and that the the committee did vote favorably uh to recommend her uh candidacy um that that being said I do understand what the fresh what what some of the concerns are that that have been expressed um you know one of the the challenges that I think that we all me included um have to learn is that um you the way we behave and the and the words that we use and how we express ourselves have consequences and you you know uh when you have membership of a public body whether you are the city council or the CPC um you know there there's a role for um know Community activists to be pushing on us and to try to get us to move in the direction that the community wants and and that's a really important role um but once you become a member of a body uh whether that's a board like on Uma or um the the CPC how you handle yourself and how you engage with others and elected officials it really is important um and so I do think that um you know if if the council does uh vote tonight to appoint Miss Al Alvarado to the CPC I hope that what she will hear from me right now is that um let's work together um you know let's let's assume good intentions um you know it doesn't help to you know maybe vilify people online um you know everyone has the the best interests of Malden and the children of Malden at heart this is something I have been saying from the beginning whether or not you support Turf uh at Roosevelt or grass at Roosevelt um this is not uh people who are trying to hurt children uh we all want what's best for children and I know that it shouldn't necessarily completely turn on Roosevelt but that is a large um elephant in the room um and so I don't support necessarily going back out um but I do support us all trying to assume good intentions and work together um thank you right thank you councelor Melly councelor sea thank you council president I unfortunately missed this committee meeting so my apologies that I was not in attendance but I want to take this time just in case Council Crow's um motion does not pass this evening to um be transparent and to share why why I will not be supporting this nomination so the first C in CPC stands for community and to me that means those who serve have to have an open mind to the entire Malden Community proposals can come from anyone and committee members rarely need to be welcoming willing to listen and have demonstrated an ability to be respectful in dealing with others as I'm going to piggy back off Council or Ali I feel like some things that I have seen online and behaviors I have seen throughout the community um I think there's some conflict of interests with some groups that um the candidate sits on um and will be working with the CPC I I just don't think that this person is the right fit um to to sit on this um committee I I think that unfortunately looking at what has been posted online I don't think she would be able to have an unbiased opinion on things that come before her and I think that somebody sitting on such you know an important Community Committee they need to be unbiased so I I will not be supporting this n um this appointment this evening if Council Crow's motion does does not go through so thank you right thank you councelor SE councelor linahan thank you Mr President um I am going to support councelor Crow's motion and I wanted to just explain that because I think this is a tremendously awkward conversation to have one of the things that I think just stinks about Personnel is that you interview people you know as we should publicly but when you're trying to decide between folks who are putting themselves out there it's happening in a public forum and in this case we really had a long discussion and we were not um we were not all on the same page we had only two people which in hindsight you know we had it was a late meeting to begin with I think folks were tired we'd had a lot of committees that night we had only two candidates um I think if I could have a doover I probably would have either tabled it or said maybe we reopen it and see if we get um more candidates and get more consensus I had made a motion in favor of the other applicant because I had um in my years dealing with the CPC and now sitting on the affordable housing trust fund board and overseeing the arpa funds with councelor cologne Hayes I just feel like we we desperately need someone who has some level of professional housing expertise particularly because we're going to be entering such a tough market and such a tough Financial time I think um not to say that it's easy to create and build and preserve affordable housing in a good Market but it's you know twice if not three times as hard when we're entering a um a downturn like we are now with some challenging Market scenarios so I I was feeling like that was the clear Gap that we needed to fill I had advocated pretty heavily in faor of that expertise I think again because this committee deliberates publicly whenever we are split and it becomes clear that the prevailing vote is going to go one way I think we like to have a unanimous recommendation um but in reality in this case this committee was not unanimous and we really struggled and you know just being fully honest and transparent I I wish that I had made a motion to table it at the time unfortunately I didn't and that leaves us before the public on television right now having to do this um as some of my colleagues have said it's hard not to make things personal when it is literally about one person but in this case I really would like to see us reopen um and kind of start over and you know I will commit to being more open um with my thoughts and not you know just kind of I felt like I sort of capitulated to what the committee wanted in the moment and that's putting a person in our community in a really unfair circumstance on live television right now and so I do want to apologize for that but I am going to to be supporting this motion because I think that we really don't have the consensus and particularly with how stake how high the stakes are with housing in our community um especially having gone to the CPC meeting last week we really really need that perspective is is is where I'm at on this and so that's why I'm going to be supporting this motion thank you councelor Lan councelor colon Hayes thank you um so I'm shocked and very disappointed um in what I'm hearing when counselor Crow I what you said was fine when you were just saying that you wanted to you know we were talking about maybe different experiences and housing um that was completely fine made sense until it became a personal um a personal thing here while we're out on camera um I really I do wish um counselor linahan you did say something in the committee um as as far as yourself it was unanimous it wasn't like it was split it was a unanimous vote um and that's why we're there Phillip who was also interviewing was tremendous um Philip was a great guy I would have absolutely swung the other way um I I said that he was like a mentor to me it was very hard um but I'm speak like I'm sorry okay Council okay so um the yeah this is really really bad form I'm really really disappointed in what I just heard from people and we need to every time I talk about norms and talking about Norms here Facebook rules years I have talked about um Facebook like where Facebook goes and like what maybe we should have some um rules about what it is that you can and cannot say especially when it's your personal Facebook page so um I'm fine with whatever you do but I wouldn't go without just saying that I'm just floored and I was going to leave because I had to go home to New York and I I wish I did councelor McDonald uh I you know what I will add is that I also I did not make this meeting I'm not on the personel appointments committee um I think this is I think this is clearly a tough conversation and um the political overtones are clear um I I think that the I I think I have I have never observed us send a nomination like with some with a nomination in hand reference from the committee the full Council vote to open a search again um and I think I would have been more comfortable with a motion to just refer this back to committee and say there's just not enough Clarity or intention behind that or process enough that you need to take another swing at it I I I just think it's a very very weird precedent to say there was a unanimous recommendation from the committee and now the the committee is vot and now the full Council would vote to reopen the search I would rather send it back to committee and have that be up to the committee to decide how to proceed with that I also think frankly given this conversation that it might be fair to offer Miss Alvarado the opportunity to respond to some of the things that have been said here that would not be on live television but also just to I mean there may be conversations that are worth having with her as a candidate that would give her due and appropriate consideration if the personel appointments committee feels it's really essential for to repost the um you know to go out and open applications again then I think that's a viable thing for you to do but I think that would be a better venue to handle this than the full Council so I don't know if I if you're if you're open to a friendly Amendment my recommendation would be that this actually just get referred back to committee and then you all can figure out if you want to repost it from there councelor sea thank you council president I just wanted to um make a comment for the people that are watching at home normally for a city council meeting if we any votes that we take on the floor this evening we have 24 hours to reconsider that vote from the time that we take it when we're in a committee meeting we're not allowed to reconsider because we actually have the floor to change um mind this is not something that is normally done but it has happened before so um because you're you have a second opportunity to vote on it even though it comes out of the committee unanimously you can change your mind once we get on television and we have the vote we're allowed to vote on the floor so this this this although it doesn't always necessarily happen in committee it has happened many times over the past 12 years me sitting up here that a counselor has reconsidered their vote that they have taken on the floor and um as far as you know this shouldn't be on television everybody up here talks about transparency transparency I'm going to say it again transparency there's no better place to have a discussion than on here and as a mother of two children who are 25 and 22 and completely glued to their phone and social media I'm going to make this comment as well I tell them every day the world is watching you no matter what you do no matter what you post the picture you think on Snapchat that supposedly magically disappears it could come back to haunt you for the rest of your life so although Council of colone Hayes is upset that she the comments about um Facebook and we should have policies and procedures every job that I know of of the majority of them do have social media conduct policies and I think that we would this is exactly again what I tell my children and I think a lot of parents at home are telling their children it's once it's out there it's out there forever and it could be used against you in the tiniest thing me of all people understand how that could happen things can come back to haunt you from your past that were simple funny little things that turn into something big that wasn't intended for what at the time it was it wasn't intended for that at at the time that it was posted so I I just want to reiterate that we are allowed to change our minds it's it's not as simple as a reconsideration and we come back so because we're not we're allowed to vote on it on the floor from the committee you're not allowed to reconsider your decision ision but um I am happy that Council Crow put this forward and I am I I will be willing to support to send it back to committee but I I think that we should we should start over and I I don't think anybody need should have to come back I think that it's it sounds pretty sounds pretty you know I think we need to look at a different direction so thank you councelor LAN yeah no no I mean I the plan right now is to take up Council CR actually I want to comment on it too so like before we make any Amendment to the if we before we make any amendment to council Crow's motion I I want to speak to it too so C Council linan and the council SP for yes and thank you for the second time I appreciate you recognizing um so I had just a clarification my assumption was that it it automatically would go back to committee via your motion um because we manage the entire process we advertise the Personnel chair actually advertises invites people in ETC notifies them so I think to council McDonald's point I think what you're saying is actually what my read on councilor Crow's motion was what we were going to do so I don't really I don't feel that we need to actually amend it because I think procedurally that's what would happen anyway right but I I also want to just appreciate councelor Sea's point about the consideration because I think you know speaking for myself I I reflected the day after we took this vote realized that I um had not stood up for myself for long enough and that there was just no Avenue to reconsider or for the chair to send it back you know for me to reach out to the Personnel chair and express that I may have changed my mind or felt that we didn't handle it the right way there truly is no procedural route for us to get something back in committee other than bring it to the floor and it stinks and I don't know if we want to look at our rules I don't know if we even want to go that that way but at the moment there is no other way to do it than what we're doing right now I fully recognize that this is not ideal but I also think in the interest of transparency we're all up here explaining why we're doing what we're doing we this is a critically important committee that handles millions of dollars for the city it's important that we are all comfortable with our vote on this that's all thank you thank you councel counc councelor spora yeah thank you Mr President uh and I will speak I know we're spending an awful lot of time with this but I think it's important uh I I was I don't I don't want to use the word I don't think the council was hopefully uh rushed uh it was a great discussion I'm on the member of that committee and I I will probably take some I will take all the blame in terms of um there was there was viewpoints and these are all public so nothing out here I'm saying is you know inse secretive but there was just you know three councils sharing their viewpoints on two candid Ates uh and a couple you know a couple councils you know brought out some attributes on one I brought out an attribute of of of another candidate uh and honestly I it's not an excuse but it was just took a vote thought about it and we left the build in that right I think Council men ahead said it light you know sometimes the end of these meetings uh we we we our brain shuts off we don't think thoroughly and and and and I talked to council Crow the next day and I said you know not that the candidates were bad I just felt like maybe we didn't we didn't we should have continued that discussion and I don't think it was a it wasn't a final decision but we made a final decision uh and and Council uh sea made a great point we we don't have the ability to do a doover but in the same token is that's why it comes back to the council there is a little bit of a circuit breaker it's not normal it it's unfortunate you don't want to do this in public but there is a checks and balance in the system I mean I've seen councilors make a motion to move a paper and then vote against it I mean talk about counterintuitive but that's what you can do um um what concerns me a little bit and I don't want to talk bad about you know about somebody that left and and it's not my intent but I just feel like in this day and age um the ability the ability for you to change your mind is important right it's a principle that we all it's not a sign of weakness I think it's a sign of strength we all have the ability in the fortitude to say we change our mind uh and I think we're just saying we're changing our mind not necessarily against this particular candidate but we want to explore other opportunities and and this candidate might be another finalist and we have more time to do so and I I'm supporting this because I think I initiated that conversation we weren't we were we were just trying to get through that meeting uh a motion was made and honestly I I felt after that meeting that we we should have explored more and asked some more tough questions and again all the other councils have set it up here this committee has an an enormous amount of of power and and uh their thumb their thumb prints are on almost every aspect of this community and we just got to make sure that we vet all those residents um two great candidates I'd like to see two more and then we take the vote over and come back and do it again but uh I will support this um Amendment a motion uh and I and I too thank you Council Len for saying I thought that was initial intent was so send it back to committee we decide to open it we can open it and and maybe that those two individuals can stay finalist as we open it up and we go through the process again yeah thank you very much so now I just want to say so I am the chair of the committee so uh and a few things um you know we advertised this position twice advertising in the summer when it when Cameron Lane resigned for personal reasons um we didn't get any response so I just thought well it's August whatever let's come back in September uh read advertise it um I know in the springtime we got you know a whole list of candidates and I think it was a little more flexible then because we had a bit broader range of uh you know WS that we could choose from um and so we you know and I did make sure that all you counselors know that it was available I did remind the counselors of the in the wards um and um I I mean even you know you know encourage some people to apply this is who applied um and so I felt in in terms of transparency we should give the people who actually stepped up the opportunity but I do agree I mean at the meeting itself I I wasn't certain whether one of the dilemas on the Personnel appointments committee it's often you it's good to have that decision perhaps made when it's fresh in your mind because if you wait a week everybody you know or two weeks or a month it people can forget about that um I mean in I know when I phrased about what the options were you know we had you know two candidates plus we had we I did say and we had the option to reopen and and the thing is as chair I couldn't make that motion I just offered these are the Alternatives no one took up that motion so um so then the committee went ahead I think maybe a little speedily to to make a decision it's not unprecedented in personnel's appointments to try to make that decision that night because that's the time we're all together and it's fresh on our minds and we get busy and we forget so um that was the decision but I think people I think afterwards I mean I think it to me um you know I I'm I'm frustrated after a couple rounds we we didn't have a broader list of candidates to bring I mean you saw tonight as a council we had someone appointed we were very unanimous I think it's a concern this is what I call an appointment to a strong advisory committee we can as a council the mayor can't spend a nickel of community preservation money without a majority of the community preservation committee's people coming together and voting on that so um they are very important um you know so I'm I would support reopening it if if we really don't have a strong consensus as a council I think we should you know seek candidates that that have that so that's that's work and I don't think it I mean sending it back to the committee to make that decision I think it's just a decision and we're reopening it and we will reinw and um I mean maybe we can say we're we're not denying this appointment right now we you know we can discuss that in the committee but um right now we can we we we're opening it up to for other applicants and and have other interviews and we can you know we've done those interviews and we can see where we go from there but so that's where I'm at so thank you all right councelor McDonald um so I just want to say I you know I will I will support the Personnel appointments Committee in reopening the process and saying you know the presumably the existing candidates get to stay in the process if we're not denying anything I do just think from a process perspective it is important that at some point the the committee Circle back with Miss Alvarado and give her a chance to offer anything else that she would like to as part of this process and share anything that you know is relevant given this discussion that has transpired it feels really important that that you know that she has a chance to speak she's not here tonight nor do we typically interview people on the floor but that feels like an an important and fair part of the process to someone who's clearly put themselves through applications a couple times now so I hope you will take that under advisement all right um so any further lights here councelor Al all right so yeah yeah I just want to I want to agree with councelor McDonald I do think that it's important to allow Miss Alvarado a chance to to to address either the the personnel and appointments committee uh I think that's probably the best um also allowing the applicants who did apply um a chance you know if it's going to be reopened um again I'm not in support of that I don't know if I was clear I'm really not in support of sending it back but I understand why there is a consensus to potentially do that I hope that that was clear I don't know if I came across clearly earlier thank you so so no further light so so on councel uh motion yeah we can take a roll on councel motion Council Crow's motion to uh reopen um I guess it's reopen uh the interviewing process um seconded by councelor sea um to seek additional candidates I guess that's word on Council Pros motion to seek additional candidates and do additional interviews for this position seconded by councelor seika um we will take the role sorry I'm just writing that down does that make sense that's what we're doing we're seeking additional candidates and conducting additional interviews yeah so yeah councelor cologne Hayes councelor Conan yes councelor Crow yes councilor linahan yes councelor McDonald yes councelor omali no councelor sea yes councelor simonelli yes councelor spora yes councelor Taylor yes council president wislow yes the motion passes so the motion uh so that um we will seek additional candidates and hold additional um uh interviews all right next order of business uh the docket is clear dock is clear so then um so that's that we have personal privilege there so let's see who's quick on the light here all right all right councelor sea wins the race today woohoo I was hoping to be first I just want to wish um everybody a Happy Thanksgiving holiday this week Council of spor and I spent the afternoon yesterday at the bread of life passing out 136 turkeys for our annual Thanksgiving dinner that is to be held at Malden High School this Thursday we had some fun I met Carrie's mother okay um yes she lives in Malden I had no idea and your turkey was under Stacy not you but anyway um so really quickly I have a few things this Saturday Council of spatap for and I uh hosting the home for the holiday street hockey tournament it begins at 800 a.m. we are dedicating uh newly redesigned street hockey rink to uh one of our fallen police officers Sergeant Michael Jano we will do an official ribbon cutting and um the puck will drop about 8:00 a.m. before the rink was um taken down and replaced they had done a dedication to a former maldonian Joey vicvicious who passed away back in September of 2015 from um bone cancer he was one of the original co-founders of the home for the holiday street hockey tournament so we have also invited his mother um to put back up his number the 92 on the side of the boards so I I thought that that would be fitting since it was there before we're going to do it again so if anybody wants to join us we have Todd and Jilly from the Boston Bruins coming to sing for us at 8:00 a.m. this Saturday morning and it'll be a lot of fun um you can still sign up to play street hockey or you can come and you know share uh share the excitement of the jonov family cuz they are so excited that this Memorial Rink is going to be named after their dad um if you want to bring an unwrapped gift we're going to start off uh the kickoff for a public safety toy drive um and then also a new little thing let me get back to it really quickly we have a few Malden Cyclones we have two malen Cyclones chil eading teams and one football team as of last night that is going to be attend Nationals in Disney World um a bunch of them are leaving December 6th this is the first time since 2009 that we've actually had a football team make it to Nationals in Disney so it's kind of a big deal um they put up a cheddar up 6040 raffle today on social media it is uh $10 a ticket or you can get three for 20 if everybody could get on and do a quick donation their goal is for 10,000 but the higher the pot the more money the winner that they pick on December 5th will receive and it'll help their program tremendously um as a parent who has been there and done that before it's a very small window to come up with amount of money to get your kid on a plane in a hotel room to Florida the football team is a little different than Chas they actually have to stay like a whole week it's not just you know a few days the football players depending on how often they win is the longer that they stay so if if everybody could get on social media and share that cheddar up 6040 event I'm sure that Malden Cyclones would be greatly appreciated and I think that's all I got con can you send that to to Lisa so I can send it to Lisa y so we can all get that thank you per thank you great councelor simonelli thank you Mr President I just have a couple announcements myself uh I just wanted to let everybody know that myself and the mayor uh will be doing a neighborhood family holiday celebration and lighting ceremony this coming Sunday December 1st from 4: to 6 down at the Lincoln commin on cross street there's going to be uh hot chocolate and cookies for everybody uh there'll be uh Santa and Mrs Claus there the Grinch uh we'll be having cookies uh given out by Wicked Good Cookies uh while they last and uh we're having over 45,000 lights I think was the last count uh of uh tree lighting that'll be going on at Lincoln Commons we'll be giving out uh light up necklaces and and and Wands and uh so the kids should be having a a great time uh also uh a date to be determined uh because we're just waiting for the uh Malon housing authority and the YMCA to call us back but myself and the mayor's office are working on uh doing a uh toy drive for the Malden Housing Authority particularly down at the new Street housing projects and at Bowden Street Apartments thank you very much Mr President all right thank you now councelor uh McDonald uh hi I've got two things one is that we are uh right now taking applications for our new climate action and sustainability commission those are appointments made by the mayor but you all very generously um appoint not generously it's part of your uh Duty under the charter but you did nonetheless unanimously vote to update the ordinance to create this new climate action sustainability commission um so I believe the applications are being accepted through December 11th so if you are interested in working on that implementation of our new climate action plan on climate resiliency lowering our greenhouse gases protecting our vulnerable communities from rising temperatures and worsening storms um and doing our part to help the planet then check out the climate action sustainability commission there are two youth members as well I will note and you can go to any high school as long as you're a malen resident um the other thing I just want to flag for folks is that it's going to be a busy December for the finance committee uh we just had six P six um appro Appropriations or financial papers referred tonight in addition to um uh a piece from the treasurer about um about property appropriation and uh as well as the order that we passed at a recent meeting about the Roosevelt Park financing remaining questions so we're going to have full agendas um the next three weeks uh to finish out the year please review materials and bring questions in advance so we can process these by the end of the uh the end of the calendar year um and we will certainly be meeting next week please bring your questions and thoughts about the appropriation so we can make sure that we're uh getting those answered and we're ready to um take votes in the weeks ahead um as always those will be available on zoom and we'll post Link in the meeting agenda for those who want to follow along at home councelor Taylor thank you council president um so I just want to draw attention you may have seen a few Folks up here wearing orange ribbons um starting on November 25th the Zant Club of Malden and Zant International celebrates 16 days of activism um as an effort to end violence against women and gender-based violence um I'm asking everybody to come down to City Hall there is a display up where you can learn more about that there were 29 victims of domestic violence in Massachusetts between January 1st 2024 and September 20th 2024 um ages ranging from the age of seven up to 76 years old uh so we are asking for everybody to to learn more and help us fight uh domestic violence and gender-based violence one of the things we work on is blessing bags uh so you can check out the zanta mden.com website to learn how to uh donate towards the blessing bags which are given to uh women escaping domestic violence situations um so thank you thank you councel Taylor councel spaur thank you Mr President I want to wish everybody is my mic on I want to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving uh that is this Thursday right yes yes just feel like I'm the only person who said that right now so I want to make sure uh good luck to all the high school football teams I know it's you know they say food football and family uh enjoy that day I also do want to remind people that on uh Thursday at M and high the the Francis and barber uh Brown Thanksgiving dinner is being hosted by the bread of life and the mayor's office uh that's I think believe that starts at 12: to 2 12 uh the other thing is come down if you want to volunteer it's always a great day and I also want to uh in advance thank uh Marie Louise uh the mayor's office and then all the drivers in support staff um you know I complained long ago that I I wasn't I didn't like the way the routes were organized it was done by paper so that person left and they volunteered me to do the job so uh I'm stuck with uh scheduling there'll be a thousand mail schedule uh Monday morning excuse me Thursday morning ironically mden not only do we do our part for our Community we go all the way up to North Reading uh all the way all the way south from Reading Stoneham Wakefield Malden Melrose Chelsea Everett winth those are all uh delivered out of M and high that day we have uh you know at least uh 30 or 40 drivers I know councelor Crow comes she's coming this year with her sister uh it's a it's a great event um it helps all those people who unfortunately cannot get out of the house so just don't have the means to do it uh but I want to thank that team in advanced and I'm sure Council l we'll speak about uh the tree lighting ceremony from three thank you Mr President right thank councelor Elli uh thank you very much um to Echo counselor spor I just want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving um on December 11th um I don't know if I'm taking this from you but I guess it doesn't hurt um there will be a joint ordinance and planning board hearing at 7 pm uh we're going to be talking about various papers um uh one of the papers is uh the definition of a car wash uh and other um auto service centers um so if you're interested in car washes um or Main Street uh please come to the uh joint ordinance and planning board hearing on December 11th at 7.m here at City Hall uh on a lighter kind of note um this this Friday is uh Black Friday and then we're going to have Cyber Monday if you're in the market for an electronic in the next four years I would buy your electronics then uh before the tariffs get set in uh so definitely take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday for your electronics thank you a b never G happen councelor linan thank you Mr President um well as councelor spatap for mentioned we have the felir pond tree lighting this weekend it's going to be Saturday at 4: um I think that's right at dusk uh the sun goes down around 4:25 so we're hoping to turn the lights on pretty a little bit faster this year we did get some feedback that the event was a little bit cold and long last year so we tightened up the agenda um we are going to have the High School Coral arts society performing we have some 375th anniversary cookies that we are going to be giving out and um councelor spatap for had the fun idea to give out pup cup so please bring your furry friends in festive attire and we will be giving out the little puppet Ino um it's just whipped cream in a cup I don't have a dog but that's what I'm told I'm serving it Soo all right um and then the only other thing I did want to mention is I had mentioned this a couple weeks ago but um two Mondays from now on December 9th at 6 PM in council chambers we are going to be having a community meeting on the um status of the Malden Hospital project so at the moment that's just going to be an in-person meeting I am working on getting a hybrid option um at a bare minimum we'll record it so folks can't be there we'll make sure that we have a a tape for folks to watch but 6 p.m. council chambers on Monday December 9th if you want to hear the latest on the Mal and Hospital project councelor Condon thank you oh you just turn your back on thank you council president uh certainly plenty to do for our residents and uh I'd like to uh wish all the families a very Happy Thanksgiving eat plenty of Turkey and go malen high school yes okay good all right yeah go malen so um yeah I was I had the honor of going to the Malden Medford luncheon today at the Moose Lodge so um the teams both look very ready that's the game is at 10 o'clock at McDonald Stadium this year so please uh come out and root for the home team uh go uh go golden tornadoes there and um so just wanting to wish everybody a a a happy Thanksgiving I for me it's always a wonderful time to get together with family and um it's a special day it's one of the few holidays that pretty much everybody gets an opportunity um to our First Responders and and nurses and other doctors who do have to work um thank you for your dedication to the community and uh hope you have another chance to um uh enjoy with your family in another way um Maplewood Square um 6 o'clock on Sunday the 1st right after councelor sell's thing in Lincoln common we um the Maplewood Association is sponsoring the lighting of the Maplewood Square Christmas tree I was down there putting up the um the holiday murals this weekend so um just it'll be a little simpler than the other ones but um we will have hot chocolate cookies and some good cheer there and a special guest as always so um that is happening um and then um uh I I do want in terms of that December 11th uh hearing before the planning board with the rules and ordinance committee there is a an important thing um in terms of doing a uh adopting and looking at uh considering adopting an ordinance for site plan review for educational and religious institutions that we put forward so really encourage um you know people in Ward five and six to come out that particularly um that does affect um the Maplewood area in a big way um and then I do um just want to take a moment of silence uh Joe Summers who um was a uh he ran for award six city council back in the day um he passed away um earlier in the month so I just wanted to take a moment of silence for for him so um so he was a contractor and has a family in town so just want to give a moment of silence for Joe um resident award six for a long time and on that um seeing no further lights uh on councelor Al's motion journ seconded by councelor Condon all those in favor say I right Council all right good e e e e e e e e