We're gonna get this meeting started.

Thank you very much.

So one I'm I'm told there's a quick technical difficulty, so we're gonna hold off opening the meeting.

Do it do you want me to just hold on a minute, Courtney?

Okay.

All right.

Please continue.

All right.

And folks, quiet down.

This time it's real.

I'm sorry about that.

Uh we got everything right now, so thanks for your patient.

Um I'm gonna call this meeting to order.

This is a meeting of the city council.

It is Thursday, June 11th.

Uh, my name is Lance Davis presiding.

I use he, him pronouns.

Uh, pursuant to chapter two of the acts of 2025.

Uh, this meeting is being conducted via remote participation.

So it is being recorded, and we will post an audio recording, video audio video recording, transcript, or other comprehensive record of the proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the City of Somerville website and local cable access government channels.

Um, I should note, since we do have a full room tonight that there is no standing room capacity.

Um so because we are full.

If you are in the room, um please find a seat.

If you can't find a seat, that means we're at capacity.

Looks like everyone's sat down.

Thanks.

Good job.

Um there is there is uh well, there's overflow um in outer spaces, and the the uh officers can direct you to that.

Um but uh it looks like we've got the uh the crowd control all sorted, so um we'll uh we'll hope that that maintains that that remains the pace, uh the the uh the case.

Um one final note pursuant to our rule thirty two.

Let it be known that this city council salutes the flag of the United States of America, and let us recall our oath to uphold the constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth to the best of our abilities and understanding.

Uh Madam Clerk, with the would you please call the roll?

This is roll call.

Councillor Ewan Campen.

Here.

Counselor Link.

Here.

Counselor Scott, present.

Counselor Klingon?

Present.

Counselor Schrezo, present.

Counselor Saeed, here.

Counselor Wheeler, here.

Counselor Hart, here.

Councilor McLaughlin.

Counselor Umba.

Present.

And Councilor Davis.

Here.

With 11 members present, we have quorum.

All right, thank you very much.

Uh we begin our meetings with a moment of silence.

Uh is there any counselors wishing to recognize uh members of or remember remember members of our community this evening.

Counselor Klingon.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Through you, I ask that we uh keep in our thoughts this evening.

Mr.

Michael L.

Cipperini Jr.

of Somerville, he passed away suddenly at home Friday, June uh 5th.

He was 58 years old.

Uh he was born in Boston, raised in Somerville.

Michael was the beloved son of Sandra Heron and the late Michael L.

Cipperini Sr.

Uh Michael was a was proud of his Summerville roots and carried that pride with him throughout his life.

He was known for his warm personality, quick smile, and ability to make anyone feel welcome.

To Michael Strangers was simply friends he had not met yet.

Uh Michael was an avid football fan, who really missed a game, a lifelong lover of rock and roll music.

He enjoyed sharing both with family and friends, creating memories.

He was the beloved father of Chris Johnson, uh Michael Cipperini and his wife Alicia, Anthony Cipperini and Joseph Cipperini, uh devoted grandfather of Jaden Choprini, Ariela Choprini, Enzo, and Landon Johnson and loving brother of Mary Lou, Lisa Cipperino Toro, and Richard Cipperini.

Uh and cherished dad to his beloved dog chop.

He's also survived by many other family members.

Uh so Michael's kindness sense of humor and unwavering love for his family will deeply be missed and forever remembered.

And I ask that we keep Michael's friends and family in our thoughts this evening.

And then Mr.

President, I just have one more.

Um this would be the obituary for Ward 4 resident Steve McGechern of Somerville, who passed away on May 31st.

Steve was the beloved husband of Sheila Meehan McEchron and loving father to Julia Wingate and her husband Thomas of Somerville.

Stephen was the cherished grandfather of Jake and Viviana.

He was the son of the late Harold and Sandra McGechron and brother to Babette Mello of Chelmsford.

He was predeceased by Babette's late husband, James.

Stephen was also a brother-in-law to Eric Meehan of Malden, a dear uncle to Brad, Jay, Kristen, Jordan, and Jenna.

Steve was an avid Boston sports fan, longtime admirer of sports cars, especially his Mustangs.

He was a proud member of the Mustang Club of Massachusetts.

And professionally, Steve dedicated many, many years to working for the MWRA in the Somerville in Malden DPW, where he served as our commissioner for some time.

And I just want to add on a personal note.

And I ask that we all um keep him in our thoughts and prayers.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Clean.

Council Strezzo.

All right, I see no objections.

All right, um, Councillor McLaughlin.

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

I just want to say a few words about Steve, uh, who's a really great guy.

Um I have two stories I want to tell that I would not tell if it was anyone else but Steve, but I think he'd appreciate these stories.

Is uh he was our DPW commissioner for a while, and when he left, um the DPW staff were so uh upset about this that three quarters of the employees were sick during a snowstorm.

And uh the snow this uh streets went without plowing for a little bit because they were so uh upset about this.

And what's funny about that is uh no one cared.

It was okay, because everyone kind of understood that Steve was a great guy.

Uh he was the author to Mulissa Somerville.

Uh his own workers loved him like they were his friend.

Uh and is a really great guy.

And just one other quick story is I didn't hang out with him much, but I knew his nephews, um, and I was honored to see the Patriots beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl with him uh one year.

And it was just for those of you who remember, one of the best Super Bowls ever, but made even better by having Steve in the room and being surrounded by really good people.

Uh he was definitely the oldest person in the room, and when they won in that final play, he was the most excited person.

You would think he was the youngest person in the room.

Um just he was so full of uh life, and I just feel sorry for his family, who's a really good person.

The city has lost someone great.

Uh his family has lost someone great, and I'm sorry to see him go.

Thank you.

Any other moments of silence?

All right, seeing none.

Uh would everyone in the room please rise however you are able uh and uh for a moment of silence in remembrance of the aforementioned individuals.

Thank you, everyone.

All right, a few housekeeping notes.

Uh we will, as is always a practice, do citations and grants of location.

Uh and then we have a few items that we're going to take out of order.

Um first will be uh take it up together items 4.2 and 4.4.

Um, assuming that I get the high sign from Councillor McLaughlin that uh everyone's here for that.

And then um Director Nejene Williams, do we want to take the Director Nejene Williams?

Just quick clarification, because I I I was um there's a number of items that I was just informed just as I walked in the room that we want to take out of order.

Those finance items, do we want to do that before the water and sewer?

Is that the was that the request?

After the water and sewer.

Okay, very well, thank you.

Just want to make sure we got that right.

So uh that means we will do uh 7.1, which is uh water and sewer presentation, um, and then 7.2, 3, 4, 5, and 14 uh at the request of the administration, take those out of order with the uh potential for consideration this evening.

That is the administration's request.

But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Um in the meantime, uh, next item, Madam Clerk.

Mr.

President.

Council M.

Kevin.

Um you didn't mention 4.11.

There are a lot of people.

Oh, I'm sorry, yes, I I skipped right over that.

My apologies, that was completely unintentional.

So 4.2.

The reason is because I had it, I had it wrong in here, so I'd had to write the other ones myself, and then I messed up the whole list.

Uh so that one's on me, not the clerk.

Um so yeah, so 4.2 and 404 together, then 4.11, then 7.1, and then the financial items.

Yes.

Thank you for for catching me on that one.

All right, excellent.

Uh next item, then Madam Clerk.

1.3, I believe that takes Harry Devoise.

Yeah, who was that?

Uh Bradley.

Uh, thank you.

I believe there's also uh a voter uh resident petition uh that there are members of the public here for that we can take out order at the end of that list.

Okay, yeah.

If there's members of the public, we might actually put push those in front of the um the administration requests.

Um so we could take that one up.

Let's talk.

I assume um I want to make any assumptions, but I assume perhaps after 4.11 there might be some folks that want to leave, and if so, we might take a brief recess.

Um if not, that's fine.

You're welcome to stay.

Um but uh let's let's uh circle back after that.

All right, I do.

But if you need to operate assumption will be and with the number on that one was remind me, please.

9.16 and 4.11 there, sir.

Very good.

Okay, yeah.

If there's members of the public here, I always like to make them wait a little bit less than members of the staff.

We also don't want to like to make members of the staff wait any longer than they have to, so that's why we do the out of order stuff.

All right, very good.

Thank you, Councillor Scott, for that reminder.

All right.

Third times of charm.

Madam Clerk, item 1.3.

Item 1.3, approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of May 14, 2026.

See no objection.

That item is approved.

Item number 1.4, approval of the minutes of the special meeting of May 20, 2026.

See no objection.

That item is approved.

Next item is 2.1 citation uh by counselor Hart commending Mary Jaca on the auspicious occasion of her retirement.

Counselor Hart.

Thank you so much.

Um this citation is um as it says for Mary Jaca, who is retiring after many years of dedicated service to Tufts University.

So just want to uh appreciate her.

Thank you.

Do you want to check in this?

Um she's not here this evening, and that's gonna be wanted to read the citation.

Sure.

Absolutely.

Um be here at Hereby Known to all that the Somerville City Council and the mayor offer their sincere sincerest commendations to Mary Jacka on the auspicious occasion of her retirement after more than two decades of service at Tufts University.

Her leadership and commitment to the institution's mission and values leave a lasting legacy.

Thank you.

All right, very good.

Thank you.

So uh seeing no further discussion, that item is approved.

Thank you, Councillor Hart.

That brings us to 3.1.

3.1.

Eversource applying for a grant of location to install 31 feet of conduit in Richardson Street from utility poll 296 slash one to a point of pickup at zero Richardson Street.

All right, and just a quick note on there's two grants of locations this evening.

My intent is to uh have the public hearings um close the public hearings temporarily, uh, but then lay these items on the table just in case there's someone who isn't able to get into the chamber and is able to get in later, which has happened in the past.

Um and so we don't I don't want to have close that item is just a few less steps we'll have to have to do later.

So we'll lay these on the table for approval later in case anyone um you know that isn't able to join us right now is outside waiting to get in.

Uh hopefully that's not the case, but uh I want to be want to be careful.

Um so with that I will uh declare the public hearing to be open.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

Anyone online from EverSource?

Waiting to hear Jackie Duffy's voice.

Hold off a minute because it usually ever source has people here.

And if not, that might make the uh the laying on the table of these two quite easy.

Well no, anyone?

If you're if you're online and would like to speak on this item, please use the raise hand function, which should be at the bottom of the screen under more actions or something like that.

Nothing.

All right.

Then I will declare the public hearing to be closed.

Is there any discussion on this item?

No?

All right.

Well then we will let's lay this item on the table.

Um and we will let let's let's just lay it on the table.

We'll determine the uh the disposition um afterwards since we haven't heard from anyone.

I'm a little hesitant to move forward with it.

Um so let's uh item 3.1 will be laid on the table uh and to be picked up uh later in the evening.

Uh next item.

Item number 3.2.

Ever source applying for a grant of location to install 641 feet of conduit and Somerville Avenue and Prospect Street and one new manhole 31333 from existing manhole 27921 and from existing manhole 25406 to a point of pickup at 51 Prospect Street.

All right, I declare this public hearing to be open.

Is there anyone here to speak on the item?

Anyone online?

Once again, if you are online and would like to speak on this item, use the raise hand function, which is at the bottom of your screen with under the more actions button.

Something like that.

Going once, going twice.

All right, I'll declare that there's no raising hands.

Okay.

Nothing online.

Exactly the same.

Oh, is Ms.

Duffy here?

Online?

Are you all right?

So let's let's uh hold off for a minute here, see if we can get Ms.

Duffy activated, because we definitely want to hear from Eversource on these items.

Jackie Duffy, you're able to talk now.

I am I'm on, it wouldn't let me unmute for either one of my hearing.

There we are.

All right, so hey Jackie, right now why you tonight?

Do you want to go back to the Richardson one or do you want to do that?

I'm well thanks.

Since since we have um the prospect to have in front of us now and we're in that public hearing, let's start with that and then we'll pick up the other one off the table afterwards.

Okay, awesome.

Thank you.

Um Eversource would like to install approximately 61 feet of conduit in one manhole in Prospect Street and approximately 30 feet of conduit in some of a lab.

This work is necessary to provide electric reliability in an improvement in the area.

Okay.

Thank you.

Anyone else here to speak on the item?

We have Mr.

Luke Smith.

Luke Smith.

Yes.

Okay, go ahead.

You're recognized.

Is he unmuted on our end?

So you should be able to unmute on your end.

He's unmuted.

Was there a trick that we had to tell Jack?

Luke Smith, you should be able to speak.

We can't hear you just yet.

Love technology.

It's my favorite thing.

All right, I tell you what.

If do we have anyone else to speak on that item?

Okay.

And it's Luke.

All right, Luke, we're not able to hear you, so I tell you hopefully you can hear me.

Here's what we're gonna do.

Um we're gonna lay this item we're gonna sorry.

Um we're gonna lay this item on the table.

And then we will come right back to it.

Well, hopefully you it might uh I suppose if he um signs off and logs in again, maybe.

Luke, you might try um disconnecting and reconnecting and and uh when you come back, hopefully uh we'll be able to hear you.

So let's um is there no no no one else to speak on this item?

All right, so I'll uh uh declare this public hearing closed for the moment at every or or um recessed or whatever the formality is.

Um we're gonna then uh lay this item on the table.

We'll pick up item three dot one and go back and I will reopen the public hearing.

Um Jackie Duffy, are you here to speak on item three dot one?

Yes, I am.

All right, go ahead.

Uh we'd like to install 31 feet of conduit in Richardson Street to provide electric service to zero Richardson Street.

All right, very good.

Is there anyone else here to speak on that item?

Anyone else on three dot one?

No, Mr.

Duffy.

No, all right.

Any discussion on that?

Having heard the illuminating explanation that from Ms.

Duffy.

No?

All right.

So we'll declare this uh that uh public hearing closed again for the moment, uh pending any uh anyone who uh perhaps joins us later in the evening.

We'll lay 3.1 on the table again.

Let's pick up 3.2 off the table.

I will reopen that public hearing.

And uh Luke Smith, are you is he back in?

No.

All right, let's give him a minute here.

Um thanks for your patience, folks.

We want to make sure that these folks have the opportunity to weigh in and uh express any concerns before we move forward on these items.

Can you see if he's in the audience at all?

And then come back in.

Okay.

Anyone know any good jokes?

No?

Dance numbers, dance break.

Anyone not yet?

All right.

All right, so unfortunately, uh looks like Luke did sign out but isn't hasn't yet signed back in.

So in the interest of moving things along, because we're gonna lay this on the table anyways.

Um we will let's go ahead and do that.

Unless there's an objection.

Um let's go ahead and lay item 3.1 on the table as well.

Um we can pick that back up later, and hopefully at that point, uh Luke is able to rejoin us.

And anyone else who might uh care to speak to the item uh will be able to.

So uh Madam Clerk, uh let's set 3.1 down on table next to 3.2 to be picked up uh later in the evening.

Um and that will bring us to our out of order items, I believe.

Right?

Yes, that's so we want to take up 4.2 and 4.4 together, right?

Council McLaughlin?

All right, so if we could read in 4.2 and 4.4, Madam Clerk.

Absolutely.

Item 4.2 by Councilor McLaughlin, that director of health and human services update this council on recent changes for requests for proposals for youth programming grants, particularly grants that impact teen empowerment directly.

Council McLaughlin.

Uh, could I read the other items?

Absolutely.

Oh, sorry, both items, yes.

Yes, item 4.4 by Councillor McLaughlin, recognizing teen empowerment for providing over 20 years of service to young people in the Somerville community.

Council McLaughlin.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I'd like to start with the uh the last item first.

Um, to recognize teen empowerment and just appreciate everything they've done in this community.

Uh and I wanted to I wanted to bring this up before, but now it's become urgent for me to uh recognize them and appreciate what they've done in this community.

Uh teen empowerment's existence in the city closely mirrors my own activism in the community.

They've been here for over 21 years.

And 21 years ago, when I was 21 years younger, I was a young man trying to figure out uh what was going on in the city with youth, uh seeing my friends pass away from substance abuse, having a very close friend get murdered around the corner from my house, uh, and seeing young people go down this path, my close friends, people that I grew up with giving into despair, not knowing what to do next with their lives and not having any direction.

It was in this time that the city brought teen empowerment to Somerville to address these problems.

And for 21 years, they've been changing the lives of young people in this community.

Uh I've seen these people, I've seen young people in the community that I know whose lives they are still alive today because of this program.

Uh they're thriving because of this program.

They have jobs, they've become adults, they have families.

And I truly believe that many of them may not be here where not for teen empowerment and to arrive at that time.

It's been 21 years, and a lot has changed in the city.

We have a very affluent, very uh privileged city, but a lot hasn't changed for the youth.

Uh, I see teens still dealing with the same problems, dealing with drugs, dealing with violence, dealing with the issues that often get ignored in this community.

And teen empowerment is the answer to them.

They're the group that comes forward and addresses their problems.

It empowers them.

Thank you.

It empowers them not just, yep.

I I can't snap my fingers, but I would do the same.

Thank you.

Uh it teaches them to become leaders in the community.

It doesn't manipulate them, it doesn't get them to do work for them.

It gets them to do work for themselves and become adults and become role models in the community.

Uh so I do want to start just by a quick round of applause and thank you for Gino Empowerment for everything you've done in this community for 21 years.

So that's the positive side.

Uh, I do have another item that I would like to refer to to uh committee.

I would prefer public health well, up to the chair, public health and safety or finance for full discussion.

Uh but the reason we're here today to talk about teen empowerment is a recent change in the request for proposals grant system within health and human services.

Uh I can't get into all the details of it because I really don't understand it myself.

But essentially, we changed the way teen empowerment is funded, and instead of one grant for 400,000, we now have three separate grants, and several of them are grants that teen empowerment's programming may not qualify for.

So we're looking at a reduction of three quarters, 300,000 loss for teen empowerment.

Not because we don't have the money, not because it's not there, not because of budget cuts, but just a bureaucratic change in the way that we're addressing uh our request for proposals.

And I've talked to the city about this.

I think this is a solution, but I can't stand by and wait a year for 300,000 dollars.

These kids here, one of the things that's unique about teen empowerment is they pay their people.

They pay their children, their youth.

Yeah.

So a cut for a year means several people here just won't have jobs at all.

And they're gonna find something else to do in the summertime.

And I want them to do this in the summertime instead.

I want them to be a part of this program.

I think there's a solution there.

I don't want to see teen empowerment or anyone get punished by a process because we just haven't thought through the consequences of that.

Uh, I would like this to be sent to committee of your choice, but I would also like to sponsor three speakers.

I would like to sponsor Abergall Forrester, uh, the director of teen empowerment, Aliyah Ewing, who is the director of the Summerville site, and a uh Somerville youth to speak for themselves.

Thank you.

Okay.

Councilor McLaughlin would like to Councillor McLaughlin would like to sponsor the three speakers mentioned.

Any objections?

All right, seeing none.

Go right ahead.

I'm gonna do your favorite, just introduce yourself for the record so the clerk can get your name right in the case.

Yes, uh, my name is Abra Gaul Forrester.

I'm the CEO for the Center for Teen Empowerment.

Um and I just like to thank uh Council McLaughlin for bringing this uh this time that we're in before the council.

Um as he mentioned over the last 21 years, we've supported uh Somerville and young people in in their transformation and really looking at a lot of the issues that have existed here.

And actually, you know, when you start to think about the work that we do in the transformation of Somerville in itself, we're actually at the right place.

And what I mean by that is that there's been a lot of progression in the work that we have done.

We've seen young people uh grow and mature and actually be representatives of this city in a great way, not only in Massachusetts, but across the country.

But what I want to speak to about really is the moment that we're in.

We're in a crossroad right now, and I think all of us who are here have to ask ourselves who's gonna replace us in a progressive way to really deal with some of the issues that young people are really anxious about and dealing with in the here and now.

I don't want to say too much, but what I do know as someone who's leading this organization is that we need to have a space where young people can develop and grow and actually understand the diplomacy that everyone in this room is trying to present and how to address issues that they feel frustrated about in society.

And so I'm just here to say one thank you to the city council for always supporting us over the last 21 years.

We've been a substantial program in this city, and it's because of your vote and your vote of confidence in us that we've been able to sustain ourselves.

But we can't stop now.

We are at a critical point right now in our society where young people and their voices definitely needed and going to be needed in the decades ahead to roll back some of the issues and challenges that they're anxious about.

So I just want to say thank you, and I'm gonna make room for those for the young people and the rest of my staff to really speak about how the impact that we have.

But I want to say thank you and say, let's not stop now.

We need this door to be open for us and to stay open for young people because young people want to be a part of this process.

And lastly, I would say that there was a survey done by the previous administration with youth in this community, and what they actually said that they want more of is the way that we work at Teen Empowerment.

They want more youth development.

These private pathways to careers, they sound good, but at the end of the day, young people want to bring their voice to social issues so they can create change, and that's what we do at Teen Empowerment.

So thank you for hearing me tonight.

Hi, my name is Alia Ewing.

I am the program director for the Center for Teen Empowerment.

Thank you, Councillor Councillor McLaughlin, for your acknowledgement of the work that we've done.

Um and I'd also just like to urge the City Council to continue to fund a full program for Teen Empowerment in Somerville.

Um the 2024 Enhancing Youth Services in the City of Somerville report, which was commissioned by HHS, outlined a vision for a thriving youth system, which included on page six, a 10-point list of recommendations to achieve the collective goal for the city's youth.

Teen Empowerment provides nine of those ten supports to the youth.

And the remaining one is community space, which we're unable to provide because the city building at 165 Broadway is not ADA accessible.

Studies from UMass Boston conducted in 2011 and 2014 concluded that quote compared to their peers, youth who have worked at Teen Empowerment, leave the program with higher levels of employability and greatly improve self-esteem and are more civically engaged.

And these impacts are sustained over time.

End quote.

Because the work of Teen Empowerment is prevention work.

It's vital to continue these pro-social efforts to be quickly responsive to the issues encountered by urban youth in this fast-paced society.

So many young people in Somerville are experiencing stress from immigration policy changes, dealing with the pressures of social media and AI, substance abuse, financial strain on their families, especially because of housing instability, decreases in financial aid for post-secondary education, and dealing with the mental health repercussions from all of these things and more.

So I strongly encourage you to support Teen Empowerment's maintained funding and help ensure the bright future of Somerville's young people.

Thank you.

Throughout my time at TE, I've had the opportunity to truly feel like a part of the community.

I have had mid connections and memories with fellow youth organizers and program staff that have shaped who I am today.

Through these experiences, I've been able to meet people in different fields and like different um partner organizations that we work with to be able to further figure out what I want to do after iSchool.

And now I'm pretty confident with my decision to pursue sociology.

I'm also pretty sure that I got into UMass Boston because of teen empowerment, because when I was asked about something that changed my mind, I said the like the idea that I just had to work like work a meaningless job.

Um like I I found a path forward with myself with the work that I've done with TE.

Um that's something that I'm really proud of.

Um feeling connected to peers and having a posit and having positive role models is one of the most influential factors in youth outcomes.

And TE is a space where I can make real friends and see people who grew up like me succeeding as staff.

Um for decades, teen empowerment has been instrumental in the youth community in Somerville.

To from events to civic engagement or educational resources, the impact on our youth is clear.

Um I urge the council to care for this organization as they have so many of our city's youth for so many years.

Thank you all.

All right, thank you.

Uh discussion.

I saw Councillor Link and then Councillor Strasza, then Counselor Klingon.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Through you.

Um I'm I really appreciate uh that uh the good counselor from Ward One was able to bring this up.

Uh and uh I I have to be honest, I was caught kind of I'm I think there's a real value in public hearings because I was caught off guard uh about this, and part of the reason I was caught off guard was that uh if you look at the budget book, there's no mention of teen empowerment for in 2027.

Um there is in 2026, um, but it's just not there.

The this change is not reflected in the budget book at all.

Um so I guess I I want to say that uh, you know, I'm I'm glad that we're gonna be talking about this.

And I also would uh I just kind of want to let um our fines I know that this wasn't sort of uh intentional sight of hand, but it does make it really hard to know what's happening.

So I I am gonna be asking in the the committee meeting to keep find out about all the different um you know nonprofits that may have had their um their their grants or other contracts changed because I think we really need to be able to see that and know what good things that we have been doing that we maybe won't be able to do um going forward uh in 2027.

Thank you.

Council Sheza.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh I wanted to thank you in Teen Empowerment for speaking up in the budget hearing yesterday and bringing attention to this for us because yeah, this slipped under the radar.

I've been a proud supporter of Teen Empowerment for many years.

I've been to your events.

I've I've watched in uh your your performances, uh, have loved them.

I always learn something new.

I love that.

I remember the um I remember a skit a couple years ago um with uh just talking about like the um vaping uh that was happening, and yeah, I've heard about things, but to see it and hear it from your your own voices, um, of course just makes it so much more impactful.

You're a part of our community, you've been a part of our community, and I'm grateful for you.

So thank you for for bringing forward all these these great, great um points and just your presence in the community.

Want to say thank you, been a proud support of you today.

Thank you.

Counselor Clingen and then Counselor Bott.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh, through you, I'd like to sign on.

I'd like to thank the counselor for more one.

Um I too was somewhat caught off guard by this.

Um, I can't say enough good things about teen empowerment.

I mean, so many generations of kids have gone through the many of them work within the city now.

Um just had such a positive impact on the community.

Um I do want to ask the um I do want to ask Aaliyah.

Um, so uh through you, Mr.

President, has have you applied for all have you done RFP for all three grants?

If you don't mind, could you step to the microphone just so folks that that are watching online can hear your answer?

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

So there were two that were open, and the first one we qualified for, the second one we did not fully qualify for, and so we've been trying to shift our program to partner um with other organizations to be able to fulfill all of the requirements.

Um you said there was three though, right?

Through you, Mr.

President.

There was two.

Oh, they split it too okay.

Yeah.

Great.

And so just lastly, um, that hopefully, you know, um there's a path forward.

Uh this sounds like it started after this survey.

So the previous administration put this ball in motion, it sounds like is the current administration working with you all to try to see to it that uh we can keep funding you in the same way.

It's our understanding that there is a desire to keep teen empowerment in this community.

And so yes, we are excited to work with the current administration towards that.

Okay, I mean I'd like to just get this fixed.

And this is you know, seems ridiculous to me that we've created this bureaucratic hurdle now that's potentially forcing this uh great great organization to have to jump through hoops and and and possibly lose some of their funding and lose some of the value that they bring to the community.

So um I really urge the current administration to uh let's get this fixed and let's move forward.

And thank you all, and thank you all for coming out.

Really appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

Uh Councillor Ba and then Councillor McLaughlin.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I just want to thank the good counselor for putting this forward.

I first heard about Tina Empowerment from you.

Like when I moved to this city and is really evolved and doing a lot of great work.

I appreciate you know you guys being here to talk about it because they say ethena vigilance is the prize for liberty.

If we don't know, and it's uh you it's gonna be in the dark because we cannot continue to say the future is the youth.

You know, the youth we care about the youth at the same time we are undercut in those structures and funding that enable them to thrive.

So thank you for bringing this forward and we will make sure that you are fully funded.

Thank you.

Counselor Said, and then we'll go to Council McGoffin since you already spoke.

Yeah, through you, Mr.

President, I'm gonna take a moment and thank Council McLaughlin for bringing this to our attention and for all your work.

Um making sure you know you're supporting teen empowerment and that to the leadership to the director and CEO.

Um, we want to say thank you.

Thank you for the space you created for our teens and for all the work you do to empower them so they have a voice and you know they get to make you know all the changes you know they want to see in our community.

Um I am sorry that space is still an issue.

It's been years.

I worked at the high school for eight years as a teacher, and for all those years, over and over, this is what the students were asking about.

Um sorry we're still here.

We continue to also advocate for that.

Thank you.

Others that haven't spoken?

Okay, Councilor McGlauffin.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I just want to clarify.

So the reason that it's people are surprised and that it wasn't in the budget is because the money is still there.

The 400,000 is still 400,000.

What's changed is the process for getting that money.

So teen empowerment may get some money, and other organization may get some money.

Uh, but this all changed like teen empowerment was not th this is affecting them now as opposed to I could see that there was probably some good intentions behind formalizing a process and maybe getting other programming in.

Uh, but I believe I forget who it was from Teen Opowman who said, you know, teen empowerment gets paid to be teen empowerment.

They're not being paid to be another organization.

So to I definitely would love to see more youth programming come out of it, but we shouldn't be taking it from teen empowerment in order to make that happen because they're a very unique group that fits a very unique uh group of people.

Uh so I I would like to send this to committee.

I was thinking health and human serv uh public health and safety, but I don't know if um the finance committee if the finance committee could take it up when health and human services comes up during the budget hearings.

Given that much of the conversation seems to revolve around the budget for this organization, and we are in the throes of the budget conversation.

I'm looking to the chair for any indication we have agreement or just I'll just say, Mr.

President, uh Monday, this Monday's departmental budget hearing will include health and human services.

I anticipate that members of the committee will ask questions about teen empowerment then.

So um we would welcome this item being sent to the finance committee, but if it could make more sense to go to public health and public safety, that's perfectly given the timing.

It strikes me as an excellent framework around which to have the conversation and and you know figure out where the where the rubber needs to hit the road here.

So um if there's no objection, we'll uh send this and any other uh discussion.

I did see counselor link would like to sign on.

I I imagine I'm gonna ask if anyone else, yeah, the whole council very well.

Um let there lest there be any question.

Um very well.

Then we will uh this will be approved with a copy to so this is uh sorry, madam clerk.

2.4.2 will be approved with a copy to finance and 4.4 is approved.

Very good.

I'm sorry, did the public health and public safety committee wish for this item to be oh no?

Okay.

We're gonna yeah, we're send it to finance.

Obviously, if there's an additional discussion that's needed, then a separate item could be submitted, and we can send that to public health books at you.

For now, let's while we've got our sleeves rolled up on money, let's figure out what we can do.

Very well.

Thank you, everyone on that one.

Um that brings us to our next out of order item, Madam Clerk, which is 4.11, I believe.

Is that right?

Yep, you're correct, Mr.

President.

A 4.11.

You know what?

Hold on one second.

Do you want to have a quick recess for a picture?

All right.

Let's have a brief recess so we can take a picture with other folks and come up come up here.

I love taking pictures, so while you're here, why not?

Um make it a keepsake, never look at it again, whatever you prefer.

Uh so we'll stand a brief recess for a picture and then we'll uh reconvene.

All right, ten out of eleven, close enough.

Madam Clerk, um let's come and call this meeting back to order.

I can see that we have a quorum.

So picking up where we left off with our next out of order item, which is four dot eleven, please.

Yes, item item number four dot eleven by Councillor Ewan Campen and Councillor Wheeler that Chapter 2, Article 8, Division 1 of the Code of Ordinances be amended as detailed within Council Ewan Campen.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um I want to offer a huge thank you to my co-sponsor, Counselor Wheeler, for the partnership on this.

Um before I get to the ordinance, I want to tell a story about my dad.

Um my dad was born in 1943.

He grew up in the 1940s, 1950s in Wisconsin, and he told me that his entire childhood, it honestly never occurred to him, was never mentioned to him, that our country was doing anything other than being a force for good uh in the world, a force for democracy in the world.

This was an unquestioned understanding where he grew up.

And this was the case for many, many people in his generation when he went to college.

Uh he even interned for a summer at the Pentagon.

For anyone who has met my dad, that is extremely out of character.

Um, but he wanted to be a part of this work.

So another thing that happened when he was in college is that every night on the television news, there would be footage of the Vietnam War.

Um, and he told me he would see this TV footage night after night, year after year, of women and children, civilians, people living in poverty, being bombed, being killed.

And he could see with his own eyes that it was our country that was dropping these bombs.

It was our country that was killing these people.

And I remember him telling me that it took time.

He really, really like couldn't process this for years.

Um, until finally something just snapped in his soul.

Um, and his entire way of conceiving of our country, our role in the world changed permanently.

And this this is not just my dad, obviously, this was many, many people in this country in that generation.

It fundamentally changed their relationship to our government and their understanding of our country's role in the world.

It is extremely clear to me that something very analogous has happened to our country, again, in the past several years, maybe more profoundly.

Um, to be clear, I don't think that young people today start with that same sense of naivete of my father's Wisconsin in the 1950s.

But even so, I don't think anyone was prepared for what we have witnessed and are still witnessing in Gaza.

This generation has watched day after day, for years, as truly unimaginable acts of violence and destruction have been done to Gaza, to Palestine.

A campaign that is directly targeting the entire civilian population, has reduced Gaza to rubble, has been recognized as a genocide by many international human rights groups and scholars, and as they have watched this unfold, they have also seen very clearly that Israel's actions have the complete and total support of our country, of our government.

They see that this could not be happening without our country.

Providing weapons, sending aid, publicly supporting these inconceivable actions that we can all see on our phones every day, read about in the news.

And for many people in Somerville, it's not just something that they see on their phones.

For our Palestinian constituents, every single one of them has been directly affected by this in unimaginable ways.

And I believe, and I think that Somerville believes that America's support for Israel's actions in Gaza and in Palestine is a profound moral stain on our country.

And this support from our government has caused immense and painful divisions.

Right here in our in our community.

And to say that again, what is causing these divisions is our country's support for what is happening in Gaza.

So I will say that for myself.

I have on multiple occasions at public events in this chamber, I've been told by people that I'm not a real Jew.

Um, to be clear, this is not this is not about me.

I don't care what people say about me.

Um this is nothing compared to what other people in our community have faced, but I just say this, it's a small sign of the divisions that have been caused by our country's ongoing support for this genocide.

So why are we talking about this in a city council meeting?

I think that's a fair question.

The answer to me is straightforward, because the people of Somerville asked us directly to do so.

Somerville residents passed a ballot question directing the city to ensure that we don't use our public funds, our investments, our purchasing, to support companies that profit from these horrific acts.

10,000 people signed to get this ballot question, and then the majority of the city voted for it in the same election that put all of us in our seats.

So the ordinance that is before us tonight, it is our attempt to do what is being asked of us, and to do so in a way that is legal and practicable.

It says that where Somerville has financial discretion, let us protect our own reputation by ensuring that we are not supporting companies that profit from violations of international law or from violations of international humanitarian law, in other words, laws of war.

This ordinance, it looks to organizations like the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations Human Rights Council, and it says if a company is on the wrong side of the investigations of organizations like this, we will choose to take our public dollars elsewhere.

And I want to be clear, this ordinance includes anywhere where serious violations of international humanitarian law are occurring in the world.

It specifically mentions Israel and Palestine because we were asked to do that specifically by the people who elected us.

But of course, we are not arguing that we should give our public support to these same violations elsewhere in the world.

No one would argue that.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um, after we hear from colleagues, I will ask that this be referred to committee uh for deliberation and discussion.

Thank you, colleagues.

Councillor Wheeler, did you want to speak on the item as well?

Counselor Wheeler.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I want to start by saying that my intention with this proposed ordinance is to put our existing long-standing community values into law and apply them evenly and fairly.

Somerville already tries to spend money in line with publicly held values.

We accept that the city should not, where it can avoid it, use its money to support grave injustice.

The idea here is just to put that into codified law.

Jews, Arabs, Israelis, Palestinians, Muslims, and people of every religion, ethnicity, national origin, and political view.

Folks, folks, folks, are welcome here.

Thank you.

Many residents fear that put putting this ballot initiative into practice will become an effort to exclude or alienate Jews from our community.

And that cannot happen.

Folks, if there are more interruptions, I'll clear the chambers.

Okay?

The counselor is recognized, no one else from the public is recognized.

The counselor's the only one in the room is speaking.

Counter Wheeler, please continue.

Thank you.

We should never have a policy that suggests that Jews, Israelis, or anyone else is less welcome here because of who they are, where they come from, or what government they are connected to by birth, family, religion, or history.

The painful violence that we've seen to date and the long-running oppression experienced by multiple peoples.

These are the source of the intensity that we see expressed when these issues are brought up anywhere in our city.

That's where this pain comes from.

This pain and this intensity is part of what our entire community has been going through.

And it forms the backdrop to the ballot question that was before us last November.

This question did not call for a boycott of Israel writ large.

If it had, I would have opposed it.

Instead, it pointed to the question of whether companies that we contract with or invest in are actively supporting these narrowly defined acts of egregious injustice.

So this ordinance is not meant to single out Israel or any country.

This is about involvement with specific grave harms recognized in law and human rights standards that are the this is the sort of source of concern, no matter where it happens.

Many residents have asked Somerville to do more than just pass a statement about this.

They have asked us to translate our values into policy.

A non-binding resolution can speak to principles.

A law has to adapt those to be practical, legal, fair, and capable of being administered by the city.

This proposed draft reflects the real divide between the council's legislative power and the mayor's executive power.

The council can pass ordinances, the executive branch has to administer the law.

So the ordinance asks the mayor to produce a policy explaining how the city will assess compliance with this.

The goal here is to make discretion visible and to provide clarity about the standards being applied.

It is reasonable to ask why Israel and Palestine get so much attention compared with other grave injustices.

The answer in part is that there is a debate.

We all live under governments that do things that we sometimes oppose, and people everywhere still need education, health care, public services, and ordinary civic life.

Rules that we hope work well, that we know sometimes disappoint, but that help us get things right a little bit more than before.

The best version of this ordinance would be modest, clear, and fair.

It would continue Somerville's values and not depart from them.

It would oppose direct support for specific grave harms, not condemn a whole country or a whole people.

It would be strong enough to matter and narrow enough to be just.

Any objection?

Alright, seeing none.

Uh Councillor Butt, we spoke earlier about this this afternoon, and uh hope hopefully you had a conversation um uh with with Councillor Bob at this.

We're gonna keep each speaker to two minutes, okay?

And that's that goes for anyone who's who's sponsoring uh uh speaker for this item, okay.

Oh, okay.

Uh I was not aware of that.

Council Merkel Councilman Ba, we had a conversation about this.

You had a conversation with the government.

I'm surprised you say you're not aware of that.

I'd never communicate there with you.

I communicate there with whoever reach out to me.

So you should just you have two minutes to speak.

Okay.

Each speaker will have two minutes of the two that Council Baz is sponsoring.

Yeah, each speaker has two minutes.

Very good.

Um to be fair, we just say your name again for the record so we can make sure we're gonna be able to do that.

Do you like a sponsor?

Okay, thank you.

Go ahead.

Okay, good evening.

Um I'm a member of Somerville for Palestine and a resident of Ward Six, and a member of Somerville's beautiful and resilient Palestinian community.

Today we are gathered to by the power of the people of Somerville to enact the Somerville's boycott ordinance for Palestine.

But first, I want us to collectively honor the story of this ordinance to reflect on all the work, community building, and unflinching resilience that have led us here today.

In fall 2024, members of the Somerville for Palestine gathered weekly to first imagine a future in which our city divests from Israeli genocide, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing.

In April 2025, after months of research on our city contracts, building an understanding of procurement law, and educating on our community on the fundamental principles of boycott divestment and sanctions, we finalized question three.

During the writing process, we gathered our Palestinian leaders, our Jewish caucus, our BDS leaders, lawyers, electeds, to purposefully craft language in a way that was intentional.

We thought through every word precisely so that it aligns with creating material impact and honoring our commitment to Palestinian voices that guide our work.

Then we saw throughout the blistering summer months over 300 canvassers spending day, night, weekends, rain or shine on the Somerville streets, talking to neighbors, knocking on the doors of strangers, reaching out in English, Spanish, and Arabic, starting conversation after conversation about Palestine, with the ultimate goal of sharing why Palestine matters to us.

We found creative ways to connect with uh one another, with our neighbors, and with our city, and remind them that we do not have to sit silently watching genocide unfold.

And in November, I watched my community show up for Palestine in ways that I could have never imagined.

People showed up to vote in droves with 60% of Somerville for voting yes to divest, a momentous win for grassroots organizing.

The people of Somerville spoke and they said, not with our money, not with our taxes, and not in our city.

In my time in Somerville, I could have never imagined the amount of passion, care, and solidarity for Palestinian liberation.

This was a monumental win, not just for our city, but for the larger Palestinian BDS movement across the world.

It was our way of honoring the BDS movement's collectivist and creative approach to change, and continuing the legacy of Somerville as a city that divests, the way we did from prison labor in 2020 and in the 80s from South African apartheid.

That's right.

Back to the present.

Today we are enacting the will of the people, heeding the call of the nine eleven thousand five hundred and ninety-nine Somerville who voted yes to divest in November.

Please conclude your statement.

But the reality remains that there is an ongoing genocide of Palestinians being live streamed as we sit in the comfort of this room.

As I speak, Palestinians continue to endure unimaginable state-sanctioned violence, murder, and destruction funded by our tax dollars.

We are seeing the expansion of Israel's settler colonial project as Israel bombs, destroys, and kills civilians in southern Lebanon.

Please conclude your statement.

So now is your turn.

Fifteen seconds.

One, the addition of the American Friends Service Committee list, which identifies the most complicit companies.

Folks addition of the list will provide clarity around who to boycott.

The edit is essential in countering vague wording and creating a path towards implementation.

Folks in the gallery, I am presiding over this meeting.

I asked the speaker to try to keep it under two minutes.

She obviously was not informed that I'm going to provide a little leeway as I will to the other speakers.

I do not need your help looking at my watch.

Thank you.

I will appreciate your silence.

Please wrap up your statement.

You are beyond the time that it was agreed significantly.

Let me do the second point and I'll finish.

I suggest it takes more no more than five seconds, please.

You're being disrespectful to the other people in the room.

The second point is to tighten the procurement loopholes presented to ensure the ordinance has directed free material impact beyond symbolism and directly end our complicity in apartheid genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Free Palestine.

Thank you.

And again, please please do submit the full statement in writing.gov.

That way it'll get automatically in.

Okay.

Thank you.

Um state your name for the record, so make sure we can get it.

Erin Axelman.

Thank you.

Go right ahead.

Hello, friends.

My name is Aaron Axelman.

I've been a Somerville president for about 10 years.

I'm a proud Jewish American.

I feel completely safe and loved in Somerville.

In fact, I've never been more proud to live in Somerville than I am now.

I'm also a proud anti-Zionist, and I come from a long tradition of Jewish anti-Zionism.

I'm a filmmaker and I'm the co-director of the documentary Israelism, as well as the co-creator of Beyond Israel is a Monteo, and I led the U.S.

Digital Release and Social Media Campaign for the documentary No Other Land, the first film on Palestine to win an Oscar in history.

I'm a member of Somerville for Palestine and a part of the group's Jewish caucus.

I once supported Israel.

But like a majority of young American Jews now, I came to understand the brutal colonial and oppressive nature of Israel.

According to the Israeli government itself, 42% of young American Jewish teenagers believe Israel is not only an apartheid state, but is committing genocide.

There are many young Jews in this room right now, and all of them are part of the pro-Palestine movement.

None of them came with the pro-Israel camp.

There are also, of course, lots of older Jewish folks in our campus.

Well, I made it my wife's work, I've made it my life's work to try to help Americans, especially younger American Jews transform on the issue of Palestine.

Today is a beautiful day.

A beautiful day.

Today, despite the smears and threats of frivolous lawsuits from pro-Israel organizations, Somerville becomes moves closer to becoming one of the first cities in the US to divest from companies complicit in Israeli genocide and apartheid.

For the first time in history, a majority of all Americans support Palestine.

And we will be a commanding and even more commanding majority in the coming years.

Already a massive, massive majority of Democrats support divesting from Israel, and our numbers are only growing.

There is so much more work to do, but we are winning the narrative battle.

Somerville is part of winning that narrative battle.

Today we are calling on you, our elected officials in this room to heed the call of your constituents and pass a boycott ordinance for Palestine.

We need you.

We need our city council members to be brave and follow the clear will of our citizens.

This ordinance is a step in a long process to end our city's complexity in Israeli crimes.

Today we're asking all of you to stand on the right side of history.

Please add the American Friends Service Committee list and tighten the procurement loophole to ensure this ordinance is acted upon and is effective in giving the people of Somerville what we clearly voted for.

Somerville is one of the most progressive cities in America.

A hundred percent of our city council members are Democrats.

As our ballot initiative showed and is polling over and over and over again shows, the era of pro-Israel Democrats is over.

We need our city councilors to vote with the will of the people, and we will vote you out with a righteous fury if you do not.

Thank you so so much.

Thank you.

Thank you, folks.

And if I may, um I just want folks to understand too.

I'm the the the uh excuse me, sir.

Um we do have a very long agenda, and there's a number of items that we're gonna just and so I try and keep things moving because this is gonna go into committee.

As much for for as uh for as much reason as anything else that I don't like keeping our staff here too late into the night, and we're gonna be here late tonight.

So that's why I wanted to just keep things moving just so you know.

Um that's my primary motivation in in uh in setting time limits for these.

Um, as as the uh uh submitter of the item suggested, uh I do anticipate this will go to committee.

Uh so I saw uh Counselor Bayou also set.

Okay, I saw Councillor Saeed.

Thank you.

And um and as you know, Mr.

I got you next.

I have uh speakers as well.

All right.

I thank you, Mr.

President.

First, I would like to thank uh my colleagues, Council Wynn Campen and Consul Wheeler for putting this ethical procurement proposed ordinance before us.

Um I would also like to thank some of the Palestine community members for their advocacy work on this.

We wouldn't be here without that work.

As my colleagues have already mentioned, the majority of the voters said yes on the Palestine Ba question.

Uh and through this ordinance, we will be fulfilling the will of the people who voted yes.

Um it's time to turn that into policy.

Um we are also we all have seen it.

Thousands of Palestinian parents taking children out of the rubble.

You don't need to be a parent to know how it feels.

Uh we watch schools, hospitals, all of Gaza being destroyed.

This genocide is the most horrifying thing of our lifetime.

Here we have a chance to take action.

I wholeheartedly support this.

If we can take action on Israel's genocide in Palestine, then I don't know how we can still talk about human rights or community values.

I genuinely cannot go around in the community saying that I care about children, women, women's rights, human rights.

If it cannot support an ethical procurement ordinance, that's the least we can do.

Thank you, Councillor St.

Just flashed water into my eye.

Um, Councillor Straza, you're up next.

Thank you.

Uh I uh would like to sponsor two speakers.

I would also like to share my thoughts and uh the floor.

Okay, I and I will expect that my speakers will have the four minutes and thirty seconds that uh I will show grace to everyone within the so uh first I'd like to have Jeremy Burton, CEO of Jewish Community Relations Council come to speak by the floor.

I'd like to sponsor them speaking.

Councillor Strasser, I would like to sponsor the aforementioned individual.

Any objections?

All right, seeing none.

Please approach.

And just uh statement for record, as I said, um try and keep it to two minutes ish if you can.

The first counselor, uh the first speaker had four minutes and thirty seconds.

So that is as far as thank you.

Recognize and they will respect that.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you this evening.

I'm Jeremy Burton, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston.

With 40 member organizations and representing three denominations with over 130 congregations, we are the broadest collective voice of the Jewish community in Greater Boston.

I am here tonight not to debate the conflicts in the Middle East that bring great pain to many of us, nor to argue about solutions to these conflicts and our role in this work.

I am here to talk to you as civic leaders in Somerville and as someone who believes that all of us, as civic leaders in Massachusetts, have first and foremost a duty of care to our neighbors in our communities here.

A duty to ensure that all residents of the city and our commonwealth are welcome, safe, and know that they belong here.

You have heard time and again over the past year that the campaign around ballot question three has made members of Somerville's Jewish community feel unsafe and unwelcome in the city.

Throughout the past year, this campaign has led directly to a climate of intimidation.

It has included explicit anti-Semitic rhetoric directed at your constituents, and it has resulted in a broader demonization of well-meaning Jewish residents of this city.

I am here along with members of Shalom Somerville to urge you as civic leaders to take a pause and to lead a change in the discourse of this city.

We need to heal and bring all residents of the city together to commit to all of Somerville's people belonging here.

Moving forward with tonight's ordinance will continue to stir division in the city and will lead to more intimidation of some of your neighbors and more fear amongst some of your residents.

And I have to say that in a pluralistic democracy, with great respect, we cannot just bend to the will of the majority.

That is tyranny.

Together and with your leadership, Somerville can become again a city where all, including all the members of its Jewish community, are welcome, safe, and know that they belong.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you.

Councillor, all right.

Quiet, please.

Councillor Shezzer, to say hi to the speaker.

I would like to I have a second speaker.

Um I'd like to sponsor uh sponsor our uh resident Le Ron Baton.

Okay.

Councillor Schaus, I would like to sponsor Le Ron Baton.

See no objection.

Mr.

Maton, all right.

He as well, um, honoring the uh longest uh speaker 4.30 minutes, and then I will speak as well.

Thank you, Counselor, Mr.

President, honorable counselors.

Thank you.

Uh my name is Le Ron Bitone of 1087 Broadway, and I'm speaking tonight as an Israeli American who resides in Ward 7.

I know the topic of Israel and Palestine is deeply personal for many people, including myself, and there's no way for me to speak for anyone other than myself.

I was born as the only child to two Jewish people who came from very different parts of the world and of different Jewish experiences.

On my mother's side, I am descended from Ashkenazi Jews from the Bessaravia region of Moldova in eastern Europe because they fled from pogroms before they would have been murdered in the Holocaust.

On my father's side, I'm descended from Jews from Morocco and from Kurdish Iraq.

There are almost no Jews left in either of those countries.

Unfortunately, today, persecution has followed us.

This measure before you is without a doubt an act of hate and discrimination, targeted at the only Jewish state in the world, and exacerbates the very real persecution that Jews are now facing here in Somerville, across Massachusetts and throughout the world.

Leaning into this hate instead of fighting against it.

The city of Somerville is going back on its promise to be a welcoming community for all.

Members of my family have confided in me that they feel angry, scared, and afraid.

This law that singles out the only Jewish country, and I will continue to fight, whether this moves to committee or not, with every fiber of my being, to uphold the Somerville that I was promised.

A place that should be safe and welcoming and ensure belonging to all the people who reside here, not just those who look or pray or act in a certain way.

I have given countless hours of service.

But now I'm getting the strong message from my that my own family's particular brand of diversity is not welcome here.

So I begin to share my family's emotions of anger and of sadness and of fear.

You have time to step back from this action.

I hope that you do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Still has the floor?

Thank you.

Stop the democracy.

You're not giving this to others that folks, Council Shazo has the floor.

Silence, please.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh I was just going to collect my thoughts.

And first, let me mention it's hurtful to hear from my colleagues trying to say that if you only believe in what I believe in, then you're and if you don't, then you can't support women, or you can't support children.

That simplistic black and white thinking is what helps divide us as a community, unequivocally.

And it's offensive and it's hurtful.

And also the whole ageism concept that only some people like this.

Black and white thinking of some people like that, ageism of who supports what country or whatnot.

It's we're far more complex than that, and so is our community.

And I believe in us as that.

You know I'm someone who loves this city deeply and is committed to this city deeply every day.

I am someone who has given her energy, her voice, and her full commitment to every single person who calls Somerville home.

And I'm a proud Jewish woman.

And I say that not as a caveat, but as context, because it shapes who I am and who I serve and how I serve, and I will not set that aside.

Our city has long prided itself on being a welcoming community.

That is a value we have built together over decades, and it is something I cherish and hold close.

I believe in living with genuine care and concern for our neighbors.

I love that.

I believe in ethical government governance.

I believe in our city's spending should reflect our deepest values.

And I also believe with equal convocation that those values must extend to everyone, without exception.

Last week, I asked Mayor Wilson, and how is the administration defined equity?

He said, all means all.

That should be enough.

And if we are a welcoming city, that welcome cannot carry an asterisk.

The moment we start deciding who is and who isn't fully included in the community's embrace, we have failed the very principle we claim we uphold.

The principle that our city should not be should not contradict our values, values is when I stand behind completely.

The operative languages in subsections A and B speaks broadly about conduct recognized under international law.

And yet, the preamble to this ordinance, which frames its entire purpose, names a single country explicitly.

Legislation that singles out one country while remaining silent about other countries in the world raises serious questions about equal application and legal consistency.

This is not a matter of opinion.

This is structural flaw.

I want to also address something about how we got here.

Ballot question three was presented to Somerville voters and promoted publicly, including by its own proponents, as a non-binding advisory measure.

This is documented on public record.

Now those same voices are insisting it must be enforced as binding law.

Our residents deserve honesty and transparency about that distinction.

They voted on something they were told was advisory, non-binding.

That matters.

And here is the hard truth.

This ordinance, as drafted, is discriminatory and will be challenged in court.

The question is not whether a lawsuit comes, it is how much it is willing to cost us and what we will have to give up to pay for it.

That doublespeak matters.

Colleagues, I'm hearing from the people we represent every day in our Somerville life, and I'm wondering why we're contemplating international policy and overshadowing the needs of our constituents.

We'd swore we served.

A lot of families in the city surviving on $25 of snap benefit fits a month.

$25 a month.

Could you go to the grocery store?

Could you go to any grocery store?

And your your whole allowance for the month on groceries is $25 right here in Somerville.

Women and pregnant people lost their body autonomy.

Anti-abortion centers are receiving triple million dollars in federal funds now to carry on their destructive agenda.

Can we talk about that?

Actually, it has an impact on our city.

Yesterday and today, Teen Empowerment told us that some teenagers in this city are afraid to simply go outside and be teenagers because of ICE.

And at the same time, we're fighting alongside the school committee and parents across the district to secure six full-time staff positions that our schools desperately need.

We are being told that SBS does not have that money.

And we're facing another round of proposed water and sewer rates.

Stay tuned on that one tonight.

And yet we're looking down the barrel of a lawsuit.

We have infrastructure needs, etc.

You know, these are all these things that our constituents are living with every single day.

These are the conversations happening in our kitchen tables across Somerville.

And now we're being asked to consider an ordinance that I believe will genuinely cost litigation.

Litigation that will drain exactly the resources we are fighting so hard to protect.

Every dollar spending defending a lawsuit in court is a dollar not spent on teen empowerment on our schools and on those six staff members that all of you claimed were so vitally important.

Our food security and our most vulnerable residents on housing stability that all of us claim are so valuable, all of this affects our families.

We can't play callous games with our constituents' lives or play callous games with the finite resources of this city.

And procurement process, if this is enacted, will be even harder.

And we'll slow down city processes.

You know you're gonna hear about that if that goes through.

Because all means all.

Thank you, Council Chesson.

Other discussion.

Oh, Councilor Link.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um I just want to, I guess, reflect on all the the conversations that I've been hearing.

Um and uh I I hear time and time again that um that something like this is divisive.

Uh and I I can't help but notice that the divide is not the question that we're debating here.

The the divide, the division is the attack on on human rights, and it is not what we do here.

I understand, I understand so deeply the hurt that this causes, and I understand that the hurt it has been causing everyone.

And I just find it impossible to ignore suffering.

I want to see all of the people here.

Uh I there's no way that we can continue on like this, ignoring um what's happening in the world.

Uh I think we that means we have to pay attention and say when someone tells us that there is a genocide and apartheid when someone tells us when someone says that there is uh uh children dying, whether that is in Gaza, whether that is in Tibet, I don't care where it is, it's human suffering.

And we must see Yeah.

And we must see that stop.

I'm sorry.

As I said, I'm trying to allow a reasonable amount of grace as long as the speaker can continue gone.

Let's keep it okay.

All right, then that's enough.

That's silence.

Councilor Link has the floor.

I'll wrap it up quick because it seems like we've gotten to uh the the conclusion here.

I uh plan to to support this.

I would like to co-sponsor.

And uh I look forward to talking to anyone about this at any point in time, but uh you know, I think that it's really clear to me the where my moral compass lies, and that's why I have to be the folks folks.

This is any further discussion.

Silence, folks.

Not recognized.

Council Campbell, you have a motion?

I'd like this to be sent to legislative matters committee, please.

Councillor and Campin moves for this to be sent to legislative matters.

Is there any discussion?

Councilor Scott.

On the motion, Mr.

President.

Uh I believe our next legislative matters meeting is scheduled for June 30th, due to all the issues in budget season.

Uh so I will be taking it up at our earliest uh reasonable opportunity, and I'll be sure to communicate the um the committee process that we followed and the expectations there clearly to all committee members and members of the council.

Thank you.

Motion before us is to send this item to legislative matters.

Is there any objection?

To voice vote, all in favor?

Aye.

Okay, all opposed.

Okay.

Eyes have it, that'll go to the committee.

Thank you.

Do we want to do you all want to stay and hear about water and sewer?

Or do you want me to give you a recess to uh to head for folks who want to head off?

So let's let's take a brief recess for the folks who stand in a brief recess while the chamber is clear.

If counselors could come on back in and find your seats and we'll keep kicking this one forward.

Something out there that I want to read understand what you might have to do.

All right, folks, if you want to stick around and hear about the rest of the agenda, including a really thrilling presentation on water and sewer rates, which is gonna be really difficult.

Then please do.

Otherwise, please clear the chambers so we can continue the s the council's business.

All right.

Folks, if you're here to watch the rest of the proceedings, please feel free to stay.

I love a good crowd.

If not, please clear the chambers.

All right.

Um I will call this meeting back to order.

I can see that we have a quorum.

Um thank you, folks, for uh for um all the cooperation in getting through the last few items here.

We have a few more items we want to take out of order, including the one that Councillor Scott noted that there's some members of the public here.

So um, as I mentioned earlier, it's always my my my policy to uh put members of the public who are here to to uh see or speak on an item ahead of uh city staff and all of the all of uh uh those folks go ahead of the counselors ourselves, because we're gonna be here to the bitter end anyway.

So um uh at Councillor Scott's request, I'd like to take uh 9.16 out of order, unless there's any objection to that.

All right, seeing none, Madam Clerk, would you please read item 916?

9.16, 89 registered voters submitting a petition requesting a public hearing regarding police body worn cameras pursuant to section 2-11 of the city charter.

Counselor Scott.

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh I just wanted to uh make sure that we got this before us.

Uh this was uh petition that was collected by uh quite a few members of the public, obviously.

Um it has a cover sheet, which is just one page.

Uh it's very short.

Um it functionally requests that the Summer World City Council uh convene a public hearing regarding the potential adoption of police body worn cameras.

Uh and uh requesting specifically that we hold that hearing before we act on any approvals that would allow the adoption of body worn cameras.

So uh to that end, uh I would like to sponsor one of the lead organizers of the petition.

Uh yes, Mr.

Rice, Derek Rice, if uh without objection, sir.

Councillor Scott would like to sponsor Derrick Rice to speak.

Seeing no objection.

Mr.

Rice, please approach the question.

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh Derek Rice, 49 Craig Street.

Um I don't have written remarks prepared.

Uh and I think I join you all in feeling a little energized.

So pardon me as I collect myself.

Um the gist of this is to ask for what has been promised and what has expectations that have been set through the s city's own studies and paid consultancies, um, including um the SPD operations report, which says that it is vital that robust public engagement process be undertaken, that the policy be shaped by community input, the engagement should be varied, including opportunities for individuals to submit comments online, listening sessions open to the public, and direct engagement with community groups.

Um I'm grateful for our charter reform ability to have a citizen petition for public hearing.

Which creates, I think, a bit of a conundrum from uh democratic principles and values perspective.

Um so uh we request this public hearing, um, and in particular ask that um you do not take any final actions that would be very difficult to undo, should you find from your constituents that you were move to do otherwise.

That's all.

I'm sorry, may I add?

Go ahead.

Um I would also like to add that it would be in the public interest to have the administration on the record with their intentions on timeline.

Um and that they be aware that this public hearing request is on the table uh and requires a two-week notice and therefore will not be able to be had until uh some time from now.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Counselor Scott.

Uh thank you very much, Mr.

President.

Uh in terms of scheduling a public hearing, of course that will be at the discretion of the president, uh, unless you'd like to send this to a committee for a public hearing.

But uh I just appreciate it and uh look to you for which action, what action you'd like to take on this.

So this is a request for public hearing because these um the uh the related items, so let's take a step back.

Um there are actually three other items.

Well, there's four items technically, but three that are that are sort of directly related to the um ultimate determination of whether to approve the use of uh this type of technology.

Um the two direct ones are the uh uh surveillance technology impact report and the technology specific use policy.

Um it's my ex expectation those will be sent to legislative matters as has been the this inner practice for other uh surveillance technology impact uh um uh wait a minute.

I'm getting I'm getting yeah, impact reports or requests, the ultimately the the sort of the um the initial request to use the uh the technology.

So I think it would be appropriate to refer this item to legislative matters if that's okay with you, Mr.

Chair.

That way we can have that conversation all together.

Um and let me take the uh take the opportunity now.

Um as as as Derek said uh in his speech, uh it's fair to say that that um we have uh we the council has had uh a lot of conversation about this topic recently.

The vast majority of that has been executive session because it has it is been framed around collective bargaining.

Um but to be clear, whether or not to so there is in um both of the police um collective bargaining agreements that currently exist, um the the old ones, there is a a section that says body worn camera policy.

Um that's been there for years.

We've never used the technology.

Um we never use the technology because it wasn't approved by the council um through the surveillance technology uh uh ordinance.

Um that remains the requirement to to use the the technology is that it be approved through the through the council through a surveillance technology impact report.

Um and nothing that is in the collective bargaining agreements changes that.

What what has been open up for discussion, and because we have one of those um collective bargaining agreements before us now and it's public, you can see that the the section of that that is labeled body worn camera policy is now different.

Um we had a lot of conversations about that thing and the and and folks can now see the uh the the differences.

So the the decision as to onto whether to uh for the council to approve that collective bargaining agreement um is in part everything else in the agreement, um, and in part whether we think the changes from that one section that refers to body one cameras is better now uh and preferable now.

Even if if the council decides to go forward in that, that doesn't mean that we will use body one cameras.

Um body one cameras will not be implement implemented until unless and until a surveillance technology impact report is approved.

I mean in this case a technology specific use policy policy is adopted.

Those are the two items that are also before us that I mentioned I anticipate will be sent to legislative matters.

So sort of pulling a bunch of different items before us here, but I thought what we that now that we're on the topic, we might as well get get sort of everything out on the table so folks understand the process.

Um so that I uh to that end, I think having this conversation and having this hearing seems like the right place to have it, because that's where we'll actually decide uh whether to go forward and um and whether to there whether there are additional issues that aren't reflected in the collective bargain agreement um that might apply to the use of this technology.

The collective bargain agreement needs to address things that are legally required for collective bargaining.

That's not the entire universe of what a policy might say, and we'll obviously have our council and uh to guide us on that as we uh go forward with that conversation.

But um yeah, long-winded way of uh coming back around to saying I think this ought to go to legislative matters, Mr.

Chair, if uh unless there's an objection from anyone.

Um look, I'll look to you first if you have any uh discussion on that.

No objection to taking the item in legislative matters.

Uh it will take a while to schedule that public hearing, but unfortunately we have time.

Uh that said, uh, you are also referring, I believe, to items.

Oh, geez.

There's a lot of items out here.

Uh the good counselor from Word 2.

It's true, sir.

So the other two I was referring to are oh shoot, I thought it was 7.31 and 7.32, sir, are both uh surveillance technology impact reports related to body worn cameras.

So I'd like to do that.

So yes, so Councillor Scott, I uh I do, however, I I think I'm inclined to to um take those up in in order, um, only because there's there's my understanding is the administration has some folks here to sort of talk on those a bit and allow folks who aren't in committee to maybe have some initial questions.

Um but I don't want to push, I don't want to bump those ahead of everything else that's in line.

So but at your request, we took this one I this item up because we do have a member did have a member of the public here on it.

Um so uh you know we might we might we'll we'll we'll come back to the issue, but I wanted to speak to all of it so that folks get the full picture and all the connected pieces.

That all makes sense to everyone.

All right.

So Mr.

President, if I understand you anticipate taking up 5.1, 7.31 and 7.32 in their regular order of the meeting tonight.

Yes, sir.

Uh unless there's a uh request to take them up out of order.

A member can always make a make that request, and if there's no objection, we can certainly do that.

However, as I as I said, um there are uh other members of staff here to present to us on various items, and I uh you I I my default position is to is to uh you know uh go with the administration's request based on who has the earliest bedtime that they got to.

So but uh as always, if there's a you know if there's a compelling substantive reason, then you know we can it's it's up to us at the end of the day.

Uh perhaps I can uh simply ask that we take it up uh after 7.2 through 5 and 14, uh which is I believe the last uh early item that we're taking up because I do know there are members of the public here who uh are um that's very interested in the outcome of those.

Okay.

That seems like a reasonable request.

Um very good.

Uh counselor Hart, I saw your hand up.

Thank you so much.

Um Mr.

President, and I appreciated your overview of all the different items and um the procedures.

And just for my my own understanding and perhaps the public as well.

I'm curious, there's also the item that I believe is still before the finance committee of the acceptance of the grant related to body war and cameras.

And I'm just wondering if you could uh say a word about how that fits into the timeline.

That remains in finance committee pursuant to the surveillance technology ordinance, and unless I'm just misremembering because it's been a long week, the grant can't be accepted until a stir is approved by the by the council.

So that's why it remains in finance.

Counselor Wheeler, do you want to speak to that?

Um just uh on that topic.

Uh I've been informed and I hope I'm summarizing this correctly, that uh there is a a plan to uh replace that item with another one relating to the same grant process but with a smaller grant amount uh to refer specifically to uh a body worn camera pilot with the superior officer contract.

Um so that that is my current understanding.

Uh just sharing that openly.

Uh we have not seen that replacement item, but I am anticipating it.

Okay, so the um that item will not be taken up until after the STIR if and when the stir was adopted.

Is that correct?

That's correct.

The grant can't be accepted until the STIR is approved.

I I may be oversimplifying that and forgive me as I said, it's been a long week, but that that's m uh more or less that's that's how it works.

Um there are discussion?

All right.

So on the item before us, which is six nine one six, we'll refer that to um well, let's just see what what is the do we need to so we will we will place that one on file with a copy to um legislative matters for that public hearing to be held.

Very good.

All right.

Um now we're so we're gonna go back to the aforementioned um now we get to the really exciting stuff, water and sewer.

Um so we're gonna do water and sewer next.

Then we have a series of financial items that the administration has requested that we consider this evening, and then after that we will come back around to uh the body warm camera uh items.

Um perhaps uh uh Director Neji Williams, do we have um uh counsel counsel the attorney Sirigu here as well?

So do we want to take up 5.1 to well, I guess we'll take a 5.1 before the rest of it before we go back to the regular item so he can go to bed at some point.

All right, so we'll we'll lump 5.1 in there as well so that we can uh let our chief labor counsel turn off the zoom after all that.

All right.

Um so that brings us back to our list of out of order items.

Uh back around to item 7.1.

Madam Clerk, would you read the item, please?

Yes.

7.1 requesting approval of fiscal year 2027 water and sewer rates.

Director Raish.

Good evening.

How many slides do we have today?

Davis, only 38 tonight.

Uh city counselors for your record, Richard Rage, Director of Infrastructure and Asset Management.

City counselors for your record, Richard Rage, Director of Infrastructure and Asset Management, I think soon to be director of infrastructure, or maybe czar of the built environment or Mr.

Mr.

President, if I may.

Mr.

Strasbo.

Thank you to Director Rach.

There better not be any rush.

Any rush references in this.

I will, however, try to rush through the slides in the interest of everyone's uh time tonight.

Um so we'll start off tonight.

This this deck does have a number of slides that you uh may have seen before.

They are here for the benefit of the records that we can attach this to the item uh if anyone wants to refer back.

Um, also for the benefit of the newer members.

If there's anything that we want to drill down on either tonight or um after this in my office, I'm happy to go into any more detail on any of these.

Um to actually kick it up kick us off tonight with uh uh you know what are our expenses that drive our rates.

Uh I'll hand it over to uh Michael Richards, uh, who has been the director of finance and administration for infrastructure and asset management, and in the past year has been pulling double duty.

Uh also director of inf of uh finance administration for water and sewer, and under the reorg uh with the budget that we will be discussing on Wednesday night, it will be one uh administration uh with uh both under the same.

So with that, I'd like to turn it over to Michael Richards.

Great.

Thank you all.

Uh uh as Director Ray Shah, it's my name is Michael Richards.

I'm the director of finance and administration speaking uh in my role as water and sewer.

Uh so tonight we're we're before you to ask for and propose our rates for increases to water and sewer.

Um so we want to talk about why we are before you now, uh, what these rates pay for.

What is it that we do with this?

Uh these rates remind you, we are Could you do me a favor and just try to get the mic a little bit closer?

And I'm seeing some some hands going to ears and then we're gonna hear behind you.

So thank you.

Is that better?

Excellent.

So as a reminder, we are a public utility.

We are not a money-making or money uh profiting enterprise.

We are here to raise revenue based on expenses that we've identified uh to meet those expenses.

Uh so the rates before you are based on our expense projections for the coming years, particularly for this uh upcoming FY27.

So what we have before you are operations maintenance for our system.

It's a built system uh intended to deliver safe drinking water, effective sewer and wastewater removal, uh, and providing on-demand fire prevention services and fire protection services through the fire hydrants.

These services are required uh as to meet constituents' needs on a 24-7 uh basis, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

We're on call.

When you turn on the faucet, you're expecting clean drinking water on demand.

When you see a storm in your neighborhood, you expect the sewers to be open and the flood waters to recede and roads to be clear.

When you call a fire hydrant and they're tasks to come out to open those fire hydrants, you expect that to be ready on demand.

To maintain these systems, it's uh our teams are there working in the background uh tirelessly to maintain and operate these managing systems.

So when you need it, it is there on demand.

What we have are hundreds of miles of built infrastructure underground, out of sight, out of mind, that you can't see.

We take it for granted.

Um this functioning system is so often taken for granted, but it requires a lot of maintenance to uh ensure that this that they continue to function properly.

The same goes for the above-ground assets.

We have thousands of uh physical assets above ground here with the manhole covers, catch basins, fire hydrants.

All of this maintenance requires time, effort, and money.

And that's part of our expenses and our annual operating budget.

And we are an old city.

We're built on an old and aging infrastructure.

Uh it's just the nature of who we are and where we are.

Um sewer pipes that we see below our feet or below our roads, uh, are so old they can be termed in in aged in terms of pre-sinking of the Titanic or pre-Civil War.

Uh many of these pipes are generations old, and the cost of maintaining and the cost of failure to these pipes uh is a real cost that we we bear, and that is funded through these uh consumption and base charge rates that we have.

In addition to the aging infrastructure, the there is rising maintenance to these these uh maintaining these pipes.

As they fail, uh it's not it's no longer simple fix to just go and pick up the hole and fix that one pipe.

Every time you're touching these um old and aging pipes, there's an uh a risk to damaging something further on down the line.

So we have as we maintain manage, repair, and ultimately have to replace these, the these costs continue to increase.

And similarly to consumers as we all are, and go into the store and see rising costs for clothes, eggs, gas, all that.

The city is no different.

We have to purchase products, materials, pipes, brass fittings, and we also bear that cost as we are purchasing through contracts, and those contractual costs continue to rise.

So, brief snapshot of our water operations team, what they do uh when they get that call.

They're in the field to handle emergency management calls, daily-to-day operations overnight, 24-7, conducting monthly water tests uh in homes and samples to make sure we have clean drinking water.

We're doing lead sampling again to make sure that we're not being exposed to dangerous levels of lead.

Um, this is daily operations that require dedicated staff and time and money.

Again, same goes for our super operations.

We're out there 24-7 responding to the Superman call-outs overnight uh emergencies, day-to-day operations, it's those manhole covers, you call on sinkholes.

We have staff there that will receive those calls, those 311 alerts, the Q alerts, uh, and have to be in the field to respond to those.

Now I mentioned our staffing.

This is something that we've struggled with in years past, uh, and we have been addressing this slowly.

Uh, but this is a real challenge.

And so we have recently hired one laborer on the water division to help out to expand to uh uh our field operations, but unfortunately we still have a number of vacancies that you can see here uh up and down through water and sewer divisions are our field operations.

We have a very lean team, so we have to supplement this with contractors.

Obviously, we've continued to work with our HR team to OC's positions, interview positions.

It's been very difficult to find attract and retain talented staff or any staff for that matter for these positions.

Uh the other half of that equation for in aside from the field operations are the billing and administrative functions.

Now, as we have those teams that are repairing the the operations of the field, so too do we have the administrative and billing staff that are core to assessing our charges and billing them accurately to our constituents.

So up here we've got a snapshot of a few of the things that we've done here with our administrative team with our billing team.

We successfully transitioned from a triannual and some bi-monthly bills to a quarterly billing system, uh, reduce the number of districts down to three regional districts and one nonprofit, with the intent of uh simplifying this for all of our bill payers so they understand they have a better ability to budget for their bills, greater frequency of bills means that they're each time out of pocket, uh, they're better able to budget for the whole year.

It does not did not impact their rates or change what their year over year would be.

It was just a greater frequency and reduced cost for those bills.

Um our team has sent out thousands of mailers this year, both for notifying folks at the quarterly billing.

We're endeavoring now to notify for delinquents, delinquent accounts, which is a very big effort that we're undertaking and we'll be uh undertaking FY27, something that has not been completed by our department in recent years, and I'll look in get to that in a moment why that has such a big impact on our operations, our function, and ultimately for our other ratepayers.

You'll see we have 76 new accounts created, over 76 new accounts created this year.

That's uh those are new water taps.

That's more stress on the system, but that's new development.

That's great for us, but it also means additional operational costs to maintain that system.

Uh and we have over 915 meters replaced.

Members of this council may be familiar with this meter replacement program that's been going on for four years now.

It's been a very large effort for us, and we're nearing the end of it.

Uh, but this is key to our operations to ensure that we're billing accurately and having these new meters replaced uh and getting an accurate representation of how much consumption our our constituents have used, so we're accurately uh receiving those funds to recoup our costs uh and payments to MWA and others.

On our next slide, we have uh uh at the top here, it's over 15,000 accounts in water scope.

Water scope for those unfamiliar is our online free system for all uh accounts that have uh a new meter.

This is a very powerful and useful tool if you do not, if you're not signed up for it yourselves already.

I highly recommend this.

This allows you to go online and see your minute by minute consumption, and it breaks out by when you're washing your hands, when you flush the toilet, when you're running the sink.

Uh it allows us a great, it's a very powerful tool for us to monitor when we are receiving requests or calls from our constituents to see how things are working and if they're having a leak or something to that that effect.

You see, we have roughly a third of the accounts in the city, however, are signed up to receive those notifications that something we're working with communications to send out mailers and let folks know this is available to them.

This is a tool for them to monitor their own consumption, monitor their own leaks.

I below that I have the the leak notification program.

I think this is a a great tool that we've, and frankly, common sense tool that we've uh initiated this year, where it's similar to if you see something, say something.

When our teams are interacting with constituents, when we take a phone call, when we get an email from someone asking about a bill or changing their address, we uh are now taking a look in water scope and saying, hey, hold on a line, or let me get back to you, and and we provide them with that information to say, yes, we identify your bills larger than expected.

We believe there may be a leak here.

Uh in the past that may have just gone unnoticed if you're not signed up for this, and then you get hit with a big bill, and it's no one's benefit, really.

Again, we're not making money on this.

It's not our intention to profit from this.

If if there is a leak, it's consumption.

We have to pay the MWA for that consumption.

It doesn't benefit the department, it doesn't benefit the residents to have a leak go unnoticed.

Uh so we're making a bigger push to make sure that folks are aware of what the system has, what we can do for them, and just overall provide better customer service.

Uh I mentioned the meters here and the with the meter replacement program.

Sorry, stepping back one.

Uh there have been questions in recent years about the accuracy of the meters.

And we have wholeheartedly supported our meter tests and the accuracy of our meters.

Um this year we were 25 for 25 on requests to say, I think there's something wrong with my meter.

It's pretty typical when we say uh a resident has a question on a high water bill and they come in and say, There's something wrong.

I think my meter must be wrong.

That's the problem.

Our team looks at this and often we identify them there's a leak in the system uh or some other unintended use or mechanical failure that's leading to higher than expected consumption.

Um that's our first step to make sure because there is a cost to them to request a meter test, but obviously we share the policy with them, let them know their rights.

Uh and if if ultimately they say, Nope, that's the it's the meter, I want to have that checked out.

We pass them on to our teams.

Uh we now have two contractors providing those services.

And again, we have not had a meter fail, these tests.

Uh kind of I'm kind of bearing the lead here.

These last two bullets I think are the core function of our office and the success of our function.

It's reconciling our accounts and the uh leaned to tax amount.

So in recent years, we've had some difficulty in the office with data accuracy with account accuracy, which has led to some difficulty with billing.

Meaning if we don't have an address correct, if we don't have a property owner correct, and we're issuing a bill, that bill is not being paid.

That means we're not getting revenue.

We are assessing our revenue based on our expenses.

If we cannot receive our revenue as projected, that burden is carried by the city.

So in recent years, we have been unable to lean to tax delinquent bills.

These bills are over a year past due, up to three years past due.

These are not, hey, I missed a bill and I'm it's going on my my tax for the next year.

These are long-term delinquent bills.

Uh and for a number of years, we did not do this.

That means with ratepayers that are not paying their bills for many years, their neighbors are picking up that costs.

This year we endeavor to fix that and to identify accounts that we were positive and confident that uh we had the accurate information.

Uh, and we're we're happy to announce that we did lean over 1.2 million to tax on uh select accounts.

Our goal this coming year is to increase that value volume as we have more confidence in these accounts that we continue to reconcile.

Uh our last slide before I hand it over to the uh the main attraction here for the the ratepayers uh and the rate presentation.

Want to share the update on our staffing.

This is uh in our success is largely driven to by our staffing changes this year.

We've had a great opportunity to promote from within.

Uh we have a lot of qualified and and exciting uh and passionate staff members.

We've also had an opportunity to fill some new positions that were created by this council last year, particularly the uh director, or sorry, the service operations manager in the utility billing manager position.

This allowed our professional admin teams to build out and have more leadership and direction.

Um with that, I will be available for questions afterwards, but I will hand it over to Director Rish Raish to get to the rate presentation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So those are the items that go into the annual budget, right?

The the water and sewer field operations, the billing, the service managers, all the business that we need to uh to execute on a daily basis to keep water and sewer uh running in the right directions 24 hours a day, uh 365 days a year, and operate what's essentially a business within the city.

It is a utility.

Um a large portion though of what uh drives our rates is the capital investment plan.

And as we've discussed before on the next slide, our pipes are very old uh and were ignored for uh decades uh until essentially the past 10 years, where we were now playing catch up on that.

On the next slide, uh you you can see you know, it's it's not just that the pipes are old or are in uh risk of of breaking.

Because the system itself is old, it requires a whole bunch of upgrades to to meet modern needs.

And this is just sort of an example of uh, you know, the the things that we we need to address uh in terms of the capital investment plan, including uh permitting requirements like the CSO requirements uh that we talked about a couple months ago.

Uh on the next slide, you can see sort of our our driving principles for that.

Uh, you know, the the first thing is fulfill our regulatory requirements, improve the level of service, mitigate flooding, and reduce risk.

Um I I think most of the members of uh the council have heard me talk about this.

Many of the newer members have uh had one-on-ones.

Happy to have uh a deeper dive into the capital investment plan uh and and what drives these rates uh anytime you like.

So, you know, that's what our expenses are the annual operating, the looking forward to the capital investment.

So then how do we uh use this information on the next slides uh to uh determine the rates?

What goes into this rate recommendation?

So first we can look at the fiscal outlook for uh fiscal 27.

And first up, we have uh the water outlook.

Uh you know, as as we discussed a couple of months ago, uh it's true on the sewer side, it's true on the water side.

The largest portion of our expense is the MWRA bill.

Um, and this is non-negotiable.

We buy water wholesale from MWRA, and we then have to pay.

So, in round numbers, 64% of the water bills that we collect go directly to the MWRA.

The next largest expense is that debt service.

That is uh the the prior years and the prior several years capital investments.

Um, most of those uh are funded through bonds.

Um we have you we have a balance of uh funding mechanisms, but the lion's share are uh commercially let bonds uh which then have depending upon what asset it is, either a 15 or 20 year payback period.

And by law, the first thing we have to pay back out of every dollar we bring in is that debt service.

Uh then the smaller pieces of the pie are that operations and maintenance, the personal services, and the capital outlay.

Those are sort of the more discretionary annual items that we can play with uh in the in the budget.

But again, the the biggest drivers are somewhat outside of our um uh our purview, that MWRA and debt service.

On the next slide, you can see that the same breakdown for sewer.

Um the the numbers are larger uh on the sewer side, uh the percentage of MWRA, well, the number is larger is is smaller, but it's the same sort of story, and again, debt service uh is is the next largest slice of pie.

Now we can't, you know, we also have to think about what tomorrow's debt service will be as we're raising these rates because the capital projects that we're not here asking to be authorized today, those are all separate appropriations.

But all of these things that are necessary to keep the system operating because the alternative is far worse.

It means the system fails and we have service interruptions, and it's far more expensive to fix a broken pipe live in the field than to proactively uh uh upgrade the system.

Um we have to look forward on that.

That we had in rate adjustments annually prior to uh 2019.

Uh we even had some negative adjustments year over year that then led to uh higher adjustments the following year.

So we've been trying to have this more more disciplined uh approach and forward-looking approach to to avoid uh annual rate shock.

Now, two years ago, uh the water and sewer department and the administration uh were unable to come to an agreement with the city council.

Uh and as a result, there was a zero percent increase uh in fiscal twenty-five, which then for fiscal twenty-seven led to a rebound uh and also anticipating further rebounds uh in 27 and beyond.

But again, on the next slide, you know, what we're looking at here when we're we're we're projecting these rates are all of the components.

We have to have revenue sufficiency, we cannot by law operate an enterprise fund in a deficit.

We have to have the cash on hand to serve uh what we need.

Uh so let's take a look at uh you know what our tool is on the on the next couple of slides.

You know, how do we do these long-range projections?

So we have a rate model.

Uh, if you go two slides for it now.

Uh we have a rate model.

Um, it's it looks at a 10-year picture.

Uh we sort of we know what next year's budget is, and we sort of project out um annual increases for that budget.

Uh, but again, the bigger driver for that is the capital investment plan and the debt service that um uh results from it.

Uh and so we look at a few key metrics on this rate model.

So if we advance one slide, you can see the highlighted a couple of graphs there that are our our operating fund uh versus our our target are we what we strive to have is that uh our incoming revenues and expenses uh are very close to each other uh and above minimum thresholds.

Uh on the next uh highlight um this is then the uh the the stabilization accounts, much like the uh general fund, we have stabilization uh accounts in case something goes horribly wrong, and we seek to maintain a minimum balance in that.

Uh the next one uh highlighted is is the bar of debt service coverage and debt service uh to revenue ratio.

Uh as we discuss on the general fund, uh there are several strategies that we need to keep, several financial metrics that we need to keep on the general fund to keep our triple A bond rating, which is vital to keeping those borrowing costs low so that future debt service payments uh are minimized.

We have to do the same thing with the enterprise funds, and the debt service coverage and debt to service ratio debt service to revenue ratio are the key metrics that uh the bond rating country uh companies look at uh and and we have to keep those within uh um the the guidelines that they establish.

So let's take a quick look back uh on the next slide and the slide after that uh at you know what we said last year.

Um again in fiscal 25 we had zero zero, we had the uh rebound with an 18 percent increase uh in fiscal 26, and we anticipated that we would also need an 18 percent increase in fiscal 27 uh to to maintain all of the metrics that we need uh for a healthy water enterprise fund uh and and anticipated that we could drop down to drop to 10 percent uh in uh fiscal 28 and 29.

Over on the sewer side, uh that was a 15 percent increase, I think, on the next slide.

It was 12 percent increases, sorry, um and uh pr uh projected uh 12 percent uh again for fiscal 27 and 28.

Uh though those projections were done before we advanced the combined sewer overflow plan.

Uh and on the next slide, as you recall uh from our CSO update in March, once we accounted for the larger uh CSO expenses that we are apparently on the hook for uh our model, which was a different model because we had to play with a number of different scenarios.

We were projecting a 20% increase for fiscal 27 at that time.

Which now brings us to where we are today and the item before the council for action this year, the the fiscal 27.

Uh so where we wound up landing is 15% for water.

Uh that is lower than what we had projected last year at this time, the 18% for water, uh, and there's a primary driver for that.

Um that is the success that uh Director Richards just described to you.

Um with the new hires in the billing and operations and and service groups over in water, uh, and with Director Richards' leadership and with Tom Trainer's excellent uh work uh on the front line.

Um our cash receipts this year were much better than they have been historically.

We are actually catching up with billing and uh as a result because we're taking in that money from the delinquent uh bill holders, we don't have to spread that expense over onto all the other people who are paying their bills.

Um so as a result, rather than needing an 18%, uh our our projections are now at 15%.

Um so you know, we don't come forward uh in any frivolous manner.

We know that these rates uh are a large burden to our constituents, and we don't propose anything that we don't absolutely need.

Uh so in the the development of this rate proposal, we've already negotiated against ourselves.

Uh it would have been very easy for us to double down on the 18% and and say that's that.

But we took a hard look at what our expenses, what our projected expenses are, what our actual revenue uh intake was in the past year, and decided we can responsibly move forward with a 15% increase rather than uh uh 18%.

Uh this keeps uh our our short-term metrics in line.

You will notice the the debt service to revenue ratio uh line goes into the red, um, which the way we operate this model for you know this year and projecting into next year.

We're comfortable with that because if you look at the operating fund, those those bars uh are above the target.

That means we're building up a little bit of cash, which means that uh in fiscal 28 or 29, we will be able to cash fund a project rather than then bond fund that project.

And so we'll be able to bring that down.

Um we don't we don't go into a lot of details on on those projections at this point because every year we've got different uh funding mechanisms, we don't really commit to it, but all these metrics tell us that we have the capability to uh uh operate the fund in a responsible manner.

Over on the sewer side on the next slide, it's a similar uh story.

Uh in March, we were thinking we were gonna need a 20 percent uh increase.

Uh there are two stories on the on the sewer side.

One is that increased uh uh on the next slide.

Um is the increased intake that we're we out of slides?

Okay.

Uh so again it's it's the it's the same story.

Um just bring it up.

Recording in progress.

Because the cash receipts are better uh than we were anticipating.

And the other thing that we were able to do is take a harder look at the CIP uh and defer some projects.

Uh you know, we we were initially being very aggressive with where um they were were uh on the timetable, we're able to defer some and bring it down.

So again, instead of a 20 percent, uh we can responsibly go with a 15 percent there.

Again, we've already negotiated against ourselves.

Uh the story here is is the same.

You know, those those red bars are the dangers, but we're building up the cash uh so that we can cash finance and and avoid um the debt uh in the few future years.

Uh now on the next slide, I I want to sort of uh project where you know where all of this is going and and why it's important for us to be making these uh rate increases now in anticipation of all those things, cash financing and and having revenue sufficiency.

We anticipate that over the next 10 years, again the duration of this model, um, that you know our those operating expenses year over year will only grow modestly, essentially at a four percent uh increase per year.

Uh but the uh debt service that we need to take on for the capital projects um uh again mostly driven from the combined sewer overflow program uh will increase you know over 300 percent um and be 14 percent uh year over year.

Uh and the MWRA assessment is also anticipated to grow um uh sort of above inflation at a at a 5.6 percent uh increase per year.

So that brings us to to to the to the bill impacts um for uh you know different uh uh customers uh for a single family home, a condo, two family and three family.

Uh these are the sort of numbers that uh we show every year.

Again, it's it's a 15% increase, but this shows what the um the dollars are uh and on the next slide you can see the the same thing broken out for a couple of different kinds of businesses.

And then finally on the last slide um is the the specific uh increases.

You know, if if you look at your water bill on the back of the water bill, you'll see what uh what the breakdowns are on the volumetric rates and the base rates, uh, and this will be what the uh new rates will be with the 15 percent increase.

And again, we're uh proposing only adjustments to the volumetric rate and keeping the base rate, which we adjusted last year where it is uh because it is still consistent with industry standard.

So thank you uh for bearing with us through that presentation.

Happy to have uh discussion, answer any questions now.

Council Ewan Captain.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh two questions.

So first my recollection, we always get a slide that shows what the average bill is gonna look like this year compared to the next.

Did I miss it?

Uh yeah, it was I just rushed through the last three slides.

So if you go back two.

Okay, thank you.

Can you just leave this?

That's for commercial.

If you go back one more, there's the residential.

And that's for a typical condo, a typical single family, typical two family, typical three family, uh, and then a larger condo unit.

Okay, thank you.

Um the other question I have is when you showed the uh projected next 10 years, the rates, the green, yellow, reds.

Um, it looks like this year is the high point in terms of rate of increase, right?

You're you're gonna ask us for 15 percent this year, the projection is next year 10-10, and then it looked like it turned to fives and threes.

Um that's good.

Uh I guess the question is it looked to me like it was 15, 10, 10 for the next 10 years, two years, three years.

Is there a reason that it's not 12, 12, 12, you know, spread it out?

How does that work?

Yeah, through the chair, um it it it may be next year, you know, instead of doing 15, we might do 12, if you're doing 15, 10, we might decide to do 12, 12.

Um the the challenge that we have in any given year looking out is um again, one of the the the biggest drivers is that future debt service and managing that future debt service.

Um and right now we're trying to build up cash so that we can avoid uh a year of debt altogether.

Um but that isn't our you know the commercial uh market isn't our only uh um source.

We also look at some MWRA programs.

Uh sometimes there are grant funds, uh sometimes like for the lead service a couple of years ago, um DEP uh under the Biden administration had a big push on that.

And uh we switched over to that, which was I forget it was almost like a 40 percent grant.

Um that was something that we couldn't have anticipated two years before that, but we jumped on it.

Um so we don't gild the lily too much in the two to three to four years out because we don't know exactly where we're gonna fall on opportunities for financing.

Um but you know, in in broad strokes, um, you know, we we do anticipate that it's only a few more years of the larger increases, and then we can definitely level off.

Mr.

President, I'll just say I obviously want to hear what all my colleagues have to say.

Last year I I made a formal proposal.

I don't know that many colleagues agreed that the city council should not be the body that approves these.

I I just think it's a crazy way to run this process because uh I view a lot of this as non-discretionary, basically critical infrastructure.

I think we should do what a lot of other cities do and have a commission that's appointed that has time to review this, not just in one night 30 slides.

Um I I still recommend that we go that direction ultimately.

Um, but my my basic view is this is not really discretionary in my mind.

Other discussion?

Councillor Both.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh to Dr.

Rich.

Thank you for your complex presentation.

I guess I'm looking at uh um wondering, let me not let me just maybe try to harmonize it.

Uh you guys had explore like this residential discount or resident exemption, and you said some of the explanation was that uh the discount landlords would transfer them to renters.

So, like can you explain why like because if that is a possibility, you know, I mean we could close those loopholes instead of assuming that oh, you know, if we exempt, you know, uh um uh owner occupancy, you know uh that then there was sum it up, you know, the landlords would, you know, like with increase.

Can you explain how that thinking came about?

Uh through through the chair, this was uh a few years back, I won't say seven, maybe eight years now.

Um there was initially a resolution uh championed by uh Alderman at the time, White uh for a residential exemption the same way that we have a residential exemption for for the taxes.

Uh the administration, then Kurtatoni administration uh took a deep dive in into that and analyze the data and analyze the impacts.

Um and the industry research and anecdotal um evidence that we got here in Somerville uh is that landlords do generally pass the additional utility costs onto their um uh uh uh onto their tenants.

Um that is is essentially the the understanding in the industry and was what we were hearing in the city.

Um we and and again the idea, what what we were chasing with the residential exemption was sort of an affordability um, and that a residential exemption might be a proxy for a an affordability program.

Uh and in the investigation of the data and and the understanding that the landlords are passing that additional cost onto their tenants, and that the in income distribution that we were able to find was that the tenants um generally had lower income than most than than the majority of the owner occupies.

There's certainly exemptions to that, particularly aging in place seniors.

Um but the but the the majority of the owners had better financial standing than the renters, and therefore an owner occupancy exemption would then shift from financially capable owners to uh poorer uh uh renters.

So this was something we explored in great depth with both both within the Curtitoni administration and with uh the the finance committee, which I think Bill White was then chair of, if I recall correctly, and at that point was Councillor White.

Uh and and the the council and the administration came to to the same conclusion that the a residential exemption was not a proxy for affordability and in fact would would burden disproportionately the people that were attempting to um serve better.

And to you uh President I almost said President White.

So uh uh Otherman White.

I was fortunate to have lunch with him like two days ago.

Um I guess so we cannot you're telling me in front of this council that we cannot close those loopholes.

Uh through the chair we were unable to uh find a way to close those loopholes, and so we abandoned that as uh as a um uh an approach.

Thank you, President Davis.

All right, I have Councillor Streso, then Link and then Say.

Um, through you to Councilman Ballot, thank you for bringing up that point because as I recall in the past couple years of this conversation, uh my recollection of that whole exploration of the um residential exemption was not exactly the same as your reporting.

So that's very curious.

Um and I absolutely heard when we passed that rate increase um the first time around from we in pass in January um July, I immediately heard in August from um from renters saying that it was now enveloped into their lease, the water bills.

We're now water never before had in some residents saying that they've lived in um their homes numerous years, and suddenly never before in the lease was this included, and suddenly it was entirely a rent burden.

Uh and and as I've said numerous times, which by the way, I'm not in supporting this this um increase um because I think if we are not actually working to make sure that our most lowest income uh renters and and homeowners and fixed income uh residents here, that this is a death by paper cuts blow to them, and one more reason they can't stay in the city, especially as utilities are increasing this year, and everything is increasing this year.

And may we all have the blessing and the privilege to not have to consider this on our own bills, but a lot of people in residents in our city and as I spoke about an hour and a half ago, how some residents are relying on $25 SNAP benefits per month, that's it for food.

Okay.

They may not be paying their water bills because SJ but SHA will be.

So how does that affect them?

And how does that affect our affordable housing complexes like um SCC?

Have we had a conversation about that?

No, we have not yet, because I believe I asked about it a couple months ago when we talked about it.

So yes, this is absolutely a burden to our community.

So again, colleagues, you all do what you want to do, but I'm not gonna support this uh increase, whether this year or next year, we until we can find a way to actually create a program.

And yes, I think the HRP should still be on the table, but until we create some kind of program, which we've hired consultants to do before in the past to actually explore this and find an answer the way we can.

Should we all have the benefit to not have to consider this to be too much of a slice on our our bottom line, but for many residents it is.

So no, I'm not voting to support this, and I think we should send this to committee.

On that point, Councillor Davis.

On that point, Councillor Ba.

Yes, thank you.

So I'm not, you know, saying you can deduce like where my vote is gonna go.

Thank you.

Okay, Councillor Link and then Said and then Hart.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Through you.

Um so uh uh I guess my first question would be uh it the biggest driver of this is if I'm remembering my history as well, uh, is the CSO, right?

Um and uh we have yet to figure out a way to get the MWRA to actually um come up with a fair way to to distribute that cost, um, pinning it mostly on on us and on Cambridge.

Am I right in that?

Uh through the chair, yes.

We we um I I can report that uh uh Mayor Wilson and I are pushing on several fronts um on that.

Um but at this point we can't uh anticipate success, so we have to plan uh for the impacts.

Moreover, um on the sewer side, we've got two projects um that are near bid ready.

Uh uh Gina Cortez is here with us tonight, she's project manager of the MROS project that we want to advance.

It is a project that will help with the CSOs.

Moreover, it's a project that will help with significant flooding in the the Foss uh park neighborhood.

Um so it's it's a project that's important to us.

Another project that is at risk if we don't advance uh sewer rate increases is the Morrison Av project, uh which is uh it it it's a critical um infrastructure redundancy program to serve a good uh almost all of wards five and six um but also alleviate flooding uh along the bike path in the Davis Square area uh and elsewhere.

Um so it it's it's not the the short-term one, the short-term increases are not just the CSO, but also other uh critical infrastructure uh work.

I appreciate that distinction.

Thank you.

Um so my question is would be if we were to find that suddenly um uh level heads prevail and the the cost of CSO um is is not borne specifically on uh you know this city, uh how would that change things going forward?

Uh it's an excellent question.

So so uh through the chair, I'd say that the the 15 percent is still an important um thing this year, both for those two projects, the Morrison App project and uh the FOS Park project, um uh and to um put us in a good position, as as we're saying 15 percent for the water too, to give us that that flexibility for cash financing.

Um but you know, the the other things that we're looking at for that CSO um, you know, we're we're looking at you know that that 15 to 20 percent increase year every year for the next four to five years.

That would essentially double the rates in a four-year window.

If we're successful, then that continued pressure on the on the sewer enterprise would would fall off.

Uh and you know, we could fall back into that five percent sustenance um one uh uh you know range uh for you know maybe fiscal twenty-eight, it's a little too early to tell how successful or unsuccessful it will be, but certainly for fiscal twenty-nine, thirty, and thir uh thirty-one and thirty-two.

Thank you.

And would it be a oh yeah, and uh the thank you.

Um one of the the big drivers also for sewer is the debt service we've already incurred for the Poplar Street Pump Station, um, which is the largest infrastructure project other than the high school that we've undertaken uh to date and that debt service is is hitting us um over the uh you know the next few years.

Got it.

Um and shoot, I know I just lost the next uh follow up for that.

Um, sorry.

So uh I guess my um I'm just would it be accurate to say that that Somerville has at this point the highest water rates um in in the Commonwealth?

Um so if you look at combined water and sewer rates for fiscal 25, which is the last fiscal year for which we have all of the data, um we were second to Winthrop.

Um I fully suspect that when fiscal 26's rates uh come out that we'll pull ahead and we'll be in first place again.

Yeah.

What a terrible prize.

Um my last question, um, then thank you for for all these answers.

Uh is just I remember last year there was a lot of talk about um the stormwater overflow uh plan, and I'm I'm just curious, uh, because I know that was meant to to maybe help uh tamp down some of these increases.

Uh it is there any update on that?

Yeah, through the to the president, we're still plugging away at it.

Um, you know, both it's it's it's both the the issue of of uh continuing the work that Michael has explained on on getting our billing uh right because we want our billing a hundred percent before we we get to it.

It there's also the complexity of getting the uh believe that this this is astonishing to me that in in 2026 these two databases aren't already synced up, but the address database at assessors, our GIS database where we've got the impervious area per lot and what is in Munis billing do not line up, and getting those things to talk to each other is a technological challenge beyond anything I can articulate, but the team is working on it.

Thank you very much, Directory.

All right, thank you.

Uh counselor Saeed, and then uh through you, Mr.

President.

Uh Counselor Link, you asked one of my questions, which is the stormwater fee.

Uh I think it makes sense.

We want to have all our bills uh ready for that.

Um but I have other questions.

Um this in my ward, the constituents they have been hearing uh the most about for like water and sewer bills are the ones with uh uh old meters.

Old meters, thousand plus, a quarter, uh it's like yeah, what is it now, like the four quarters, for uh four bills a year.

Estimated bills.

Um yeah, it's just like really high bills because this is the estimate, these are the W ons.

Um I want to say that Michael Reserves has been really good at reaching out to those constituents, making sure you know they understand the importance of replacing their meter.

Um yeah, getting the credit if you know it applies and all that.

So I'm very grateful for your work.

Um because that's one thing, at least in my war, that has been a really big issue when it comes to uh the bills.

And um, so we had a couple questions about that.

Um do we know how many old how many um old meters we still have that need replacing people watching?

So you also want to take advantage to say that if yeah, you can also say uh Michael, if you have W on your bill, it means that you get an estimate and you have an old meter.

And reach out to water and sewer so you can fix that.

Uh so if you can speak that.

Yes, through the president.

Thank you for that question.

I um very passionate about this topic.

Uh it's a lot of my day for the last nine months has been discussing W bills.

I can't tell you how many times a day our staff talks about W bills.

It is um our most effective tool right now, but also a very confusing tool for a lot of folks uh to understand what that means on your bill when you were used to seeing A's meaning actuals or E's meaning estimates, or your bills unchanged for years, uh and you may not have received information to say something's changing.

And you or you hear in the news in recent years that other people's bills have increased after they've received a uh a meter replacement.

And there was this perception that a new meter means that you're being charged more and it's your bill goes up.

Um there's been a lot of misconceptions uh over the last few years, and we've been working to combat that, both with our department and our customer service efforts, uh, but also with our communications team.

Uh so to those W bills, uh, for folks that have uh heard earlier, we've we're four years into a meter replacement program.

Four years ago in October of 2022, the old meters for many of these people that have current old will call them dumb meters, stop reporting their consumption to the city.

And so at that point forward, all of those bills have been estimated by our system automatically based on reasonable assumptions from their previous periods.

Now, after you've gone three bills, those estimates are now copies of copies of copies.

And so these estimates have gone out four years.

We've realized have been far underestimating actual consumption.

So once we're able to get in touch with these folks four years later, and we say, hey, you've been billed X based on estimates of estimates of estimates, and we're in the able to get into their home and replace that meter and get that physical read from that number that hasn't been transmitting but's been recording accurately, and we say, well, we thought it was X, but what it actually was was Y.

And that difference, that gap in that catch-up bill has been substantial.

So we've been trying to, with these W bills that were enacted last June, uh, and ever since, each successive bill, that estimate value has increased one and a half times in an effort to say, hey, we're gonna catch you up a little bit over time, each of these bills to get you possibly closer to that deficit.

So we when you get that meter replaced, you're not hit with a large multi-thousand dollar bill that you didn't expect to have.

A secondary effect of that is when you're getting that multiple the bill that's being increased one and a half times your previous bill, it also catches your attention to say, my bill's going up.

What is this?

And you see that W on that bill, you call our office, and that's our code to notify that is a water department code that you have an old meter, lets us know.

Thank you for contacting us.

You've been estimated for four years.

We need to replace your meter, and that's our point of contact to say it's kind of an effort for them to come to us, catch up that that difference on their their reads, uh, and then we can put them in touch with uh either our our installer or our head meter technician to replace those bills.

Now, after that meter is replaced, we have that data from that replacement read, we have that data from what we estimated, and then there's an adjustment based on the difference.

Uh we also understand as we've seen rates have gone up year over year here, some of that consumption is from three years ago, four years ago.

So as a uh as a credit and benefit to these residents that haven't been built accurately for those four years, we're billing all of that difference at the lowest possible fiscal tier rate.

We we called a fiscal tier adjustment.

So rather than having all that catch-up read built at highest current FY26 rate, we're crediting it crediting that back to the FY22 rate or an FY23, depending on when their meter last reported accurately.

Um we still have through the present, yes.

Um so as of a few weeks ago, we were at about 450.

We made a concerted effort uh with a dedicated staff from our team to make thousands of mailers, callers, emails to uh our lists and have called this list down to about 350.

Our installer, we continue to get emails every day from folks and phone calls from every day saying, Hey, I got an email or I received this letter in the mail to my property, uh, and that's that's our contact that we've been sending over to our our installer, uh our install staller at mass installation.

They've been replacing about eight meters per day.

Um, and we have another list that we are we're due to send over with I I believe about another 70 of good contacts to say, Mass install, please get in touch with these folks.

Now we understand that there, as we've mentioned, we have a data issue uh with our addresses, and we recognize that a number of these meters that have not been replaced yet, we don't have good contact information for them.

We don't have the correct account for them.

So we're looking for properties we've identified that uh the biggest driver of this is properties have sold in the last few years, and we haven't recorded that.

It has they haven't come to us to say I'm selling my property or I'm buying my property, please close this account and move it into the next person's name.

So we're working with the assessor's office to identify and compare our data sets to say, has this property sold?

And we still have a date or name from uh years ago, and we have to transfer that account over.

So we're getting closer, but we think that there's more no contacts because they don't know that we're trying to contact them.

Okay, through the president.

Um yeah, thank you for that clarification and thank you for all your efforts to try to reach those constituents.

Um then the other, yeah.

That was actually my next question is how is the outreach being done?

But it sounds like the data the fact that the addresses you have are different from like the assessment office uh database, it's creating you know this issue.

So hopefully once that's addressed, it will help get in touch with these people.

Because one, uh, I'm one of those people, you know, we're like, you know, purchased a property and you know had like a W meter.

I realized it had W meter and they kind of you know went through that.

And just like the idea that for especially for properties that were uh rental properties, if that is passed to um tenants or the landlords are increasing the rent because of that.

Um, yeah, that's that would be like very unfortunate because as uh director Rage said, it's like yeah, these folks who already you know not making you know very much that are bearing the burden.

Uh so thank you for your work and thank you.

Yeah.

Councillor Hart and then Councillor Clayton.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I wanted to follow up on the um my colleagues at large who were talking about affordability and um any ways that we can address this.

And I appreciated the history.

Um, Director Vaish.

Um and I wanted to ask um specifically, uh, Councilor Strozo mentioned a home rule petition, and I'm not familiar with that.

I would love to know a little bit more about that.

And um, and I'm wondering, I'm assuming that we can't offer reductions for seniors because of state law.

That's my guess.

Okay, just wanted some confirmation about that.

If you have any more information about the home rule petition that was mentioned or um or the law about um seniors, I'd appreciate it.

Uh, through the chair, that the home rule petition was specifically for the residential exemption.

Um and that was uh what in you know, once we finally analyzed it, they decided not to move forward with.

Um there are uh affordability programs for seniors.

Um there was also uh uh another affordability program.

Unfortunately, those programs are are um generally indexed against national definitions of of poverty level for inclusion, which have almost no applicability to the greater Boston area.

Um and so while we did implement them and have implemented them, there are very few people that qualify for them.

Um there is uh an effort in the state house.

Um I've been a little busy with our own budget to track it down on the status of it to sort of address that gap um and uh and and change some Massachusetts laws that will give us more flexibility and affordability.

Um and I don't have a report for you on where that is.

I I believe it was reported out of Senate and back to the House, but I I can't uh I'll have to do some research and get back to you on that one.

Um I have one further after June 25th.

Yes.

Um I have one further question.

Uh go ahead.

Sorry, excuse me, through the president.

Uh, speaking more to the uh uh elderly uh uh credit there.

So there these are administered through the assessors department.

There's two tiers to that uh that is updated every April.

We received uh lists of qualifying applicants this April and have applied those credits to their account.

Those qualifying uh constituents do receive a 25% discount to their water and sewer bills.

So that is something that is updated and collected and ministered through the assessors department.

Okay, that's great.

On that point, if I may.

On that point, please.

And as far as I remember from that program, there were less than what, like 60 or 100 residents out of 82,000 residents that actually like only 62 or so qualified and were able to actually access that program with the qualifications of it.

So it's not actually too helpful for a majority of the people that are technically pun intended underwater with their bills.

And yes, we can get a little creative, and if we want to twiddle our thumbs and wait for whatever feelings happen at the state house and possibly this year, possibly in five years, where maybe we'll get some changes and adjustment for a water bill relief.

Um that wait is too long for far too many residents.

Thank you.

Um just thinking about affordability.

Um, we are lucky in New England to have abundant fresh water, unlike a lot of places in the country and the world.

Um so, and one way to save um on your bill is to use less water.

And I'm wondering um, are there you know, educational programs through MWRA or um, you know, to where we can let people know and provide things that are um water saving devices to residents to save money.

Through the president, thank you for that question.

Uh so that's that's a new uh initiative that we're planning for FY27.

We've uh just today uh got some contact information for some folks at the MWRA.

We're looking into uh partner partner with them.

Um there are some other up other communities that have done some engagement opportunities like this, perhaps working with the schools and having a day where teams from MD MWA, our department go in and share, make this a kid-friendly competition.

Uh this is something we've seen in like I said, in neighboring communities, it's been very successful, and we think that's a great avenue to get that information back to parents.

Um we also I I mentioned water scope before.

As we're looking at consumption patterns and use, that is a great tool for folks when they start seeing how much they're using every day.

When they start seeing that's a 30, 45 minute shower.

Like that's a big that's a big uh task or uh tall order on your bill when you have that consumption.

You can also see uh uh we've identified from these accounts where occasionally there are homes, older homes.

We have a lot of older homes here that have out of code shower heads, and you would be very surprised by how an old shower head how big of an impact on your bill that can have.

Uh so that's uh again that's part of our customer service when we're identifying leaks, when we're identifying and say that shower, that toilet or that faucet that's that's showing up that could be addressed, and that could be uh a major cost savings for you.

Excellent.

Thank you.

Uh just on that.

Uh thank you, uh Castle Rat for that question.

Uh just something that comes to mind.

Um we all have received letters from the sustainability environment about the mass save program, and that's actually part of it.

Uh, they just like remembered because uh I've done it where they come, they change the shower heads for free, and you know, they do like an energy assessment, but that's part of it.

And I'm just wondering if they're way to if sustainability environment intends to send another letter like that, because it's all massive, it's all state level to add also a section.

This is from water and sewer, know that mass save also can address these things.

Um so yeah, from the faucet to the shower head, again the little things, but they do make a difference.

So there's just a suggestion to try and partner with the department if when they send, you know, their first um yeah, when they send mail about this.

Yeah, thank you through the president.

I think that's a great recommendation.

I think that's something we could easily partner with them and demonstrate just the cost on your bill of having an old five gallon per minute shower head versus uh something that changed in 1992 to 2.5 gallons per minute.

And if you have that old shower head, that's uh big sustainability issue, but it's also a cost to those residents as well.

That's a great recommendation, thank you.

So I have Councillor Klingon, and then if there's then we'll go to Councillor Uh Wheeler.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Through you, um I will say um, you know, I mean this stinks, you know, uh having a ways raise the water rates um is a really difficult thing to do.

I I took my tantrum two years ago.

I'm obviously I'm gonna vote for these.

This increase, all it did two years ago is you know, brought us back to even higher numbers uh because of the infrastructure projects and whether or not we want to, you know, complain about uh whether we should have to pay for certain projects.

Certainly the the CSO thing, uh I'm glad to see that the mayor is firing, you know, uh firing off um responses and and and you know having some say and you know, having something to say about uh how it you know the the uh we've been sort of jammed up as a municipality uh over this.

But I agree with counselor you and campen.

Um this doesn't feel discretionary.

Uh it feels definitely like a gun every time you know that we're here.

Uh certainly my my words been mentioned again, the MROS project is really important to the people whose basements are flooding in my area.

Um but I um you know, so I do think that this would be better served with another body.

Um it definitely makes it political.

I mean, I I I've stated in this chamber before, and I'll say it again, you know, I I have a benevolent landlord who is retired and on a fixed income, and I've raised my own rent because I can't in good conscience vote for these increases, and then she's not the type of person to do it.

So, you know, uh luckily I was able to increase a little bit, but but you know, uh when I see these, and by the way, the the uh the water scope, that's surveillance technology.

I don't have I don't want anything to do with that in my in my house.

Nobody needs to know how many times I'm flushing the toilet, bro.

But uh, you know, that said, I have a couple of questions just because I'm not on budget, I'm not on the finance committee, and you know, other people have been asking questions in general terms about the water uh uh rates and increases and so on.

So one of the things I have to ask is we're now on a four uh quarter cycle, uh instead of a three times a year, we're on four.

Um it seems though that from one sixteen, like from January to to April, basically it's two and a half, two and a half, two and a half, and then from 616 2025 of last year to 11.1, the highest usage of water uh comes out to four and a half uh months of a bill, billing cycle.

So it's two and a half, two and a half, two and a half, and then four and a half.

Um is that by design or through the through the president, thank you for that question.

So that was uh a a product of changing billing cycles, so shifting from three to four in a year and reducing the number of districts.

So and just the staffing changes that occurred with the department.

Uh so I when I I took over in the department in the end of September, this was proposed to have been initiated to start the fiscal year.

It was not yet initiated by the time I had an understanding and grasp of what the department does and how to unveil this, we and the billing cycles themselves.

That first quarterly bill was going into effect November 1st.

So the budget was already set with the assumption that everyone would receive four bills, because those base charges are still assessed and they're reduced to keep that four or five eighths residential meters, a hundred and I believe it's 120 dollars cumulative for the year.

If we were to miss a bill cycle, like sure we would catch up on the consumption, but we would miss that base charge, and that is a a considerable part of our our revenue as well.

So as a result, we had to kind of truncate some of those billing cycles.

So you're looking at a two, two in a month, two and a half month for some of these, and then as it stretches out, some were other districts were getting four and a half month or four month cycles just to get them all on a pace where it's consistently going to be every three months for everyone.

That transition period took the whole year.

Uh this whole the this whole fiscal year.

The last shortened bill period will be August 15th, I believe.

And then after that, and we're sending out mailers with a little fridge cling again for every uh account holder to put on their fridge to say, here's your when you expect your bill should be sent out, and it's gonna be every three months for every account this year.

Okay, three of Mr.

President.

So just for clarification, you're saying that that was just to get it going, but now it's gonna be pretty much three months, four times a year.

Correct, through the president.

So there because of that that period where it was not initiated to start between July and November, we missed some bill cycles in there.

And so the to make sure that we could still get four to get those base charges and the total revenue, we had to shrink some of these things in and really shoehorn these districts in.

Um, but we're we're in a position now where it's uh one, two, three, four.

Every every month there's a new cycle and it comes back three months later.

All right, thank you.

And then one other question, Mr.

President, through you.

Um I know I brought up to uh director Raish and others, and I have some um items in in my committee, but since you're here or whoever you know wants to answer, has any thought been put into I know we have only 400 meters left, but I have this not I don't want to say pet peeve, but I mean it's a real thing where as far as um there are for some reason condo units that have a one-inch pipe, and rather than the installer suggesting, hey, you don't you don't have a sprinkler system, right?

You just one unit, and with you know, even if it has two bathrooms, you don't you don't need a uh a a five, I mean sorry, one inch uh meter, we can put an adapter on it for you because it comes out to be, and this is for people if they don't know any better and they get it, it comes out to be like an extra four or five hundred dollars a year on their water bill because they have this bigger unnecessary meter, you know, because whatever the pipe coming in the house.

Um so I don't know if this has been I know it's I know you guys have a lot going on, you know, but but I mean like ultimately this is something that could have been avoided if with a little thought and cure, although I guess it's probably hard to do actually on the ground in terms of like how who needs it, who doesn't, you know.

Does somebody have a pool, do they want to have that extra otherwise you lose pressure, right?

I mean through the president, thank you for that question.

I I know we've uh we've had a few constituent questions on this topic this year, as particularly it's more noticeable this year, as Director Raish said our uh tier structure for those base charges did change to better align with industry standards.

For residential five-eighths, which is the majority of our meters uh and service lines, nothing changed.

So we didn't get those questions.

For those larger lines, when you're looking three quarters inch, one inch, uh on particularly some of these properties that like you said don't really require that that level, you're not getting added pressure.

Uh you're not getting a better shower or a more effective clean.

It's just it's a line that you don't need.

Uh and they they do now see a different quarterly base charge and that increase.

Uh that is something that we you're right, we can't determine who which property actually needs that larger line and which one does not.

We have discussed uh uh at the the recommendation to look at some of these uh upon request to say if they need a downsize, uh what is that cost?

Because they're they may no longer qualify for the free meter replacement at that point, they're requesting a new meter, and there's an additional charge to that.

And so it's now we're saying, do you charge for the meter or do you charge for the base charge?

And from the residents' perspective, they don't think it's fair to be paying for that.

So it it is something that that we're aware of.

Uh it's a new challenge for us, and we are looking at the the adapter or the downsizing step down and what have you.

Yeah, I mean, because otherwise we'd have to keep answering to people that when this happens, if they you know, if they figure it out.

My constituent in this case did pay for the new meter, even though his one was only like a year old, but um he we don't we couldn't just swap it out for another used one.

Anyway, I know this is a little bit in the weeds, but the reason why it's important is because we're talking about like the little extra cost and affordability now.

When you look at the big grand scheme of things, let's let's just talk real talk for a second.

Rich Rach told us one time that MWRA looks at our median area income and says that we can feel more pain.

We could squeeze more.

We have wealthy people, you know, on this horseshoe, maybe.

You know, that uh you know so like from their point of view, there's more to squeeze.

And so when you talk about 80,000 uh people or 30,000 units, do we have a number of how many places are either seniors and owner occupied, and how do we deal with it?

I don't want you want to answer, because I know, but I'm just saying I'm thinking out loud here as far as like you know uh a lot of these people are uh you know making a profit as landlord.

So I want to get to the people that we're all asking about that are vulnerable and that that that are uh you know, and and maybe there's a way to thread that needle, and maybe it's through a different, like a benevolent landlord program that isn't you know, giving because we can't give people freebies on water, I understand that, but maybe there's another way that we can get to this issue.

So that's all I wanted to say, but like I said, I'm obviously voting in favor of these these increases.

Um uh, you know, here we are again, and um and I'm with Council Ewan Camp and we shouldn't have to do this.

Counselor Wheeler.

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh, for the sake of time, um I I may reach out with some questions uh later.

Is this presentation something that is publicly available and will be available to us?

I didn't see it attached to the agenda item.

Thanks.

Uh and um if we could just record directory said that they could attach it to the item.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

If we could just briefly go back to the typical cost slide.

I wanted to just have the chance to take a decent look at that before we move on.

Uh it's it's later.

Oops.

They made us change our password to a ridiculously long one.

Safety first.

Safety first.

Uh uh 36.

Is that uh maybe 37 on yours?

Thank you.

I see.

And and just to understand these totals, you know, for the first line, this is 15 units, not meaning housing units, but meaning water service units.

Correct.

It's uh uh cubic feet that I forget what it's one unit is a hundred cubic feet.

Yeah, some of them forty-eight gallons.

748 gallons, because it's in the a unit is 100 cubic feet.

Thank you.

And the bottom line, that is uh total that would be across eight housing units.

Correct.

Okay.

And and the the reason that that we show uh it broken out, um, because you know that there's there's the base charge based on the size of the meter, um, but then there's also increasing, like as you use more water, that additional water gets charged at a higher rate.

And just because of the way that uh plumbing works, um, we typically whether you have a single family, two or three family house, there's typically only one meter, and there's really no way to submeter it because of the way the plumbing works in the house.

So um because like a three-family house in in theory has three times as many people, they tend to get charged at a at a higher rate, even once you divide by three.

So that's why we we show that the different um size houses.

I see, thank you.

And then uh just briefly, uh I right in understanding that the previous projections of future rate increases due to the CSO plan.

Um there's been uh downward adjustment of the projections.

Correct.

Through the chair, and when we were here in March, I was anticipating needing a 20% increase, and right now we're comfortable with 15.

And not just talking about this year's increase, but talking about many years to come.

Likely.

Um there as as I sort of intimated, we're we're tracking down this CSO thing on multiple fronts simultaneously.

Um so there's still a lot of volatility.

I mean, there's still a possibility that DEP uh will agree with Charles Riffer Watershed Association to say we need to do more.

Like that the 1.5 million dollar plan isn't enough.

Billion dollar plan isn't enough.

And and so then it would be higher.

And there's there's a lot of things at play that will come into focus over uh calendar 27.

Thank you.

Counselor Scott.

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

I just have uh well one question.

Well, one question for you uh and one question for Director Rage.

Uh is the intention tonight to call for a vote on this item?

At the will of the council.

The administration would love to have a vote one way or the other, but if it needs to go to committee, it can.

All right.

If it's the will of the of the council for it to go to committee, it can.

All right.

Thank you.

Uh although it's also hard to imagine how many more questions we could ask on it.

You have sure there.

I'm sure there are plenty.

Uh, Mr.

President, it has now been well over an hour that we have been discussing this item.

So if our goal is to ensure that everybody in this horseshoe shares the pain of these rate increases, I think we're doing a great job.

Uh just to Director Raish, uh, you know, we've talked about the stormwater fee uh before and uh how it was going to be rolled in in January.

Uh not there yet, not ready for prime time.

Is there any update on the timetable for implementing that?

Uh through the chair, we're still there are a couple of critical items, those dominoes have yet to fall.

Um so I I'm hesitant to commit to a timetable.

Um I I will be angry and embarrassed if it's not January of 27.

Um, but that there's uh there's gremlins in the machine that need to uh make their way out.

Um I think there's several gremlins in my water meter.

Um right, thank you, uh Director Rage.

I uh so I appreciate all this conversation and discussion, uh, Mr.

President.

You know, I I took a moment and dug through uh some of my email archives here to find the study we paid $90,000 for back in 2020 uh to look at affordability and the owner occupant uh exemption and for that consultant to tell us uh we don't we don't like it.

Uh I looked at the study that we got from RAF Tellis in 2024.

I forget how much money that cost us.

Uh that one provided such uh sterling insights and conclusions as uh the recommended path forward is to diversify revenue sources, formulate new policies and practices, and enhance communication.

I think we're really getting our money's worth with these consultants here.

Uh I just it is uh it's been brutal.

Uh and I I along with my colleagues who have been through numerous changes of administration and water and sewer uh to call it a parade of horribles would I think be underselling in.

So uh here we are today.

We have the same infrastructure challenges that we've been facing.

Uh we do have some tools that really can make a difference.

The stormwater infiltration fee uh fundamentally would change the way that we bill for water and sewer, right?

Instead of it all being a bucket of base and usage, there would be base usage in stormwater, and that is a way that we could actually uh offload a great deal of the costs to the large surface parking lot owners.

Um I am tired of paying for consultants to give us vague answers about what affordability might be, or in one occur in one case, paying consultant to tell us that we can't do anything about affordability.

Uh I understand all of the distress about these current rates.

I applaud the director for the work uh put into uh I believe as he described it, negotiate against himself.

Uh and I have a great deal of hope based on the positive change that we've seen to date in the water department since the new administration.

Um it's I understand it is a challenging environment.

It is one that uh I've been personally torn on based on the failure to deliver uh any measures around uh affordability, despite it being a conversation that Councillor White had uh started before I joined this council.

Um but uh I'm just uh let me just say I'm grateful for the work that is ongoing and I look forward uh with great hope to more concrete results.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Councilor and camping.

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

I was just going to offer to share this this study that Councillor Scott just mentioned from RAF Tell us this was the result of the council requesting more information about exemption, affordability programs.

I'll share it with the clerk so it can be shared with the full council.

I think it's worth looking at, although I very much agree with my colleagues uh overall uh uh description of the value of this study.

But the conclusion of it is under state law, you cannot charge one group of people less in order to uh to charge you can't group charge one group of people more in order to charge one people less.

That really is the answer to the question, right?

You can't do it without a change in state law.

Um I just want to say I'm really really grateful to the work that that Mr.

Richards described, the billing work.

I I think that he's just knocking it out of the park, the department is.

Um I do like those old shower heads.

Um they rock.

Thank you.

Let the record reflect.

Counselor likes the old shower heads and I could uh have an indulgence.

Any further discussion?

Just just one point to both counselors.

Counselor whatever.

Although in 10 years I will be very happy to be the the commissioner of of the water commission and set the rates for you in about 10 years when I'll be 65 and ready for retirement.

Um so uh to the point on consultants and and perhaps some of the slow progress on the um uh storm water.

Uh I I think we heard the term insourcing um coined last week.

Uh we are in sourcing that.

It's the engineering department uh and it's the water and sewer billing folks who are are doing the work on that.

We are we are not using a consultant to do that because um I was a little disappointed with where the consultant was taking us.

And so we're just dedicating internal resources with our own employees who are determined to get it right.

Okay.

Anyone care to make a motion?

Council Ewan Campan?

Uh motion to recommend approval.

Council Ewan Campin moves to approve the item.

Single vote or vote individual appointments.

Any discussion on the motion?

All right, seeing none roll call vote, please.

Counselor Ewan Campen.

Yes.

Counselor Link.

Uh yes.

Counselor Scott?

Yes.

Counselor Klingon?

Yes.

Councilor Schazo?

No.

Counselor Said?

Yes.

Counselor Wheeler?

Yes.

Counselor Hart?

Yes.

Councilor McLaughlin?

Yes.

Counselor Umba?

No.

Counselor Davis.

Yes.

Can we get a count?

Yes, with 10, it is.

No, I'm sorry, with nine, it is passed.

All right.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Director Reich.

Thank you.

Um I'm gonna throw a quick audible here because I see that there's still some uh other folks in the audience, and I want to make sure that we don't keep anyone here unnecessarily.

So um I'm going to um we're gonna I'm gonna call the room.

Um I'm going to uh ask that we take up item 10.1 out of order, which is a citation that I submitted uh for on the supplemental, and I will explain why in a minute.

Um there and we we mentioned we're gonna take up um 7.31 and 7.32.

I think if folks, if there's no one here from the public on the um 7.2345 or 14, we might bump those down the road a little bit, because if there if there are people here on 731 and 32 as well as 51 and uh 83, which is related.

Point being, anyone if if folks are here to to hear about a particular particular item, please let us know or let Director Nasheen Williams know now.

Umce, going twice.

Um so while we're sorting that out, um let's take up item 10.1.

This is a citation that uh I submitted when I found out on Tuesday, Chris.

When I found out on Tuesday after the deadline that um one of my constituents, Alex Alex Abstain is um moving out of the country this weekend.

Um so both didn't know about it before the deadline and clearly time uh time sensitive because I had hoped Alex would be able to be here in the room and he was here, but had to go home to uh to get the kids to bed.

Um so perfectly understandable, but in hopes that uh uh while while Chris is still here, uh Chris Dewan um has worked with Alex on a number of the um uh of the the items that are relevant to this citation.

So um I I I thought we could we could take this up while Chris is here and uh uh allow him to say a few words.

Um so uh if there's no objection uh we'll take item 10.1 out of order, Madam Clerk.

Item 10.1 by Councillor Davis commending Alex Epstein on his commitment and activism to safe streets.

And if you'll indulge me, I'll just read the citation from up here because I'm just reading what it says.

Um citation be it hereby known to all that the Somerville City Council and the mayor uh offer their sincerest commendations to Alex Epstein for his outstanding dedication and commitment to safe streets, traffic design, and inclusive activism during his time on multiple city working groups and task forces offered this 11th day of June 2026, signed by all of us.

Now I will note that um the the suggested text for this was very long, and and that's only because you literally can't fit on probably two or three pages the amount of stuff that Alex has done to serve the city over the years, but we uh we summarized it so it would look pretty on the citation, anyways.

Uh Mr.

Mayor, did you want to say a few words?

Um I I'd be happy to recognize you and then uh Chris, I'll be happy to recognize you as well if you'd like to say a few words and I'm gonna bring this over here while uh while the mayor is speaking.

Go ahead, Mr.

Mr.

President.

Through you.

Uh yeah, Alex uh came into my orbit in 2022, and I was immediately uh just blown away by his passion, his expertise.

I learned so much from him uh about a lot of really important things, uh large and small.

Uh he's someone who just clearly, you know, loves the city, loved loves keeping people safe as they get around the city.

Uh it's it's a big loss for the community.

Uh our our loss is Europe's gain.

So uh yeah, grateful for you for for bringing this forward.

Thanks to thanks to Mr.

Duan for uh making sure that this got in tonight.

Uh and we just wish Alex the best in the next year after his life.

Thanks.

You're here.

And I will note because it came up just uh was it last uh two weeks ago, Councilor Scott, when you you noted that uh we received the report on the Side Guard ordinance.

And and I I get a lot of I get a lot of credit for that, and I'm proud of getting credit for that.

But uh boy, the the vast majority of the credit goes to uh to Alex because um he was the he was the real lead on that and and uh and did the bulk of the work and made me look good uh for my for my first ordinance and for that and and all of the other things I'm forever grateful.

Uh Chris, do you want to say a few words about your work with Alex and and uh you know I I get I'm I'm sorry we couldn't do this while he was here, but let's give him as much of a proper send-off as we can.

Thank you so much.

Uh Christwan uh 26 Ivalu.

I'll be incredibly brief.

Um I just wanted to add that Alex has been on the electric vehicle advisory group, the Vision Zero Task Force, he chaired the bicycle commit uh uh committee for several years.

He was in has been with the Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets since the beginning.

And if many of you have seen uh the Safe Streets Guide, he was the primary author of that, and he somehow managed to blend input and build consensus between pedestrians, cyclists, parents, children, elders aging in place, persons with disabilities, transit users, and green space activists.

He's a remarkable individual, and we will all miss him in here in the city.

Thank you.

Here, here, and hopefully lunatic neighbor can find a new porch next week next uh porch fest to uh to sing from Councilor Ba.

Yeah, thank you, Mr.

President.

Just want to add that, you know, thank you, Chris, for you know, flagging us about this citation.

And I just want to uh uh uh double down that some of it is safer, more sustainable and more inclusive because of Alex.

So we thank him for his service, his leadership and commitment to our community.

Thank you.

All right, seeing no further discussion.

That item is approved.

Thank you all for uh indulging me on that.

Thank you, uh Mr.

Wan.

Uh okay.

Anyone else other than the the items that I mentioned?

Is anyone here for any particular item?

Okay, we've got it covered.

So then let's jump.

Is so is anyone here specifically for 714, 7234, or five.

All right.

But there are people here for 731 and 32.

Is that in 5.1, sir.

At 5.1.

All right.

Unless there's any objection, let's take those up so that we can allow members of the public to make their own choices as to whether they want to stay for the rest of it, including to when we get back to the beginning of the the uh the the uh the agenda.

Um so let's take up 5.1 first.

That was an item that was laid on the table uh uh last minute as it was submitted late.

Uh Madam Clerk?

Yes.

Item 5.1 requesting the appropriation of $15,001 from the salary contingency account to the police department personnel services salary account to fund a collective bargaining agreement with the Somerville Police Superior Officers Association.

All right.

I see that we have our labor council Matt Syrigo here.

Council Sarago?

Uh good evening, counselors, council president, through you.

Uh the appropriation before you tonight is approximately 15,000 to fund the cost of living adjustment contained in this memorandum of agreement with the Somerville Police Superior Officers Association.

Uh the appropriation here will cover the the initial salary increases were this uh this contract, this appropriation approved.

Uh the contract before you tonight includes is is a one-year contract for fiscal year 25.

So to start when this if this contract were appropriated tonight and finally uh approved by this council in that forum, uh we would still have fifth fiscal year 26 to negotiate for this group.

Uh the high level items in this this agreement are a three percent COLA for fiscal year 25, uh detail rate increase, uh, and the creation of a priority detail rate for the superior officers, the creation of a detailed fund, which is something of a revolving fund that the uh patrol officers have had for many years, and this revolving fund uh enables the city to more timely pay superior officers, and then a slight acceleration of the vacation schedule to create a a there's already a seven-week tier for 30-year officers, it accelerates that to 25 years.

Uh oh, and and then there's a significant amendment to the body worn camera policy that is included in both the superior and the patrol officers' contracts.

The amendments here would only apply to the superior officers contract.

So were the city to roll out a body worn camera program in the coming months, uh it would be pursuant to this policy, and it would be a pilot program involving the superior officers alone, unless and until there's an amendment made to the patrol officers' body worn camera policy.

With that, I will answer any and also with us here tonight.

I'll mention we have uh public safety for all project manager John Hillman, uh who's here and prepared to speak on the history of the body worn camera program, uh public engagement discussion and the city's general thought process on that, or some members of the city.

Obviously, it's not a uniform consensus.

And then police chief uh Schumann Benford here as well to answer any questions the council may have a thank you.

Any question?

Council UNCUMBI?

Um, Mr.

President, through you, I guess more of just my thoughts on this.

As a general matter, I like to approve collective bargaining agreements.

I mean that that's I I'm supportive of them.

Um this one includes the body worn camera policy, which is something that we've debated a lot.

Um I am very happy with with the policy where it wound up.

I think it's good compared, definitely compared to where it was, where you know the status quo.

I hope the public has had a chance to look at it and see the improvements in it.

That said, I am not at all ready to move forward with the body worn camera program until I understand the financial input uh impact on on this year's budget.

The way that I view it, um, this is not the right year to be asking us to spend money on this.

I would like to wait for a year where we have the money to do it.

Um and this is uh you know a year where we've seen layoffs, right?

So I personally am comfortable moving ahead with this, but I do not want that to be interpreted by anybody as I'm then also ready to approve the grant, the um stir, like those are active discussions.

We're gonna have a public hearing.

Um I want to hear what my colleagues have to say.

Um but that that's where I am at this.

So the link.

Uh I'll just I'll just echo uh everything that the um the the counselor from Ward 3 just said.

I uh I'm definitely ready to move forward with the the body worn uh no sorry it's getting late.

I'm definitely ready to move forward with the collective bargaining agreement.

Um, but uh I'm not ready to uh talk about the the um body worn camera being um uh agreed to or whatever.

I don't want to move forward with that program until we've had at the very least a very robust um public hearing and conversation about it.

So we'll be going around the hallshoe.

Council Scott.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um let me let me ask this question.

Is there any change in the way shift differential operates uh in this contract?

Is there any language uh impacting that?

Uh council vice president through you.

Uh there is no amendment to the language of the contract related to shift differential.

Or any 5-2 buyback changes or anything like that either.

5-2 buyback?

Council vice president through you, no, there's no change to the 5-2 buyback.

Okay.

Through you to Attorney Syriago.

Have there ever been clauses that we've negotiated that we've later been able to claw back from one of these contracts?

Have we been able to remove items from a contract before?

Council Vice President through you.

I've been with the city for three years.

Well, depends on financial times and the circumstances of the city, but in my three years with the city, uh we have stricken language from contracts.

We have increased the monetary value of benefits in contracts.

Yeah.

I just Mr.

President, I I point out that it's 1030 at night.

And we're asking, we're being asked to ratify a contract that not isn't just about a cola and an increase the detail pay.

Uh it also places into the contract into a signed document that the that the city commits to and that the city council agrees to uh a certain upper bound on what our ability to regulate the use of body worn cameras in the future going forward is.

Uh I would also point out that we're doing we're being asked to approve the superior officers contract, absent the patrol officers.

Uh customarily those get approved together because the language moves in lockstep.

Uh I guess I'd ask through you, Mr.

President.

Uh did the patrol officers vote not to ratify this language in the contract.

Uh Council vice president, through you.

Uh the the patrol officers did not agree to the same contract as the superior officers have.

It I can't speak to the exact motivations of the the ratifying body.

Um with respect to the comment on uh uh setting a ceiling for the policy, if if I'm understanding your previous court question a little bit better now.

Uh we do frequently amend the substance abuse policies that are in collective bargaining agreements, so there is a procedure terms, drugs listed in the substance abuse policies that are in collective bargaining agreements and and in my time with the city and quite often we we update and amend those policies in CBAs.

Okay.

All right.

Well that's good to know.

Uh yeah, Mr.

President, I just I I don't feel it's appropriate.

I feel like this is uh part and parcel of the entire discussion around body worn cameras, and that the single largest amendment as a result of this contract will be around the body-worn camera language.

Uh and so as such, I don't think it's appropriate uh until uh we've had that public hearing that was requested earlier and that we committed to.

So that's where I stand on this item tonight.

Uh thank you very much.

Thank you, Council Scott.

I think my understanding is that this is too separate in the stuff.

So I'm not sure why you're combining them to thank you, Mr.

President.

To answer your question, no, this this is a contract.

Uh this is uh an appropriation that serves as a city council's ratification of the contract, which includes the amendment which has the entirety of the body worn camera policy.

That is the item that was uh requested as part of this public hearing.

I uh would you like me to read the front page of the petition?

Council Scott, we haven't funded the body one camera, you know, a great man yet.

So this is this is two separate you know, in Mr.

President, in my opinion and this the body worn camera policy that is attached and appended to this SPSOA contract forms the upper bound ceiling of what the city can do in any future policy uh and forms as an upper bound for the surveillance technology impact report policy, for example, or there's surveillance uh the specific technology use policy.

So in my opinion, again, I'm just one of eleven.

I don't feel like it's appropriate to move forward with this at this time.

I would prefer refer it uh to committee in the same way that we are referring all the rest of these items to committee.

Thank you, Council Scott.

President through you to um attorney Saragus um so when was this originally bargained for like it was what twenty Council President three uh twenty twenty one I believe is when that contract was ratified okay so this is a contract out obligation that has been on us for quite some time now that you negotiated that they agreed to that we imposed on them uh council president through yes the the union both unions have been expecting the roll out of a body worn camera policy for many years uh with which comes uh a two percent increase in their salaries those are uh real dollars to real employees who who have had an expectation based upon good faith negotiations with the city that there would be a body worn camera program in the city and then through you Mr.

President I think this is what counsel uh counselor Scott asked the question so and and I wasn't sure the way he asked it but you know nonetheless I think what he was asking is what I heard was he asked if we have ever taken out uh like a provision of a of a contract um is that doable is that possible council president through you it is theoretical yeah yes it is possible to remove some the the pr the question I was answering was if I was aware of when or if it happened in particular and in my three years of the city I can't I can't identify but we strike language we amend language in CBA's you know uh a policy wholesale getting stricken from a collective bargaining agreement uh that is a very uh significant uh thing to ask of a of an employees exclusive representative thank you mr president through you yeah I mean I imagine any unit union you know that agreed to something and then you know um we we we tried to take that back and but uh but it's more more more importantly I'm asking what are the legal ramifications in terms of like can they go to the DLR um is it something that we could just do you know could you just do without any repercussion Council President through you uh unilaterally pull the policy from the the the collective bargaining agreement uh there would be various risks to the city if we were to do that legal risks to the city if we were to do that is is what is what I would say okay so you know um I share some of the financial concerns but I mean uh as this is something that was bargained in good faith and uh you know as somebody who is a labor advocate um and also who doesn't fully understand what sort of stripping away uh a bargained um thing what what that would result in um you know I'm um and also just being uh that you know I'm I think I'm glad where we landed on the language um so as far as approving this this evening I mean I am I I like I said this was bargain in good faith um uh this is what the people wanted at the time apparently you know now there's been a a shift um but ultimately uh I stand by my uh assertion that sunlight is the best disinfectant and uh uh a recorded record is the gold standard for telling the truth uh so I will be supporting this language and I do still uh moving forward share the concerns financially which I've shared with you know the um administration as well thank you I'll probably refer this to finance if if before the president takes stage all right where are we further discussion Council Strassaw that for exception is it's let us send it to fine but I see folks that want to speak on the item is is there a motion on the on the floor yes Mr.

President who made the motion yeah make a motion as the president I'm asking was there the vice president was I thought I thought this was supposed to be an easy you know approval process so I just thought you instead of wasting time deliberating we can just send it to committee where people can actually come and ask questions.

But in the meantime, I think we should pay the superior officers uh for doing their job.

And I would move to approve tonight.

Council McLaughlin moves to approve.

Is there discussion on the motion?

All right, seeing uh Council Wheeler.

I just wanted to clarify one point uh that if there had been no update to the body worn camera policy and this appropriation was before us, uh compared to that situation.

Given the general consensus, I'm hearing that I certainly agree with that this is a better body worn camera policy than the one that we had before.

Um the situation is certainly no worse and only strictly better than if there had been no work to update the body worn camera policy because there already was one.

I just want uh to make clear my understanding, unless there's anything about that I'm wrong about Council President through you.

Uh if I'm understanding the correct the question correctly, there was a body worn camera policy in the contract from five from six years ago that uh the city council in the past had objected to.

Um I only say it that way because you know that is a policy prerogative that I'm not here I'm not here to express policy.

Um so yes, the the the strategy of the administration was to substantially uh rewrite the body worn camera policy before bringing it back to this body, and we we engaged with the council more than I have in any other collective bargaining process than I've been uh since I've been with the city.

Uh we appreciate and and thank the councillors for many many hours spent in executive session, uh not in an open form in executive session, given the nature of the discussions.

Uh one-on-one meetings uh with counselors to go over the policy and to deliberate over strategy in terms of what should be in the policy and what the city values in a body worn camera policy.

Um I believe it's four executive sessions over the last couple months with counselors, uh revisions to the policy, uh better defining the right to access, restrictions on use, uh timelines for accessing footage, uh timelines for retention of data and footage, uh prohibitions on surreptitious use of the cameras, prohibitions or guidelines in terms of how the cameras should be used uh in and around First Amendment protected activities, uh specific references to rights of access for police oversight bodies and other members of the law enforcement community, and just just really a wholesale rewriting of the policy, I I would say.

So, yes, we we were starting in a place where the policy was deemed unacceptable.

It was in the contract, though, and that we cannot unilaterally change uh a policy applicable to organized unionized employees unilaterally uh and and through this MOA, we have made significant strives that we we we think reflect the community's values for this this type of of programming.

Thank you.

Well, uh on the motion uh my understanding is that I wouldn't hold this contract uh appropriation up uh on the basis of an old body worn camera policy for fiscal year 2025 funds, and given that I I can't see a reason to hold it up now with a better policy.

Um so I would concur with the approval.

Further discussion on the motion, Council Scott.

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

I presume this is going to a roll call vote.

So just to explain in very concisely my vote here, uh the superior officer's unreduced uh contract uh or reduced as of 2018 contract is 101 pages long.

Um it is extraordinary.

The previous body worn camera policy that was there uh was frankly a stub.

Um simply said that at some point the city of Somerville might want to put body cameras on cops.

Uh this step is uh a much um much more structured step uh and I would agree.

I think this has been a very collaborative process with the council through executive sessions.

Um I'm not comfortable with where the body worn camera policy included in this contract is.

I don't want to commit future councils to the restrictions in it, and as such, I will be voting uh not to ratify this contract.

But uh for anybody who would like to read the entire 101-page contract, I I have a copy of it I can send you.

Thank you.

Further discussion on the motion.

All right, seeing that I heard a call for a roll call vote.

Yeah.

Is that a request, Council Scott?

Yes.

Okay.

I will take a roll call vote.

Okay.

Roll call on item 26 0915.

Counselor Ewan Campen.

Yes.

Counselor Link?

Yes.

Counselor Scott?

No.

Counselor Klingon?

Yes.

Counselor Strazo?

Yes.

Counselor Saeed?

Yes.

Counselor Wheeler?

Yes.

Counselor Hart?

Yes.

Councilor McLaughlin?

Yes.

Counselor Umba?

Yes.

And Counselor Davis.

Yes.

But 10 votes in total, it passes.

Thank you.

Attorney Sergu, are you here to speak on three uh 7.31 and 7.32 as well?

Or is that where you hand it off to someone else on that?

I'm happy to start.

Uh Council President through you, but I certainly will need the support of uh the the others here.

Uh I was very well co-author of that.

Very well.

So let's take up, then if there's no objection, we'll take up 7.31 and 7.32 together, as I think they more or less move together.

Counselor Scott Shall we read the item in first or is this on the on take on the taking the items out of order, Counselor Scott?

On uh on the taking up the items uh I Mr.

President, is is it the intention to move for a final resolution on these items tonight?

I would not support that.

I just think it's entirely necessary for an item of this nature to go to committee and have once as has been have there's been multiple committee meetings on probably every new uh surveillance technology that we've had, and I don't expect this to be any different.

Okay, great.

It's we're four hours into the meeting, so I'm gonna go to the vote, Mr.

President.

I'm just one vote on the matter, Councillor Scott.

But uh if you if you're asking, that's not my thank you, Mr.

President.

All right, very well.

So uh Madam Clark, if you could read in uh 7.31 and 7.32.

Yes.

7.31 requesting approval of the surveillance technology impact report for body worn cameras and 7 uh.32 requesting approval of the technology specific surveillance use policy for body worn cameras.

All right.

Um do we uh uh is there any uh presentation on this or you just here to answer questions?

Um largely here to answer questions.

I don't want to, you know, if anyone puts some slides together, I don't want those to go to waste.

Uh council president through you if it'd be all right.

I think uh public safety for all project manager uh John Hillman could say some opening uh statements on that.

Absolutely.

By all means, please approach it.

Good evening, Council President, Councillors.

Very happy to be here finally.

Um I'm gonna be very, very brief.

I know this has been an extremely long night, and I very much appreciate you listening to me for a couple of minutes.

Um I just want to quickly share some foundational information regarding the potential body worn camera policy in relation to the impact report um and sort of what led us here to this discussion.

So in June of 2020, uh the city of Somerville officially declared systemic racism to be a public safety and health emergency.

Uh in doing so, he reiterated his commitment negotiating and implementing a body worn camera policy.

Uh this was amid ongoing discussions as attorney Saragoo referred to uh with police union leadership on the subject as far back as 2015.

Um and so after years of negotiation, the city um and the union reached on initial agreement in 2021 as was referenced for the implementation of a body worn camera program, including a policy for doing so.

Um in early 2023, as part of a staffing study for the police department, it was further recommended to re-engage the community to refine the policy, which we did through the public safety for all task force.

Um this was done led by the city's racial and social justice department, and it once again had community leader subject matter experts once again recommend the use of body worn cameras to support the goals of transparency, community informed policing techniques that build trust and legitimacy with our residents.

So that community informed process and recommendation only led to the creation of my position.

Um thank you, um, for which I was hired in September of last year.

Um and I believe the creation of my position shows a clear commitment by the city of uh the clear commitment by the city to the policies and recommendations crafted as part of the public safety for all task force, of which body worn cameras was a key component.

Um soon after my onboarding, I had an opportunity to lead an application process to support the establishment of a body worn camera policy through a state grant, um, of which the state ultimately awarded us 93% of the maximum grant value in March of this year.

Um and so that application and eventual grant reward spurred a renewed effort to refine and negotiate a policy as attorney Sarago referenced that def uh directly incorporated community input.

Um and that strength is of this revised policy approved by the SPSA this month as a result of not only responding to community feedback on specific policy points, uh, but the input and focus provided by this body in recent months.

So I thank you all very much for that.

Um I appreciate the continued consideration discussion for this initiative this month and look forward to discussing it more.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Councilor Campbell.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh through you, thank you for that.

It's nice to meet you.

I'm sorry it's at 11 p.m.

I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to meet you since September.

Um I very much move to send these two items to committee.

Um it's 11 p.m.

I can't even begin to think about this.

Uh but I look forward to this discussion.

Through your president.

Thank you, Counselor.

Any other questions or discussion?

Okay.

Um I I want to reiterate a point that I've made before, uh, just to make sure that everyone's on the same page, particularly for those in the public, um, because we've had this conversation in executive session.

It's now perfectly okay to have it in the open open session.

Um I completely agree with with everything as presented.

Um, but the the one wrinkle I will I will make sure it's clear, and this is not a discussion on the item.

I'm just talking about the process from from the the um the presidency up here.

Um the the the the using the air quotes uh to set when I say policy that's in the the collective bargain agreement uh is a it it is that is what's what it's called and um that is is what it is from the context of that collective bargain agreement.

Um our surveillance technology ordinance requires that a surveillance technology impact report um be submitted and approved.

And all and in this particular case that a a technology specific use policy is also submitted and approved.

Um that policy will be the actual you know governing policy for how if and how body one cameras are used in the city.

Um it can't contradict what's in our collective bargaining agreements, um, but it might expand beyond that as long as it doesn't contradict this is what it was explained to us by council and executive session.

Um so just so everyone knows.

So there may be more to talk about that we didn't cover in the collective bargain agreement because it's not subject to collective bargaining.

That that might be a very small universe of things, who knows?

But um, as we go into this process, it is it is this process that will decide, as I said earlier, you know, if we are going to implement the technology.

Um and if so, then uh as I said, the you know the terms of the collective bargaining agreement will apply.

Um and the you know the ultimately the the impact report and the use policy uh will have will need to align with the terms that are in that collective bargaining agreement.

Um so that that's our that's our task now to we know we now we now get into that public process where we have the conversation in open meeting um about uh about a policy about any uh any terms and you know whether or not we we feel that we want to go forward, and that's uh that's at the council's discretion.

So thank you very much.

I uh echo this is very nice to meet you in person.

Um thank you for being here so late.

Um seeing no further uh discussion on this, um um Madam Clerk, well sorry, so um items 7.31 and 7.32 will be referred to legislative matters.

Correct, but the next item was actually 7.14.

Um, 714 is a different topic, right?

Um but I want to also I think um we have an item 8.3, which is on the same is on a similar topic.

Um it's a communication from the chief, and I think we should dispense of that one way or the other.

My thought was to it it's it's more of a financial item, but I think my my my thought was to um uh uh unless the chair objects to send that along with a committee just so we have we got everything there.

We could throw it all on the table and kick it around when when we're there.

So would you read an 8.3 as well, please?

Item 8.3.

The chief of police conveying information regarding item 26-0378, a request of the mayor for acceptance of a grant for a body worn camera program.

Um and so as I said, this this is more specific to the money, but given that the place we're gonna have the conversation now is in legislative matters, let's try and uh keep that there at the very least, um, so that it's it's it might not ultimately be relevant, but you know, better there than having place things going to different places.

So uh we will refer that.

Well uh that's I guess what place on file with a copy to uh to legislative matters.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Okay.

Thank you, everyone.

Is there anyone else here for anything other than 714723, 4 or 5?

Because that's where we're going next, if so, if not.

Okay.

Very good.

Um with that, Madam Clerk, we'll continue on our list of out of order items and uh go to item 7.14, please.

Mr.

President.

Who is that?

Councillor Strauss.

Um I'm going to get up in a second or pay possibly request a five-minute um break.

But you know what?

If you all want to just keep on plowing through this, that's fine too.

But when we get to 8.1, um, which we're not yet, but I'm bookmarking that because I do want that set to committee.

Remind me when we get there, Matt.

Um I'll make I'll make I'll make a note.

I'll make a note here.

Madam Clerk, would you read 714, please?

7.14 requesting the appropriation of 6,600,000 from the unreserved fund balance to the facility renovation and reconstruction stabilization fund to support the five-year capital investment plan.

And uh Mr.

President, I think I want to move to take this item up together with items 7.2 to 7.5.

All of them together.

Yes.

Okay.

If there's no objection.

Okay, Madam Clerk, would you read those items in as well?

Yes.

I'm sorry, 7.25 and 7.2.

So 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5.

Got it.

Okay.

7.2 requesting the appropriation of 2 million five hundred thousand from the facility construction and renovation stabilization fund to for replacement of the Department of Public Works building roof at one Franny Road.

Then we have 7.3 requesting the appropriation of 2 million from the facility construction and renovation stability stabilization fund for replacement of the West Somerville neighborhood school roof.

Then we have request 7.4 requesting the appropriation of 900,000 from the facility renovation stabilization fund to convert existing space at the Healy School into five functional classrooms.

7.5 requesting the appropriation of 500,000 from the facility construction and renovation stabilization fund to replace the boilers at the Argiano School.

Director Raish.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

No, I'll just pull one up real quick if you want.

Thank you again for your record, Richard Rach, Director of Infrastructure.

In the mayor's budget presentation last week, uh he alluded to the fact that um one of our strategies uh to uh um uh sort of confront the fiscal crisis that we are uh is to essentially cash fund a number of uh very needed capital projects.

Uh this is essentially uh following through on that.

So agenda item uh uh 7.14 uh which is an appropriation from free cash in the amount of uh 6.6 million to uh facility I'm sorry.

Um I'm going to uh counselor McLaughlin moves to lay these items on the table briefly because I forgot that we have Jackie Duffy still in the audience.

When when I pulled the room to see if anyone else was here, it was my intent to also take those two items off up off the table.

And I complet it was my own idea and I completely flaked and forgot.

I'm so sorry.

This is you know, it's it's just I need this is I just need more Red Bulls up here.

Um Jackie.

So uh item 3.1 and item 3.2.

Um and there was uh there was a member of the public that was here to speak on item 3.2 but couldn't, and my understanding is that that member of the public did join back in at some point but has since left.

Um so uh spoiler it when we get to that, I'm gonna suggest we uh send that one to committee just so that we give um that member of the public an opportunity to uh speak to the item unless there's any urgency to it, but we'll hear that from Ms.

Duffy.

So um Ms.

Duffy, if you're still with us, um and and and haven't fallen asleep um because of our thrilling um uh riveting conversations.

Um let's take up item three dot one off the table, madam clerk.

Yes, we have Miss Duffy here, and she is available to speak.

All right, so I see uh uh I it is to some extent I did accomplish what I was trying to do, which is make sure there was no one in the room here for for for these items.

I just forgot that this was one of the items that someone might have been here for.

Um so we've we've established that no one else has come in the room and wants to speak to it.

Um and um there was no one else that wanted to speak to it online initially, so uh unless there's any objection um we can approve that item.

Oh madam Clark, uh just Counselor Hart.

Yes, given the um fact that there could have been someone who tried to come in person and physically that and then maybe left.

I think does it hurt to send it to committee of the city?

I think that's an excellent point.

Um uh Jackie, is there any urgency on either?

I think the one that the the mean was um questioning was prospect street.

Yeah, I know, but I so be w uh um Jackie, our chambers were full at the beginning.

So I could tell it's possible, it's possible.

It's possible that somebody may have tried to get in and and and wasn't able to and and left.

And Councilor Hart is noting that just out of an abundance of caution, um, in case that could because that has happened before, and and as you may recall in the past, that person did ultimately get um come in and we were able to to hear their concerns, which was good.

Um but you know, i unless there's a particular degree of urgency, I I think uh Council Howard is suggesting that that maybe we send this one to committee as well, just to make sure that there's no one uh out in the public that didn't have an opportunity to speak to it.

Any concern from your end on that?

Yeah, that's fine.

Okay.

I think that's a a very uh appropriate request, Councillor Hart.

So thank you for um for for making that point.

Um so item 3.1 will be referred to committee.

Um and uh item th we'll take uh take item 3.2 up off the table.

That's uh prospect street one.

Um and uh if there's no objection um Jackie from you on this one, uh we'll send that to committee as well, because we know that there was somebody that was it appeared to be trying to speak to it and wasn't able to.

So I want to make sure that we give that that um that person the opportunity as well.

So yeah, there was something wrong with it wouldn't it wouldn't on mine and it wouldn't bring up the unmute.

I w I didn't get the square to say unmute.

That's why I couldn't get on.

Okay.

So maybe that's what that's the problem maybe he was having also.

From the very outset on this meeting, there was some there was some some glitches, something going on with the system.

So um no surprise that it wasn't working on uh properly, and my apologies for that.

Um no worries, no worries.

So uh well, thank you for your uh for your uh agreement on that.

I think it's uh it's a good recommendation.

We'll send both of these to committee.

Uh make sure that members of the public have their opportunity to to uh let us know of any concerns they might have or questions.

Um and uh SOC and objection 3.2 will be sent to licenses and permits as well.

Um thank you, Jackie.

Um so sorry for keeping you here so late.

Don't worry.

All right, take care.

Thank you.

Have a good night, everybody.

Thank you, Councilor McGlauffin for reminding me of that fact.

And and um doing doing my best up here.

Okay.

Um with that, uh let's take items 7.14, 7.2, 3, 4, and 5 back up off the table.

Thank you, Director Rash.

I apologize for the the interruption, but um uh you understand given what you just heard.

So um please uh continue.

And and I hope you haven't had a chance to put any slides together in the interim.

If if if I haven't already, uh I want to thank you all for your service as a resident of Ward 7.

It's you know, probably the there's probably only two jobs that are worse than mine, and and you you're one of the two.

Um I think I'm still director of infrastructure and asset management after that uh comment.

But yes, so uh item uh 14.7 is the action that takes the the free cash and appropriates it appropriates it into the facil facility renovation and reconstruction stabilization uh fund, which we just call the facility uh stabilization.

Uh and then the first set of critical capital projects are uh 7.2 through 7.5 um that we immediately want to appropriate out of that um uh uh facility stabilization into accounts that Capital Projects can access and and spend.

Um these are high priority projects that Capital Projects has been working on with the assurances from Director Bean that we would find the financing uh to do them.

Uh you know, we anticipated that we would uh have the financing and uh against my typical policy actually bid out two of these because they're critical in terms of time.

Uh specifically uh the uh 7.4 uh which is the subdivision of a room in the Healy School.

Uh this was a former science room that was underutilized.

Uh they have a lot of uh need for breakout space uh for intervention on one-on-one.

Uh so we're subdividing this and making it soundproof so that those uh sort of services can be done in in the manner in which they they need to.

Uh this will be our summer slammer um for for this uh year, trying to get the thing we I don't think we're gonna hit September one, but as close as possible, which is why we're asking for immediate consideration uh tonight, uh, because we want to get the contractor in there as soon as the kids are out on June uh eighteenth.

Um similarly we also have uh and and so the the uh bidder that we had for that is a strong bidder.

Uh it's actually the same one that did the uh warming center, bless you, uh at Cummings.

We've got uh good experience uh with them and we're happy that they were the lowest bid.

The bid was uh below our estimate, so we're within budget on that.

Uh we also uh uh finally were able to get the bid out for the DPW roof.

This has been a long-standing problem for DPW.

Um the the entire uh with the exception of the two-story um administration building, all of those garages that have offices in them, all of those uh roofs leak on our union employees that are trying to do their work in there.

Uh that roof is in horrible condition.

Uh we've got a uh contractor uh uh a good low bidder to do that work to repair that roof uh and uh make it so that it doesn't rain on our DPW employees inside.

Sorry, I'm just thinking of the image that I see every year of the fire department hosing it down during before the fireworks and just imagine what does that like rain?

It rains then inside.

Yes.

So um we want to proceed with that as quickly as possible.

Um the other two are bid ready uh and also uh time constrained.

One is the replacement of the roof at the West Somerville neighborhood school.

Um this will be somewhat disruptive to to um the the school operations, and so we want to maximize the the summer uh for to get uh jump on that and also the replacement of the boilers at the urgenziano school.

Uh we want to get those uh in before we need them this uh um heating season.

Uh so these are all time sensitive, so I wanted to to bring both those.

So is it's the two actions is the one from free cash to stabilization and then the four um appropriations out of stabilization so that we can start these projects immediately.

All right, thank you, Director Raish.

Any discussion?

Counselor Wheeler.

Uh I just want to recognize uh it would be amazing if somehow in this free cash that we're using in part on education, if there were a way to find some funding for uh the roles that the school committee recommended.

Um with that wish stated, uh I would like to be see these move forward, and so I move to approve uh all of these items.

Councilor Wheeler moves to approve.

Do we need to uh do we need to vote on 14 first and then the other one?

Can we take them up all together?

Technically, yes.

Technically, yes.

All right, I figured I figured as much.

All right, so um first on the motion for uh to approve item 7.14.

Any discussion?

All right, seen Council Scott.

Uh on the motion to approve 7.14, just for anybody who's still paying attention after 11 o'clock at night.

Uh this is the moving of 6.6 million dollars from free cash.

That's the extra leftover money we have into a stabilization fund uh so that it can then be used in the future uh to in the very near future to be appropriated out to fund other things.

Uh as we come to the end of the fiscal year, there will be a raft of these free cash appropriations.

I believe there's something like 16, 17 million dollars of them uh on the agenda tonight, and there I am sure more to come.

Uh so just helping people understand procedurally what's happening here, and I echo uh the chair of finance's sentiments uh about seeing all this money slushing around here when we're being told that there's just not six hundred thousand dollars for teachers.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councillor White, and Counselor Scott.

Seeing no objection then, that item is approved.

And then Councillor Wheeler on the motion to take uh 7.2, 3.4, and 5 up together, right?

Um we don't need a roll call on this either.

Any discussion?

All right, seeing none, those items are approved.

Okay.

Um I think we're done with the out of order stuff.

We can start the meeting now.

Good job, gang.

Let's see.

What is it?

7.15 now.

I will remind everyone that it's 11.15, and we're starting at the beginning.

So choose your words with that in mind.

Let's see.

4.1, Madam Clerk.

And I'll also remind folks that things don't need to go to committee.

They can just be approved if you want to just follow up.

That's an option.

Just not suggesting, I'm just objectively noting that is a thing that can happen.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Mr.

President, actually, we do need to take a roll call for not 7.14, but the other items we do.

I apologize.

Well, that's fun.

Let's take a roll call for for each of them individually.

Can we take one roll call for all of them?

We can take it.

Let's take one roll call for 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5 together.

Okay.

Counselor Ewan Campin, let's take a roll call for those things that we just voted on, but turns out we needed a roll call in case you want to be here for them.

Mr.

President, for the sake of time, maybe we should proceed.

Yeah.

Um Madam Clark, go go ahead.

Uh go ahead, call the roll on those items, please.

Yes.

Councilor Ewan Campen.

Counselor Link.

Yes.

Councilor Scott.

Yes.

Councillor Klingon.

Yes.

Counselor Strazzow?

Yes.

Counselor Saeed?

Yes.

Counselor Wheeler?

Yes.

Counselor Hart?

Yes.

Councilor McLaughlin?

Counselor Umba.

Yes.

Hi.

Hey.

You're going to call my name twice.

Yes.

Okay.

Counselor Umba?

Yes.

Councillor Davis?

Yes.

With 10 votes that passes.

All right.

Very good.

There we go.

Now we can start the meeting.

It's now.

Oh no, it's still not 1115.

So it's not even 11.15 yet.

Come on.

What are you guys doing?

Madam Clerk, next item.

Next item is 4.1 by Councillor Saeed that the administration address the ongoing public health and safety concerns at the Broadway Salvation Army site.

First, they would like this to uh be sent to public health and public safety.

And I just want to say uh constituents have been reaching out to me about this location now for the second time.

Um the situation is getting worse.

There's public health and safety concerns.

This location is becoming an overnight gathering area.

Um the issues involving loud arguments, fights, public drinking, public urination, and um the other issue is theft and organized resell donated goods.

These are goods that are supposed to go to people in need.

Um seen like the same trucks, you know, come in and take in those.

Uh so I reached out to Chief Benford, who uh is working with the Salvation Army to make recommendations and send in um police officers regularly, but again, the situation is still not uh it's not better.

Um so I'd like to have a public discussion on this uh in public health and public safety.

All right, Councillors McLaughlin and Bob would like to sign on.

That item is approved with a copy to public health and public safety.

Next item, please.

Yes.

That item is approved.

So if you want to speak, raise your hand, even if you're the submitter.

If not, I'll just assume that you don't, and we'll approve the item and move along.

Next item uh 4.3, Madam Clerk.

Yes, 4.3 by Councilor McLaughlin and Councilor Umba, that the director of veteran services update the city council on the status of any veterans memorials currently in storage, as well as the status of the Central Hill Memorial Plaza.

Councilor Ba.

Nope, sorry, Councilor McLaughlin.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I'll be brief and uh begin with a short history of armed conflict in this country.

Uh beginning with the Spanish civil war.

Uh I can see the monument from Chucky Harris Park and move to approve.

I I would like the city to take this seriously.

I don't need it to send a committee, but I'm just gonna constantly remind us about the memorials that are in storage.

Very happy the Vietnam Korean memorials were brought back.

Veterans have asked me to um reach out and make sure the rest of the memorials come back.

Uh see no further discussion.

Oh, Council Unit Campan?

I just moved to collectively refer to them as Mabloughlin.

Very well.

That item is approved.

Next item, Madam Clark.

4.5.

4.5, yes.

Counselor Hart, that the uh council that the chief of Putin.

I'm sorry.

One of the things briefly, Councilor Ba.

I just wanted to say that you know uh the thank the book those overstairs memorials uh more than one minutes.

And on the uh communities probably should have those who next item, Adam Clark.

Counselor uh the next item is 4.5 by Councillor Hart that the chief of police increase traffic enforcement in Teal Square, especially focusing on the lights and crosswalks between Broadway and Holland Street, and especially in the morning when students and families are walking to school.

Councilor Hart.

Thank you.

Um just to um ask, really, Mr.

President, for should this go to traffic and parking, or is this the kind of thing that could just be a communication?

Oh, I mean it certainly can just be a communication.

I think um if you want to follow up on a and the follow-up conversation can happen individually as well.

Um but if you want to and especially this time of year, I I think practically speaking, you know, remember where we are in the calendar and the likelihood that something's gonna get into a committee meeting.

Um it may, but you know, right.

Actually, I think I would like to send this one to traffic and parking.

Traffic and parking?

Yes.

All right, that item is approved with copy of traffic parking.

Next item.

Next item is 4.6 by Councillor Hart that the Director of Mobility prioritize Curtis Street for pedestrian safety improvements, including traffic calming measures and an Americans with disabilities act accessible across rock and the vicinity of Sunset Road.

Uh send can committee, please.

Which committee?

Um, I'm sorry.

It's too late.

I meant just leave it as a communication.

Okay.

That sounds good.

So that item is approved.

Thank you.

Next item.

Next item is 4.7 by Councillor Hart that the director of mobility install additional signage and the chief of police increase enforcement to ensure compliance with the one-way traffic direction on Whitfield Road.

Move to approve, please.

That item is a uh councilor site on the item.

If we're asking them to install something, they recommend that we send to the committee so we can follow up.

Excellent.

Thank you.

Sorry, Councilor Said, I missed that.

Just uh Yeah, I think if we're asking them to install something, it's good for it to go to committee traffic and parking, so we can follow up with uh the director on that.

So that item is approved with a copy to traffic and parking.

Very good.

Next item.

Next item is 4.8 by Councillor Hart, recognizing and expressing appreciation to the Department of Public Works, the Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health, and the Inspectional Services Department for their work and addressing rodent issues at the West Somerville neighborhood school.

Councilor Hart.

Thank you so much, Mr.

President.

So some concerned parents brought it to my attention that there was a significant uh issue with mice in the West Somerville neighborhood school.

With my colleague uh school member Batone, we were able to find out that a lot of work has already been done on this issue to address it.

Um also with the help of the Somerville Educators Union.

And um so I just wanted to recognize that work and I would like to ask Director Nagam Williams if um she would like anything done with this, like sent to committee, for example.

There is a question about um possibly more information that DPW or other departments might want to share.

Mr.

President, could we maybe send it to school buildings facilities and missions?

Sure.

Let's uh approve this item with a copy to school buildings facilities and maintenance.

Thank you.

Next item.