Just give it one moment to there we go.

Welcome everyone.

I'm the vice chair of this committee, and we're having technical issues.

So we're gonna promote Councillor Mbah, who's the chair of the committee, uh, to be a panelist, and then he can actually start the meeting properly.

Thank you, Mr.

Vice Chair.

I have sent through that permission.

Just wait for it to kick in.

There we are.

Wow.

My God.

Mr.

I'm not even sure where to start when you make enter a meeting where you know everybody is there waiting for you.

I think uh apologize for my late entrance.

Uh so with the clerk, is it is it mic?

Good evening, Mr.

Chair, yes.

Okay.

Um let me just see.

Yeah.

I think let's just roll, you know, we will figure this thing out as we get along.

I don't know what happened, you know, with my uh I did not get the link.

I got the link, my computer doesn't charge.

So let's let's roll.

Let's roll.

Hit hit that button.

Mr.

Chair Through, yep, we are live.

Okay, are we live?

Mr.

View, yes, we are.

You just read it in the beginning of the meeting.

Oh, thank you, Mr.

Vice Chair.

I appreciate that.

Uh good evening, everybody.

I called this meeting to order.

This is the council's committee on confirmation of appointments and personnel matters.

It's Monday, March 30th at uh 6 32 p.m.

Pursuant to chapter two of the acts of 2025.

This meeting of the city council committee will be conducted via remote participation.

We'll post an audio recording, audio video recording, transcript, and other comprehensive records of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the City of Somerville website and local cable access government channel.

Club, would you please call the role?

Absolutely, Councillor McLaughlin.

Councillor Hart.

Here.

Councillor Link.

Councillor Ewan Campin.

Here.

Chairman Barr.

Present.

With four present and one absent.

We have you have a quorum.

Thank you, Clerk.

Um, I think we will proceed.

What's the next item on the agenda?

I think the first one is the approval of the minutes, you know, of the previous meeting.

Uh, we will lay that item, you know, on the table to take it at the end for approval.

And before we we proceed, uh, I think there's a couple of it's like one item or so that we need to take it out of order.

I'm not sure which I think they uh uh uh the chief administrative officer mentioned we'll probably have to take item item five out of order.

Is it's uh is Jessica Smith in the audience?

Uh yes, I am.

Let me get to a more convenient location real quick.

Amazing.

Hi, Jessica.

So Mr.

Clerk, would you read the item?

Absolutely.

Item five, referred for recommendation by Councillor Davis that this city council appoints Jessica Smith to the public financing of campaigns committee.

Amazing.

Hi Jessica, how's the baby doing?

Hi, he's good.

He's uh he's in the other room with my friend.

So that's my idea to run.

Yeah, no, no, we'll be quick, we'll be quick.

Um, no, but so good to have you, you know.

I think we are excited.

You've been a valuable community member.

I guess you know, the uh the importance of your showing up here is just so we can do our due diligence, you know.

I think you you'll be a stellar, you know, representative on that uh committee.

I guess one question I have for you, you know, just for the sake of you know, helping uh uh the audience and the public, you know, in your stellar role that you're gonna be playing.

How would Somerville's uh uh let me see?

Let me change that question.

Okay, and so how would some of these public finances system?

How do you see it?

You know, when uh how would you um how would you ensure that transparency and accountability in the use of public funds, you know, with your role on that, you know, on such a yeah, good question.

I um so I mean, so one of the reasons that uh I talked to a couple of different counselors about maybe being on this commission is that um I've helped a couple of different uh candidates, uh, one or two of which are current sitting uh city counselors, like become counselors.

I've run their budget.

In one case, I was a treasurer.

Um so I'm pretty familiar with like what it takes financially for um you know a campaign to win in Summerville, both at large and award campaign uh for for council at least.

And um, I'm also pretty familiar with the what the reporting requirements are for OCPF for um for campaign funds.

So yeah, I mean, I think I'm I'm sort of like generally supportive of the idea of like providing some money for people to run their campaign.

I mean, there is a big barrier to entry.

Um, that like the working members of our community, many of them probably couldn't afford some of the basic startup costs to like do a campaign.

So I think it's really reasonable to like investigate what we could do with public money to like make that barrier to entry like lower for people, make the process more inclusive.

Um I think that's a really good question.

Is like, should we impose any additional like sort of transparency requirements above and beyond what OCPF requires?

Um I don't know, I haven't really thought very carefully about that.

Um I know that it's like already kind of onerous to be a treasurer and like make sure that all of the boxes are checked.

So I don't know that I off the bat, I think adding things is good, but I do know that those funds would be um uh subject to all of the same scrutiny as any donated campaign funds or um self self-funding from a candidate.

So yeah, yeah, yeah.

Excellent, excellent.

Uh I would maybe you know let my colleagues again, you know.

When when you when you have a stellar candidate, you gotta you gotta get stellar questions as well.

So counselor you and campen.

Thank you very much, Mr.

Chair.

Through you, thank you so much, Jessica, for stepping up to this role.

I'm really excited that this was in the charter.

I'm excited for this work to get started.

Um I'm very impressed by the answer, and I move to recommend approval.

Absolutely.

Uh uh, there's a motion on the table.

Counselor you and campaign, I probably would have, you know, like maybe if it's okay with you, let's see if other colleagues, you know, if they don't, if they probably have some questions, we want to give them also the floor to, you know, it so thank you, Councilor Young Comment.

So it looks like we will table the counselor's questions.

So, counselor Hart.

Oh, I was just gonna say I am in support, and I really appreciate um Jessica stepping up, and I'm excited for this as well.

Amazing.

So we will just I will just integrate that as deliberation on the motion.

So, counselor, counselor uh uh you and coming, your motion is still in order.

So uh I think we will move to you know, by adding any objection, uh Jessica Smith, you are approved.

Thank you for being here, and we appreciate your time.

Thanks, guys.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

So um it's I think that's like the only item that we're supposed to take out of order.

Um, Mr.

Clerk, can we return to regular order of business?

Mr.

Chair, yes, through you.

Did you want to take a roll call on the last item?

Oh uh, sure.

If if that's the will of the club, I thought we will, yep.

Okay, let's do a roll call.

My understanding is that it does need a roll call vote.

Um absolutely.

Councillor McLaughlin.

Yes.

Counselor Hart.

Yes, Councillor Link.

Counselor Ewan Campen.

Yes.

Chairman Baugh.

Yes, please.

With four in favor, that is recommended to be approved.

Excellent.

Next item, Mr.

Clip.

The next item is item two, referred for recommendation.

Questing confirmation of the promotion of Ashley Cat Catado to the position of police sergeant.

I hope I said that correctly.

Wow.

Thank you.

Uh uh Chief, would you you know you have the floor?

Sure.

I know I know those two officers of Chief.

I mean, do your job.

Absolutely, sir.

Uh, thank you very much, Mr.

Chair.

Uh, and uh I want to thank obviously the other uh committee members are here this evening, my city colleagues as well as uh the two candidates uh being presented uh this evening.

Um detective uh Ash Catado uh has been a member of the SPD uh for 15 plus years and has given us 15 years of dedicated service to our department and city.

Uh she currently serves as a detective in our special investigations unit, uh, which is under the umbrella of our criminal investigations division.

Uh she's been in this role for the past three years.

Uh Detective Catado uh holds a bachelor's degree and several master's degrees um that she brings uh to the table um and uh which she uses to complement her style of service uh to our community.

Uh she uh is a passionate uh advocate uh for mental health counseling.

Uh her extensive investigative experience combined with her advanced academic background reflects a strong commitment uh to both public safety and the well-being of the community she serves.

Uh Mr.

Chair, I uh humbly uh enthusiastically uh present her before this committee.

Um and I would be remiss uh if I didn't mention before this committee as we are uh uh welcoming in the equitable community um to really recognize the significance of uh the work that both of these candidates have put in and taking the last uh promotional exam.

They answered the clarion call uh and with Detective Cotado's appointment that uh represents a 100% increase in female candidates uh at the supervisory rank.

So it's a proud day, and I humbly present her uh for uh presentation uh to this committee for confirmation of appointments and uh lastly share that there is nothing in her professional uh portfolio that will prevent her uh from satisfactory confirmation.

Thank you, Chief.

Uh appreciate the time.

Detective Catado, welcome to the committee.

And do you have anything you want to say to the committee member before we you know extend our rounds of questioning?

Uh no, thank you.

Um I'm happy to be here and very excited, and thank you, Chief, for the introduction.

Wonderful.

You know, I'm also happy to see your candidates.

When I saw the names, I'm like this, I know I recognize this too, you know, like female officers, and I'm like, wow, the chief is actually you know doing a great job of like making sure that the police force is dynamic and also uh representative as well.

So, Detective Catado, I guess um the question I have, honestly, it's it's about like how would you like ensure that your work as a sergeant advances equitable policing practices in some of it, particularly in building trust with historically marginalized communities.

Thank you for the question.

So, as the chief stated, I've been here for 15 years.

I have a strong um connection to Somerville.

My parents immigrated here from Portugal when they were younger.

They raised me here, they raised my sister here.

I raised my son here for the first few years of his life.

So I have a very deep connection to this community, especially to the immigrant community, because I come from an immigrant family.

My sister and I were the first generation to go to college, and because of our parents' hard work and dedication and love for us, we've been able to come so far in our careers, and I'm blessed.

So I know what it's like to grow up in that type of family in an immigrant family, and I see Somerville as an extension of my family.

I have family hair still life friends here.

I have dedicated my life basically to this city, spent two and a half years as an auxiliary police officer before I got sworn.

So I am dedicated to this community, and I treat everyone that I interact with as how I would want to treat someone, how I would want a family member of mine to be treated by the police.

Excellent.

I think you know uh one thing, you know, I always think about is just the makeup of our city.

And so uh when I see the kind of officer that are being presented before the council, it's like this is the future of policing.

So I'll leave it there.

Uh I usually have a lot of questions as you know, a detective catado, but I think uh you've hit the the key notes, you know, for me.

Counselor UN Campin.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Through you, uh thank you, Detective, for your service to Somerville for being here tonight.

Um through the chair, would you mind just telling us what how are you thinking about this new role?

Uh is there kind of a philosophy that you're bringing to to you know, this new degree of supervisory um authority so words I like to live by is be the change you want to see in the world.

So, words I like to live by is be the change you want to see in the world.

And I want to be part of this department and making it better.

I want to be able to be there for the officers to support them and to advocate for them as well as for this community.

So for me, it is an honor to be able to accept this position.

It's bittersweet because I will be leaving my position as a detective in SIU.

But this gives me a chance to have a louder voice and to be more involved with helping this department grow to be the best that it can be and to help officers be the best officers they can to serve this community.

Thank you very much.

Through the chair, I appreciate that.

Um I look forward to you serving in this new role.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor UN Campan.

Any other questions for my colleagues?

So uh I don't see any.

So Detective Catado, were you told that there will be an executive session for this?

I told it was a possibility, yes.

Okay, it's not a possibility.

This there was there will be an executive session.

And so uh, and hopefully, you know, yeah, and during the executive session, you have the right, you know, to represent yourself.

You have the right to, you know, come.

I mean, it's just a custom, so like I don't want to, you know, just kind of like we'll talk about it, you know, uh much later.

So at this point, we'll do it, you know, together.

So I think we've probably gotten everything that we need for public session.

And so we will uh table your your session, and then we will we will now move on to the next candidate, and then after that we will now invoke as an executive session where I will actually talk about why we are getting into that space, and then we'll come back and then we'll take the vote.

Does that sound good?

Sounds great.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Uh may the record uh reflect that counselor Link has joined the committee.

Welcome, Councillor Link.

Apologies, Chair.

I was in the deeper the deepest court neighborhood council meeting and I got wrapped up in it.

No, no worries.

Sorry.

So Clef, what's the next item, please?

Mr.

Chair, the next item is item three.

Refer for recommendation, requesting confirmation of the promotion of Courtney Reese to the position of police sergeant.

Chief Benford, take it away.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Chair.

Again, uh special thanks uh to you as well as the other committee members, um, city colleagues, as well as uh candidate uh detective Courtney Reese.

Uh Detective Reese has been with uh the Somerville Police Department and has faithfully served uh this department for the past 11 years.

Uh she is currently assigned to our property uh crime uh assigned as a property crime detective again under the umbrella of our criminal investigations uh division.

Uh she's been in this role uh for the past two and a half years.

Uh Detective Reese uh holds a bachelor's degree in psychology uh as well as a master's degree in criminal justice.

Again, uh using her academic foundation as well as her life experience.

Um she brings a wealth of knowledge to her role um and has served as a real beacon of encouragement um in our department uh and faithfully and respect and professionally uh carrying out her duties.

Again, um I highlight um the tremendous work by Detective Reese as I did with uh Detective Catado and performing at the highest levels on this most recent exam.

And again, uh with her confirmation this evening, she too will represent an additional 100% increase, bringing a total uh of 200% increase in a little under a year uh with female candidates serving at the rank of uh supervisor.

Uh again, um, as I close out my comments, sir.

Uh she uh does not have anything in her professional uh uh portfolio that will prohibit her uh successful uh confirmation this evening.

Um I present to you uh as well as the full committee, uh Detective Courtney Reese, uh, for uh for confirmation to the rank of sergeant.

Thank you, Chief.

Wow.

Well, yeah, Chief, you've been hyping all these candidates, but you know, I think that's your job anyways.

So uh Detective Reese, welcome thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Chief.

Is it is there anything you want to share with the committee?

Good to see you.

Good to see you too.

I'm thrilled to be here.

Um, thank you all very much.

I'm very excited for this opportunity.

Nice.

We are also excited for you.

Uh I also have, you know, you're also like a known phase I've seen around.

And oh my gosh, like when I was looking at your resume, I'm like, wow, like I came, it's like there's some stuff that I wish that in fact probably asked offline what is this or what is that one?

But I guess, you know, um as a sergeant, how would you mentor junior officers and foster a culture of continuous learning, accountability, and professionalism within your unit?

I think it's thank you for the question.

I think it's one to me, it's very important to lead by example.

Um, so I think going out there and setting a good example.

Um, I think now it's so important.

One of my big things is community policing, breaking down those barriers.

So I'd like come um, these newer officers to get out of their cruisers, walk around, meet the people that you know work and reside in in the area um, you know, that they patrol.

And that's something that I had started, you know, kind of from the beginning when I when I first got there, and you become this familiar face.

Um, and I think that helps, you know, produce legitimacy.

It it produces trust.

Um, like you say, you may not know me on a personal level, but it's that familiarity, that familiar face.

Um, and I think that's very important.

Um, on the other hand, you need to hold people accountable, and that's why we have policies and procedures, um, taking people under your wing, making sure um something you mentioned my resume.

I love to take training.

I like to be very well versed in many different areas in some of the newer officers.

I send them my resume and say, take this training, take that training.

Um, because I think being so well versed just makes you a better officer.

You know, so those are some of the things that I would do.

Excellent.

I like all what I'm hearing for sure.

Any other question for my committee members?

Counselor UN Campen.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Through you, thank you very much for being here and for your service.

Um how do you feel about taking on this level of supervision?

Um, are there aspects of it that you're concerned about, excited about?

Just talk to us about that a little.

Thank you for the question.

Um, I'm definitely excited.

Um, this is a great opportunity to, you know, kind of like Detective Catado said, you know, help shape the direction of the department.

Um, like I said, so from my teenage years on, I've had different roles where I've been, you know, uh uh role uh role model, a mentor, um, an instructor in in various just areas of my life, and it's something that I think is very important as a supervisor um to kind of mentor new new officers.

Um policing is changing, and we need to change with the times.

And I think that that's something that's gonna be very helpful in you know, getting some of these newer officers out of the academy, taking them out of my wing, showing them the way that we do things now, you know, not these stories from 20 years ago, um, but showing them, you know, Somerville and who we are and what the community wants to see from us.

So I'm very excited about it.

Um I don't really have any reservations.

I'm just ready to go out there and try and make a difference.

Uh Mr.

Chair, through you.

Thank you very much for that answer.

I appreciate it and happy to support you tonight.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Ewan Campen.

Any other questions from committee members?

I don't see any.

Okay.

At this point, uh we will, you know, move, you know, to table this and then you know, invoke executive session.

You know, because uh on to marginal law chapter 30 is section 21.

You know, the council will enter into executive session to discuss confidential personnel matters related to the candidates' promotion, including professional competence and disciplinary history as a lot under, you know, open meeting law.

So we'll any vote will be taken in in open session.

So, Mr.

Clerk, I guess do we have the links for the executive session?

Mr.

Chair, that link has been circulated to panelists in advance of this meeting.

Yes.

So because why I'm asking is because my computer that this link is sent to is dead.

So the computer doesn't charge.

So if you can forward that link to committee members, send it to me to ordermanba at gmail.com.

And then but take why that take a vote to enter into executive session.

Mr.

Chair, one quick second.

Could you repeat that email address one more time so I can send that invite out to you?

Sure.

So all the man a l d M-A-N.

Then my last name, M B A H at Gmail.com.

Thank you for that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

That invitation has been sent to your Gmail account.

On role copy.

Yes.

Benford, do you have any question?

Yes, Mr.

Chair, I just want to make sure for executive session uh that both candidates um that my colleagues in either IGA or HR has their numbers to uh communicate with them when to join the session because I believe they have two separate sessions.

Uh I see the director's hands up as well.

Mr.

Chair, good evening.

Um, to Chief Benford's point, yes, I do have the numbers for both candidates.

Um I will text them respectively as to who should go in first and second, uh, based on the direction of the chair.

Can you record the role for executive session, please?

Absolutely.

On executive session, Councillor McGlack.

Councillor Hart.

Yes.

Councillor Link.

Yes.

Councillor Ewing Campin.

Yes.

Chairman.

Yes.

Mr.

Sherry, you see?

So yeah, with your place, you know, Cordero.

Sure.

Councilman Glauckin.

Yes.

Councillor Hart.

Yes.

Council Link.

Yes.

Councillor Ewan Campbell.

Yes.

Chairman Bar.

President.

Wonderful.

So no co no votewell taken in exactly the short session.

We are back in open session.

Um I just wanted to come back to the two items that we have before us.

The first was requesting.

I'm trying to juggle it.

Yep.

Wonderful.

Requesting the you know, confirmation of the appointment of Ashley, Katado, to the position of police sergeant.

You know, so I moved to the command approval.

You know, so I move to recommend approval.

Any any conversation?

See none.

Uh Mr.

Chair, can you please call the role?

Yes, Mr.

Chair.

Council McLaughlin.

Yes.

Councillor Hart.

Yes.

Councillor Link.

Yes.

Councilor Ewan Campin.

Yes.

Chairman Ba.

Yes, please.

This is recommended to be approved.

Excellent.

Uh no, no, no, no applause right now.

Uh uh Detective Catado, because we will the next council meeting, that's when it will become official.

But thank you for your time.

And so the next one is requesting the confirmation of the promotion of Courney Reese to the position of police sergeant.

And at this point, you know, bar in any objection, the chair move for approval.

Mr.

Chair, could you please call the role?

Yes, Mr.

Chair.

Councillor McLaughlin.

Yes.

Councillor Hart.

Yes.

Councillor Link.

Yes.

Council Ewan Campin.

Yes.

Jim Ba.

Yes, please.

This is recommended to be approved.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chief.

And uh thank you to our newest promotion of uh officers.

Thank you very much, Mr.

Chair.

Greatly appreciate it, and I appreciate the work of the committee.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I apologize for all this.

I can't believe I caught up with this chaos with my computer being dead here.

Like, no, the computer is not even, it's all gone.

But yet I wasn't sure, but it's good to just roll.

So the next item, Mr.

Clerk.

Item four, requesting confirmation of the appointment of James Plocken as municipal hearing officer.

Oh.

Yes.

Mr.

James, good to see you.

Good to see you, Mr.

Chair.

Counsel, thank you for having me in.

Of course.

We missed you last time.

So uh uh Chief Administrative Officer, would you please introduce us?

You know, to Mr.

Mr.

James.

Yes, Mr.

Chair, thank you so much.

Campbellly well city clerk here to introduce our municipal hearing officer, Jim Plotkin.

Uh, counselors, you may be aware that the municipal hearing officer is in sort of a strange space for a uh city government position where it reports to the city attorney, but it works most closely with the city clerk, and it in fact is designed to um to hear appeals of non-criminal ticket violations.

So this position does not work with traffic and parking.

Um it is not about police tickets, it is exclusively about the non-criminal tickets that are issued throughout the city, most typically for things like trash or snow or overgrowth um and that type of thing.

So if you've had a chance to look at the resume attached to the item, you will notice that James Placken comes to us with a great deal of experience as a hearing officer.

And so we were very excited to be able to put this um this appointment forward before you, and I will happily turn it over to the committee for any questions that you might have of the candidate.

Thank you, Cleb Wells and uh slash CAO.

Uh good to have you, uh Mr.

Plockin.

Do you have any you know things to say to committee members before we start with uh questioning?

Uh no, nothing directly uh to the members, but uh I would say that I've come to this position with uh uh I well, I've been a hearing officer in some way or another since uh 2001, and uh I've always enjoyed this work.

I treat everyone fairly and uh everyone gets a fair fair treatment.

Uh I'm also very cognizant of the fact that uh often people come to these types of hearings and it's their first and maybe only uh opportunity to have some kind of interaction with government.

So uh they need to be treated with respect, compassion, uh, and the an understanding because they can be very nervous uh or concerned about this type of ticket.

Wow.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Plockin.

I think yeah, you give me some some comfort there because it's like especially when you're trying to interpret interpret municipal courts, you know, it can be a little ambiguous.

So I guess um uh when you're dealing with regulation.

So how how like let me say how would you you know approach ensuring like impartiality and consistency in your decision, especially when handling cases that may involve vulnerable populations or conflicting accounts?

Well, uh the accounts will conflict if the uh the respondent is appearing and arguing against the ticket.

So that's the conflict.

The inspector is issued the ticket.

Uh the respondent is arguing in some way uh a defense.

The defense may be an admission uh requesting some type of mitigation for maybe a hardship case.

Uh and I I always try to be as compassionate as possible while understanding that the code is the code and they have to be uh the the code has to be treated fairly just like the people do.

Thank you, Mr.

Broken.

I guess no, you have a ton of experience.

You see, I'm just kind of like asking those questions because it it's a pretty you know, like you remember it been mentioned uh in the beginning, just how you know the codes, you know, can be all this regulation that we have, you know, it's it's not it's not like nothing is it's straightforward, you know, be able to like get but I guess no, I think you will do an excellent job.

Thank you, you know, positive detox to counselor you understand.

Thank you.

Through you, uh thank you very much for being with here with us.

I think it's it's very helpful for me to to hear you speak on this and um to get to ask you a couple questions.

Uh you know, I think similarly to what you described, oftentimes city counselors are the first person that you know member of the public speaks to, and you know, it's often first impression really matters.

Um, and I guess I'm just wondering if you could speak a little bit when I I I imagine maybe this isn't the case, that you occasionally get people who are angry, you know, feel like they've been mistreated.

And I wonder if you can speak to how you approach those interactions, you know, how to um how you you know maintain uh professionalism in those situations where people you know feel like they've they're on the uh they've been wronged.

Sure.

Uh I you know, I've also had um many years back some uh pastoral training um uh and have been taught how to mirror people's language.

Uh when people are angry, they want to know that they've been heard.

That's the most important thing.

And uh time and time again over the course of the career, I found that as long as you give the people an opportunity to express their frustration, express their disappointment, uh, explain themselves, then they're usually appreciative of that, even if the result doesn't go the way they had hoped.

Uh so again, I I really try to treat people with respect, let them speak, uh, answer any questions that they might have, especially in an environment like this where no one is represented by an attorney or some other kind of legal representative.

They're all pro se and uh some of them are coming to this uh where English is a second language for them, so it can be a bit challenging.

So we have to slow it down, we have to tone it down and give them an opportunity to really express themselves, and I think that's very important.

Through the chair, thank you for that.

I I very much appreciate it.

And uh you mentioned um people for whom English isn't their first language.

How does your often office handle those situations?

Uh well, there are uh I I haven't had that occasion here yet.

I've had three months worth of uh doing these cases solo uh without Bill Roach uh helping out.

Uh he and I worked together briefly in December.

Uh but since then I haven't had the need to get any kind of uh language services, but there have been occasions over the course of my career where uh someone needed a a language assistance, and there has always been a method by which we can get them that kind of service, whether it's a language line or it's a personal interpreter or someone from the family, uh, whatever is necessary that uh complies and comports with the regulations and statutes, so that we make sure that it's a fair opportunity for the hearing.

Uh so that's where that's happened.

Uh uh I've done a lot of uh work uh in New York.

I used to practice in New York City, uh where you know there were probably a hundred different languages that were uh uh occasionally that we had to pull up on language line.

Here it's not as robust uh a background of various languages, but we do see Spanish, Portuguese, uh Arabic, uh, and various other languages that um you know have occasionally in my other jobs been uh useful to have available in terms of an interpreter.

Uh and so uh when that happens, we slow it down even more and make sure that the interpreter understands what's going on and the respondent understands what's going on through the interpreter.

Excellent, Mr.

Chair.

I'm all set.

Thank you.

Thank you for those answers.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you, Councillor Campin.

And thank you, Mr.

Plucken, for those responses.

Counselor Link.

You have the phone.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Um, mine is less of a question and more of a I guess a comment just based on what we just heard right there.

Um I would just ask that uh you get in touch with Soya, the the um officer of immigrant affairs.

Uh and I think it's Meredith Meredith uh Gamble who uh was able to give the the city council um some guidance on all the different services, uh translation services and um and whatnot that we we have uh so uh your your right role when that does happen.

Thank you for that.

And uh I would also note that I've been working very intimately with Janine Paliaro in the clerk's office, and she's been fantastic helping me uh all along the way, guiding me and really whipping me into shape.

Fantastic.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Excellent.

Thank you.

Um let's see.

I might have to call out Councillor Hadd because I see you haven't say everybody's just here.

No, I mean you don't have to say anywhere.

Like uh, do you have any any question, Councillor Hunt?

No, I don't see.

Okay.

Yes.

I'm on the smaller.

Okay, okay.

Does that I don't see, you know, like Wendy, when you see people in the box and then you everybody spoken, you just want to make sure that nobody was left out.

So um at this point, thank you, Mr.

Plockin.

I don't see any issue with your with your confirmation.

I think uh any objection for my colleagues, I'll move for approval.

Mr.

Clerk.

Yes, on approval, Councillor McLaughlin.

Yes, Councillor Hart.

Yes, Councillor Link.

Yes, Councilor Ewan Campan.

Yes, Chairman Ba.

Yes.

Thank you.

This item is recommended to be approved.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Plockin, for your time.

And uh we're happy to have you.

Thanks.

I'm happy to be here.

Thanks to you all, and thanks to Ms.

Wells for the uh uh the kind words at the beginning of this.

Amazing.

So next item, Mr.

Clerk.

Item six that this city council appoints James Leo Bedard to the ranked choice voting committee.

Club Wells, would you?

You know, uh and Claire Wells, I apologize.

You should have introduced uh Jessica Smith, but as you rightly said, we started this meeting in chaos.

And so we are now back, you know, like sailing through.

So uh thank you, Mr.

Chair, no problem at all.

Um, this candidate is not able to be with us this evening.

We are working to uh figure out if there is another time or if the candidate is going to be available for a future meeting.

Um, but what I will say here is um as with the next item that you'll see before you the ranked choice voting committee is a new committee that was formed out of the most recent city charter, and something that I know several city councillors are interested in exploring.

And so this is the start of forming that committee and beginning to get to work with the research and putting some recommendations before the council and the mayor as to how Somerville might be able to implement ranked choice voting.

Excellent.

Thank you, Claire.

Well, oh, counselor you and Campin.

Oh, what once you're done, Mr.

Chair.

I just have a comment on these two.

Okay, absolutely.

No, I think I see uh uh uh Christa Hoff is in the audience, so I just wanted you know, like the clerk to introduce Krista to us, and we can then take an action on the item that is you know before us.

So Claire Wells, would you like to introduce Krista?

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I'd be happy to.

Um so your item seven before you, I don't want to overstep, but to read that item, which is that the council appoint Crystal Huff to the ranked choice voting committee.

I think most of the counselors will be familiar with Crystal as a regular attendee of city council meetings and someone who is deeply invested in city government in Summerville.

That is not something we get from every one of our 80 plus thousand residents.

And so we are deeply appreciative of it when we do get it.

And I truly just cannot think of anyone more qualified to serve the community in this way and to provide recommendations and to do deep research to um to inform the city council and the mayor in making the best decision possible.

So with that, I happily introduce Crystal Huff as an appointee to the ranked choice voting committee.

Thank you, Claire.

Well, did you notice when you're talking I did this?

So it's it's there's is that that excitement.

I almost said all rise, you know.

But uh thank you, you know, um Christahoff.

That long time no see.

Uh do you have anything to share with members of this body with the experience and thoughts you have for this new committee?

Uh hi everyone.

My name is Crystal Huff.

My pronouns are they them.

I live in Word Five.

Um, and uh I in particular did a project last last semester in Solidarity Economies on uh co-governance, co-democracy, and group decision making that included a workshop to help people uh understand and like uh go through the steps of different options for making group decisions um at different levels, including rank choice voting, approval voting, fist to five, um, and first past the post with the same decision so they could really see it and placed as this is how this is working.

Um and uh one of my thesis potential topics, uh we won't go into what I haven't uh narrowed that yet.

Um, one of my potential thesis topics is um how do we as a community make decisions about who we are and what we care about, and how can we shift our decision making?

Um, and so I've done some academic work in this area because of that.

Um happy to answer any questions.

Yeah, muted, Ms.

Chair.

Oh, thank you.

Thank you, Councillor McGovern.

I'm here.

The first thing that came out for my mouth was wow, you know, for that uh uh intro.

I guess you know, just for the sake of the public and just the education piece, I think you know, having you know in this space will be huge.

Yes, you know you and I go way back.

I guess the question I have is just about community engagement piece, you know, like how would you uh uh kind of like engage diverse communities, including those with language or accessibility barriers in this conversation about round choice voting.

Do you have any like thoughts?

This is just me out of curiosity, but uh I'm thrilled just that you know, to have you in this space.

Uh thank you for the compliments.

Um I think that obviously this will be a committee and we will make a lot of decisions together about how to um make the work that we do be as accessible as possible um and in different mobile modalities and um with different outreach mechanisms.

Um and hopefully each committee member will bring different um experiences to the table to um to leverage in those in those ways as well.

Um obviously one of the one of the things that I do a lot of work on is Mamas um and the community fridges, and I interact with um different members of the community through those um mutual aid groups.

Um I also just think that some amount of work on this project in general in the city will involve a bunch of people gathering at different library branches and talking with their neighbors.

Um but we will we'll make a lot of those decisions as as a committee.

Um I firmly believe um that's certainly my intention.

Excellent.

And you know, one of the things honestly, when this when this uh um appointments came, I for me, like I almost wanted to even approve them almost immediately automatically.

But again, this is useful, like for us who come here and you know, people can express some of their desire intentions through these conversations, you know, just so that you can see how you, you know, once you live from here, you start governing, you can think about you know, like what some of the committee members have shared about their thoughts, and also hear from your members of the public and also watch and say, wow, these people, you know, this is the direction that they are taking.

So thank you for that response.

Councillor McLaughlin.

Uh thank you, Chair.

Um, so yeah, very excited to have this committee move forward and hopefully get ranked choice voting uh up to the state house as soon as possible for the whole new charter process.

Uh don't have any questions.

I would move to approve both uh candidates because these are the council president's appointments.

I know them both, and I know they're gonna be committed to this position.

I wanted to add my two cents about ranked choice voting, because I'm not gonna have any role in this committee at all.

Uh, but I just want to flag that uh when the ranked choice voting was on the ballot a few years ago and it failed across the state but passed overwhelmingly in Somerville.

Uh that ballot question excluded at large or multiple choice races.

So something like the at large race where you can pick up to four candidates.

That wouldn't be ranked choice voting under the ballot question, and I think that makes a lot of sense because we already have multiple choice.

You can pick up to four people, and I would think it would be great for ward counselors, I think it'd be great for mayor, and if we can apply to state that in a race myself, uh ranked choice voting would be very beneficial right now.

Uh, but I just want to put that out there uh because I see the Cambridge system of multiple candidate ranked choice and the problems that that causes.

So I'd prove that's my own personal preference that I just wanted to put there, uh, just so I don't like meddle with the committee when the time comes.

So I would move to approve uh both of these positions.

Uh thank you, Councilor McLaughlin.

I appreciate that.

Vote for me number one, number one choice.

Everybody's number one.

But again, Councillor McLaughlin, I think uh if it's okay with you, you can hold your motion since Councillor Ling hasn't spoken.

You know, it's uh so that we don't kind of like usually if everybody is spoken.

I think we can move ahead with the motion.

But at this point, would you mind reconsidering your motion?

So that wonderful.

So counselor McLaughlin moved to reconsider his motion.

So that motion is off the table.

Councillor Link.

Uh yeah, sorry.

Uh Chair, thank you to uh Councillor McLaughlin.

Uh I just wanted to say um, as the the councilor that's going to be on the um ranked choice voting committee, I can't imagine um uh better partner.

So I'm I'm really excited uh just to see uh crystal um on on this team.

Excellent.

Thank you, Councillor Ling.

And Councillor Ewan Campen, you also you know had something to say before we're gonna take Councillor McLaughlin's motion to you know approve both, so which I'm also fine with.

But counselor you and campaign.

Oh, thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I was actually gonna say the exact same thing that if if any counselor has a problem with these appointees, uh first of all, I disagree, and second of all, it was your job to find somebody, and you didn't.

So uh I no, I I happen to know both of these candidates and think very highly of them and think I'm I'm glad they're gonna be on the committee.

Um happy to support both of them tonight.

Same, same.

Thank you.

Uh so at this point, uh, thank you, Krista.

We are thrilled as you can, you know, tell.

So uh we'll we'll move to approve both candidates.

Mr.

Clerk, can you please call the role?

Yes, on items six and seven.

Councilor McLaughlin.

Yes, Councillor Hart.

Yes, Councillor Link.

Yes, Counselor Ewan Campen.

Yes, Chairman Ba.

Yes, please.

Those items are recommended to be approved.

So at this point, you know, we take uh everything off the table.

I think the only last thing that we did not approve was the you know, the minutes of the previous meeting.

We can take that, you know, uh uh do a roll call and then also like uh a motion to adjoin.

Mr.

Clerk.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

On the motion, excuse me, on the item on the table, Councilor McLaughlin.

Yes, Councillor Hart.

Yes, Councillor Link.

Yes, Councillor Ewan Campin.

Yes, Chairman Baugh.

Yes, please.

The minutes are recommended to be accepted.

And we are joined.

Thank you so much, Collie.

And Mr.

Chair, a vote on adjournment.

Sure.

Councillor McLaughlin.

Sure.

Councillor Hart.

Yes.

Councillor Link.

Sure.

Councilor Ewan Campin.

Okay.

Chairman Baugh.

This committee is adjourned.

Thank you, colleagues.