Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

Today is Thursday, June 11th, 2026.

7 p.m.

in the New Belfort City Council Chambers.

Tonight we are led in prayer by Deacon S.

Donna Brito of In the Name of Jesus Church.

Good evening.

Thanks for inviting me.

Happy to be here.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, Savior Jesus, Holy Spirit.

As we come upon the beginning of summer, we thank you for the warmth, light, and energy this season brings.

We are grateful for the beauty of our community, its parks, its waterfronts, its neighborhoods, and for the people who make it vibrant and strong.

Bless this city council with wisdom, patience, and unity as they make decisions that shape the lives of our neighbors.

May their discussions be guided by fairness, compassion, and a shared vision for the common good.

We ask for safety and joy for all who live, work, and visit here during these summer months.

Protect our children at play, our workers in the heat, and our first responders who serve tirelessly.

Let this season be one of growth, not only in nature, but in understanding, cooperation, and hope.

May the city council's work here today plant seeds that will bear fruit for years to come.

And we ask this in Jesus' mighty name.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.

A colleague of ours lost uh their grandmother, so if we could have a moment of silence for Maria Saoud Ben Quart, please.

Thank you.

We are led in the Pledge of Allegiance tonight by Councillor at Large James Roy.

Under God, indivisible and justice.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Absolutely, Councillor.

I am joined in the City Council Chambers by my colleagues, Councillor at Large, Ian Abrew, Councillor of Ward 2, Scott Pemberton, Councillor of Ward 1, Leo Schoquet, Councillor of Ward 5, Joseph Lopes, Councillor at Large, James Roy, Councillor at Large, Naomi Carney, Councillor of Ward 3, Sean Oliver, Councillor at Large and First Vice President Shane Burgo, Councillor of Ward 4, Derek Baptiste, and myself, Ward 6th, City Councillor and President Ryan Pereira.

I would like to note that this meeting is being live streamed and recorded.

City Council and Committee meetings can be viewed on the City of New Befort's homepage under quick links, then meetings.

Second.

Motion received in place on file made by Councillor Lopes, seconded by Councillor Roy.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Oppose the ayes have it.

We'll begin with hearings.

Without objection, I will ask the clerk to read items one and two together.

Mr.

President, item one is a hearing from NSTAR Legend Company doing business as Ever Source Energy for the location of approximately 208 feet of conduit in William Street.

This work is necessary to provide to improve the infrastructure of William Street.

One A is the order.

And two is a hearing from N Star Electric Company doing business as ever source energy for the location of approximately 18 feet of conduit to proposed handhole and sidewalk area for 152 William Street.

This work is necessary to provide service for that address.

2A is the order.

Motion receive and place on file and open the public hearing for items 1, 1A, 2, and 2A.

Motion to open the public hearing made by Councilor Burgo.

For items 1 through 2A made by Councilor Burgo, seconded by Councilor Baptiste.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed.

The ayes have it.

Good evening, Jessica.

Good evening, Mr.

President.

Members of the City Council.

Jessica Elder, representing EverSource.

So this plan, this petition that we're we're uh petitioning, uh sorry.

Uh is here on William Street, it's down by the area that the that is under construction.

Um it's work order number two, three four one nine four three five on William Street.

Um apparently uh the customer was tearing down a building, and during the demolition, uh the building foundation, the Eversource Duck package that was located in the sidewalk collapsed.

So we're requesting to install 132 feet, a conduit plus uh uh seventy-six in the right-of-way on William Street.

Um we will not be going in the exact same area.

Um, but uh the duck package was removed, and as a result, um the replacement had to um we have to relocate the secondaries so that we can maintain maintain the electric service in the area.

There uh I don't know as far as time.

I'm guessing, you know, we got quite a bit of conduit.

I know the area is busy.

We will definitely definitely require a uh detail.

Um I'm guessing with the amount of conduit going in in you know the area, three or four days at max um to complete the project.

Colleagues, any questions for Jessica?

Uh counselor Baptiste.

How are you doing, Jessica?

I'm well, how are you?

Good.

Um did will the the neighbors be aware of the construction going on?

Will it will it stop traffic?

Will you need to have any detours in that area at all?

As far as anything being closed, I no, because uh already the the uh the duct has been uh affected.

All right.

So there's no nobody's gonna lose any power or any service.

And if there were, they absolutely will send out notices.

All right, no problem.

And you're gonna make sure you have a detail up over there because I'm gonna do that.

Absolutely.

Oh, yeah, I saw I know how busy it is down there.

Just make sure that like they they um get in touch with the businesses around the area to know that the work is getting done.

Just so if it just you know there's a disruption in traffic up over there that they can be aware of to make their um customers aware.

What's going on?

Thank you.

I yield.

Thank you, Councillor Baptiste.

Anyone else?

Counselor A.

Bro.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh Jessica, good evening.

Um just to piggyback on what the ward for counselor said, he's absolutely correct.

So not only perhaps for this time, but going forward, if we could really try to make a conscience effort to engage the businesses of that certain area, because we get those calls a lot as counselors.

Hey, I didn't know the work was happening and it's disrupting my business.

Some of that stuff is inevitable.

It will disrupt their business, but they can fix things and they can adjust things if they know.

So just maybe going forward, try to weave that into some standard operating procedures if we can at the very least.

So thank you for that.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Counselor.

Anyone else?

Okay.

Seeing that this is a public hearing.

If any member of the public wishes to speak on this item in favor, they can speak in favor of this item.

Any member of the public wishes to speak in opposition?

Speak in opposition.

If anyone would like to be recorded in favor, be recorded in favor.

Or be recorded in opposition.

Be recorded in opposition.

All right.

Seeing no no members of the public wishing to speak.

Colleagues, a motion to close the public hearing.

Made by Councillor Burgo, seconded by Councillor Lopes.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Opposed the ayes have it.

Your pleasure, colleagues.

Motion adopt the order.

Motion to stop orders one and two.

Motion to adopt orders one and two made by Councillor A.

Bruce, seconded by Councilor Baptiste.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed the ayes have it.

Just moving on to mayor's papers.

I will ask the clerk to read item M1.

Mr.

President, M1 is a communication from the mayor to the council.

Submitting an order for the transfer of $750,000 from inspectional services, personal services in the amount of 110,000 dollars.

Facilities and fleet personal services in the amount of $236,000.

Recreation and parks personal services in the amount of $80,000.

Elections personal services in the amount of $88,000.

Health personal services in the amount of $120,000.

Solicitor personal services in the amount of $28,000.

Zoo personal services in the amount of $43,000.

And police personal services in the amount of $45,000 to city utilities purchase of services.

M1A is the order.

Refer to finance.

Motion has been made to refer the item to the finance committee by Councillor Carney.

Seconded by Councillor Burgo.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

It's okay.

Counselor Carney, would you like to speak?

Yeah, no, it's okay.

Okay.

Yeah.

All those in favor say aye.

Opposed.

The ayes have it.

The items been referred to committee.

No, it's okay.

I'll ask the clerk to read item M2, please.

Mr.

President, M2 is communication from Mayor Mitchell to the Council submitting an order for the transfer of 40 4880,000 from stabilization fund to fire personal services.

M2A is the order.

Motion to receive and place and follow and adopt the order as presented.

Motion to adopt the order as presented, made by Councillor Lopes, seconded by Councillor Roy.

Anyone on the question of adoption?

I'll ask the clerk to call the roll.

Councilor Abreu.

Yes.

Council Baptiste.

Yes.

Yes.

Council Burgo?

Yes.

Yes.

Council Carney.

Yes.

Yes.

Council Shokett.

Yes.

Yes.

Council Lopes.

Yes.

Yes.

Councilor Oliver.

Yes.

Yes.

Council Pemberton.

Yes.

Yes.

Council Pereira.

Yes.

Yes.

Council Roy.

Yes.

Yes.

10 to 10 to 0.

Item passes 10 to 0.

Okay.

I'll ask the clerk to read item M3, please.

Mr.

President, M3 is communication from the mayor to the council submitting an order for the transfer of 164,000 from facilities and fleet personal services to fire personal services.

M3A is the order.

Same course of action.

Second.

Motion to adopt has been made by Councillor Abreu.

Seconded by Councilor Lopes.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

I will ask the clerk to read item M4.

Mr.

President, M4 is a communication from the mayor to the council.

Submitting an order for the transfer of $85,000 from Stabilization Fund to Facilities and Fleet Purchase of Services.

M4A is the order.

Refer to finance.

Motion to refer the item to the committee on finance been made by Councilor Kearney.

Second by Councillor Pemberton.

Anyone on the question?

Roll call.

Roll call vote on referring the item to finance.

Counselor.

No.

No.

Council Baptiste.

Yeah.

Yes.

Council Burgo.

Yes.

Yes.

Council Carney.

Yes.

Yes.

Councillor Schuquette.

Yes.

Yes.

Council Lopes.

No.

No.

Council Oliver.

No.

No.

Council Pemberton.

Yes.

Yes.

Council Ferrera.

Yes.

Yes.

Council Roy.

No.

No.

Passes six.

Item passes six to four.

I through the one.

Without objection, we will now take items five through seven M5 through M17A without uh altogether.

Without objection.

All right.

I'll ask the clerk to re read them into the record, please.

Mr.

President, M5 is a communication from the mayor to the council submitting an order for the transfer of $53,000 from police personal services to veterans.

Other charges and expenses.

M6 is $7200 from police personal services to tourism personal services.

M7 is $3,600 from police personal services to licensing personal services.

Purchase of services.

From fire purchasing services to fire personal services.

M10 is $109,000 from police personal services to police other charges and expenses.

At $37,000 and police capital outlay in the amount of $72,000.

M11 is $70,000 from recreation and parks purchase of services to rec and parks.

Other financing uses.

M 12 is $67,000 from airport, other finance uses to airport personal services in the amount of $23,000.

And airport purchase of services in the amount of 44,000.

M13 is $14,000 from veterans, purchase of services in the amount of $7,000 and veterans supplies in the amount of $7,000 to veterans, other charges and expenses.

M14 is $8,000 from veterans' purchase of services to veterans' personal services.

M15 is $12,000 from Zoo Personal Services to Zoo Purchase of Services.

M 16 is 8,000 from Council.

Other charges to City Council Purchase of Services.

Motion to receive in place and file M5 through M17A and adopt the order as presented.

Motion to adopt the trans uh the adopt the orders of items M5 through M17A made by Councilor Lopes, seconded by Councilor Abreu.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Opposed the ayes have it.

I will ask the clerk to read item M eighteen, please.

Mr.

President, M eighteen is a communication from the Mayor to the Council submitting an order that in accordance with Mass General Law, Chapter 44, Section 53 and Half, the revolving fund under the control of the community services department known as the Adult Social Day Program Revolving Fund, whose revenues collected and amount limited to be spent estimated at $300,000 is hereby authorized for FY27 and 18 is the order.

Motion to receive in place and file the communication and adopt the order as presented.

Second motion to adopt motion to adopt the order made by Council Lopes, seconded by Councillor Burgo.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed the ayes have it.

I will ask the clerk to read item M19.

Mr.

President, M19 is communication from the mayor to the council submitting an order that in accordance with Mass General Law, Chapter 44, Section 53E and half, the revolving fund under the control of the Department of Facilities and Fleet Management, known as the Quest Center Revolving Fund, whose revenues collected and amount limited to be spent estimated at 271,500, is hereby authorized for FY27.

M19A is the order.

Same course of action.

Motion to adopt made by Councillor Burgo.

Seconded by Councilor Abreu.

Anyone on the question?

Seeing none, all those in favor say aye.

Uh opposed.

The ayes have it.

I will ask the clerk to read the question.

Mr.

President, without objection, oh sorry, we already got them read M20 through M25A together.

Thank you.

Mr.

President, M20 is a communication from the Mayor to the Council submitting an ordinance amending Chapter 2, Section 2-47, establishing the Department of Health and Human Services.

M20A is the ordinance.

Article 20, Department of Facilities and Fleet Management, and Article 21, Public Infrastructure Department.

M21A is the ordinance.

And 25-10 relative to veterans.

Motion receive in place on file M20 through 25A and refer to the committee on ordinances.

Second, motion to refer items.

M20 through M25A and refer them to the committee on ordinances made by Councilor Burgo.

Seconded by Councillor Carney.

Anyone on the question?

Seeing none, all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed.

The ayes have it.

We'll ask the clerk to read item M26.

Mr.

President, M26 is a communication from the mayor to the council.

Submitting a proposed housing development incentive program, tax and tax increment exemption agreement, and resolution approving a tax increment exemption for the redevelopment of the vacant holy family elementary school located at 91 Summer Street into 44 condominiums.

M26A is the housing development and center program and M26B is the resolution.

Motion to refer to the committee on finance made by Councillor Abreu.

Second by Councillor Pemberton.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed the ayes have it.

I will ask the clerk to take items M27 and M28 together without objection.

Mr.

President, M27 is a communication from the mayor of the council.

Submitting the reappointment of Diane Berby of New Bedford, Massachusetts to the park board.

This term will expire in May of 2031.

And M28 is a communication from the mayor to the council, submitting the reappointment of George M.

Viveris of New Bedford to the park board, and this term will expire in May of 2031.

Motion received the received place profile file.

Waive rules 38 and 40 and grant the reappointment.

Second.

Motion's been made to waive Rule 38, Rule 40, and grant the reappointments on items 27 and 28 by Council of Burgo.

It was second by Councillor Oliver.

Anyone on the question?

I'll ask the clerk to call the roll.

Councillor Abrew.

Yes.

Council Baptiste?

Yes.

Yes.

Council Burgo.

Yes.

Yes.

Council Carney?

Yes.

Yes.

Council Shouquette.

Yes.

Yes.

Councillor Lopes.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Oliver.

Yes.

Yes, Council Pemberton.

Yes.

Yes.

Council Pereira?

Yes.

Yes.

Council Roy.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

10 to 0.

Items pass 10 to 0.

I will ask without objection if we could waive the reading of item number 3 on new business and take no further action.

So put out a committee.

Second.

Motion's been made by Council Burgo to waive the of the waive the reading of item number three, take no further action.

Um second by Councilor Lopes.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Oppose the ayes have it.

I will ask the clerk to read item number four, please.

Mr.

President Item 4 is a written motion from Councilor Lopes requesting that the Mitchell administration work with the members of the New Bedford City Council to establish a voluntary municipal employee health insurance opt-out program.

Motion to receive and place and file and refer to the Mitchell administration and the committee on ordinance.

Motion refer the item to the Mitchell administration and the committee on ordinance made by Councillor Lopes, seconded by Councillor Burgo.

Anyone on the question?

The Chair recognizes Council Lopes.

Thank you.

So I've been here for a little while.

This is the third time I have filed this motion.

And I have filed it for the third time and every time we're having an economic crisis in the city.

And every time the administration sends their director that does an actuarial and say there's no value to the city in having other people take their benefits from their partner if they don't need to take health insurance from the city.

Now I would love to get the administration to say if we only had 400 people that did this over the last 10 years, what would have saved the city?

But you know what?

We don't know that answer because we never took a shot at this.

Other communities in the Commonwealth, other communities in New England and across the country have this option.

It doesn't have to be where everybody, if you work for the city, you've got to take the city's health insurance.

If your partner works private sector, public sector in another area and provides comparable insurance, take your partner's insurance, and the city gives you a health holiday.

At the end of the year, normally in December, they give you a check for $5,000, as they do in Somerset and in Seacon.

You just save the city on a family plan between 13 and 20,000 dollars.

Think about that.

If you do a multiplier of $15,000 by a hundred people, you don't got to close a fire station in the North End.

You don't have to close an engine company.

You don't have to try to bargain and say we're going to go from three from four to three people on an engine company and affect the safety of the entire city.

A little forward thought would save the city how much money over 10 years if we just gave people the opportunity to take their spouse's insurance.

It doesn't mandate you take your partner's insurance.

It's an opportunity for you to take your partner's insurance, get five thousand dollars, and save the city taxpayers.

What is that number?

We don't know because we haven't done a study, because every time the gentleman comes in says, this is foolish, and we don't need to do a study.

Why?

Because the person on the third floor thinks he is the most intelligent person in the commonwealth.

And decides it, he can make decisions without having input from anybody else.

True effective government is when each branch of the government works together for the benefit of the community and the taxpayers.

This is an opportunity for the city to save money.

It doesn't have to be every person takes it.

You opt in for a three-year period, because that's what most communities do.

You have to opt in for three years, unless there is a situation in your house that something happened.

A death, a divorce, a partner loses his or her job, and then you're allowed in at the next enrollment period.

This is the ability for the city to save money, to save taxpayers' money, but also a means to save a fire engine, to save an engine company, but also to keep the men and warmen of the fire department with four pieces to an engine and a ladder.

We saw what happened in Fall River.

And what did Fall River do?

They realized they needed to go from three to four.

This is an economic opportunity that we need to evaluate and ideally adopt.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Lopes.

Anyone else?

The motion has been made to refer to the committee on ordinance in the Mitchell administration.

Second.

It's been made and duly seconded, I believe, yeah.

By Council of Gunsbergo already seconded it.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed the ayes have it.

I will ask the clerk to read item number five.

Mr.

President, item five is a petition of indemnity agreement.

10 and 8th LLC at 278 Union Street in Bedford, Massachusetts, for the permission to encroach onto city property with a canopy, which is approximately 45 feet long, four and a half feet wide, and fourteen feet deep.

Said canopy is attached to the building approximately thirteen feet from ground level.

Motion to receive and place and file and adopt the order.

Motion to adopt the order made by Council Lopes, seconded by Council Baptist.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Opposed the ayes have it.

I will ask the clerk to read item six.

Mr.

President, item six is a communication from the City Clerk to the Council submitting an application for the renewal of a private liberty license on behalf of Tanya Depina.

Doing business as comfort transportation LLC at 47 Lauren Drive in New Bedford.

The term of the license is from July 1st, 26 to June 30, 27.

Motion to grant the renewal made by Council Abreu, seconded by Councilor Baptiste.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed the aye savage.

I'll ask the clerk to read item seven.

Mr.

President, item seven is communication from the clerk to this council submitting a petition from Anna Thomas in Fall River Mass, doing business as all things with Anna at 127 West Rodney French Boulevard in New Bedford, requesting we requesting a waiver of residency in accordance with Section 15-38 of the City Code to obtain a license to deal in junk, old metals, or any other secondhand articles.

Motion to refer the item to the committee on licensing and permits made by Councillor Abrew.

Second by Councilor Pemberton.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

I will ask the clerk to read item eight.

Mr.

President, item eight is a communication of demolition from the New Bettford Historic Commission to the City Council regarding the building demolition review of 535 Brock Avenue, Map 011, Lot 0056, which is a circa 1840 to 1854 carriage barn.

Later converted to a two-story residence.

The Coffin Holland House is a contributing resource to the Hazelwood Park National Register site.

The building is significant in its association with the Joseph Holland Estate, which later became Hazelwood Park.

The building experienced a significant fire decades ago and was boarded up and fenced off to deter ongoing vandalism and long-term deferred maintenance.

In addition to the fire damage and collapsed roof, does not make the building a good candidate for restoration.

The demolition of the Coffin Holland House removes a dangerous safety hazard from a public park, and the planning for the reconstruction of a similarly scaled and architecturally sensitive building on the footprint of the house has been ongoing.

In light of these findings, the Devon Historical Commission has determined that the building at 535 Brock Avenue, known as the Coughlin Howard Holland House, is historically significant but is not preferably preserved.

Motion receive and place on file and refer the committee on appointments and briefings.

Motion referred the committee on appointments and briefings made by Council of Burgo, seconded by Councillor Carney.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

We'll ask the clerk to read item number nine.

Mr.

President Item Nine is communication from the Community Preservation Committee submitting the CPA annual budget for FY27, the committee administrative expenses, and community preservation projects in fiscal year 2027.

Motion received and place on file and referred to the committee on finance.

Motion to refer to the committee on finance made by Councillor Burgo, seconded by Councillor Lopes.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

Without objection, could we read items 10 and 11 together?

Without objection, we'll take items 10 and 11 together.

I'll ask the clerk to read.

Mr.

President, item 10 is a communication from Councillor Burgo.

Submitting a copy of a letter sent to the members of the Historical Commission requesting that they convene a meeting to review correspondence relating to the historical significance of the property abutting the United House of Prayer and the surrounding neighborhood and to determine whether the area warrants further historical review and consideration.

Submitting a copy of a letter assent to the planning board requesting that they consider postponing final action on the proposed housing development on the parcel of land abutting the United House of Prayer property until the Historical Commission has completed its evaluation of its potential historical significance and determine whether the site and surrounding area may be suitable for the establishment of a historic district.

Motion received in place on file items 10 and 11.

Motion to receive and place on file items 10 and 11 made by Council Burroughs and number of peace on the question of the chair.

On the question, the chair recognizes Council of Burgo.

Thank you.

I just quickly wanted to uh explain uh what's been going on a little bit about uh the plot of land uh by what most people commonly refer to the Daddy Grace's church, uh my colleague from Ward 4 as well as uh my at large colleague from Clara Street.

Did I get that right?

Um we have been attending a number of neighborhood meetings, uh which I can't say the developer has.

Um I'm sure my colleagues can appreciate how significant it is when a developer comes into a a neighborhood.

Oh, and my colleague from Hussey Street.

Perfect.

Um a developer comes into a neighborhood um and doesn't meet with uh the abutters doesn't even try to understand the community.

Um and that's really the most egregious uh act I would say that has taken place here.

And so uh this letter really to our historical commission as well as uh the planning board is more so an opportunity to give the community a voice that they had not gotten in the original planning process.

Um I'm thankful again to to my colleague from Ward 4, who has been uh a huge partner in uh giving the the community in Ward 4 uh a stronger voice throughout this process as they've been left out of it.

Hopefully um they'll be able to get some kind of feedback from um whether or not the historical commission or the planning board in terms of future ways that we can make sure that they're included in the process that other uh neighborhood groups uh often uh get that we don't see in ward four.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilor.

Anyone else?

Councillor Baptiste.

Thank you, Council President.

Um I just want to piggyback on what um council the counselor from Purchase Street um just said um what's going on here is um you know there's a lot of neighborhoods in the city of New Bedford that have historical significance that don't get recognized if they're not in certain areas.

And I think that um with ward four um South End and West End, we have such a significant historical um history in the City of New Belfort that is overlooked and got red-lined out.

So when you look at a lot of historic things in in our community, you know, it was it was redlined out and pushed out so that we want to do some research on the historic uh significance that these plots have in our in our neighborhoods that you know that these stories hold that the you know the people that come from there hold deeply before uh developers come into all our neighborhoods and just keep building because a train's one point five miles away, and they're trying for the betterment of the neighborhood, which nobody in the neighborhood will be able to afford an apartment there or a condo there.

So, you know, we want to make sure that we don't just preserve just our South End and West End, but throughout the city, the significance that you know that neighborhoods in the city have that get overlooked and overshadowed for one area.

So thank you.

Thank you.

I yield counselor, thank you.

Anyone else?

All right.

Motion received and place on files been made by Councillor Burgo, second by Councilor Baptiste.

Anyone else on the question?

Last time all those in favor say aye.

Aye opposed the ayes have it.

I'll ask the clerk to read item twelve.

Mr.

President, item twelve is a communication from the Department of Environmental Protection, Waterways Regulation Program providing public notice of the waterways application by Robert B.

Orr to construct and maintain a vehicle access ramp and associated piles on a licensed reviv reventment and containment contain-filled tidlands within the New Bedford for Haven designated port area at 302 Herman Melville Boulevard in the City of New Bedford in and over the waters of the accusiness road.

Motion to receive and place on file made by Councillor A.

Bruce, seconded by Councilor Lopes.

Anyone on the question?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed the ayes have it.

We have tabled items, colleagues.

Yes, Mr.

President.

Oh, I'd like to move to take uh the 528 report, um, the 528 amended order and the 528 amended act from the table.

Motion has been made to take 528-26 report, 528-26 order, 528-26 acts from the table by Councillor Roy, seconded by Councillor Burgo.

All those in favor of removing from the table say aye.

Aye oppose the IC Have Act.

We have items now before, so I'll ask the clerk to read the items.

Mr.

President, I'm first item from this report from the Committee on Ordinances recommended the City Council adoption of an order as amended and an act as amended for the recall of elected officers in the City of New Bedford.

The second is an order as amended, referred to the committee on ordinances on March 14th of 2024.

And the final is an act as amended, providing for the recall of elected officers in the City of New Bedford, which is referred to the committee on ordinances on March 14th of 2024.

Motion to adopt.

Motion to adopt made by Councillor Burgo, seconded by Councillor Abrew.

Anyone on the question?

The Chair recognizes Councillor Roy.

Motion to refer to committee.

Actually, you know what?

I withdraw.

I withdraw.

And I'm going to speak on the question.

Okay.

All right.

So, Mr.

President, I'm going to be voting no to adopt this order tonight in its current form.

And I want to explain why.

So this act came to us flawed from the start.

At its core, this proposed recall law essentially sets up a three-part process.

First, residents must gather enough signatures to just to trigger the official recall paperwork process.

Second, they must collect roughly 10,000 signatures in 45 days while also satisfying ward distribution requirements.

Third, they must win a recall election with a majority vote in favor of recall with turnout equal to at least 15% of all registered voters.

And Mr.

President, anybody who's ever collected signatures, worked on campaigns, or even casually observed municipal elections in the city already understands how high these barriers are.

We haven't had a 15% turnout in a regular municipal election in this decade.

Special elections are historically even lower turnout affairs.

And the second signature requirement is extraordinarily high as well.

In fact, the proposed ordinance requires more signatures locally in 45 days than statewide constitutional officers need to access the ballot.

So this ordinance already came before us with major structural problems.

Now to be clear, I wasn't on the council when the ordinance committee first worked on this proposal.

But during that process, the committee increased the affidavit signature requirement, despite testimony that this threshold was already higher than what exists in most Massachusetts municipalities.

And the committee tripled it.

So last month I moved to fix both the signature and turnout requirements to something more reasonable.

Those efforts went nowhere.

And now here we are.

Mr.

President, not only did the committee leave the already unrealistic requirements in place, it also narrowed the window during which an elected official may actually be recalled.

On paper, those changes may seem small.

One month at the beginning of a term, two months at the end.

But for city councilors serving two-year terms, those changes dramatically shrink the practical window in which a recall could ever happen.

In reality, we are talking about a narrow period between roughly May and October in the first year of a councillor's term where every where residents would need to file the highest initial affidavit threshold in the state, collect more signatures than are required for some statewide offices, and then win a low turnout special election while somehow reaching a turnout percentage that this city rarely achieves in regular elections.

So at some point we have to ask ourselves is this process if this process is this difficult, what is the actual purpose of creating it?

Because this ordinance does not meaningfully empower voters to hold officials accountable in extraordinary situations.

Passing this ordinance and claiming it strengthens democracy borders on the absurd.

I cannot support creating the appearance of accountability while designing a process that is practically impossible to use.

So I'll be voting no on adopting this order.

But, Mr.

President, before I yield, I'd like to give you and our colleagues another opportunity to hear and address these concerns back in committee.

And with that, I move to refer this amended order and amended act to the ordinance committee.

So we have a motion made to refer the items to the committee on ordinances.

Is there a second?

I'll give a second so we can have a vote on it.

I understand that, but let's let's roll call vote.

I'm not so the motion has been made to refer to the committee on ordinances by counselor Roy, seconded by Councillor Abreu.

Roll call vote on referral to the committee on ordinances, unless anyone would like to speak on referral.

You want to speak on referral?

Yes, I wanted to speak on my motion to adopt, but I guess oh but referral to committee takes precedent.

Yeah, so I'll just wait.

Okay, very good.

I will ask the clerk to call the roll on.

Well, no, I'll speak now.

Okay.

Counselor Virgo.

Just in case, yeah, because I know obviously the order of operations has failed here because there's a learning curve for people that are new.

Um typically you make the motion to refer first if that's your intention.

You don't do a big speech on a motion to adopt if that's what you want to do.

Also, if you wanted to amend, you could have done that.

And I know obviously our colleague, Mr.

President mentioned that, because I have to address you, not our colleague, but to our colleague through you.

They were on the council.

They were in committee.

They could have asked questions, they could have inquired, they could have done the hard work of doing all these things and talking about statistics that they're bringing up.

None of that was done.

I don't know why it wasn't done until now.

Um what frustrates me is this is work that has, of course, yes, as was mentioned, done in a previous council.

It's been years and years, bogged down in committee and worked on.

And I think it was strategic that it was mentioned that, oh, we tailored it for elected officials, not elected officials.

Obviously, we know here in the city of New Bedford, multiple elected officials have different term limits, and based on that, it makes sense to have the way you can pull papers to recall someone altered in that sort.

Because we see surrounding towns like Fall River, for example, spending thousands and thousands of dollars every year on ridiculous recalls that don't result in what the people of Fall River or whoever want.

And that's why we put in these protections not only for the people of New Bafford, but uh the tax, the ratepayers, but also, yes, the elected officials that have to be bogged down by sometimes nuisance recalls that really aren't warranted.

And that's why we have certain thresholds in there, because if someone in whether in this chamber, in the corner office, in the assessor's office, in the school committee, does something so egregious that they need to be removed from office, I would hope that not only 15% of the people of uh of the people in our uh city show up to vote, more than 15% would show.

We shouldn't make it so easy to undo an election.

When I've spoken to this particular colleague, I gave the example of individuals like us who might have radical ideas.

When we're attacked on the radio, people will say, hey, let's go collect these signatures.

We also want to have he mentions dispersing those signatures over the wards.

We do that because then I could go to let's say ward one and they they really hate Councillor Burgo up in Ward 1, then I'm gonna get all of my signatures there.

No, we have to make sure I'm an at-large counselor.

We want to disperse it.

All of these things could have been cleared up in committee when this counselor, the counselor who spoke before me, was in the committee.

But he didn't ask any of those questions then.

Instead, he'd rather sit here and point the finger at all of us and pretend as though he was this was forced down his throat.

It wasn't.

He just didn't understand one, I don't make a referral to committee apparently until after his grand speech.

And two, how do you think about the point of order, Mr.

Chair?

Point of order, Mr.

Chair.

The the counselor from Purchase Street is speaking in personalities and and he's describing my actions in in ways that I find it.

I'll withdraw my comments.

Thank you.

The point that I'm trying to make here is the work has been done.

If the counselor from Husssey Street would like to make any changes, he can do a motion to amend at this time before we do a motion to adopt.

If he can get a second, then we can debate that.

But I assume he hasn't done the work to do that.

And that's why it will be upsetting for him.

So with that, I hope that my colleagues will not refer it back to committee because they know we've done the work and that they will uh approve the motion to adopt.

Thank you.

Thank you, Counselor.

Anyone else on there first?

Counselor Roy on his first.

This is on another motion.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um I just wanted to address some things I heard.

Um I um the work in the committee on ordinance wasn't done because the folks in the committee on ordinance didn't want to do the work.

And um also I heard something mentions about the distribution requirement.

Um I personally don't have a problem with the distribution requirement in the proposed ordinance.

It's the amount of signatures I have and the turnout in the election and um yeah, that's all.

I just want to remind everybody on this council what really went down.

Thanks.

Okay.

Thank you.

Anyone else to speak on referral to committee?

Okay.

Seeing none, I will ask the clerk to call the roll on referral.

Councilor Abreu.

No.

No, Council Baptiste.

No, Council Burgo.

No.

No, Council Carney.

No.

No, Councilor Schockett.

No.

No, Council Lopes.

No.

No, Council Oliver.

No.

No, Council Pemberton.

No.

No, Council Ferrera.

No.

No.

Council Roy.

Yes.

Yes.

Fails one to nine, Mr.

President.

Item fails one to nine.

Mr.

Chair.

Yes, Counselor.

Motion to amend the proposed act in order.

I want to counselor.

Amend the act by striking the language 1800 and section three A and replacing it with 600 and by striking a language 300 and Section 3A and 3B and replacing it with 100.

I'm so glad I prepared myself with my written motions on my papers today.

But with that.

So the uh okay, so we have motions to amend the numbers.

Do we have a second?

Second.

Second by Councillor Schoket.

Counselor, could you repeat your amendment one time?

I moved to amend the act by striking the language 1800 in section 3A and replacing it with 600, and by striking the language 300 in section 3A and 3B and replacing it with 100.

Okay.

Thank you.

Any other clarifying questions, colleagues, on the amendment before us?

It has been made and duly second.

I will ask the clerk to call the roll on the amendment.

Anyone on the question, excuse me.

Mr.

Chair, yeah.

I would like to be on the council.

Council Roy.

So um 1800.

1800.

It was 600.

It was 600 when this ordinance, proposed ordinance came down from upstairs, and the committee on ordinance in this councillor's opinion arbitrarily changed it to 1800.

Just let me read um a couple of requirements that other municipalities in Massachusetts have.

Lawrence requires 100 voters for the initial affidavit.

Salem requires 15, I mean, excuse me, 500 affidavit signatures citywide with 50 from each district.

Taunton requires 500 affidavit signatures citywide with 50 from each ward.

Pittsfield requires 500 signatures for mayor and at-large recalls.

This amendment brings New Bedford closer to the practices of comparable Massachusetts municipalities.

And like I mentioned earlier, former solicitor McDermott told this committee that the proposed told the ordinance committee that their proposal already set, quote, set the bar higher than most other municipalities.

And I think that 600 signatures is appropriate because it keeps us in line with multiple municipalities across the Commonwealth.

Oh seconds.

Thank you, Councillor.

Anyone else on the question of amendment?

I'll ask the clerk to call the roll on the amendment as proposed.

Do we need to hear the amendment again or we're okay, Councillors?

Okay.

I'll ask the clerk to call the roll.

Councilor Abrew.

No.

No, Councilman Baptiste.

No, Council Burgo.

No, Councilor Carney.

No.

No, Councillor Shoker.

No, Councilor Lopes.

No.

No, Councillor Oliver.

No.

No, Councilor Pemberson.

No, Councilor Pereira.

No.

No.

Councilor Roy.

Yes.

Yes.

It was one to nine.

Mr.

Chair.

I think it was one to nine.

Yes, Councilor.

I would like to make another motion.

Okay.

I would like to move to amend the act by striking the language 15% in the first paragraph of section 3D and replacing it with 10%.

And by striking the language 15% in the final paragraph of section 3D and replacing it with 10%.

Okay, the motion to amend striking 15 and and inserting 10 in two different places as prescriptions as described by Councillor Roy.

Is there a second?

All right.

Seeing no second.

The motion before us now is to adopt the order and act as presented.

Mr.

Chair, I'd like to make another motion.

Okay.

I would like to move to amend the act by striking language by striking the language 15% in the first paragraph of section six and replacing it with 10%.

And by striking the language 15% in the final paragraph of section six and replacing it with 10%.

Council, just for point of a clarification, I apologize.

Two different sections.

Yeah, that's what I figured I thought so, but I just wanted to clarify.

Can you repeat it one more time?

I'm sorry.

I mean to amend the act by striking the language 15% in the first paragraphs of section six and replacing it with 10 percent.

And by striking the language 15 percent in the final paragraph of section six and replacing it with 10 percent.

All right.

Thank you, Councillor.

Thank you.

Is there a second on this?

Okay.

Hearing no second.

The motion before us is now to adopt the order and act as amended.

I'd like to make a final motion.

Okay, Councillor.

I would like to move the to amend the act by striking the language four months in section two and replacing it with three months and by striking the language eight months in section two and replacing it with six months.

Motion has been made by to amend by Councillor Roy.

Is there a second?

Okay.

Hearing no second, the motion before us is on adoption of an order and the act.

It's been made and duly second.

Anyone on the question?

From the uh Councillor Burgo?

Chair recognizes Councillor Pereira on his first.

Thank you, Mr.

Vice President.

Mr.

Vice President, at this time I I rise to uh urge my colleagues to vote for the recall petition.

One of our founding documents, declaration of independence, states, governments long established, shouldn't be changed for a light transient causes.

But when a cause is needed for change, we should enact that change.

And that our government is set up to allow that.

And one of these ways is through the legislative body in conjunction with the administration to put forward a reasonable change to the charter, our core founding document here in the city.

While the councillor from Hussey Street made valid points, I do believe such grave change in introducing the first recall petition in the city of New Bathroad's history should warrant strict uh uh guidelines to eliminate frivolous decision making dis uh decision-made recalls.

Recall should be there for grave errors in character and grave errors of crime.

I urge my colleagues to put forward this order, much like there is no recall petition now.

This recall petition could be changed and amended in the future if it is not working.

But the fact is there is nothing on the books now, not one thing.

And I just urge my colleagues to put this forward and vote tonight to adopt this or to adopt this act of a home rule petition to change our charter to allow us to introduce the first recall petition.

It is a uh a petition that is not perfect, but most of what happens in government is not perfect.

And what we should be looking to do is introducing this, seeing what happens over the next few years, and then councils in the future making decisions, trusting councils in the future to make decisions in the best interest of the residents and citizens of New Bedford.

Thank you, Mr.

Vice President.

Thank you.

Anyone else on there first for a motion to adopt seeing none?

Oh, Chair recognized Councilor Abron is first.

I'll be very quick, Mr.

First Vice President.

I think the counselor before me, the council president, I I I he struck a chord with me when he said that, because he was I was thinking it here in my seat, and he is correct.

Um frivolous, you know, frivolous um recall petitions are what's concerning to us, and it could be.

Um I don't like the motion that this one filed, so file the paperwork.

I don't like a vote that this one took, so file the paperwork.

What we should be focusing on is that we're talking about heinous acts, and and when we when you know the council from Husley Street, he he referenced Michaela McDermott when she was here, and I asked her, appointed, if you remember, I said.

So in other words, the way this is written right now, if a constituent or some group, if they don't like anything you may have said on the council floor or a vote you took, they could start the process and try to the petitioning to get you out of here.

And she goes, yeah.

So what about high crimes or misdemeanors?

Or what about uh even an arrest or incarceration?

I said, how do you how do you reconcile that?

Because even if you are arrested, that's not a conviction in a court of law.

We, you know, here in this country, we are innocent until proven guilty when it is adjudicated in a court of law via a conviction.

How do you figure this all out?

It's a balancing act, but that's why I think that the way we have it is okay, and like he said, the counselor before me, it's not perfect.

No ordinance or law in government is perfect, but we can always take it back, we can tweak it as time goes on.

Um we're in two years, we have two-year terms here, guys.

Two-year terms.

And by the time we take our seat in January, and we have to pull our papers again the following spring, and you're in the campaign mode, and then you're campaigning for re-election, you're already on the ballot.

You're already going through that process, right?

So you take your seat in January, you're a new counselor, you get sworn in, you have that entire year, and then right off the lickety split the following January, we're into an election year, and then papers come out later on that spring.

So you're already back in the crux of it.

So that's where my mind is going with this.

Um it's not perfect, but it's something we can work on, and we can go forward with it for now and see how it plays out.

But we've got to get something on the books.

It's been bottlenecked way too long and no fault of our own.

We've been trying to do our homework on it.

We've been having a repartee with the administration and some stakeholders, but now's the time to act.

It really is.

And with that I yield.

Thank you, Mr.

First Vice President.

Thank you.

Anyone else on there first?

Anyone on their second?

Seeing none, I'll ask the clerk to call the roll on the motion to adopt.

Counselor Abreu.

Yes.

Yes, Council Baptiste.

Yes.

Yes, Council Brugo.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Carney.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Shoker.

Yes.

Yes, Council Lopes.

Yes.

Yes, Council Oliver.

Yes.

Yes, Council Pemberton.

Yes, Council Pereira.

Yes.

Yes, Council Roy.

No.

No.

Passes 9 to 1.

Motion to adopt and take up consent made by Councillor Abers, seconded by Councillor Pereira.

Anyone on the question?

Seeing none, all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed, the ayes have it.

Motion to adjourn.

Motion to adjourn made by a council president Pereira.

Seconded by Councillor Pemberton.

Anyone on the motion to adjourn?

Seeing none, all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed, the ayes have it.

We are adjourned at 8 06 post meridian.

God bless everyone.