All rise for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the stands nation. All right. Good evening everyone. Uh clerk, please take us uh through the
roll call. Councelor Tenari Garcia present. Councelor Jimenez Rivera present. Councelor Rupo. Council Taylor here. Councelor Robinson here. Council Tesh here. Councelor Kelly Garcia is absent. Councelor Santigette
here. Council Vega here. Council Brown here. And councelor Dus present. 10 members present, one absent. You have a quorum, Madam President. Thank you, Clerk. Councelor Taylor. Uh, point of personal uh, privilege. U,
at at the last meeting, I inadvertently demoted Sergeant Star Chung to Officer Chung, and I apologize for that. She earned that uh, promotion. So, uh, I just wanted to correct the record that she is Sergeant Chung. Thank you.
Thank you, counselor. Uh there are no uh celebratory resolutions or public hearings. We'll move forward to public speaking. If you are here for the public speaking section, please state your name um and address and you have four minutes.
Good evening, council. Good evening. My name is Joan Crowell and I live in district 4 and I'm here to speak on a matter that I have been compelled
to address a matter of grave concern on the recent interference by members of the council and the work of appointed boards such as planning and zoning boards. As an appointed board members, we have
been entrusted with the authority and the responsibility to uphold the democratic process by weighing evidence, applying established regulations, and deciding cases before us.
It is deeply troubling when on the eve of a scheduled vote, council members attempt to introduce amendments, cast doubt on pending matters, or exert pressure to influence incomes outcomes.
Such actions are not only inappropriate, they flagrant, undermining and an abuse of authority. They corrupt the independence of appointed boards, jeopardize due process, and erode the
trust of the public places in our system of governance. Council members who are frequently absent from meetings should not attempt to alter or override the decisions of those who have consistently done the
work, reviewed the cases, and honored their obligations. to intervene at the last moment, whether out of political calculation, fear of losing votes in an election
year, our external pressure from narrow interest groups undermines both the spirit and the letter of our democratic institution. Let me be clear. To move forward with amendments the
night before a board meeting to decide a case is reckless, self-serving, and corrosive to the integrity of the process. It sends the wrong message to the public. The decisions are not based on fair
deliberation and the rule of law, but on political maneuvering and private influence. I urge the council to refrain from interfering in the independent work of appointed boards and to allow us to
carry out the duties we have sworn to uphold without disruption or political manipulation. Anything less is an abdication of the council's responsibility to protect rather than undermine Chelsea's
democratic institutions. I would also like to address the proposals of providing stipens to board members. I believe this is not a productive idea. Given Chelsea's long history of corruption and receiverhip,
it is critical that we remain intentional about transparency and avoid even the appearance of potential misuse of public funds. Board service should continue to be grounded in civic
duty and community commitment with members volunteering their time and energy out of dedication to Chelsea rather than expectation of compensation. Lastly, it is troubling and disappointing
that a prominent city leader would urge you, the council, to take away the power to vote from planning and zoning. That is not democracy. We already know on a federal level what's going on. That
is not democracy. In Chelsea, we fight to keep our process fair, impartial, and accountable. Removing this voice threatens the very safety nets that protect our community,
safeguard our neighborhoods, and ensure residents are not left powerless in decisions that impact their daily lives. Thank you for your attention to this matter and I trust that together we can preserve the integrity of Chelsea's
democratic process. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Um, hi, my name is Bri Ramos and I declined on stating my residency for safety issues.
I want to begin that I'm a graduate at Chelsea High Schools and I'm the class of 2024. I came here to say that the majority of Chelsea residents are struggling, especially the youth. Our community needs stable housing, better
jobs, and real opportunities for our children and young adults to to thrive. We must advocate for plans that lift the majority plans that create jobs and econom economic mobility and plans that that
build a safer, stronger Chelsea. But I also want to highlight something important. I want to highlight the fact that the youth are our next generation that will carry this community. We are the future leaders. We are the future workers. And we are the voices of
Chelsea. But to make our community stronger, we need opportunities now. For far too long, many unrepresented families, those who have lived here for generations and those who who came here
seeking a better life, not for them but also for their family, have not have not had the chance to become what they have dreamed for. And America is supposed to be the land of the free. And people come here for their dreams.
Their hope is for the next generation, us to achieve that what they didn't. But how do we do that if we don't have the resources or the support? When we make when we make sure that every family that
has the resources and opportunities to succeed, we create a Chelsea that reflects the strength of all of us. Together, we can build this community that will be safer and full opportunities for every single one of
us. Thank you for listening. Thank you. [Applause] Good evening, council. Good evening. Uh, my name is Blanca Gacharna and I decline on publicly stating my address. Good evening, counselors. I'd like to
respectfully request that the council reconsider the practice of requiring speakers to state their full home address before speaking. While we understand the importance of transparency and maintaining an accurate public record, this practice raises
serious safety concerns for our community. Chelsea has proudly declared itself a sanctuary city, standing up for immigrant families and vulnerable residents. Unfortunately, that commitment has also made our city and its people a target. With increased
threats from ICE and other enforcement agency, asking residents to share their full address publicly creates unnecessary risks. It exposes community members to harassment, surveillance, arrest, deportation, or even direct
targeting for immigration enforcement. This requirement also has a chilling effect on civic participation. Many residents, especially immigrant families, mixed status households, renters, and others or who are already
feel vulnerable may be discouraged from speaking out on issues that matter to them for fear of retaliation or being located by ICE. In effect, the current practice silences voices we most need to hear from. Instead, I suggest allowing
speakers to state only their name and, if helpful, for contacts, their neighborhood or district. This provides enough information for the public record while protecting the safety and privacy of residents. It strikes a balance between accountability and community
protection. By removing this requirement, the council would send a strong message that Chelsea values both civic engagement and the protection of its people. It would affirm that we will not not allow intimidation whether from
outside agencies or from fear of exposure to weaken our democratic processes or silence our community members. Thank you for your consideration. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening.
A letter from the majority of Chelsea members. We often talk about the teal of two cities here in Chelsea. I don't want to interrupt you. Could I get your name? Yes, you may. My name is Beverly Martin Ross. I'm a long long long
life resident of Chelsea. [Applause] We often talk about the tale of two cities here in Chelsea. For many of us is just a saying. It is a lived reality. Growing up here, you quickly learn that
Admiral's Hill operates by a different set of rules. From soccer nets filled with cement to an overbearing uh security presence to gates and curfews designed to keep people out. The message has long been clear. This part
of Chelsea isn't for everyone. Access for this community. Even the opportunity for economic growth on the hill has come with barriers that exclude the wider Chelsea community. Unfortunately,
past city practices and even recent actions from some of the councilors has reinforced this division rather than breaking it down. This only deepens the feeling of two Chelsea's. We must not accept the status quo.
Instead, instead we need to dismantle the barriers built from implying barriers and imple implementing privileges barriers that have been upheld by our own local government. The
majority of my members of this community are are working family, immigrants, invaluable neighbors who deserve strong representation and advocacy. for economic opportunities that promotes more jobs to increase housing stability,
quality education, and self-sufficient food security. Amen. Let me provide you with some information to remind you where the majority population Chelsea stands. In Chelsea, about 20.6%
of the population lives below the poverty line. This number is much higher than the state's average, which is about 9.4%. In Chelsea, the unemployment rate is 5.2% which is higher than the state and
federal average. In Chelsea, over 20% of residents are affected by poverty. In Chelsea, over 400 children have left our school system. Good evening. I'm Nicole McCoy.
Good evening. I'm Nicole McCoy, a resident of Chelsea. I'm going to read the a second part of that letter. In Chelsea, increased ICE presence had led to heightened terror among immigrant families, forcing them to flee, hide,
and live in fear. In Chelsea, the majority over half of renters are considered housing cost burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing. Nearly onethird of households pay over 50% of their
income to rent, leaving little for other necessities. In Chelsea, limited affordable housing contributes to frequent displacement of lowincome residents in the prevalence of substandard living condition aspirates health issues and increased
vulnerability to public health crisis. In Chelsea, the majority of residents need job opportunities and economic advancement. Children of economically stable families are more likely to compete to complete school and pursue higher education. In Chelsea, we need to
advocate for new and more opportunities for upward mobility for the majority of residents, which is crucial to reducing the impact of poverty. If you advocate for those types of amendments, you will be opening doors to future employment prospects, creating pathways for
integrational wealth, intergenerational wealth, growth, and benefits for families and the majority of the Chelsea population. In turn, your actions will help to break down the well, the wall that continues to support the tale of two cities and create one strong voice
that speaks to all speaks to the all-American city award. We continue to celebrate. Thank you for your Hi everyone. Um, my name is Jennifer Hassel. Um, most of you may know me by my role in the community, but I'm here as a resident of
the community for the last 53 years. Um, and I'm in District 8. I'm taking my few moments to speak about a project that was recently um, voted against. Um, I am here to say as a resident, um, I am in favor of this
project and I want to advocate and hope that this isn't a done deal. I'm hoping that we can convince them to potentially come back or have another, um, company of its liking because at the end of the day, um, I understand and I sympathize with the residents that are being
impacted by any project that goes into that industrial zone. But we need to remember that it is an industrial zone and at the end of the day, someone is going to go in there and it would be better to work with somebody that wants to work with us, work with the community and work with their neighbors versus
getting someone in there that isn't going to care and not work with their neighbors. And I completely understand and again sympathize with some of the um concerns that the residents had, but um some of the tactics I strongly disagree
with and I am really sad at what I saw during the last couple of meetings. The lack of respect and the disdain for the process. Um there needs to be a better way to do this. There needs to be a better way to meet halfway and there needs to be accountability for everyone
who had a part in this. Um, I there's a lot of subjects that are coming up today that I don't choose to speak upon, but accountability is a huge part of everybody's job, and we need to make sure that everybody's held accountable for the decisions that they make. Thank
you for your time here today. [Applause] Hey everybody. Hi honorable members of the city council. Damali Vido, coolest city councelor that ever existed. Sorry, Leo. Um I'm here um I I own my property in Is it still
District 5? I don't know. On on Highland Street, 140 Highland Street. Um and I'm here to talk about a couple of things. Initially, I was coming here to talk about an event that I was organizing with other community members and nonprofit organizations, and I will save that to the end because there's obviously something coming up here that
needs to be addressed. Prior to me leaving the city council the last time, I felt uncomfortable being on the city council because at times it felt like I was part of something nefarious because the the nepotism, the
the sneakiness, the conversations, the conflicted interest. It just felt super uncomfortable and I couldn't in good conscious stay anymore. So I left and figured, hey, you know what? I've done my job, but I have always stayed in touch. And you all know that I have always picked up your calls when you call me, even after you came into
office. Cuz for me, it's never personal. For me, it's about the betterment of the city. I have relationships with each one of you. Even Todd Taylor, y'all, for real. But I'm sorry. I'm dry. I had to fast for an ultrasound, so I'm
super thirsty. So, don't mind me. At the end of the day, well, prior to me leaving, I went to a zoning board meeting and there was an a project that was there and there were counselors speaking on it in favor of this project. But it was weird because
they were relatives to the person who had the projects, but they were employees, but they were family members. And it just felt weird. And I said to the zoning board, I said, "Listen, you are the only buffer that exists right now between our city and what happened during receiverhip." And those was
probably the last words I ever said at a zoning board meeting while I was here. And to think I was watching the meeting. I don't care if a fish market goes in Ammerald Hill. I live in Rhode Island. It doesn't matter to me. What I do care is that we have a straight, democratic,
fair, transparent process. And to me, that was not what happened. A lot of people don't know what the process is. When the city manager wants to appoint someone to a board, he submits names. He gives it to the city council. The city council looks at it. They have to read it in one meeting,
send it to the next meeting, and then in the second meeting, they decide whether to appoint or not. That's the process. So, if there's ever an issue about terms or zoning board, that's when you do your work. When you every year, usually the planning board will come up with ideas
for zoning amendments. They'll submit it to the city council. We'll have a subcommittee. Boring meeting going over everything, but we do it because you have to do the work. You look at it and you're like, "Yeah, this is good." that would have been the time to do your job. But to impede with a process after the
fact, it smells funny. It looks bad and it's super unprofessional. I want to see you all thrive. Should we have young Latino people in this community represent our city? Hell yes, all day. But not if we're going to be employing the same tactics of the people that came before us. You can't dismantle the
master's house with his own tools. The problem here is that we don't do enough civic engagement. We don't do enough to talk about how to get on these boards. These boards, they should be up every two years. We should be flipping them like pancakes, but we take the easy route, right? So then that's the
accountability. That's where you all did not do what you should have done. And I hated when I was on that side and people will come over here and tell me about the things I wasn't doing. But you guys, like we have to do better. It's not personal. It's about the community and being transparent. So the reason why
these things happen is because we don't talk about civic engagement in our schools. That's all by design. Anybody could join a board. Anybody could run for city council. And so I teamed up with a group of organizers and nonprofit organizations to host a candidate forum
on October 9th at the senior center from 6:00 to 8. We are prioritizing the districts that have contenders. I hope that everybody comes and attends and hear why people are running for office and if that's who they want to elect because at the end of the day the only
power that exists here is the power of the people all day. Thank you. Anyone else here for public speaking? come up to the podium. My name is Kenneet. And for disclosure,
I actually promised my wife that I wasn't coming here to speak, but surprisingly I just want to speak on leadership and what transpired.
Because when I look on the board, I see a lot of folks that are aspiring for higher offices. The essence of leadership is not what we saw. You have to have a moral compass.
You just don't flutter in the wind. Where is the wind blowing? I heard that somebody said coonas. I'm going to tell you what coonas what's that about? When you characterize leadership,
when I go to my family, they used to say, "Dad, you stop nips in the city of Chelsea. Somebody took a claim for it." There used to be two young boys that owned their pro their dad's property.
And when I first was asked to be on the licensing board, they were young. I saw my kids through them. But along the way, I saw some stubbornness.
It was difficult. I saw the people in my community, they were poor. There were spot checks. People are drunk passing out. The police,
he used to be a captain. He's my friend. So many times he sees me. He's like, "Hey, I said, "Oh, when I was there, you did not appreciate what I was doing." It was a fight in the garden. And now, let me go back to that leadership.
One of the greatest moment we had was when the city manager called us, everybody that served on the board in Chelsea. I didn't know what he was calling us for. He was in this place. Wasn't expecting anything.
We may like him or heard him. But guess what? One question he asked everybody member in the city of Chelsea that was here was if I have ever influence your decision
making process in this city raise your hand up. Nobody raised your hand up. That was the greatest triumph. That is the kind of leader you want to work for and serve for.
I serve two city managers here. I was there for a long time. I get out of the lab 5:00. I'm rushing down to Chelsea to make a corum. I'm afraid of traffic. At some point I said I wasn't going to do I s for more
than eight years. I've been on that side. I've been on this side. Somebody has to stand and be the Rubicon. If you are aspiring for a higher office,
you cannot say my mom, my brother, my sister, or anybody else. The first time I was on the licensing board, that was a young girl that came there, she did not even know why she was there.
Sir, I'm so sorry. I just want to make sure we get enough time for any of the other speakers. Okay. If you could just have a round up. Thank you. I tell you, I wanted to take an oped when the time comes and write on what it
matters to serve. When you're over there, you are making a decision, a balancing act for the city and for the citizens. And I fought that battle from 950 Broadway
all over. Those folks that come here, they used to bring everybody uh the Catalanch when they were and I stood between the neighbor and that company and I wanted experts there. Sometimes you demand for that expertise
SOP standard operating procedure that that company said nobody actually asks what SOP means. The chemicals nobody asks that they're going to have to clean. I hope I have enough time to come back again and say please you serve the
city and you stand between the people ask for the right questions and you are representing stop interfering because when you come over there to influence the process you're tying the commissioner's hand they are serving you
and please stop interference because that is not the essence of leadership. Thank you sir. [Applause] Hello. Hello. My name is Marco.
Uh this is my first time speaking. Uh I'm from Lakola. All right. Let me start my speech. Good evening members of the council. I work with a collaborative and I'm an organizer with the made up to code campaign.
Through the made up up to code application, we help residents perform their own inspections so they can document the unsafe conditions in their homes and have tools to demand change. In my time working with this campaign, I've seen firsthands the firsthand the
conditions that too many families in our communities are forced to live in. This work is not just about fixing one apartment. It's about fighting for safe, healthy housing for all. I've spoken with families who have endured leaks coming from uh their
apartments above them. Humidity that creates black mold. Imagine having black mold in your ceiling while you're showering. Infestations of mice, roaches, and even maggots. You could take a look at the pictures. Some of my co-workers have
pictures. This is real and it's happening in Chelsea. I've seen parents struggling to protect their children in homes that should be a place of safety, not danger. I look forward to having conversations
with you all so we can straighten our partnership, strengthen our partnerships, and support one another with this project. Did I make myself clear? Yeah, it should be I think um I
have some testimonies from some uh tenants that may or may be okay. Correct. So, you have to excuse me and this is my first time speaking. Hello everybody. Good evening.
Um, my name is Valerie. I'm very nervous. Um, last year I had bed bugs and my landlord tried to convince me that I brought them into my own apartment. First of all, I don't like people. Deal will tell you. I have nobody in my apartment.
I'm sorry to interrupt. Can you speak closer to the mic? I want to make sure we can all hear. Okay. Can y'all hear me? Okay. I don't like people. Demali will tell you I don't let anybody in my apartment. My landlord tried to convince me that I brought them in myself. Come to find out that there were bed
bugs on my whole floor. Um I live in a 108 unit apartment building. I think whoever knows it's more than it's more than um anyway it's 100 about 100 units. Let me calm down. Um anyway um I've been in the building for 20 years. Last year
I get bed bugs. Um, my body's all scarred up because I asked to be moved to another apartment while they took care of the problem. They wouldn't move me because they told me I would bring them with me. All I wanted to do was just bring my whole body. I needed to bring anything with me to another apartment. That one didn't happen. They
couldn't move me to a hotel. Blah blah blah yada yada yada. Anyway, um, the landlord didn't take accountability. Told me I was the only one that had them. The different apartments on that floor had bed bugs. Um, hi. How are you?
Um, the building has all kinds of critters in it. I've been in there, as I said, for 20 years. I never had roaches. They're in the building, though. Um, I've never had mice, but they're in the building. They do a good job, you know,
taking care of some of the problems, but they don't take care of all of them. They're not transparent with the transparent with the uh tenants. Um but they don't be they're not held accountable. Another reason why I'm up here speaking on it is because when I
called city hall um they were more um sympathetic towards the landlord than with me. And um I didn't find that I found that effed up. Um I'm doing really good. Um
I don't know what this meeting is about. You know, I came here basically for the critters and, you know, to hold landlords and property managers accountable. Um, I wish I would have got here before the whole meeting to find out what everybody's talking about, the zoning and whatever's going on and
stuff. I'm not trying to be selfish, but I'm talking about everybody in Chelsea, you know, the critters. I noticed that there's um the what is it? the rat boxes and stuff for the poisons and stuff down here um in this the uh
I hate public speaking, but this need to be said. I noticed that they have the the the rodent traps and stuff down in um the center in the squares and stuff, you know, that's great and stuff, but I wish that the landlords were being held accountable, you know. Um they're
trying, but trying is not good enough, you know. you know, um I guess what I'm saying is that people need to be doing better, you know, um and not looking out just for their own families, you know, and I think that's what I'm hearing a little bit about in
this meeting is that it's all about everybody looking out for their families. And I don't think that's right. And I'm going to just leave it there because I don't want to say anything else. Thank you for testifying. [Applause] Thank you. Thank you for testifying. If
I could, if you feel comfortable, h sharing your address with our city manager because I want to be able to follow up and ensure that. All right. Anyone else here? She's going to testify. Buenos
is Maria Romero. [Music] [Music] Yeah. Okay. Let's see. Okay. [Music]
Hi, my name is Maria Romero and I live in 168 Romero Street. [Music] [Music] I'm here because in my apartment there I have had different little problems and I have talked to the landlord and he has
not he hasn't been paying attention to me. Um [Music] [Music] Um, so I talked to Marco and the collaborative and they asked me to they
help me to fill out an application. [Music] One of the problems I have uh is that I have ma mice and cockroaches and I I have always looked for something to make this uh plague disappear.
[Music] [Music] among some other problems that I that I have. Uh believe me that is a real headache to wake up in the morning and have to clean all these u about the
enemas that are believe me that is a a real problem. [Music] Okay. [Music] [Music] Uh about the mines. The solution for me
has been to have those no I have tried to for this to be the solution to have those sticky trams for the mice and for the cookares just with home uh remedies like vinegar with soap
and but the the cockroaches have little eggs. Fore! Foreign! Foreign! So, I'm asking city hall to help us and see if the landlord can take care of
this problem about the plates. That's the problem we having. Okay. And thank you to our translator. That happens to me all the time. Okay. Um, she wants me to read something, but I I'm going to go get my glasses. Okay.
Oh, of course. Of course. Okay. Alejandra Hello, my name is Alejandra. I joined the collaborative during COVID 19 pandemic in 2021. We were knocking on doors supporting families in Chelsea so they could survive and make it through
an unpreent crisis. Made up to go. It was while walking on the streets that we realized how intense the situation really was. Seeing the conditions so many of of many of our families were living in. That is where the need of to
document the reality was born. And from there the made up to code program began. At first, we did it in the simple way with a Google form surv survey just to at least have some basic data about what
our communities was facing. Today I want to thank our counelors, city manager and departments of for finally adopting this this policy that we so badly need to we recognize the effort it takes. But I
also want to acknowledge the first fight did not start at any office desk. Sorry. It started in the streets with the work and and persistence of the collaborative together with a community that never grew tired of raising its voice. And the
work has not ended. It has just begun. forction. Now we have a serious challenge implementing this platform in a real in a real and effective way. Our neighbors should not feel intimidated when when requesting a housing inspection. Yet we
hear comments from the inspectional services department and public services that scare people people sorry such as you are your rent could go up if we this in inspection the landlord is going to
get upset if we carry up we carry on with this inspection. Do you want us to do it? That is unacceptable. Inspections must be a tool to improve the lives of our families, not a source of fear.
administrator departments department. We have to have the support of the of the councils, the city manager, the IST department, the health department and the housing development department. Thank you very much.
[Applause] Hello everyone. My name is Angie Coronado. Um, I work at LA Collaborative as a director of health equity. Oh. Oh, hello. Sorry. This is the first time I'm not the second time I'm here.
Okay. Hello everyone. Um, in a city like Chelsea, we can see clearly how housing is one of the most powerful social determinants of health. Chelsea is vibrant, diverse, and resilient. But it's also a community that has long been burdened by housing insecurity,
environmental injustice, and the lasting impacts of systemic racism. Many residents that have come to La Colorativa and Many that haven't come to the Coloriva uh have lived in live in overcrowded
aging housing often without adequate ventilation, isolation, insulation I mean and infestation of mice, mouse, roes. We have name a few also bed bugs. I have seen uh children
come in with rashes in their skin having to seek urgent care because of the allergies this uh bed bugs have produced also like rodents. Okay. Uh so where was I now? I'm going
going off track. Sorry about that. Okay. Um this conditions are not just uncomfortable, they're dangerous. They lead to higher rates of asthma, chronic illness, and stress related health issues, especially in children and elders. During the CO 19 pandemic,
Chelsea had one of the highest infection rates in the state. That wasn't coincidence. It was a consequence of ina inequity. Um, families living in tight quarters couldn't isolate. Many here, many were essential workers with no option to stay
home. The health crisis not only exposed that many uh the the things that many already knew the conditions people live and share their chances to survive and thrive. Housing is a social determinance of health. It's one of the most important
ones. It's not just about being comfortable or like it's survival. It's not about like taking a hot bath like a shower. No. If your housing is or if you're going through housing insecurity and if you're
living in a quarter like that is infested with broches rats, you're not safe. It would be better for you to be outdoors. But then we also have high traffic areas here with highways. So there's also air pollution which is not safe.
But I stay very optimist and I know we can change. Thank you. Thank you. Excuse me. [Applause] is Gloria Garcia. Sophia, will you be translating or should I? Okay.
Um, good evening. My name is Gloria Garcia. This is my first time being up here and the truth is that I was embarrassed to come up. [Music] [Music] um I'm just gonna say something short
because maybe um you are all tired, but I am here to speak on behalf of 25 departments um who are all facing two different infestations and um folks are scared to speak.
I'm here on behalf of those 25 families and my daughters because since July 17th, I have been begging for help. [Music] I've I've lived in Chelsea for 20 years. I love living in Chelsea. Um I don't
want to move and I've and I've been in my apartment for 14 years. [Music] Joint Jo. [Music]
[Music] Um, I painted in my apartment. I put in furniture. I've helped my husband put in floors. And we have one of those landlords who's a good person. He doesn't um bother you. But since July
17th, I realized maybe he's not as good of a person as I thought. Julio. [Music] Fore. [Music] E um until this date I didn't want to come
forward um and I'd given the problem time um but on July 4th they didn't come to get the trash and the bad smell started and then um we started to see um worms. I moved my daughter into another
room. Um God must have let me know because two days later we found maggots in her room. Either [Music] bes [Music] Anna Sophia, before you continue, I want
to acknowledge first that there is translation happening. So, the time is almost less limited. Um, if you could ask her to please um summarize her final words after this translation piece and then that way we can make sure everyone
else gets a opportunity to speak. Thank you. Um, so if the maggots don't come through the window, they come through my front door. There are 14 trash barrels and the maggots look for the front door to come in since it's a basement unit.
[Music] Yes. Jono [Music] Um, what I want, um, is that I'm begging you to talk to the landlord to fix this issue. Um I have trusted city hall. Um
and um I um have I came to city hall um nothing has changed. Okay. Um, hi, good evening. My name is Anna Sophia. Um, I live at 126 Washington number one. Um, I just want to first
acknowledge the tenants who spoke and the vulnerability that it takes to share about these situations, especially when you're told repeatedly that these issues are your fault or that you have to move um or um that you're asking for too much. Um, so recognizing these stories,
um, I'm here to ask that the city tackle this issue, not only by ensuring properties meet minimum standards, but that the city take a proactive preservation strategy that addresses the intersection between housing conditions and displacement. You've heard from residents about the investor owners,
many of whom are known bad actors in the city, who've systematically neglected building repairs, deriving a profit from renting substandard housing to the city's most vulnerable tenants, and often investing in higherend development in other parts of the city. These tenants live day in and day out in
intolerable housing conditions, knowing that the consequences of reporting conditions can be seen as making trouble and that moving out is not an option. the cost of housing is too high. They know that a twobedroom apartment for $1,800
um where you're living in bad conditions, the alternative is trying to move into a two-bedroom apartment for $2,600 and paying upwards of $10,000 in movein costs. And that's not an option. Um but recognizing the cost of housing
across the city also means holding bad landlords accountable while recognizing the economics of preservation work. It means putting resources behind goals of providing safe and dignified housing. It means the city playing a role in creatively financing projects that allow people not only to live in safe
conditions and meet again bare minimum safety requirements. But to stay in their homes and in the community long term means ensuring that when properties we know have been neglected are for sale or are sold, we come together to craft strategies that preserve tenencies and
address conditions rather than turning our heads on mass displacement. Thank you. So, hi. I'm Milas Barto, 104 Johnson Street in Lynn. Um, yes, I'm a staff at La Collaborative, but I'm here as a roach representing the voices of the
community out there that are afraid of retaliation if they speak. They are turning this situation, this infestation as a normal living, which is is is unacceptable. So please um uh city hall
uh um and here people here in the street. So just listen to us, listen to the community, not collaborative to the community and um yeah we want to make things um work. So why we cannot work as
a team right and and give a better life and dignity to the community. Thank you. Hello, my name is Jade Umea and I live at 87 Parker Street. I wasn't expecting to speak tonight. Um, but I feel
compelled, so just bear with me as I gather my thoughts. Um, I empathize with all of the tenants who just came up here to speak. I think that landlords, developers all need to be held accountable because
when you move into, you know, a place to live, you're not expecting to have to face these issues. So, my condo was built and there was a leak happening. Um, so it's been about 5 years that we
were having all of this water damage. And so I've been living with plywood floors for like five years now. Um, every time it rains, new water spots appear. If it's cold outside, snow is
coming inside. There's icicles forming on the doorways. And the developer didn't have to do much um when it came to the repairs. We actually had to come out of pocket to handle that. So, I just
think that it's insane, honestly, that you're moving into places like this. There are children there, people have pets. Um, and it takes a toll on you physically, financially, mentally. It's not fair. And people should be held
accountable, those who are responsible because it shouldn't be, you know, the onus of the people living there who bought there, not expecting any of these things. Um, I will also say that when the building was going up, things were approved that shouldn't have been approved. So, there has to be a process
in place that prevents that from happening so that we're not left out to dry and suffer for all of this time. Um, and just to kind of tie everything together, I will say I think it is a bit of a privilege to be able to come up
here and complain about traffic impacting your life when that's something that people experience all the time when people are going through issues like this. So, I do think that those efforts need to be focused on those things. Thank you.
Good evening, council. I uh also will keep this super quick because I know that you have things to get on to tonight and I also did not plan on speaking. Um but the residents that did speak um really really just kind of hit home I think for all of us. My name is Marty McAlpine. I live at 20 Franklin
Avenue. Um and then uh because of one of the things I want to state just in u full disclosure, I'm also the chair of the Chelsea licensing board. Um so in reference to the comments about the um
the property management companies, I want to say kudos to our city council for putting the property management licenses in place. I think that is a step in the right direction to help combat this issue that we're having in
our community. Uh obviously that's only going to address those that are property management company run. We still have to work to address the ones that are owner occupied managing it themselves. Um but thank you for that first step in that
right direction. Uh I think it's an important thing. I know we're still in the process of kind of rolling all of that out. I wish it could be faster hearing about people in our community that are dealing with things like that. And then I just wanted to speak very briefly about something that was
referenced earlier in terms of any sort of voting being taken away from boards like the planning and zoning. I would be fully opposed to anything like that happening in our community. Um I believe
the fact that we are a city that was the first city in the the I think country uh definitely state but I believe country that went into receiverhip. It is imperative that we work to ensure that we are always above board. We don't need
anybody to be looking that there could be something going on. So please keep your boards in place as they are. Um, I believe you do have um those checks and balances by having all residents open to
apply for open positions and then having the city manager interview and then from there present them to you, you as a council to vote whether or not somebody should be on said board. Um, it would be great if we had more people volunteering
for these boards. Um, but it is volunteering and I know that a lot of members don't feel that they have the time to come and do that. Um, while I can see the interest in potentially paying boards for the amount of time
that we are putting, um, I I personally believe as one of our board members, um, and I've been doing it for four years. I would prefer to do it for free because we're doing it because we care about the city. Um, and I think that's an
important thing for us to keep in mind. I know other communities do pay certain boards. Um, but I think given our history, it's important for us to just try to keep everybody in check, make sure we continue to have checks and balances so we don't have those problems
of the past. Thank you. [Applause] Anyone else here for public speaking? Hi, my name is Elsa Hernandez and she's Maria Torres. We live at 128 Shirley Street. Good evening, city councilors. Some of you might know me. Um, probably
some of you don't know me, but our situation is different. We are facing eviction. Um she lives on 128 shores. She lives on 128 SH sign since 2001.
Okay. So I'm living there since um 2016. Our building um was sold on June. Yes. The first thing that we say was like increase rent for 38 3,800.
Right now I'm paying $3,500. I mean $3, um, $100 and um 700 at once. So the lady sent us a letter and then she say if we don't agree, she's going to take us to court. So now we're in a
process to for the summons to court. And it's sad because I don't want to believe Chelsea. She don't want to move. It's it's pretty much a distressful situation. Um she request um ISD to went to her
apartment. They didn't show up to her apartment and La Collaborative submit all the inspections. So it's it was weird. They only came to my apartment and um the third floor. Her apartment has holes on the ceiling, on the
bathroom, mold, the black mold, like um the floor is all like pretty nasty pretty much. And as Sophia, she's working with us um collaborative, but we don't know what we're going to do
to this point. So, we really need help. We don't know what to do. And you're in my district. I mean, maybe you maybe we can like at least um rely on
city hall. This is our last resource cuz why I got to move from Chelsea to East Boston. I found an apartment there, but I don't want to move there. I'm my kids are like Chelsea residents. me myself. She is her daughter like pretty much she
she get pregnant in that house and then that's the only apartment that she knows her entire life. So it's no fear. So our apartment have roaches, mises, big rats in the backyard that you can like see them like you confuse them with
the cats at night time but like it's nasty. And this lady, she pretty much increased the rent. That's a good way to say you guys are getting evicted pretty much. So, I don't know how the city can
help on this case. Or either we go to the court and get evicted or or fight to the end or I don't know. We don't know the answer. Thank you. Gracias. Thank you,
Mes. Gracias. Is Is there anyone else? Hello, my name is Don Hines. I live at 19 Eleanor Street. Um, first and foremost, I want to empathize with everybody who spoke. I don't think anybody should have to live in harsh conditions um in
housing that isn't affordable or be fearful of speaking um be be in fear of speaking for fear of retaliation from from landlord owners. That's definitely not a condition that people should live in. Um I also want to echo several sentiments that have been mentioned by
many of the residents here. Um, I think one thing that has been a theme that I've been hearing and it was mentioned several times is the point of civic engagement and how it's not often taught to people in our community, in
the school systems, um, even in our neighborhoods. You know, I'm having conversations with neighbors and people in the community who didn't even know that there was an opportunity like Boston provisions that was coming to the city, who didn't even know that there would be opportunities for employment or
economic mobility. And I think it is the responsibility of the council and everybody in the city to be more proactive in civics and in encouraging people to get more involved in what's going on outside of election
cycles. I think it is a duty to know what's going on in the city in the communities that we are serving regularly um and not just when it's time to you know push for votes you know. So, um, I
definitely want to encourage everybody, the council and the community to continue to have more conversations with the communities that we are serving, with the communities that we are a part of, and keep people informed in this process. Because as I'm having conversations with people, the the
common sentiments are I don't do politics or, you know, I don't do but but right here, this directly impacts people every day. And it's important to be more proactive in supporting people from the community to be able to make decisions and to come here and advocate
on behalf of projects that they might think would benefit them rather than being retroactive in the engagement and waiting for people to come to us. Um, and that's all I wanted to say. [Applause] Um, good evening. I'm a single mother of
a 14-year-old daughter. I'm currently going through breast cancer and it has been very difficult to work. One month ago, I had to leave my apartment because I didn't have a way to pay rent and I had to find a cheaper place to live.
Um, when I went to hand over my keys, it was really hard. I um tried to schedule several different appointments. On September 2nd, I was supposed to give um my keys, but the landlord um was away. Um the next day I missed work um
but she wasn't able to receive them. at 7 in the morning. She told me that she couldn't um pick up the keys that day. She told me she'd meet me at 3:00 in the afternoon. at 300 p.m. she told me um that she wasn't available. Um so I went to give
up my keys, but she didn't want to do a final inspection in person. Um, still I spoke to her that she needed to come get the keys to do the inspection and so that she could give me my deposit of $2,100 that she owed me.
She tried to do a hasty inspection, but she didn't want to stop and look at details. Um, what I told her was that she wasn't going to um be able to see the issues and give back the deposit. Um when I um tried when I gave up the
apartment, I tried to leave it in as best condition as possible because I know it's my responsibility to um leave it clean. Um, but that Friday, um, I found myself with a bill of almost $1,400. Sophia, I just want to repeat um but
please do give your last words. Gracias. Okay. Um, so she was only going to return $600. Um, and was alleging a bunch of conditions that weren't there when I tried to hand back the keys to the
apartment. So, I went to LA to see if I could get help because the truth is that um that money is my savings. Um I'm sick and a single mother um and that's what I need to be able to continue to pay my rent. [Music]
[Music] Gracias. Know how you all could help me? Um, I believe that just like we have responsibilities and rules that we have to comply with that she the owner should also have to comply with rules and responsibilities and laws.
[Applause] Uh, my name's K. remember I wasn't going to say anything but after the stories um like I come up here honestly and truly and could say wholeheartedly after the last week um there was there was words
of those kinds of jobs being coming here or we were in a good economic situation I believe uh city council Tishi said and we just heard stories of rats, roaches, mice, rodents, bed bugs
breast cancer. She can't afford $600. I can't sit here and and and respect the due process and think, "Oh, you guys will make a right decision for them based on the decision that was made last week." That's just inconsistent. But it is the truth.
Those are the kind of jobs that we did reject. Now, the process played out how it played out. Um, I won't speak to that, but I will say that to listen to these stories now and then to go back one week, if you could go on there and shake
their hands and say, "Hey, I did the, you know, I I I'm here with you." It's easy now when they're here, right? It is very easy right now, but last week when it was tough, that wasn't
reflected. actually what was what happened was people went up there and said the opposite and I get it. I'm I I would never want to be in you guys' position and I respect what you guys do day in and day out, week in and week out. But with that being said, there are a core
group of constituents in this community, a large number of underprivileged, impoverished, suffering. They got the pictures. Can you She got a rat. She has a rat in a mice suit on right now. suffering,
but the complaints of noise or industrial trucking in an industrially zoned area outworn that. That doesn't make sense. That doesn't add up. That that that that does not equate.
She is looking for $600 going through chemotherapy. Where does this how how and then to add on to that to look to you guys to correct that under due process I I don't have I don't have the confidence.
So I just wanted to voice that and yeah have a good night. [Applause] [Applause] One last call. Anyone else? Hi, my name is Myra Valdas and I live in Addison Street. Um, I just want to say
that this issue is not just now. this issues happening since long long time ago and I think um I know that we are working to change and we have been changing a lot but we need to work very hard because um this issue of rats mice
and and bad bugs is happening for I've been living in Chelsea since 1988 and I know it's happening since then so I think we should focus and what we need to focus and what is really hurting
their constituents and especially um putting these laws for owners mostly like you know the ones that they're not living in the properties because sometimes those ones are the worst because they don't take care of the places. So thank you so much and I think
you know we need to we can make the difference and we can do something. Thank you. Final call. Any more speakers? All right. Public speaking portion is now closed. I would like to just take
one second as I usually do to first thank everyone in this space for coming out and sharing your thoughts, sharing your frustrations. We signed up for these positions. Whether you are happy with us or not happy with us, we are
here to listen. Okay. Um the way public speaking works, we're not able to deliberate on these things. The way the agendas work is we put in motions so that then we can have longer conversations in the room next door. And so I encourage you all to please not end
the conversation here, but reach out to your city councelor, reach out to your at large counselors. those conversations can continue whether you want them to be in the city hall or whether you want to have a one-on-one. I think that this is the way that we can get to some
solutions and and be able to address these very important topics that came up tonight. Um and I just I I hope that we continue to see full full house in this room because that is what this room is for. Thank you.
[Applause] Moving on now to approval of the minutes. Time to clear up. Give them time to clear up. You know what, counselor? Let's give it
one second until the crowd comes out. That way the audio is better. I know. My apologies. Let them clear up. One second. All right, we're going to continue now with the rest of the agenda. If I can ask my colleagues, if you stepped out to please return
and then for anyone in the audience, if you are having side conversations, if you can please take it out into the hallway so that we can continue with the matters on the agenda. to go. Okay. All right. Let's get this going then. Now, uh approval of the minutes.
Um move to approve the minutes from the September 8th regular meeting. Uh if there are no objections. Thank you, councelor. Seeing no objections, moving on to communications from the city manager. First communication received. Requesting approval of donations from Milh Hill
Fire Station gym equipment. Dear counselors, pursuant to section Mass General Law, chapter 44, section 53A1-2, I am writing to request the city council formally approve the donation of gym equipment for the Milh Hill fire station. Bobby Cobb, owner of today's auto has generously offered to donate
gym equipment valued at $9,814.98. Madam President, move to wave the rest of the reading and accept and file under communication if there are no objections. Something's coming up under new business. Seeing no objections, councelor. Thank you. Moving on. Next communication received requesting approval of budget transfers. Dear
councilors, I respectfully submit for your consideration the approval of two transfers necessary to resolve outstanding grant compliant issues and maintain progress on critical infrastructure projects. Number one, Island and River LDPDM grant match in
the amount of $116,621. In the early stages of the Island and River project, funds that appeared available in two older CIP blinds were incorrectly identified as eligible match for the FEMA LPDM grant. Those funds were already encumbered and ultimately expended on existing contracts, leaving
a $116,621 shortfall. To ensure compliance, the city temporarily used funds designated as match for our MVP grant. This transfer is needed to reimburse the MVP match account and fully restore compliance for both grants.
Number two, Beachham and Williams corridor EDA grant closeout in the amount of $66,9612. During the close out of the grant supporting the full depth reconstruction of the Beach and Williams corridor, it was determined that certain costs had been incorrectly charged to the grant
account by a prior administrator. These costs were not eligible for reimbursement under the grant terms. To properly close out the grant and remain in compliance, the city must assume these costs by increasing its match contribution. While this correction is necessary, the project itself was successfully completed and continues to
provide major benefits to the community. We have identified unused capital improvement plan lines which are no longer needed for the projects they originally funded. Madam President, move to wave the rest of the reading accept and file under communication. If there are no objections, seeing no objections, thank you councelor. Moving on.
Next communication received announcing a community meeting for Everett soccer stadium. Dear counselors, I'm writing to share that our state representative Judith Garcia and our state senator Sal D Dom Dominico will be hosting a community meeting on August 7th, 2025 at 6 p.m. in our Chelsea senior center to
discuss the proposed soccer stadium in Everett. This community meeting is very important to begin the discussions on this transformational project. We encourage everyone in our community to join and participate. Move to accept and fer communication if there are no objections. Seeing no objections, moving on to the
next item. Next communication received, extending an invitation to tour Chelsea city yard at 380 Beum Street. Dear councilors, we are very excited to meet with the public works committee to dive into the details of our upcoming renovations at the Chelsea City Yard. In addition, we would like to invite the city council and members of the public
to visit the facility and meet with our staff. We will be advertising three meeting dates. Tuesday, October 7th at 12 p.m., Wednesday, October 8th at 2 PM and Tuesday, October 14th at 6 PM. Our Department of Public Works will be available to answer any questions and
more importantly highlight the deficiencies in the building prompting this renovation. We will have light refreshments available for anyone that attends. Thank you very for your support and we look forward to seeing you there. Thank you, counselor. Seeing no objections, moving right along. Next
communication received from the city manager responding to council order 2586 request for feasibility study of stipens. Dear counselors, I'm writing in response to council order 2586 requesting that the city manager complete a feasibility study on providing stipens to appointed residents
on the planning board and zoning board of appeals. Our administration is excited and supportive of this council order. Our initial research found that many of our neighboring cities and towns offer stipens to appointed residents. Many communities like Somerville give stipens to several boards not referenced
in the council order. Specifically, we propose a stipen for the licensing commission, youth commission, traffic and parking commission, and the board of health, as well as the planning board and zoning board of appeals. These boards require a significant amount of preparation, research, and long nighttime meetings. Our law department
researched the process by which to make this change. The most effective way is by executive order through the administrative code. Madam President, I'd like to wave the rest of the reading and refer this to conference committee if that is possible. If there are no objections, seeing no objections, councelor.
Moving on. Please note that under 6-1 of the charter, the council has the authority to either approve the executive order, let it go, in which case it becomes adopted within 30 days, or reject the order. So if council wishes to do so
councelor through the chair please it would it would be for the administrative order attached it's not an order it comes through the city manager point of information councelor can you just repeat what you just said about the the process for this apologies so the process would be as an
administrative order council has the authority to approve it earlier should they choose not take any action in which case it becomes effective within 30 days of submission to council or vote to reject the administrative order if they choose provided is done within 30 days. So if this
councelor through the chair please I believe that councelor Himemenz has the floor right now. According to the communication the city manager is requesting a subcommittee first in order to discuss it beforehand. Um the administrative order before you is technically a draft if I stand corrected. So he has requested
subcommittee and I would recommend it as well. Okay. Same motion. Yes. Move to move to conference. Moving on to the next motion. I mean order administrative order referred to conference. Next, communication received from the city manager responding to council order 2588 requesting update on
veterans home and market basket project. Dear councilors, I'm writing in response to council order 2588 requesting an update on the veterans home and market basket projects. Our team recently held a meeting with Penrose, the developer of the project. Penrose estimates closing on financing for the project in October
of 2025. Once financing is complete, the project will begin at this time. Penrose estimates construction to begin in December of 2025 for phase 1 and construction to begin in 2026 for phase 2. These first two phases will build 150 housing units and will allow residents
to move into the new apartments from existing buildings. Phase three and phase four will begin once those relocations are complete. Attached to this communication is a detailed presentation from Penrose giving an update on the project. Our team continues to meet with market basket on a pro redevelopment of the Mystic Mall.
Our last meeting was very productive and resulted in very good discussions on the project. Market Basket is making some modifications to their proposal. Once those modifications are received, we will share them with council. Accept and follow communication under suspension. If there are no objections
in regards to uh Penrose and the veterans, I've been speaking a bunch of the veterans that have some issues that they've raised with me and I will be uh meeting with um Secretary Santiago uh soon to discuss some of the concerns
that were raised um with the veterans. One of my concerns uh relates to the um food um that they're going to be providing to the veterans and I want to make sure that they're going to get three meals a day as opposed to two and
market basket is is moving ahead kind of as scheduled. So something to keep an eye on to make sure that we keep it moving. Thank you counselor. Moving on to the next item. Next communication received responding to council order 2589 request
for update on Malone Park. Dear counselors, I'm writing in response to council order 2589 requesting an update on Malone Park. The Veterans Home is collaborating with the state's Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance on these projects. DCAMM anticipates that they will start to work
on the Quigley building in February 2026 and estimate the work to take 18 months from the start date. Restoration of Malone Park will begin towards the end of the project after the Quigley building has been demolished and the new parking lot is constructed in that location. This time frame is subject to change if they run into unanticipated
issues and/or delays. We will remain in close contact with the veterans home and DCAMM as they proceed with this work. I accept and follow a communication on the suspension. Uh just briefly, I did meet with the director um last Saturday up at the park to talk about when the
building was going to come down and hopefully that we won't run into any issues so that the park can get back to the neighborhood. Thank you, counselor. Moving on to the next item. Next communication received responding to council order 2591 sign for ladim
replacement. Dear councilors, I'm writing in response to council order 2591 requesting that the department of public works install a street sign for ladder replacement. Our commissioner of public works has received this request and the sign has been ordered. The sign will be installed as soon as it is received. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Accept and follow communication under suspension. No objections and actually um the sign will be going up tomorrow. Thank you counselor. Moving on to committee reports. We have one final communication from the city
manager requesting authorization to execute memorandum of understanding with MAPC for the greater Boston regional off-site construction strategy. Dear councilors, in closed, please find a draft memorandum of understanding between the city of Chelsea and the metropolitan area planning council. The
purpose of thisou is to formalize the city's participation in the greater Boston regional off-site construction strategy, a regional initiative supported by the HUD pro housing grant. The strategy seeks to accelerate affordable housing production through modular and off-site construction
methods by developing a pipeline of regional modular housing projects, advancing zoning and permitting reform, supporting the sitting of a regional manufacturing facility, promoting workforce development and good jobs, and engaging community stakeholders across greater Boston. At this stage, theou
requires no financial commitment from the city. It represents a pledge of staff participation, data sharing, and engagement with MAPC during the project's planning phase. Any future obligations such as local funding contributions, land disposition, or zoning amendments would be returned to
the council for review and approval through subsequent amendments. Accordingly, I respectfully request the city council authorize the city manager to execute this memorandum of understanding on behalf of the city of Chelsea. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you, Claire. Madam President, uh, this point of order, can we act on this
today or is this something that needs to be referred for second reading? Uh, memorandums of understanding don't require second reading if if council choose it. I would move to do you do you wish to open up to speak on it and maybe clarify for the public
because I think this is a really important one that we should or it's coming up under new business. So I mean whether you do it now or Oh, so theou is coming late. Okay, got it. Got it. Uh, I'll I'll hold off. I'll accept pilot of communication and then speak on it later when it comes up. Okay. Thank you, counselor.
We received one late communication. Unanimous consent required for approval. Counselors moves to approve the late communication. Seeing no objections, council received a late communication from Joan Cromwell, Chelsea resident and member of the planning zoning board
regarding interference with due process and abuse of authority by council. Dear Mr. President, I'd like to uh wave the rest of the reading. Uh Miss Cromwell spoke at public comment and basically read the letter. Um so I think we can dispense with reading it again. Um just want to thank uh Miss Cromwell uh and
everybody else who came to speak on uh the topic. Thank you. Point of information councelor um Robinson and so it's going to be part of the record. Correct. Thank you. question.
Okay. Uh you have a late order not communication. It'll come up. Okay. Yeah. Correct. Uh we have one committee report received from council Taylor from the meeting of the subcommittee on ways and means held
September 16th, 2025. Is there a motion? uh motion to uh accept and file the committee report. I'd like to speak on it, please. You have the floor, counselor. Okay.
Was only two orders um that that we discussed in ways and means. The first had to do with accepting donations uh for um the trip to Denver for our uh All-American City team. Uh and uh the
second one was a a transfer of $103,000 and change um uh for excuse me,
it was for the Commonwealth Transportation Infrastructure Fund um and and sidewalk account. uh transportation network companies like Uber, Lyft are required to pay the
Commonwealth uh 20 cents per ride assessment and one half of that assessment is distributed uh proportionally to to each city and town based upon the number of rides that originate in the municipality and for uh
the year uh calendar year 2024. Chelsea share based upon the TNC company ride uh originating in Chelsea was 103,714.70. That's a lot of rides. So, uh that's the conclusion of the report. Thank you.
Thank you, councelor. Moving on to second readings. First item under second readings, we have a communication received from the city manager being read for the second time requesting approval of appointment to the city of Chelsea's ADA coordinator. Dear council, pursuant to section 4-2 of the charter
of the city of Chelsea, I am writing to recommend that Bernaby Rodriguez, our director of constituent services, be appointed as the city of Chelsea's section 504 ADA coordinator. Our director of constituent services will serve the city well in this role and has close to 10 years of municipal experience working directly with
residents. This term will expire September 8th, 2028. I respectfully request your approval of this appointment. We'll ask for a roll call vote on the adoption. If there are no objections, moving on to roll call. Roll call vote requested. Yes. Votes to confirm. Council Tennar Garcia.
Yes. Councelor Jimenez Rivera. Yes. Councelor Ricupro. Yes. Council Taylor. Yes. Councelor Robinson. Yes. Council, yes. Council Kelly Garcia is absent. Councelor Santigette, yes. Yes. Council Vega, yes. Council Brown, yes.
And councelor Dus, yes. 10 members in favor, zero opposed, one absent. Appointment approved. Moving on to the next item. Next second reading, we have a communication received from the city manager being read for the second time requesting approval of reappointment to the planning board. Dear counselors,
pursuant to section 4-2 of the charter of the city of Chelsea, I am writing to recommend the following individual to a board or commission in the city for reappoint to the planning board. Mr. Eric Serniser of Chelsea for a new three-year term expiring October 4th, 2028.
Make a motion to accept under roll call vote for adoption. There's no objection. Seeing none, moving on to a roll call vote. Roll call vote requested. Yes. Vote to adopt. Councelor Tennar Garcia. Yes. Councelor Jimenez River. Yes. Councelor Rupo.
Yes. Council Taylor. Yes. Councelor Robinson. Yes. Council Tesh. Yes. Council Kelly Garcia is absent. Councelor Santigette, yes. Council Vega, yes. Council Brown, yes.
As we know, she's sorry, I'll be bound today. I'm ready. Council Dus, yes. 10 members voting in favor, zero opposed, one absent. Appoint reappoint approved. All right. Thank you, Cler. Moving on to the next item.
Thanks. Congratulations. Thanks, sir. Next item. Under second readings, we have an order introduced by council Taylor being read for the second time. Ordered that pursuant to Mass General Law Chapter 44 section 53A1-2, the Chelsea City Council accepts the following donations toward the
All-American City trip taken June 2025. Global Partners in the amount of $1,810 for his t-shirts. Uh Robert Waters in the amount of $1,265 for hoodies. Boston Provisions in the amount of $2,257 for transportation shuttle. Pre-flight
airport parking in the amount of $130 for airport parking. Jordan Boys and Girls Club in the amount of $30 for Chelsea Palante pins. CRG graphics for Discover Chelsea bags and flags. M General Brighgam Healthy Chelsea for stress balls. Matt Frank for event
photography. Chelsea Public Schools for stress balls, hand sanitizer, pens, wristbands, and highlighters. And the Chelsea Police Department for police challenge points. Ask that the order be adopted under roll call vote. If there's no objection, please. Mr. Seeing no objections, moving on to a
roll call vote. Yes. Vote to adopt. Councelor Tennar Garcia. Yes. Councelor Jimenez Rivera. Yes. Councelor Rupro, yes. Council Taylor, yes. Council Robinson, yes. Council, yes. Council Kelly Garcia is absent. Council Sandig, yes. Council Vega,
yes. Council Brown, yes. And councelor Deus, yes. 10 in favor, zero opposed, one absent. Order adopted. Thank you, Cler. Moving on to the last item on the section. We have an order introduced by council Taylor being read for the second time. Ordered that the Chelsea City Council authorize the
appropriation of $13,714.70 as a transfer from special revenue TNC search charge distribution fund from funds distributed to Chelsea from the Commonwealth Transportation Infrastructure Fund in order to supplement fiscal year 2026 DPW streets and sidewalks capital road improvements
line to be used for the purpose of sidewalk and roadway repair and improvement. Thank you, Cler. Is there a motion? Uh, move to adopt and roll call vote, please. Thank you, councelor. Seeing no objections, moving on to a roll call vote.
Yes. Vote to adopt. Council Garcia, yes. Council Jimenez Rivera, yes. Council Ricro, yes. Council Taylor, yes. Council Robinson, yes. Council, yes. Council Kelly Garcia, absent. Council Santigette, yes. Council Lee Vega, yes. Council Brown, yes. and council dies.
Yes. 10 in favor, zero opposed, one absent. Order is adopted. Thank you, cleric. Now on to new business. First item under new business, we have an order introduced by Council Taylor. Order that pursuant to Mass General Law, chapter 44, section 53A1-2, the Chelsea City Council accepts the
donation of gym equipment and related items from Bobby Cobb, owner of today's auto sourced through Gron Fitness in the amount of $9,814.98 for the Chelsea Fire Department. List of donated items include squat rack, dumbbells, pull-up bar, bumper plates,
ski erg, pio box, medicine balls, exercise bands, and functional trainer. Thank you, Claire. Move move to ways and means committee. Seeing no objections, moving on to the next item. Next, we have an order introduced by council Taylor. Order that in accordance
with chapter 44 section 20 of Mass General Law, the sum of $182,71712 represented unexpended portions of projects appropriated under fiscal years 2021 and 2022. Capital improvement plans for projects as noted below and which
remain available after the completion of the projects for which the funds were authorized and which are no longer needed are hereby transferred in the amount of $116,621 to the FY2024 CIP Iowa River flood resiliency project account in the amount
of $66,9612 to FY2021 CIP Beum Williams corridor reconstruction project. The remaining balance of $87,88788 of the FY2021 Upper Broadway easements project will be held to finish paying outstanding balances for easements and
acquisitions along Upper Broadway. Thank you, clerk. Move to Ways and Means. Seeing no objections, moving on to the next item. Next, we have an order introduced by councelor Brown. ordered that the city manager instruct the Department of Public Works to install don't block the
box signage and street markings at the intersection of Everett Avenue and Ford Street. Adopt this order on suspension. If there's no objection, seeing none, thank you, councelor. Moving on. Next, we have an order introduced by the
council president regarding an authorization to execute a memorandum of understanding with MAPC for the greater Boston regional off-site construction strategy. Whereas, the Chelsea City Council finds it is in the best interest of the city of Chelsea to participate in the greater Boston regional off-site construction strategy and to that end
deems it necessary and appropriate to authorize the city manager to execute a memorandum of understanding with the metropolitan area planning council on behalf of the city. Now therefore be a result that the Chelsea city council hereby authorizes the city manager to execute a memorandum of understanding
with the metropolitan area planning council for the greater Boston regional off-site construction strategy and substantially the form presented to the city council and to take any and all actions necessary to effectuate the purposes thereof. Councelor Himemenz move to uh adopt the memorandum of
understanding uh by roll call vote and I'd like to speak on it. You have the floor. So, I just want to just really quickly, right, so essentially we are voting to allow the city to enter into the the greater Boston regional off-site construction strategy, which is a
regional initiative to accelerate affordable housing production. Right. Um, this thisou is very clear that it requires no financial commitments from the city. Uh, so it's really just a pledge of our staff, our our data, and engaging with this project to make sure
that we can further uh our housing uh needs. I just want to really quickly say the housing crisis is not a crisis that Chelsea is facing alone. It is regional and our neighboring communities are in it with us. That means that the solutions to the housing crisis are not Chelsea alone. They have to be regional.
So I I fully support the work that is um going to be discussed here. And I just also want to say this is happening with or without us. So if we want if we want to have a seat at the table, we should join it now. And if there's any decisions for asks for for funding or anything like that, we can evaluate them
later on once uh the city uh actually asks us for the funding. So I hope that my colleagues will support it. Councelor Taylor. So, I think that this I I I generally don't have a problem with with with this, but
there's been no opportunity to discuss this amongst ourselves about what the what the memorandum of understanding is actually going to say, what it is, you know, and I I'm I'm reticent to give my consent to something that we have never
talked about before. So, you know, uh this may be all be well and good, but I would I would like to actually have a conversation about this and I don't think it's uh very responsible uh to ask counselors to vote on
something that we've never discussed. So, um I would I would ask to move this uh to uh uh conference, please. Thank you, counselor. Okay, that's a motion. I would still like to move for her with
the roll call vote if if possible for the reasons that I stated. I I believe that the counselor's concerns are not uh are, you know, important to consider, but also we are not committing anything other than staff time uh at this point. Um so I think that any conversation about what it would mean is something
that can be had after approval of this without needing to delay this uh any further. So that's just my my take on it. Okay. So, um, cler, madam president, I would like to speak again since he spoke twice, please. Okay. Give me one second. Counselor, uh,
clerk, could we get a point of clarity here in terms of the motion was laid out. There was another, uh, request to amend or to send to a um, conference. Does it go back to the request for a roll call vote was
made? So said every motion was made to refer to conference instead. The motion to resolve has to be regarding whether or not to refer to conference or not. Once council Taylor's motion is resolved one way or the other, if it's rejected, then we move back to the original motion to adopt a by roll call vote. So the
motion pending is whether to move it to conference or not. To confirm, you made a motion to move it to conference. Correct. Correct. It was Yeah. So that's the motion pending on the floor now. Okay. And if it's objected to, then it'll be a roll call vote on the motion to refer. And if that motion is rejected, then the
original motion stands to adopt by roll call. So I will object to the motion to send it to conference and happy to speak on that if that is another speaking opportunity on this motion rather than the original motion. I don't want to speak out of turn.
So then with this action, the uh request from councelor Taylor is now off the table. It is I believe it's on the table. We are we will be voting on councelor Taylor's motion to refer to conference. Got it. Okay. Councelor Rupo, hold on one second. Councelor Taylor still has
the floor. Councelor Taylor. So my fellow counselor may say that there's nothing at stake here. So why don't we move move along? There is indeed something at stake. We are authorizing
the city manager to enter into a a memorandum of understanding. We have not discussed this. This is not a responsible action. Okay. We are we are uh accountable to the people. So I don't
believe like for it may be well and good, but I'd like to hear about it first and just to bring something in and try to ram it through, you know. Let's let's No, seriously. counselor.
I One of the problems that we have here is that we don't talk to each other enough about these issues. Stuff gets brought up, whether it comes from the outside or wherever it comes from, and we're asked to vote on it without ever hearing anything or ever having a
conversation. That is not good government. I am sorry. You may think it's a a trivial point, counselor. I do not. It's a it's the principle of the thing and we need to have a conversation about this before we authorize the city
manager to do anything. Okay. I I was mentioned councelor Jimenez and then I have councelor and councelor Tashi. So I just want to make it very clear. It is actually very clear in the memorandum of
understanding what the municipality is agreeing to and I'm just you know going to read it out loud so that people can understand what we are actually agreeing to. Um we are agreeing to participate in advisory committee or working group meetings as applicable. So staff time participating as the meetings um to
designate staff to serve as project liaison and maintain ongoing communication with MAPC essentially being a part of this table. um supporting and actively participating in community engagement and research activities led by the by the table. Um exploring more specific commitments
which would then be defined further in future uh uh which are not up right now. Um sharing local data relevant to housing production and permitting. Uh considering and evaluating ways to contribute to this project and facilitating connections to relevant stakeholders. These all seem like things
that we do in the city daytoday. I don't understand why we we should be uh getting in the way of us continuing to do good work uh in order to just have a conversation about it. We can have individual conversations with the city manager if we would like to, but frankly, I don't feel like any of these
things are things that I need to talk about. The city manager and the and the housing department have been doing this work in many ways. This is just simply formally agreeing to sit at this table. I think it would be ridiculous for us to delay this further and we should simply come back to this when there is actually
something that can be actionable. Um, so I would ask not to send this to conference and to move it forward because I don't see a reason why we should have a conversation to just simply go over the seven things that I just read out loud. Thank you, Councelor Cooper. Madam,
I kind of understand and I kind of don't understand. The counselor says he wants to talk about it. Well, it makes a valid point. We should all talk about it before we vote on it. This councelor says we do that anyways. So what's the difference?
So we're caught in the middle. What do we want to do? I really What do I want to do? Vote on it? Don't vote on it? How does it affect the people outside? That's what I'd like to know. Does this make a real difference by him talking to them? Does it make the city committed to
it? Does the city have to? So in other words, nothing happens from this. This is just saying for them to explore. So it doesn't really matter to us what if we don't know nothing about it because if something happens later on, we're going to find out and we're going to
understand what it is. So I don't know. I'm not against talking as long as it doesn't affect that what we say now is actually goes into law. So this is not going into law about anything. This is just saying to the city manager, go and
talk to them. To the people outside that don't understand, this is what this means. So that's all that means is that we are authorizing the city manager to go talk to them. It doesn't mean that we are saying, "Okay, we're going to do it.
It'll come another time." So I tend to vote in favor of it to let him go talk to it. Councelor Teshi. Yeah, I would just say I mean, you know, councelor Taylor makes a very good, you know, argument. We should always be
discussing things before we grant the power to the city manager. Um, in this in this case, I mean, there's there's the language that says that, you know, if any obligations do come from these talks, then it will be up for council review and and approval um even after
the me memorandum of understanding. So, you know, at this stage, I would, you know, be okay with the law of the city manager. I know he will will keep us um in the loop. Um and again, any future obligations will have the power to say whether or not we agree.
Yes. Yes. That's councelor Brown. Thank you, Madam President. I agree with the motion on the floor that we should just move forward. Um I actually had this over the weekend. Um I got my package. Uh it's gives us the purpose.
It gives us the background. It's very easy. Uh it talks about the initiatives. It talks about it's pretty much a think tank of organizations of housing planning committee council members from different regions. Um it's grants
involved. It's really just a basic think tank. Um we what we have to do it's already been stated. We have to make sure that we have a person out um available. Someone the city manager may not even be there. His delegation person may be there staff person. That's our
commitment. There's no funding. There's no other than the person being here, but there's no funding of anything that we have to do to establish a relationship. And if the city manager or if his delegation person um finds that there's a good commitment for us, it comes back
before the council and we vote on it. I think it's very harmless. Um again, um I understand, you know, council wants to hold it, but again, we had it. I had it and it was an opportunity to read it. It's only about four or five pages. Thank you,
Councelor Daid. Hi. Um, I think that being part of this table is is so important for the city and informative and it'll be a learning tool for all of us. um you know the greater
Boston has bigger problems than we do in terms of you know space and and I think that being part of this table is is very important and I don't see why we should not go forward. Thank you.
If I uh councelor Robinson is there a time frame necessary for us to actually take action tonight? Very good, counselor. Uh, I will ask if our city manager could please. Then I'd make a motion to lay it on the
table. Okay. Motion to lay it on the table. I I object the motion. Motion objected.
Do we resume now to the original motion? The motion to table now takes precedent over the motion to refer to conference. The original motion is no longer councelor Brown. Councelor Taylor after
Sure. Um there's not an urgency here to um go forward with it. I got it on. My apologies, but um motion on the table to lay on the table is actually not debatable. Oh, it's not? Okay. So, I do apologize.
Um, unfortunately, we will have to continue. Um, requires a roll call vote with a roll call vote. The motion before you is to table the underlying order. Motions to lay on the table are not debatable or amendable. Requires a full vote and majority vote
of council to lay on the table. Yes. Vote before you will lay it on the table. Councelor Tener. No. No. Councelor Jimenez Rivera. No. Council recuper. Council Taylor.
Yes. Council Robinson. Yes. Council Tesh. No. Council Kelly Garcia is absent. Council Santigette. No. Council Vega. No.
Council Brown. Yes. And councelor Des. No. Three members voting in favor, seven members opposed, one member absent. The motion to lay on the table has been rejected. The motion now before you was the motion introduced by council Taylor
to refer to conference. Councelor Taylor, it's already debated. So, councelor Taylor, this motion has already been debated. Assuming any speakers left, moving on to a vote. Motion before you
is an intro motion introduced by council Taylor to refer the underlying order to conference. Majority vote required. Yes. Vote to adopt. Uh and so the vote is yes to refer to conference. No vote to not refer to conference. In which case the
original motion to adopt by roll call vote is before you. Council Tenario. No. No. Councelor Himenez Rivera. No. Councelor Kubro. No. Council Taylor. Yes. Council Robinson. I'll say yes.
Yes. Council Tesh. No. Council Kelly Garcia is absent. Councilor Santigette. No. Council Lee Vega. No. Council Brown. Yes. And councilus. No. Three members voting in favor, seven opposed, one absent. The motion to refer
to conference has been rejected. You now are with the original motion introduced by councelor Himenez Rivera to adopt the order by roll call vote. I have one sentence to say the in addition to what has been said. If I may I believe that was already
okay. No worries. Unless anyone who has not spoken on that I would like to speak if I may get permission from to take a leave from the chair. One person objected. So all right let's continue with let's let the vote speak then
roll call votes been requested. Yes. Vote to adopt the order. Council Tennere, yes. Councelor Himenez River, yes. Councelor Rupo, yes. Council Taylor, no. Council Robinson, yes. Council Tesh,
yes. Council Kelly Garcia is absent. Council Santigette, yes. Council Vega, yes. Council Brown, yes. And councelor Dus, yes. Nine members voting in favor, one opposed and one absent. Order adopted.
Thank you, clerk. Uh for the public, I would like to provide some content. Um earlier today, we heard about conditions in housing and we also heard uh several folks talk about how the housing crisis is very uh complex. We cannot resolve it
with just one uh individual uh policy. And that is why as a council at the beginning of this term, we made priorities. This here order that we just voted on is one of those priorities that we all agreed on and so I look forward
to continuing to work with my colleagues and our city manager to improve the housing crisis in Chelsea. Moving on to the next item. Next item under new business, we have an order introduced by councelor Ruparo. Order that the city manager instruct the department of public works commissioner
to create and implement a routine inspection plan with the city's third party contractor to ensure street lights are checked periodically and ensure they are proper working condition. Adopt under suspensions with no objection like to speak on it. You have the floor, counselor.
This order, what it actually does is it makes sure that a lot of the street lights that are not working are working. There's always issues with street lights and there's always issues they come up. Is it the city's problem or is it Eversource problem? So people they have
these lights that don't work. What they have to do is go out get the number of the poll and call call city call the DPW and say and then DPW finds out if it's the problem with the city or the problem where ever source. But we have a private
contractor which the name is DGO. We already paid them. So why not make them earn their money? Go out and periodically inspect all the street lights and come back and say to the city manager, "This is your problem. We can fix. This is Eversour's problem. They
got to fix it. So there's nothing wrong with instructing them to go out and inspect these lights. We already paying them. They work for us. So it's no extra cost." Thank you. Thank you, counselor. Moving on to the
next item. Next order introduced by councelor Kubaro. Ordered that the city manager work with relevant city departments to implement a policy to charge a fee for replacement trash barrels unless the homeowner or resident returns the existing barrel regardless of its condition.
Adopt under the suspension objection like to speak on it. Councelor Ricaro. Okay. I've been having some issues with people calling me telling me that there's people that actually sell these barrels or use them for other businesses. So what this does is it
ensures that these barrels will stay within the city itself. Not only that, no one's going to get charged anything for a barrel if they can't produce the barrel that's broken. If you cannot produce the barrel that's broken, then you pay for it. Why should we? I I
believe that uh if you know what I understand some councils might not agree, right? But here's the here's the whole thing about that. You ain't going to pay nothing for your trash barrel if your barrel is broken and you say to the city, "I want my barrel replaced." So, you go and replace
it. But if you turn around and say, "Well, my barrel is lost." Okay, so where is your barrel? How'd your barrel get lost? Well, the trash man threw it away. Where's your other barrel going? You know, there's an issue with that. Okay, so that is the whole problem. If you if
you can't produce your barrel, you won't get judged. There's no big thing about that. Produce your Bible and you get a new one. Thank you, Councelor Jimenez. I would just like the city manager to make sure that in that process that we
better understand, you know, what happens if it was stolen and, you know, something like that just to make sure that, you know, we're not just causing people additional annoyances in their life. So, I'm not necessarily opposed to this. I'm just just want to make sure that when this is thought through by the city manager and the
administration that we take that into consideration as well. Thank you, Councelor. Counselor Sanate, I just wanted to um also say that I have we have where we live have had our barrels stolen. Um we wouldn't have been
able to produce them. And I think that the replacement cost is quite high. So, we would have to come up with a system where if it was stolen and it was I I have no idea why anyone would have taken it, but yet it was gone.
Through the chair, please. So, I I understand if someone if people are selling them and it's a huge cost to the city, but there are it's not always that that's what's happening.
So, I don't know what solution we can come up with, but we have to have some provision for people whose barrels get stolen that they don't need to replace them with an $80 barrel.
Councelor Taylor, I would respectfully say that I I I don't think that the selling of barrels illegally is a major problem in this city. Um, it may happen occasionally and
if it does, I would refer them to the Chelsea Police Department so that they can be criminally prosecuted instead of trying to change the policy for a few things. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Um, I think more or less
sometimes they do get stolen because somebody needs an extra barrel and they, you know, don't know the procedure or don't know that they could just call the city and get one. they take their neighbors. So, you know, uh I I would I
would suggest that uh I if anybody's concerned about their barrels being taken and then being sold for profit to other businesses, call the Chelsea Police Department and report it. Thank you, Council Mro.
I don't disagree with what the council has said. The only thing this does is it makes the city manager look into a way. Maybe there's a way when these happen for us to remedy the situation instead of doing all this, you know, but that's
all that is is to him look into the idea to see, you know, when these things happen because more or less it's the cost of the taxpayers too. The more barrels disappear or get moved around, the more it costes us. So what what the
whole thing is is for the city manager to look into it to see if we can find some sort of solution to remedy the situation. That's all that says. Okay. One more comment from councelor Brown and then we're moving on to the next order. Thank you, Madam President. I agree with the councelor. I mean it's only a
concept of just trying to figure out because if if folks are really stealing the barrels and it becomes a issue and people feel that hey the city will not mind if someone steals a bar barrel and the next person go get a barrel. I mean
I I like the concept of just looking to see if we can track and see how many these barrels are really we're talking about in what areas and also what what what's happening to these barrels that's getting missing. So, um it's worth a, you know, a conversation. We just got a
constituent person here, um with the city manager's office. Maybe he or she can do it. Maybe DPW. Um but it does warrant some kind of consideration. Thank you. All right, colleagues. I trust that the city departments will find our barrel
thief and so we should move on to the next item. Next order introduced by councelor Ruparo. Order that the city manager initiate negotiations to lease or purchase the St. Rose property for the development of a community center.
Um adopt under the suspensions and objection like to speak on it. You have the floor council. Um for a very long time since I've been here, I've been trying to get a community center and uh there doesn't seem to be much places to get a community center. I know the city was in negotiation once before when we had the
former city manager. He was in negotiation with Sim Rose to produce some to sort of community center, but St. Rose didn't agree to sell it at that particular time. So, I was wondering since this city desperately needs a
community center, it does need one and it was all over the place that it does need one. Even when the Hopper funds, when they had the Hopper funds, they decided that this city is large enough to have a community center. And we're probably the only city in the whole area around here that doesn't have a
community center. East Boston has one, Riviera has one, Maldon has one, Everett has one. We are the only one that do not have one. I So it will be kind of logical for the city manager to talk to St. Rose. Whatever
cost it costs, I don't know what what it is and how much it is. I think it's well worth it for us to invest in the future of our community to the children, the adults, and everybody that uses it. So, I would encourage the city manager to and ask them see if they're willing to
sell it at this particular time because they weren't willing to sell it the last time. Thank you, Councelor Himenez. I would like to move to suspend the rules and ask the city manager if he would like to comment at all. He is totally free to say no, but I am curious
if Nope. I see no. Never mind. Thank you, city manager. Sure. It looks like he wants to. So, I will I will keep my motion to suspend the rules and allow the city manager. I will gladly share our negotiation stop strategy on what any property. No, no,
I'm kidding. I mean, I I I think that the the counselor um has spoken to me many times about it. Um we have spoken to uh St. Rose many times about it. Uh it's a great location, right? The it's a
perfect location. It it's behind our our senior center. Uh it's in front of our our um our library. Um so I am in full support of this order. Thank you. I just I just wasn't sure if that was public information and I wanted
to make sure that the city manager shared it if he wanted to that we have tried to have those conversations already. Thank you, councelor. Uh councelor Taylor, I I was I was just going to say that this is all being done already and so
the city managers uh uh addressed that and uh there were multiple sites that were also looked into. So there there was there was due diligence. I was asked to sit on that committee. So I I I just wanted to clarify that that that this
has already been being done. And I think um you know a community center is something that um a lot of us have been um trying to get for several years now and um that's that's probably on most of our our our
big ticket lists for the city. So, thank you. Thank you, councelor. Um, moving on to the next item. Next order introduced by the council president. Order that a meeting of the subcommittee on conference be held with the city manager to receive an update on completed, ongoing, and planned
departmental collaboration efforts. Uh, move to adopt under unanimous uh consent. If there are no objections. Seeing no objections, um would my colleague please share or approve uh that I speak from the chair.
Move to allow the um president of the council to speak from the chair if there are no objections. Seeing none. Thank you, councelor. So, real briefly, I just want for the public to understand. So, we um similar to my previous comment at the beginning of this term, we met as a council. We set
priorities. We wanted to make sure that we were heading all in an aligned direction and uh ensure that our city manager had clear instructions as to what we wanted to prioritize our time on. One of the major things that came up was how do we ensure that the resources
at city hall for our community um have the highest impact for our community members? And by that I'll give a perfect example. If a constituent like the ones who were here today comes in to meet with inspectional service department, how are they also being reached out by
board of health or any of the other departments that should also be speaking to them depending on the conditions in these department is a quality of life issue that we're dealing with in Chelsea. Our departments uh have to be able to work together to ensure that our families are not being bounced from one
department to another. I would like to applaud that the fact that uh our city departments have been having conversations and have been keeping us up to date, but I would like to hear the latest news as we're reaching uh near uh the end of this term to see how far we
have gotten in the systems that we are uh working to implement so that this happens for our families in Chelsea. Thank you. Moving on to the next item. Next order introduced by the council president. Order that the city manager provide to the city council an update on
all expiring used properties in the city of Chelsea. Move to adopt unanimously under suspension if there are no objections. Thank you councelor. If I may also have a quick moment to speak from the chair. So moved if there are no objections. All right. real quickly, expiring use
building for the public uh to know that this is, for example, a Broadway Glenn property that is uh affordable for the community, not owned by um you know, one of our most popular sites, the Chelsea Public Housing Authority, but still is a
affordable housing option for our residents here in Chelsea. as we're talking about rent hikes and we're talking about the issue with affordability, these properties that don't necessarily belong to these larger um uh organizations that we work with,
they expire. And so it goes back to a table where people make decisions whether it continues to be an affordable housing unit in our community or if it's turned into a luxury apartment building for folks that probably won't be living uh or or currently living in our
community. And so I would like to see if our city manager and our departments can have a conversation with us about what are our plans to maintain these properties affordable past this deadline. I know that it's very uh random the dates that each one of these property has, but I'm curious to see if
we have anything in the works to address um the upcoming deadlines for these properties. Thank you. Moving on to the next item. Next item introduced by the council president. ordered that the city manager and relevant departments explore ways the city can better support small
homeowners in the community who face issues when trees cause property damage or pose safety threats in their neighborhoods when hanging on electric wires. Move to adopt uh unanimously under suspension if there are no objections. Seeing none, councelor, may I have the chair to speak briefly?
So moved. If there are no objections. Okay. So this uh this is actually uh due to a few of my constituents, but then in conversations with other folks around the city, I see that it is a larger issue and potentially some of my fellow colleagues have received phone calls as
well. So when a property is uh having issues with a tree that is overlapping, damaging either their roof or their sighting, um the city goes out and does an investigation to see if this, you know, who who owns the tree, right? Where where does the tree lie? Is it is it the neighbor? Is it the city? um is
there some type of u connection with the Eversource company because of the light poles, right? Um and and many times our constituents are left sort of in limbo because the city does not have jurisdiction to fix the problem. And so I I don't know if there is a solution
for this. Um I'm I'm hoping to just have a simple conversation with our departments to see how creative we can get. But it is becoming something that I hear more and more of. And so I would like to make sure that our constituents have an opportunity to to join a a meeting where they can listen to um and
also participate um with their input on their experience with this issue. Thank you. Moving on to the next item. Next we have Madam President. Oh, councelor Cooper. Um, Madame President, uh, the city
really can make Eversource cleanest because I had that issue for years. Eversource always has that the wires, the city cannot touch the wires when they go the wires are running through the trees. But the city can negotiate with them and make them clean it. Or the
city can go around the wires because they've done it before. Instead of going directly where the wires are, the city cuts around the wires. They've done it for me many times before through the years they've done it. And uh the issue's been there for a very long time.
It's the city has to push Eversource because a lot of times the city cannot take the wires. So the city has to go and tell them make sure that you do it. And it's very hard to make Eversource do anything. So it's up to more or less
whoever this complainant. They keep complaining, otherwise they'll never get done. Thank you, counselor. Uh looking forward to having this conversation. Uh moving on to the next item. Next item, we have an order introduced by councelor Jimenez Rivera. Order that the city manager work with the city
solicitor and department of permitting and land use planning to create an ordinance that would afford renters the same notification requirements as homeowners related to planning and zoning changes. Uh move to adopt unanimously under suspension and I'd like to speak on it. I object.
Cool. Uh so move for a roll call vote and I'd like to speak on it. Um so I think as we have continued to speak about uh the issues with uh Wolves fish, the issues with uh the housing uh situation today. We all want community
input, right? We know that community engagement is Can we pause your comments just for one second? We're going to move to a roll call vote on You objected. What was your motion? Roll call vote. Refer. No. To to refer to a uh uh conference.
His motion to refer to conference. Okay. Motion to refer to conference. I I I'd like to speak on it. So um Okay. So I will object to the motion to conference and then to does he
get to speak first and then I speak. I think if the objection to the um the mot the motion pending is to refer to conference and then it was objected. So then it goes back to the original. Correct. Yeah. So I'd like to speak on my motion.
Yeah. And and and and to be clear I I I don't oppose having a meeting about this. Um, I just would rather have a document that is a proposed ordinance so that we can have a conversation about something rather than just having a
blank conversation that doesn't really have something to discuss. So I Mr. President, I I I made the motion. I'd like to speak on my motion before the counselor gets to make his arguments on on my motion.
So your the order is your motion was to object his original then your motion was objected. So it goes back to the original and I'll ask the clerk to clarify if that is indeed correct. The original motion was to adopt unanimously under suspension. It was
objected to to refer to conference. The motion to refer to conference was not accepted unanimously. It was objected to for a roll call vote. The objection receives first, then the maker of the motion, and then anybody else who sees fit to speak. Okay. And then there will be a roll call vote
on maker of the original motion or maker of the motion to refer to conference. Okay. So, which is the one pending before you now? So, that would be councelor Taylor speaks first, please. Councelor Councelor Taylor. Thank you. For some reason, we
some people want to avoid having a conference to talk about things. And and and and I got to say, we're not just going to have meaningless conversation or or the fact that we we got something in our packet. Yes, we all read it, but
we didn't have an opportunity to speak about it. And we can't speak about it offline or else we violate the the open meeting laws. So I I cannot understand why you all want to avoid
actual a public discussion over uh important issues that that I mean this is our job. This is our oversight to do this. And you know I think that something like this uh is a
major change to the ordinances. And it's not you don't want to have just have somebody draft whatever they want. We're the ones that decide what what they should draft to give instructions to the city solicitor about what we should draft. Not give somebody cart blanch to
do whatever they want and then we just like oh okay rubber stamp. That's not the way it works. And and I I really I plead with you all to please let's let's exercise the power of this council
to to please give oversight to what is going on in this city. We have a responsibility to the people to to do our jobs. And I don't think that's been going on lately. And I think that we need to we have we need to have
discussions about a lot of these things. You may think you know what you want to do, but you haven't heard somebody else that doesn't. You haven't given them the opportunity to speak their mind. And this is a
dialogue. At the very beginning of of this session, we all got together and agreed that we would try to govern by consensus. And you can only come to consensus through discussion. And we can only have
a discussion through conference. So I'm sorry that I'm I'm I'm boring the counselor and he's he's uh sighing as as though all my words are meaningless, but
uh I assure you they're not. And uh I I I just I I beg I beg everybody to please let's try to come to consensus on these issues. Okay. I have three speakers lined up. Uh
I want to say councelor I saw councelor Veruparo and then councelor Teshi and then councelor Himenez. I will send it to conference. What council is trying to do is a good thing. Involve everybody in it. But it's good that we send it to conference so we can
all understand exactly how the wording is going to be written because when we do stuff like this, it's written and then we vote on it and we we make things happen. But 90% of the time, it just comes in front of us. It's
better to have a talk like he says, I agree with sending it to conference and we all speak on it. It's good what he wants to do. It's a good cause, but at least all of us will talk and we'll all be in agreement with it. I believe it's a fair thing to do.
Councelor Tesy, um I agree with the counselor. I I think uh with councelor Rico, I think, uh you know, councelor Taylor also had a great point that, you know, we should we should be the ones to determine based on what we saw last time what's what is the
proper way through which we notify renters. Uh and if we can have the city solicitor at that meeting, that would also us time in the future for when they come with a draft and we're like, "Oh, no, but we have edits." No, how about we we give what we want this time and then they come back with the draft that we
like and then we take a vote on it and then it's good to go. So, you know, I would be in favor of conference meeting on this. Councelor Himenez, um I will say I appreciate the flare for the dramatic uh up here. Um, and you
know, anyway, I just want to say I, uh, this could have been something that was drafted prior to being introduced. Um, the reason that I chose not to is because I am ultimately not a lawyer and I think that somebody who is a lawyer should be drafting something that then we can look at and decide what is good about this, what is bad about this. That
does not take away from any opinions that any of us have. And I think we should I I I don't think we should ram through an ordinance uh saying that we should notify uh, you know, and treat renters in the same way. However, I think that starting the process means having an initial draft to look at that
can be done by the city because it is the people who understand what the what the requirements of the law are and what they are not. And we can go above and beyond whatever ordinance is drafted to us or or we can't. I think that it doesn't we have a gigantic backlog of meetings, right? I don't want to have
another meeting just to have a meeting. I want to have a meeting so that we can actually have meaningful discussion about the things that are in front of us. So why should we have two meetings about this, right? want to just have a conversation about maybe having something proposed to us by by the city solicitor when we could instead have a
conversation with a draft, change that draft however we well choose and then from there you know moving that forward that is going to be a more robust uh conversation and ultimately I think we can all we are all going to have a better conversation if we have a draft
in front of us because otherwise we're just there speaking about things that we don't know because we're not lawyers and we are speaking about things that, you know, could be or could not be. I'd rather us speak about an actual concrete proposal that we have in front of us. That's all. I I'm I'm not I'm not I'm not trying to I'm not trying to hide
anything. I'm simply trying to get us to move this work forward in the way that it's going to take the least amount of effort for us, which I think is to talk about a proposal. Councelor Robinson. Yeah, I don't think there's anything wrong with but there there are some legal questions in
regards to whether or not um that we do draft something. I know that we always go to the homeowners and how we want to be able to notify uh tenants and what legally we have in order to do that and what we need to do
to change the zoning in order for that to happen and whether or not it's legal to do. um within. So I mean if we go to conference maybe the city solicitor can draft up some things that we can discuss
or we could add to or take away from. Are you are you requesting that the city solicitor bring a draft to this meeting? Yes. Would that be the same thing that councelor different the wording is different? That is my original motion. I mean, if
if we want to if we want to schedule a conference with a draft, I'm happy to do that, too. Yeah. Counselor, are you done? Councelor Robinson, I'm sorry. Yeah, I I just think it's appropriate to be able to have some material in front of us to be able to make some informed
decisions. Just a quick quick point of order. Um, I spoke about where to send it to. I have not spoken on the substance of the motion and I would like to at some point before we wrap up. Thank you. Got it. Thank you, councelor. Coun councelor Taylor. So, I I don't think we council
Taylor, you already spoke, but just finish your train of thought real quickly. I I'm just saying I I don't think we need to belabor this. I have no objection to having the city solicitor there at the meeting. She's got to be there at the meeting and she can explain
whatever legal things she needs to explain. she wants to have a draft, that's fine. But understood that, you know, we're there to actually uh figure out if that draft is acceptable or not or what needs to be changed or or or or
whatever. So, you know, I don't I don't think we need to belabor this anymore. I'm sure, you know. Okay. C there's been enough words said. Okay. Counselor. Counselor. No counselors want to speak. Okay. So then what motion do we have clerk on
the motion on the floor is a motion introduced by council Taylor to refer the underlying order to conference by roll call vote. Okay. So, we will enter a roll call vote on this motion that councelor Taylor just
spoke about, which would essentially send it to conference, invite the city solicitor, and have her bring a draft of the order. Okay. Question. After this vote, the matter is
over and we are no longer discussing this order. I just want to I just want to know if we're taking this vote first and then I'm speaking of the substance of it or whether which one if the motion to refer to conference passes the order itself is addressed and dealt with. Okay, great. Then I'll hold my thoughts
on if it's rejected then the underlying order comes forth. But if the motion to refer passes, the matter is considered settled and we move on to the next item under business. Okay. And clerk, could you please differentiate?
Can you can you just help us understand the difference between the two motions now that they they're just very very close to the original version of it? He didn't motion was so the motion pass it now
the motion the motion counselors counselors counselors so the motion that was proposed was to essentially move what the counselor has to a conversation with our city solicitor
which would include the drafted ordin uh order that the counselor requested. That is what we're voting on. Point of order. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah. So, I'd like to speak on the substance of the motion if that is
possible. If if just to make sure that I I can speak on that. I don't think I think the clerk mentioned we need to be able to vote on it and then so I will be able to speak after afterwards. A clerk. Correct. The it the item that's before you is the motion to refer to conference. Okay. To
refer to conference. The motion to refer is the topic by which the council's discussing now that that's the there's no there's technically no discussion on the substance of the matter itself. If the motion to refer to conference passes, the item is considered settled and we
move on to the next item under new business. If the motion is rejected, the original motion to adopt by roll call vote comes forth and you can talk about the item itself. Okay. So the motion before you is to refer to conference. A yes vote to refer to
conference. Majority vote required to refer. Yes. Just to clear up, I will be voting yes on this motion. Um in terms of that respectfully that would be the draft was included. that that would
be up to the city solicitor to determine because technically what's being referred is the order that's presented to you which doesn't call for a draft. The order itself is being referred. Council can request the city solicitor do it but it's not included in the order itself. What's being sent to conference
is the order as written unless somebody wants to amend it. If if I could if I could if I could just just amend it to to to tighten up this. Go right ahead. That if we can we can ask the city solicitor to provide a draft if she thinks that that's a good idea or
whether not to and come and discuss it. We'll leave it up to the city solicitor and her expertise. If I if I may suggest the amendment uh strike create and read as follows. That the city manager work with the city
solicitor and department of permitting and land use planning to provide a draft ordinance that would afford renders the same notification requirements as homeowners related to planning and zoning changes. Okay. Thank you councelor. Okay. Moving on to a roll call vote.
So refer to conference as amended. Majority vote required for referral. Council Tanari Garcia. Yes. Council Hermen River. Yes. Council Rubo. Yes. Council Taylor. Yes. Council Robinson. Yes.
Council Tesh. Yes. Council Kelly Garcia is absent. Council Santa. Yes. Council Vega. Yes. Council Brown. Yes. And councilus. Yes. 10 members in favor. Zero opposed. One absent. Motion to refer as amended.
adopted. Thanks. Thank you, clerk. And I would like to speak on the substance of the motion if I can. Wait, it can't. No, but we will have a long conversation in this meeting. That's what I asked. Okay.
All right. Moving on to the next item. We have an order introduced by Council Kelly Garcia. Order that a meeting of the subcommittee on housing and community development be held with the Chelsea Housing Authority, project developers, and any relevant city departments to receive updates on the Fitzpatrick Bradford redevelopment
project. Is there a motion adopt on the suspension? Move. Uh no, I object that we need to we we already said we were moving this to conference when the letter came up. So this this for sure needs to be moved to
conference. Seeing no objections, councelor. So the amendment was to substitute housing and community development for conference. No objection. Ask questions. Order adopted by suspended suspension as amended.
Our final item. You have an order introduced by council Cooper received late. Unanimous consent required for consideration. any of my colleagues. Order introduced by councelor Coopero. Order that the city manager provide to the city council an update on the
parking situation at Duo Apartments. I could speak on it all day, but I'm not going to speak. Councelor, can you start with the motion first, please? The motion to adopt under suspension with no objection. Thank you, counselor. I could speak on it all day, but I'm not
going to speak on it all day. I'm just going to say a couple of things that's interesting. One, when we negotiated with them, there was only supposed to be 96 parking spots. Then all of a sudden, it ended up being 40 and 30 more. And
then the part that uh there's no transparency. I like to see it explain why there was no transparency. The order that the city council did prior to this said that in 2020, nobody could get residential stickers if they didn't meet
the parking requirements over it. Now, what happened with that particular building, that particular thing that they did on Central Avenue 10 days before the order went in effect, they gave them permission to do all these
other things. So, that's kind of like no transparency. So the only question I have is how did you manage to get more spots within 10 days? They had lots of time. Now the people are calling me and asking
me there's cars on the street that are living there. Yes, there was supposed to be 96 of them. 96 original people that were there were the ones that supposed to get parking stickers. Now there's a whole bunch of them that can get parking stickers. So the people that are in that
area better be aware that now there's going to be at least 140 cars 150 cars in that area where it cannot support it and that was done within 10day period. So where is the transparency that is supposed to be
done? It didn't. The question is I would like an answer. Why was it done within a 10day period and what wasn't it transparent enough? That's all. But I just wanted to make sure that the people that live on Central Avenue understand that those people are allowed to get
resident stickers. The original thing when we negotiated with it in 2018 was that they couldn't get resident sticker only. 96 of them, the original ones they lived in the complex could have. Then they added 40 and 30 and then from what
I understood then I got a clarification which I have the papers here. I can show you from the city manager that that was, you know, the amount they said and then I got it because the original thing says that everyone in that building could have got resident stickers and then the city manager asked
the housing authority if that was the case and it wasn't. The case was that they could get 40 and 30 which in the beginning that when the law the part that it's not transparent to me that I can't understand is how is it that 10 days before the law goes in effect
you're allowed to do it. That's the part that I don't understand. So now those poor people on Central Avenue on Willow Street on Watts they're going to get buried with cars. Where are they going to put them? That's the question. Where are they going to put all these cars
when they do come? They've been calling me already. They already seen that. But that's okay. I only thing I want to know is transparent. Why didn't they say 10 days before the law goes in effect? Thank you, counselor. Thank you. Moving on to uh councelor Robinson.
I have some different numbers um as opposed to what my colleague has. The n the 96 housing authority units were always going to have residential stickers. They're entit they're entitled they're entitled to those.
Then there were going to be 40 that were going to be for workforce development. Then there was going to be 30 that was going to be for residents and the parking garage was going to be for 160 cars. Those those were the actual
numbers from the original. Thank you, counselor. Seeing no other comments, we're going to move on to public announcements and moments of silence. All right, any public announcements? Councelor Brown. Thank you.
Thank you. Just want to wish everyone to celebrate um Roshahana a w a happy happy healthy sweet new year. I believe it's the year 5786. [Music] Um, everyone have a safe um, holiday, safe New Year's, spend some time with
your family and enjoy yourself. Thank you. Thank you, counselor. Any other counselor Robinson? Your mic, counselor, turn it off. Thank you. Yeah, Chelsea Pride is going to be holding a a miniature golf
tournament on October 11th for the Chelsea Pride football. Uh it's going to be a fundraiser down at Katana Park. It'll be a cost of $5 for 18 holes. Um also that the people are allowed to
buy sponsorships. Sponsorships are only at $60 a whole. It's not too late to sponsor a hole if everyone wants to fill out an application. Thank you. Not the one you're thinking about. Thank you, councelor. Councilor,
all right, moments of silence. Councelor Taylor, I'd like to have a moment of silence for Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated almost two weeks ago and um and and it's just a a horrible situation and
just a moment of silence for him. Councelor uh Tani Garcia and Councelor Rub. Um I would like to ask for a moment of silence for my dear cousin Timothy Vega who passed away um last week. He was 36
years old. Councelor uh recuperon and counselor Robinson. I'd like to have a moment of silence for Mr. Michael Mason, the assistant. His mother died. Councelor Robinson, I'd like to have a moment of silence for
uh former Chelsea High basketball player Greg Walker and also for my brother Danny Robinson. I'd like to have a moment of silence for the man who lost his life up at the wedding in New Hampshire um um Nasha, New
Hampshire over the weekend. Councelor Himenez, school committee member Anna Hernandez's uh brother recently passed as well. I would like to add to the list our dear friend and colleague Jorge from the IT
department. His father um has also passed and we hold his family in prayer. Amen. Okay. meeting. Thank you. Good job.