##VIDEO ID:N2b4K8UDteQ## well she told only because I had this extra I got this extra cake my [Applause] old okay you know the only the only little thing that I think that we should we should just copy and paste yours and put like a little bit of a little bit of another color inside the pink oh yeah yeah we can do different one no just the same one but I mean with a little different little touch inside to make a little like [Music] yes I love that just ready if you need up to you it's up to you [Music] oh okay um thank you who's next hi what what do you have do we have all these minutes we don't have any minutes I'm sorry I do have these ones are done I just didn't get them off to door yet the two um my mind okay have to get done home so let's have a fast meeting okay y oh yeah gu coming Monday to do it here no he's coming to Lawrence I don't know if he's coming to city hall or where he's coming coming to Lawrence do you do you have any questions about will do you want do you want to make that request um let me ask you is is is a w position one of the one that we have a mon oh oh I hear you I think it does yeah yeah I know yes you did be enough fore [Music] no no no just come [Music] over she coming we good good no he coming you want to start with person now good evening and welcome to the regular meeting for the Len city council today's day is Tuesday December 17 2024 pursuing to chapter 20 of the act of 2022 this meeting will be hybrid allowing participation both in person in the city council chambers and remotely anybody that request this link Zoom to be able to participate through Zoom that was uh sent out through the city clerk's office this meeting will be uh transmitted live through the Len city council Facebook page as well as the YouTube uh city council uh YouTube city council page roll call Madam cler councilor Levy pres Council leant present Council Lan present Council Del Rosario present councilor Santiago present counil m present Council Ares present Council vice president Infante present council president Rodriguez present uh please join me for a moment of silence for all those military personnel that is not going to be able to spend the the Christmas with their families now join me for the pledge of allegion flag United States of Amica with and justice for all councilors we have no minutes to be to approve today uh and we're going to jump into public participation immediately uh the public participation the rules are as follow everybody that wanted to uh participate and they going to have two and a half minutes uh at the two-minute mark You're going to hear a beep or or a sound or something indicating that you still have 30 second to speak uh please refer to this Council as a whole not to any individual counselors the first person that we have on the list for today's public participation will be H Mali Mal 53 Chester Street good evening honorable members in this wonderful season of joy and celebration we the Laurentian proud to support Lawrence police officers Union Lawrence Police this Union of Pride and honor with the impecable leadership by honorable Chief Bonia doing excellent job to protect our citizen we are united to support Lawrence Police Union seniors officers Union thank you for excellent job million thanks to our excellent DPW employees and Leadership for making Lawrence a beautiful city because of your hard work Lawrence is exceptionally beautiful city we support our Inspection Department on employees thank you for excellent job we support support your union we must hire more inspector Lawrence Public School with the impecable leadership by honorable superintendent RAF Guerrera moving forward Lawrence teachers you are number one we support your awesome Union we demand the best compensation for all employees of the Lawrence Public School and teachers please help our homeless Lawrence one city United under God we are the best example of support of Union right from firefighters Police Department DPW inspection and our teachers Lawrence always is strong Lawrence always unite we wish the best holiday season for all police officer proud to support Lawrence Police Union we pray for the safety of all police officers thank you for excellent job we wish the best Christmas and joyful holiday for all city employees and our police officers thank you thank you the next person that we have is uh Rich Rosel uh councelor Rosell excuse me I apologize for my voice I got a head call good evening councilors Richard Russell 34 cross street next before I begin my comments tonight I would I want to post a line from a letter that Sarah B Perez posted to the December 15 issue of the Rumbo news the community deserves transparency accountability and a commitment to hiring qualified individuals who will serve our city effectively that thought would make for a nice Christmas present for the citizens and taxpayers of the city and also make for a great New Year's resolution for all elected and appointed officials in the city now for my several comments first how did the City of Lawrence exist for almost 40 years with only a director or Commissioner of Department of Public Works now we need two associate Commissioners one in charge of operations and the other in charge of administration I'm hearing that in line with their projected $100,000 salary they'll be getting city-owned take-home Vehicles first question off the top of my head why does the associate commissioner in charge of administration need a take-home vehicle usually take-home vehicle is applied to individuals who are on call 24/7 365 what kind of after hours emergency would necessitate a a take-home vehicle for the dpw's associate director of administration next I have always worked in a profession where everyone was supposed to be able to do the work of any and all that they supervise how many people applied for these two jobs was a male considered for the director of operations job and at the risk of being accused of a racist was a non-hispanic considered for either job second with all the experience that this illustrious body he has in dealing with home rule petitions why haven't you sent one up to bacon hell I mean bacon Beacon Hill asking the state to allow the city to use traffic cameras to ticket red light and stop sign violators on an experimental basis suggestions for the first camera would be the Shad Street sou Broadway intersection as always thank you for the time to address you with these pressing issues Merry Christmas Happy New Year I hope you come up with some damn good resolutions thank you thank you the next person is Antonio poano name and address for the record please hello Anon poano I can I SP in Spanish as you as youire okay um an is the new leag uh the only one Le professional Soo in the world I create that LE because I say oh wow the S uh is nothing in the world only the people me it to play sof for eating drinking not for uh creting something for the societ I said okay let me bring it let me let me give something for Lawrence something special for Lawrence I give you I get ping the highly so almost everybody know me with a s almost everybody know the the work my my job and the so in the field every single week I have it in the field 500 people every single week people don't do nothing this way but when I call then come to play s they said thank you but all the time I think I have a dream my dream is why the S is not professional why the MLB play professional and they have a something for the future for the people the NBA have something for the future to the people why the so no but I created a so Le highly so I created and laen because lens is my city I have for laen that City needed and this SP highly so thank you and happy New Year and merry Christmas thank you the next person is uh councelor vice president Infante good evening counselors uh we recently as a as a entire city council received a letter from a district e constituent um s Perez within that letter she asked her District councelor me Stephanie fonte to read her letter for the record um these are her these are her words her letter and I am um fulfilling a duty as a city counselor to read the letter that she sent um and asked for me to read dear members of the Lawrence city council I hope this letter finds you well as a resident of Lawrence for over 35 years I feel compelled to express my deep disappointment regarding the recent approval of candidates for City positions who lack necessary qualifications both in education and experience yet are being offered disproportionately elevated salaries I hold a bachelor's degree and have navigated through three different careers and I have raised my four children in this community each of them H has pursued higher education and established successful careers one has a master's degree in and business entrepreneurship another is is an electrical engineer one is a registered nurse and the youngest is a double major in pre-law while my family is just one example it reflects the many professionals and well-educated individuals who live in Lawrence we do not need we do not need to rely on hiring individuals without the required qualifications especially when there are so many capable candidates within our community it is concerning to witness the city council approving such hiring practices particularly when they seem to undermine the hard work and dedication of local residents who are qualified and eager to contribute to our city if any of you are considering reelection next year Please be aware that the community is watching closely we are aware of the decisions being made in our local government and we are concerned about the implications of these choices while I am not running for any City position next year I want to assure you that I will be actively engaging in uncovering and shutting light in any misinformation or manipulation of facts during the upcoming campaign in the land of blindness the oneeyed is King is King and I intend to be that voice of clarity for our community additionally because I will not be able to attend the next full council meeting I kindly ask my city council member Stephanie fante to read this letter to the public so that it may be recorded and acknowledged I urge you to reconsider the direction in which our city is heading regarding Employment Practices and salary all allocations the community deserves transparency accountability and a commitment to hiring qualified individuals who will serve our city effectively thank you for your attention to this matter I hope for a future where our local government I hope for a future where our local government prioritizes the values and talents of its presidents sincerely SRA B Perez 1719 McKinley a Lawrence Mass this is on behalf of a district D um constituent thank you the next person that we have is uh Williams Matthews name and address for the record please hi my name is boam Matthew I own properties at 39 Winter Street and 284 to 292 L street I'm opposed to the uh the change of Winter Street to a one way I think that's just going to impose a a lot of hardships for for the local businesses uh and I even think about the Daybreak Shel around Winter Street if there was ever an emergency of the police or an ambulance or something like that they'd have to go all the way down Broadway down essic Street then come up Winter Street by then it just might be too late as myself as as one of the businesses there's just so many trucks coming into our businesses every day a one way street would just wouldn't cut it you know and then we have another shop across the street uh 291 low Street which is polar Central they're a big chicken organization when their trailer trucks come over the bridge on low Street the first thing they do is they pull down Winter Street and then they back in to the shop on on W Street they won't be able to do that if it's a one way impossible so I'm kind of like begging the city to think about not doing that that's it thank you all right thank you the next person that we have is U Ricardo pantalon name and address for the record please good evening to everybody here my name is Ricardo pantalon I'm here in my name in my name in behalf the name of my uh co- friends here uh we come here to witness address my address is 109 uh 191 faren Street in Lawrence South Lawrence okay uh we're here to witness uh the great job Mr Tony Panos has been do has been doing all these years uh for the for this sport uh softball and uh me and some of the managers of few teams here in Lawrence we came to support him to um to show you uh our project our project to grow the softball in Massachusetts in Lawrence for all the J people the job and then all the the boys and John um persons that can play out this Sport and we are trying to help uh the boys to be away of the bad things in the street so we can um me and all the people trying to work hard to do something better for the community so we're here to support like I said to support Tony poano and we have a big dream to create a great um great home of of this sport uh in all Massachusetts and uh United States thank you uh councilors and members of the public all the all these names are going to be submitted for the record uh and if there is no oppositions councelors I would like to go to the budget and finance report specifically to item 23421 uh if there is no opposition to that I'll I'll ask that um the vice president Infante uh to call this report Council vice president inant thank you council president through you item 434 234-2242 the full council with a favorable recommendation and I make that as a formal motion there is a motion on the table uh second by councel Lon um that was a committee report right of a recommendation yes a committee report I think it was oh we send it over for um correction Council presidents actually it was sent up as a community report not uh a favorable so I that there is a motion on the table prop second with that in mind before we actually take a vote I would like to extend that opportunity to member of the of the Departments that are here tonight uh to present to us what they tell us uh at the budget and finance committee and that way we can have a good idea at uh as of what was the discuss the discussion at that level good evening councilors I'll just introduce uh our city treasur collector and our city controller uh City collector uh will have the information on the tax receipts and the comproller has the information on the local receipts good evening um councelors just give me a minute just uh for for the public that is here present today uh we are going to receive an update as of uh all the all the all the task Collections and uh and the local receipt which means basically how we the city uh collect funds uh and they're going to explain each item as of uh how we're doing and this item has been on the agenda since 2021 and we've been getting a current update as of how the city maintain the level of service that we maintain that is correct um so I come before you and um all of you should have received the um information in regards to how we're doing on real estate and personal property those are those are bills on a quarterly basis um as you will see from the report that I submitted the 2025 bills will show your gross tax levy minus your overlay and it shows what we've collected year-to date as of right now we've collected 46.67% which reflects um just the first two quarters so it's going to be the preliminary quarters and then the the third quarter Bill scheduled to go out January 1st so we don't have those collection numbers yet and the fourth quarter goes out April 1 which will have more information towards the end of the fiscal year um as you can see cumulatively um 2024 all the way to 2020 will show that we collected approximately about 98 to 99% of what was built does anyone have any questions before I move on thank you okay so the next item that I also will be discussing on regards to the collection efforts is going to be motor vehicle excise tax for 2024 um calendar year which gets built at the beginning of the year um that went out and we've committed year to- dat about $7.5 million of which we've collected so far 84% we still have two more commitments that scheduled to go out those are usually a lot smaller on the scale and when um February 2025 comes around we'll go ahead and send out the um calendar year 2025 excise excise tax bills those are approximately about um we Bild about 45,000 bills which accumulate on somewhere around 6 million um so that does go go out mid-February due um towards the end of March um I always remind the counselor to let their District know for the the residents so please be mindful of these bills if they don't they don't receive the bills they're still do so if they're not receiving the bills so please contact our office Council president are you able to ask questions when she takes a break like this so on the motor vehicle excise tax for the council president motor vehicle exercise tax it has gone up dramatically over the last four years as you sent in our charts from six M 6 million is 7.4 million at least that's committed um do you know what that reflects is the number of automobiles in the City of Lawrence it does reflect a little bit both it reflects the number of automobiles as well as the assessed value of the motor vehicles that are being purchased um I I do have a report here that I received from our assessors which kind of highlights more so what we receive so for the first commitment which is the highest commitment usually that's any vehicle that's registered as of January 1st um if we're looking back let's say um 2020 which is the last year that we have back in 2020 the first commitment we build out approximately 44,000 um bills which accumulated to an estimate of 4.7 million and for 2024 we've actually build 50,000 50.2 th000 bills which accumulated to um 5.5 million so it is it has gone up in the amount of vehicles that are being registered in the city but also that differentiate based on the value of the of the vehicles so through the council president what's important to really note here is the dramatic increase in the amount of vehicles if you're saying there's 44,000 bill that's 44,000 vehicles that are build correct you can put a one for one unit for a car or whatever the vehicle is so we have gone up in short four short years over 6,000 vehicles in the city of lawence and we're not even looking back back previously and by the way the anticipated New Growth that we have with the Resurgence of housing in the city there's going to be Resurgence of more vehicles coming in the good news is we're getting more local Revenue fantastic the not so good news is that it's not necessarily being able to offset the other cost the congestion and as we all know the parking issues and trying to find parking for the people in our city um that's why we're having a such a spike in Resident parking permits throughout right so anyway it's important whenever I hear that that we put a little bit of context to the numbers the numbers are great but what does this really mean bottom line in addition the last five years or four years an addition of 6,000 vehicles in the City of Lawrence thank you you're welcome all right um any questions councelors can you um um can you I mean as we discussed this at the budget and finance committee this is going to be add to the monthly no to the yearly report um as part of it can you add a column as of U how many vehicles approximately the city of lam might might have yes I can definitely expand on that metric yep thank you so much you're welcome yeah we'll do it yep all right thank you so much the next um indicator will be U expand by Ramona our good evening everyone Ramona saal controller would you like me to describe the different line items on the worksheet or do you want me just yeah let's do that again yeah very sure all right okay so before you we have the local receipts for the City of Lawrence it's comparing the FY 24 budget versus actual as well as the FY 25 I'm getting feedback sorry versus actual so the motor vehicle excise as uh the treasure indicated is our largest local receipt um as of FY 25 we've only gotten a million3 but that does not include the biggest commitment which as she indicated it's sent in February so that's when we will receive the bulk of the uh the funds related to motor vehicle excise um the next item is meal's excise Massachusetts imposes a sales tax on meals sold at restaurants it's 6.25% but the city also has a local option excise for an additional 75% on males tax this is received quarterly from the state as well as the hotel excise tax which is also received quarterly um Massachusetts has a room occupany excise of 5.7% and the city has a local option of an additional um 6% this is also received quarterly um penalty and interest on taxes these includes interest on taxes um which is 14% on any anything not received after for uh 30 days we also have in that category um penalty and interest tax leans tax titles used to be um 16% and as of November 1st is 8% cost on taxes and services fees uh it includes demand notices which is $30 if not paid within 30 days after the fourth quarter bills which are due uh June 1st payment in Le of taxes also known as pilot um these are agreements within the community uh to recoup lost revenues as a result of State Property Tax exemptions in this category we have the Lawrence Housing Authority other charges include Downtown parking um 10% admin fee from police and fire city clerk receipts and Cemetery Etc other fees include fees collected from various departments such as ISD and from Community Development other departmental revenues include payments from the Lawrence Housing Authority related to police detail licenses and permits mainly include Building Inspections Electrical Plumbing fire alarm smoke detectors among others fines and forfeits include revenues from trash ordinances Towing fees and parking violations investment income profit earned from investment Medicaid includes uh the reimbursements that we received for certain medically necessary Services provided in a school-based setting miscellaneous includes miscellaneous other receipts such as reimburse ments for State related elections insurance claims and other settlements and also homeless Transportation reimbursements if you have any questions in um the report I gave you let me know and I can provide more detail and there's any questions in regard to the report they you receive about the local receipts um here no so thank you Roman okay you're welcome have a good night all right thank you this report is going to be added to the U to the by um I'll say quarterly report as of how we're doing as a City of Lawrence when it comes to the the local receipts um at this point counselors I don't think that is it will be a need for this item to be on the agenda since we're going to be receiving this querly so I understand a motion we have a motion but we can motion to we can withdraw withdraw second motion is in order it's been properly second uh all please say hi hi any Nam guys have it um we going on top of that top of theenda yeah we're going on top of the agenda which is public hearings we right away going to start uh with the public hearings public hearings that are in linean um 14019 which is the handicap parking at night n to 3 Madame CLA please read the notice motion to wave the Preamble there's a motion to wave the Preamble we have we have to we have to read it the first time yeah we have to read it the first time yep so Madame CL please read the notice document number um 14019 notice is hereby given that the lawence city council will will hold a public hearing on Tuesday December 17th 2024 at 7:00 p.m. in the council chambers 200 Common Street Lawrence Mass pursuant to chapter 2 of the act of 2023 and in accordance with the recently revised city council rule 2 this meeting will be hybrid allowing participation both in person and remotely to accommodate participants with health considerations that prevent them from participating in person access codes for remote participation are available from the city clerk eileen. bral at city of lawrence.com or 978 620 3230 this meeting is also available on Facebook and YouTube the purpose of said hearing is to gather testimony information and public input concerning the proposed amendment to the revised ordinances of the City of Lawrence to be further amended by adding to the following subp paragraph to section 10. 36. 340 of the municipal code handicap parking in the proper alphabetical order Saratoga Street East Side from appoint 14 5 ft north of Myrtle Street to a 165 ft north of Myrtle Street persons wishing to be heard shall be afforded the opportunity councelor uh public hearing is now open there is anybody from the public that wishes to speak public hearing is now closed councelors was the motion motion to approve second there's a there is a motion to approve properly second discussion I here known all please say I hi nice have it now motion to wave the Preamble yes madame CL please read the notice for IR 2223 oneway con conservation oneway conversion into Winter Street from Northbound to and the uh from N Street towards low Street yeah now we need a motion motion to wave the preamble right it's a motion to the Preamble properly second discussion on that I say guys have it m CL document number 22-23 the purpose of this hearing is to gather testimony information and public input concerning the proposed amendment to the revised ordinances of the City of Lawrence to be further amended by adding the following subparagraphs to section 10 point 28.4 of the municipal code oneway streets and Alleyways to be in inserted in the proper alphabetical order Winter Street from the intersection of Essex Street to the intersection of L Street in a Northerly Direction persons wishing to be heard shall be afforded the opportunity um councelors we have a we have an opening a public hearing now open anybody from the public that wishes to speak all my name is William for the record please yeah my name is William matths I property is 39 Winter Street and 284 to 292 R Street uh I spoke earlier about this the one way on Winter Street would really be H for all the businesses on that street uh it's all Automotive related and we all have uh tow trucks or trailer trucks delivering our supplies every day um we have another uh big business across the street from us that actually drives their trailers down Winter Street in order to back up to the uh dark on L Street so he would he would be screwed I know know other way to put it uh and it just would be a problem for all of us and then you have the day break shelter on Winter Street and you know God forbid you ever needed you know police or aminin you know not they right on low street it's just up low Street take a left done you know otherwise you get to get on ESS Street I mean you get to get on Broadway essic Street then take bang right on to Winter Street and then all that traffic's going to be there good luck with that you know I think this Emergency Services is going to be a big thing for all the businesses you know I I think going with one way would be a big mistake and that's that's how I see it I just wanted to share that with you tonight okay that's thank you thank you um any anybody else from the public that wishes to speak all right Public public hearing is now closed councelors I'll I'll look for motion to table motion to table is a motion to table properly second no discussion on the table matters all please say I there have it uh Madame CLA please read the notice for item 43124 guys document number paragraph to section 10 4.060 of the municipal code permit parking Street designation to be inserted in the proper alphabetical order Walnut Street East Side from Myrtle Street to Park Street and Walnut Street West Side from Myrtle Street to Park Street persons wishing to be heard shall be afforded the opportunity anybody from the public that wishes to speak I Hear n at this point uh U we close that public hearing public hearing is now closed councelor what's the motion motion to approve second there a motion to approve item um 29123 uh it's been properly second discussion on the approval are he none all of please say I I guys have it uh item 43124 the removal of 15 uh 15 minute parking signs delete ordinance from 38 AV Street Madame CLA please read the notice the purpose of this hearing is to gather testimony information and public input concerning the proposed amendment to the revised ordinances of the City of Lawrence be further amended by deleting the following subparagraph to section 10. 36260 of the municipal code 15-minute parking Avon Street South Side from a point 70 ft east of the intersection with Trinity Street to a point 90 ft east of the intersection with Trinity Street between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday persons wishing to be heard shall be afforded the opportunity anybody from the public that wishes to speak on item 43124 I hear know so at this time I close the public hearing um councelors what the motion motion to approve second there is a motion to approve properly second discussion on the approval I hear NN at this point I call questions all please say I any n guys have it mad CL please with the notice for 498 24 document number following section 2.0.1 35 of the municipal code department heads annual reports department heads annual reports the heads of the following Department shall provide yearly reports to the City Council budget and finance department Fire Department inspectional Services Department Personnel Department Planning Development Department police department and public works department Animal Control Council on Aging elections division Information Technology Lawrence municipal airport commission licensing board Public Library purchasing Recreation tax collector Treasures veteran services in the Water and Sewer Department reports will outline but not be limited to key performance indicators pertinent budget data relevant administrative measures and will summarize key goals for the department and strategies and measures being taken to accomplish them reports required to be submitted shall be submitted on April 1st of each year and shall cover the period from April 1 of the previous year until March 31st of the current year to the extent that there exist any ordinances to contary they contrary they are hereby repealed in that respect only persons wishing to be heard shall be afforded the opportunity anybody from the public that wishes to speak on this matter I hear known so at this time I call it I I'll close that uh public hearing councelors what's the motion motion to approve there is a motion to approve can hear a second second discussion properly second discussion council president Council presant thank you my question is um what what's going to be the process for those departments that don't submit anything so far the only Department that has been consistently submitting their their quarterly reports and I understand that for some departments is a quarterly is is is a lot but that's currently the requirement has been the fire department the police department used to be consistent I don't remember the last time we received one I don't remember the last time we received one from from DPW from ISD and Li the the veterans department and all all of these departments the only one that's been consistent is the fire department and I know that we asked our our confidential secretary to consistently send out reminders to these department heads so what so what are we going to do now we're do for me I see this as doing the department heads a favor giving them more time but what happens if they continue with this pattern that's a question I will answer that question um that is the lack of respect to the council that's that's what it is I mean there is a requirement that the council is supposed to receive and a quarterly report and when that ordinance was written it didn't mean the city council it means that once you get to the council that information is public that's what the meaning of it given the opportunity to get only one report that means that that is uh more of a lack of transparency and if we advocate for transparency a quarterly report should be maintained and should be uh requested for the best interest of the administration through the mayor's office and not necessarily through the city council because that information is is public once it become it uh once it come to the city council so I don't know why we even discussing this ordinance to be honest with you I I I understand the logic behind it I'm just reading this list I another one the public Library the airport I don't know if any of you if any of my colleagues recall the last time we've received a report from them like I said we we on our end we have the records of our secretary sending consistent reminders to all department heads to oby our law and submit their quity reports so I I just I don't I just wanted to put it out there it is it is like I just said c vice president it is unfortunate that we actually have to go through this situation I remember that I start having uh this uh this discussion aggressively while Council Council payano was here uh and he was a bit advocator to to have those quarterly report in place to a point that it is a matter of just probably some time compiling the the report and a quarterly basis and then putting it all together uh on the final report will be easier but I mean we haven't been receiving those that means that the public haven't been receiving those and I think that for the best interest of the community it will be essential to have those quarterly reports my last comment I know um I know we are a municipality thinking business-wise in management and I've been part of many quarterly reports in my career businesses organizations present quarterly reports to their to the board of directors to their CEOs to the vice presidents the presidents um I don't agree with with this with this yearly report um petition sometime they get less money councelor any other questions in regard to this matter councel coun first of all I I appreciate the council president's opinions um not opinion I me repeat a not an opinion excuse me stay stay fat yeah you're doing it through me I don't want to entertain your your keep moving on One Direction with one agenda not an opinion I respond to a question and I'm entired to a fat okay you have the floor disagree with the council president to be honest and and I think it's important to State and you can shut me off again um I will if you if you keep on saying that I actually explain my opinion you have the floor council president I don't want to take too much oxygen on this but in this particular point you have bring a lot of great points to the table as a counselor but sometimes when it deals with this particular rule it is something that I think you need to work on a little bit more council president it's a tough position being the council president you cannot give your opinion from that's out of order from the chair out of order stay on the the on the topic I am and you you talked about the lack top I am you talked about the lack of respect those are your words you talked about the lack of transparency these are opinions that you've said that are not based on facts but are based on opinions and they may be valid opinions but those are the comments that now that you engaged in this discussion council president from there I get a chance to be able to talk about that because those are the points you I respond to a question it just it doesn't say I respond to a question you're not in order I respond to a question I'm not going to entertain it so council president I'm not going to entertain it I respond to a question bottom line and in our rules council president it's my last point and you can shut me down and talk over no problem I will I expect which is this in our rules it doesn't say that if you're asked a question for your opinion that you can go ahead and do it you cannot do that you want you want to you want me to just stay quiet it's not going to happen you what you can do council president there is a tool you can give the gavel to the vice president and allow yourself if you want to engage in the debate you're supposed to be non you're not supposed to be biased on any particular side you're supposed be like a referee allowing the conversation to go unadulterated and making sure that the flow of information is going between the council you're not supposed to be picking a side the side that you pick is on your vote that's when you pick a side you let everybody know how you vote but if you want to express an opinion you have that right but you must give the gab to the vice president that's what our rule says and now I want to speak to the matter at hand and the matter at hand is that the council vice president makes a good point as well and I totally respect where she's coming from a couple of things what this does not do it does not stop us from asking Department NSS for information at any time it doesn't have to be quarterly so if there's something that we want to know like for example ear this evening we wanted to find out how many vehicles were in the that the treasurer has well we're not going to wait for a quarterly report we're going to get that hopefully that information sooner rather than later we're going to get that there's information that we want that we can ask at any point that we can get it does not stop us from that and the timing of this is important it's right before the budget when do we get most of the stuff that we talk about each department we go through each department at budget time that's when we really start digging in and finding out what are we doing here what's happening here what's happening at this location we ask a lot of very pointed questions and the timing of it is such where we're going to get that information at the budget time which is the most the most um important time to get that information as we start making decisions so that's the reason for this I I don't disagree with the fact that there's that there's maybe a lack of doing things in the right way but if we're going to be my opinion having served here for for a while that I have again my opinion is this I would I think it's much more important to get that end of the year report when I look at everything and when the budget is due that's critical to me and in the meantime during the rest of the year if I've got something I want to find out I'll get that information I'll ask for it all right thank you councelor Santiago you have the floor about the the bo we approved recently H just to council was not agree with the bo was cons and me and we was H to put it a lot of money to different department and they didn't make the report what when they supposed to made it and but the cemetery we didn't put in money H more money they still have the same money in the buet and and they sent to us the report at on time and nobody mention it and nobody ask about it h we can see in this buget how many people H passed away how they did how they they die or something like that and we got it on time I think we are h h h to put it more money to in the department and they don't really ER they they they don't really doing this job maybe on time or I don't know if he it's on time or late but they don't do it and we don't have to to H to keep ER giving the money that's it thank you any other counselors all right at this point if it is no other question from the counselors I'll call the questions all those in please say I no no madame CLA please read the call make call the r uh to you Mr President I'm very confused what is the item okay the item is item 4982 24 which is a requirement for the Department to report only annually not quarterly as they supposed to we talking about the budget on the yeah a vote Yes means you want to change it from quarterly to I would like to clarify to my that's fine and a vote Yes M clerk vote Yes means you're changing it from a quarterly report to an I'm sorry thank you um uh vote Yes means yes you would like to change it from quarterly report requirements to just annual and if you vote no that means You' like to keep it with the annual quarterly reports that we currently require quarterly yeah yeah so I mean both Yes means keep it as EAS which is quarterly and vot no means you're going to change it from quarterly report to annual report hold on one second sorry B no means you keep it as EAS quarterly report a b Yes means you're going to change it from quarterly report to yes or no are we for discussion no we just going to call the vote so for clarification uh it is you have clarification Madame cler do you mind clarifying okay um so Council ra we're going to start with you you're voting no council ra is voting no council no council Santiago no council Del Rosario yes Council Luzon no council lant yes Council Levy no council vice president infon no council um president Rodriguez I vote no motion fails what was the count 27 27th all right now we going go on top of the agenda item 55224 Madame CLA please read the notice this notice is with regard to both 552 and 564 the purpose of this hearing is to GA testimony information and public input concerning the proposed amendment to the revised ordinances of the City of Lawrence to be further amended by deleting the following subparagraphs of section 10.36 340 of the municipal code handicapped parking document number 55224 is aim Street East Side from a point 40 ft Northerly of the intersection with Texas Avenue to a point 60 ft norly of the intersection with Texas Avenue and document number 56424 is Atkinson Street Southside from a point 65 ft Westerly of the intersection of Tyler Street to a point 85 ft easterly of the inter section of Tyler Street persons wishing to be heard shall be afforded the opportunity uh public hearing is now open anybody from the public that wishes to speak public hearing is now closed councelors what's the motion motion to approve there's a motion to approve properly second byel Santiago um discussion are hear none all please say I any n there have it um Ian 5662 5 6424 Madame cler so the public record was I mean the public notice was just right into the record so I don't know if you want right to so we are going to entertain a motion for item 56424 motion to approve there's a motion to approve prop second Santiago then discussion on this item I here no all please say hi hi any Nam there have it item 5 5662 24 and item 5672 24 are they both on the same public hearing all right let's hear them both the purpose of this hearing is documents 566 24 and 56 724 document 5 um the purpose of this hearing is gather testimony information and public input concerning a petition presented by the Massachusetts electric company doing business as National Grid requesting the City of Lawrence Mass by and through its city council members for permission to locate poles wires fixtures and or underground conduits including any necessary sustaining and protective fixtures along and across the following public ways document number 5 6624 is to install underground conduits under Essex Street near Newbury Street reference is 30891 1341 placed by David Johnson National Grid document number 5 6724 is to install underground conduits under LOL Street near Hampshire Street the reference number is 3098 2509 placed on um the request by Dave Johnson of National Grid copies of the relevant plans for the above petitions are on file with the office of the city clerk and may be viewed upon request persons wishing to be heard shall be afforded the opportunity anybody from the public that wishes to speak public hearing is now open anybody from the public that wishes to speak there is none um now public hearing is closed we're going to entertain two motions aain a motion for item 5 5 566 24 uh counselors motion to approve there's a motion to approve can hear a second second properly second discussion on this item I Hear n all please say I I the I any n the I have it item 5 5672 24 I a motion uh for that motion to approve there's a motion to approve properly SEC properly second Santiago discussion on this I all I any Nam guys I have it we're going straight to Personnel we have people here uh we have a total of four four appointees today and we're going to personal Madam vice president Infante and the chair for the personal committee we going to entertain the first item which is 5 uh 7924 which is the 10 any day temporary appointment to uh mik Bonia the chief of police um Madame Madame vice president infant and the chair of the committee thank you through you council president the Personnel committee met last Wednesday we discussed item 57924 extend the 90-day temporary appointment of meix Bonia as chief of police and it was sent up with a favorable recommendation and I make that as a former motion second there's a motion on the table properly second any discussion on this councelor discussion discussion councel L I just want to make a a a comment in regards to the committee search for the chief uh we are still waiting for ANW from the uh mayor's office uh I have received U many um um calls and concern to that um I think it's time for the administration to give us an answer we don't have any update we haven't received any update uh since they mention it uh and it's it's it's concerning I do um appreciate the work that uh Bonia Chief Bonia is doing uh but I think the community is uh is asking for a process and I strongly believe that this Administration should at least give them an answer thank you C president thank you councel now cel yes I would like to call the chief right Chief man address for the record please Council M lawence Police Department acting chief of police all right first of all I want to say thank you for your job you are doing a really good job you answer many calls that that I do from my constituent asked me to request you and the first question that I have tonight is about the recently a missing car and around my district and they are expecting some notice about the police or some campaign to alert the the community they they expecting what solution have the the police department about it I guess the numbers I want to give you uh and then I get into what we do another time is that all right okay so on car breaks on October October 224 2024 there was 13 cars stalling compared to only seven in September uh of the 13 Motor Vehicles eight were recovered three were recovered in the in the city and five will recovered outside the city four these vehicles we're stolen with the keys in it so what usually happens in this winter month and uh this we do this every year with our community is that people go out or before they go to work they turn their vehicle on and then you have people walking around the city and when they see that opportunity they take it so uh what are we doing about that I could also tell you that in in just in November okay we had um five Motor Vehicles stolen I mean eight out of those eight five were stolen and uh recovered in the city four were recovered out of the city and one in m so out of those Vehicles five was stolen with a kid inside so see what we're going with this so what have we done uh October 26 we put a post in the Facebook account of the Lawrence Police Department uh informing the public that in this month you know this coming month uh not to leave any uh belonging in the vehicle don't leave your car open don't leave it on when you go to Theo stores and that's what is usually happening uh I was talking to someone today here and slipped my mind that some of these vehicles are delivery vehicles they do Uber and lift and they go get on deliveries and they leave the car on and it's a crime of opportunity and we have been advising our people during our uh neighborhoods meeting um tomorrow morning I was invited to a local radio station to speak about this issue and the number one problem is people living the keys inside the vehicles and there's a crime an opportunity I mean we posted it I'm going to repost it tomorrow we usually we talk about it in the uh neighborhood meetings people call me I tell them what the problem is and some of you have called me and you know the issue so uh sometime we publish that in local newspapers advising people don't not do not leave your cars on not only um it's it's not a good idea if you leave your car on and gets stolen we have to issue a ticket and that's going to be a problem with your insurance company if you report your car you know stolen you say well I left my keys in it sometime they don't want to pay you so this is the problem that's for years have persisted in our city and I have an idea I have a plan that I want to put in place uh starting next week uh and I can tell you about it in public because it's a you know an operational plan that we have in mind we've done it before I just remembered this this morning and I said it would be a good idea to put it in place does that satisfy your your question yes thank you any um you set any other counselors that wishes to speak or ask questions to the chief of police thank you very much this has less to do with the the acting Chief Bon can you hear me yes sir I could so this has everything to do with the the funding for the Police Chief's position if and I did ask you this beforehand and I don't mean to spry this on you Chief I my understanding is that we are currently paying your salary for the police chief and another police chief salary is that still true I think this is a question for the c c is he here he here oh I didn't see then I'm all set with you then thank you so uh Kao thank you so are the we are paying for the police chief right now correct Mr but acting police chief that's right the money that we're paying for the previous police chief is that coming out of the police department's budget yes so I just want to make it known now C cppo that that's a concern of mine CU I don't know how long has this been going on 3 months six 6 months it's been a while and this is our second time now that we're trying to Mr Bon to continue 6 to n months 6 to N I don't recall it's it's it's a concern and it's a concern and the reason why I'm bringing it in this public setting it's a concern that I've been getting from residents and as their mouthpiece I need to tell someone in Authority that that's a concern and that we need to figure out what we're doing that kind of money that we're spending we're not getting anything out of it is not a good expenditure of money and I'm asking this Administration through you to find a way to spend our money properly and responsibly because that's money that we could be using to hire more police there's things in my district I like to see happen as well there's a lot of things we could do with that it's not a ranking file member it's one of the top positions and it's a lot of money frankly so I'm not looking for a comment unless you have a solution I'm willing to listen if you're going to tell me that's tomorrow we were planning on changing that I'm interested in hearing that but I think it's important for you to hear thank you council president council president yeah Council yes I will expend an opportunity to you but before you before I do that I need to see if there is anybody else from the first round um that wishes to speak anybody else that haven't speak yet Council uh acting ches Bonia um it's part of your job responsibility to to revise your budget how do you don't you didn't answer Mr llan uh celor llan question in regards to uh former CH acting Chief um what was his name Castro of getting paid to you take a look of your budget is not that part of your responsibility well like the C already answer that question question and ex send the budget but did you Chief acting Chief Bon did you take a look of your budget I have been looking at of the budget how come you not aware of you don't have an answer for this the question they asking is why are we doing this and it's a question for the administration and the CLE not me I disrespect uh no no thank you for your answer but I think as as a acting chief of your department you should be able to answer a simple question of who's getting money from your budget is it's just my my opinion but thank you so much um for what you do and and may I ask a c a question council president thank you acting Chief um Bonia Mr C um thank you council president to you and my question to you CFO is is do we have any answer from post uh and I'm going to have to say thank you to coun La plant to uh for reminding us about this issue that yes we have sent several emails to uh our attorney uh to the human resource department and we uh haven't well personally me as a councelor haven't received any uh concrete answer but for to you uh CLE do we know do we have any information about post and their decision on um former acting Chief Bona Castro apologies I don't have any information from post perhaps Chiefs does I don't communicate with post I think that's a police department item thank you uh council president problem any other questions any other question from any other councelors um Council Le thank you ccil president uh through you um good evening good evening my question is it's not a question if baby I would like to ask because sometimes we get like a s information on things that happen in the city from you guys okay but there are other information that sometime happen that we never got you know last week in front of my might house happened something and I don't know they they close practically the street that that happened on on Wednesday they Clos the street that was the fire department the police department um the hospital and but we like can never get a report when something like this happening and that happened for about about 45 minutes that everything so car has to turn it around and go through other way looking the way to get uh out so I don't really I just try to get out and see what's going on at the time it's happen like maybe by 6:00 and still 7:00 they were in there the police the fire department and that was not a fire I didn't see like any par something happen Okay so if it's a major incident in a police department that I should know about I get a call by the on on Department the ship supervisor so the fact that they didn't call me that could have been an accident or house fire if it's something maor in the city that you you know I sent communication through the um they were a couple of ambulance over there there were you know the fire department uh you guys were there they closed the3 on fto and both part on prosp S3 so and like I say I didn't get an official notification from the shift Commander so more than likely it was an accident you know that Prospect Street is very narrow so when you have an action on Prospect Street you have to close the lateral Street it could have been that I didn't get the call so I'll find out if you give me a date but if any major incident in the city you are going to know about through the city council president is that right correct okay thank you no problem councelors any other questions in regard to um these appointments all right now this point I'll call the questions uh all in fav please say hi hi any n all right the the the eyes have it Ian 58024 the appointment of Aida Santana as a deputy direct as a deputy dep deput W director Madame vice president the chair of the personal committee please present us of the report item 58-24 um the appointment of Ida Santana as Deputy DPW director was sent up as a committee report and I make that as a for motion second there is a motion to accept this as a committee report properly second any discussion on the committee report I hear known so at this point I call the question all those in favor on the committee report please say I any n there I have it Madame um councelors I'll entertain a motion at this point motion to approve there is a motion to approve item 58024 which is the appointment of Ida Santana as the deputy DPW director uh can't hear a second second discussion discussion it's been properly second by Cel Rosario discussion Cel Santiago yes before we approve we want to get her in the podium please yeah that's SP of it we accept now we just have it SP it good evening councelors evening AA Santana 200 comment stre acting dep director for DPW so IA take this opportunity to thank you be fluent first I mean probably be scared a little bit don't be scared just nor more conversation all right thank you very much I'm going to read um something here um thank you so much it is an honor to stand here before you from my time as the PW office I'm getting nervous again I respect you so so much and that's why I get so nervous so my apologies I'm going to start again it is an honor to stand before you today from my time as DPW office supervisor to my current role as acting deputy director I have worked very hard to serve my community tackling the challenges that come with run with running a busy City like this one I have managed over 50 contracts including street signs potholes Salk walks repairs electrical service Salt procurements and more I am also leading major projects like the solar lights for our Parks the Mario Bridge with mass do and our engineers and the street light repairs I believe that the work I'm doing is showing my dedication and my love to Lawrence every project and effort I'm leading alongside my team is based on the values of being honest responsible and focused on our community needs I am proud of the progress we are making across the city to improve communication and teamwork we've started monthly division meetings to ensure that all DPW team collaborate more effectively this has helped us know every Divi what every division is doing and deliver effective service if appointed permanently today I will build on the strong Foundation that is already in place I will focus on improving operations maintaining transparency and ensuring efficiency prioritizing Safety City Maintenance and Community projects assigned by DPW director I will work responsibly with residents city leaders and my team to keep our city moving forward this role is not just about what I've done it's about what will continue to do I'm fully committed to Lawrence I am ready to take on this role with passion honesty and a strong sense of responsibility is a huge responsibility that I am that I want to take on as a woman in a male dominant Department I take pride in setting an example and breaking barriers leadership is about the difference we all make together I am humbly asking for your trust and support so I can continue serving with the passion and love I have for Lawrence I am ready for the challenges ahead with your help together we can continue making Lauren stronger and better for everyone thank you uh councelors you have received the package with all the information regarding uh this appoint this appointment of Aida Santana so at this point councelors I'll open that uh the floor for questioning to the candidates council plan really don't have a question just have a couple of comments one um it is rare where an actual applicant actually makes a phone call and wants to um make their cases why they would do a good job here I've met a lot of folks that come before the before the council looking for support and it's like I said it's rare but um Miss Santana did that and that impressed me to be honest with you um the second thing that impressed me about Miss Santana is the fact that she has taken some classes to further along uh especially with the uh procurement uh section um and and I think that in any position in the city whenever you have an opportunity to H to be more informed and and better educated um that's a good thing not only for personal growth and development but also good for the city and the taxpayers who you all of us work for so she's qualified she's got the credentials um she has already expressed to me any way desire to learn and do further and more growth um and I'm impressed by those things um so I will be supporting supporting her this evening thank you thank you I'm honor council president coun Lon I I thank you um Santana um how many people I'm assuming that you are aware of of of or director H me how many people apply for your position uh and I know you answered this before but let's keep the audience another let me com on that so J 200 Comm Street Lawrence M so let me tell you we posted the position twice the first time we got one applicant and one of the applicants is one of them so we decided to post it twice we got three applicants and two of them are the two womens that are are in front of you tonight so there there were three applicants and there is two positions opens and there is two applicants in front of you tonight so director um I me only two people responded is that accurate or only two people responded three three three people apply for the position okay two of them were chosen okay and and and she was working at the city at this point or not um she was working with us the third person no I I yeah both of the candidates were working actively at the city the city in the city all right I'm just I'm uh responding to some questions that that I have received but thank you for your respon any other questions councelor coun m director uh I'm going to Target some of my questions towards you and then I'll segue into Miss Sana um and this is just to gain Clarity in terms of the documents that I have before me one of the documents I'm seeing that the deputy director shall have a minimum of 5 years of um of experience and shall be a high school graduate but then another document I'm seeing uh under the qualifications it's a bachelor's degree or an Associates in a relative field preferred with at least three years uh of experience so I'm trying to kind of gain understanding as to which of the two uh are the criterias that we're following so the ordinance is asking just for the high school diploma so when we post the position we Act more uh requirements trying to attract uh better candidates so and we put prair if we don't find that we just go with the qualifications that are uh in the uh ordinance okay so just to make sure that I understand correctly the ordinance is requiring just the high school but then based on the job posting itself you guys had elevated those requirements then we have uh we we add some more um qu requirements in the um posting that we have and I'm assuming you guys did that to pry pretty much uh open up your your field of candidates that are applying for the position corre is that correct okay um my second line of question is one of the documents here before me is regarding the pay the pay grades and I'm seeing that for the deputy director um it's a pay range of 100 100,100 to 145,000 to6 um 145,00 and then I'm seeing comparable communities correct so in these comparable communities I'm seeing that uh for the City of Lawrence we are relatively like pretty high considering the average of the majority of the comparable communities that we have listed here do you happen to have the information in terms of how many of these comparable communities also have two deputy director positions so there is communities that they do not have two they have more than two so um what they do is they call every supervisor they call a deputy in order to have uh you know better salaries for because it's a tough job so sometimes just call a supervisor to not give you a lot of um you know good candidates for the position that's why we have lost a lot of our employees like the capital asset manager like theity engineer we haven't be able to get one because our salaries were or are very low for those uh positions that's why our city engineer went to methu to be the deputy director and he's probably making double the money that he was making here so uh we see that we bring a lot of good employees we train them and they just leave you know what I'm saying so that report so I didn't work on that report is a report that we receive right now we just paying $100,000 to them they start step number one and uh let's see how they can continue you know progressing to see how we can give them the better salary so but uh again it's a tough job and and they are working you know pretty hard to you know continue improving in our city okay I'm going to segue into um Miss Santana um I I was going over your resume um okay I kind of remember what I wanted to say so I'm looking at your resume and I'm looking at um your previous positions so I just want to gain an understanding you know with your own words how would you compare you know the experience um from your previous uh positions that you've held cuz I'm notice is completely different uh in the industry that you're in right now with uh being a DP uh being in DPW um I'm seeing a lot of like law-based background on your end how would you uh justify or say uh that the experience that you had in those previous positions relate to uh the position that you're you're currently vying for right now so as acting deputy director for DPW I am managing mainly the administrative part of it my previous um my previous positions as you mentioned is Law and finance I worked for um Credit Unions huge Credit Unions one it was the name number five so um my background is on finance and legal Administration how that transferred to what I do now um one of the main areas is contracts I do the contracts for DPW and that obviously ly involves knowing not that I'm not a lawyer or anything like that but it it is knowing a a standard uh of law knowing dates deadlines are imperative for the city if we miss a deadline that means that we might have problems with our budgets or the services that we are providing to our constituents so that's how my previous um skills transfer to this new position and the last thing I'll ask of you is um I'm seeing um a documentation with all your certifications if you mind going over the certifications and how do those certifications if any that you have listed relate to how that has benefited you or contributed to to the position that you're buying for okay so I have one associates degree in science business management um managing an administrated office um that relates to that I have public Contracting overview um supplies and services Contracting and Associate Massachusetts certified public purchasing official which is the mcppo that's directly to knowing more about procurement um handling anything that has to do with the procurement process another certification that I have is the National Society of leadership and success that's definitely focused on leadership teamwork work um effective communication um I also have AOS with nego I did that in Lauren so that also helps me understand the community and the businesses that the community have and the struggles that our constituent have as business owners as well and the last one is I help not the last one but I helped theu um that was in the financial industry to learn more about financials um standards and and and the process in finance thank you so much for the clarification I think it's important to kind of G gain an understanding uh considering that uh some of us you know when we're reading a resume it may uh we may not have a a full picture as to how those previous experiences uh come into you know play with the position that you're in right now and um how it would be a positive contribution to the role that you play so thank you for that explanation thank you celor celor I just want to um add to add that one of like you heard I that is more concentrated like in the administrative part of the department and rosan is going to be concentrated like in the operational part of the department so those are the two uh targets right now what they are working with so and they are doing a sectional director um are you able to um disclose their current salaries their current salary now and would the salary change uh upon if it does go through what you know what would those changes be so I'm not sure right now that's something that we had to discuss with the salary with the cfle that is here and uh it has to be in the budget the the the cor is the current right now is 100,000 101 Mr Min it's one this current Sal is $100,100 which is the minimum of the uh uh range that was approved by the city council and the nonunion Compensation Plan the the range is 100,100 to U 145,00 I think is the absolute range so right now as an acting candidate they make the minimum of the range uh after they uh based on the uh um uh the DPW director's recommendation to the HR Director and the mayor they can propose an increase in that salary uh at any time uh you know once they're permanent employees I'll I'll just end and I hate the fact that I'm probably going to end it with a a sour note um I don't know it it comes across as this may be an ordinance issue for me in terms of how this position is just a minimum requirement for a high school diploma yet the salary I I feel like the salary does not match the the qualification portion um I think it's a slap in the face to many people who uh do their due dilles to to you know get educated get the degrees that they need to get uh get the necessary uh qualifications and experience and um it is very unheard of um to see this salary range matching this type of qualifications and I feel like we're either having to at some point review and make some adjustments because right now to me that doesn't make sense uh you know just in in this line of work uh counselor uh the U It's Not Unusual for uh you know dpws out in the streets they're they're you know digging ditches they're doing all sorts of stuff so the the uh the profession leads it self to people who have a lot of experience uh so it's not unusual for DPW uh uh Administration not to have college degrees because that's generally not required uh it's uh it's the it's the uh uh uh experience they have in the field and so forth and in the department so it's not that unusual I just want to comment that the the ordinance has a minimum of the ordinance it's an old ordinance could be amended but it has a minimum of a of a high school degree but the job posting does say bachelor's or associates degree is preferred uh and uh I believe uh uh Ida has the bachelor's uh an associates degree in Business Administration that's better than high school all right any other any other questions councelor Santiago yeah I was confused the salary is 100 for each one that's correct for each them when when is that's for you director when you when you was talking about ER the other City have better salary but they have a the degree engineer they have the license so as as the C said they do not have to have those degrees is based on experience and in the field so we we posted that we prefer a little bit more of the the requirements that we have in the ordinance so just I as a reminder so that position was created before me so it was already in place and we asked for a little bit more the that the requirements that we found I think if we promote or improve to give that salary for the people really doesn't have the the the title the degrees ER many people want to work for the city and they don't want to keep studying that's my opinion I have a question for her is about how she know about the position H early early tonight we ER was listen conselor stepanie fante she was talking about H somebody was applying or or interesting and they have the request and maybe they didn't know how apply I don't know and another question is you love Lawrence but you know live in Lawrence and are are you homeowner No I um first question I found both um both um I started as a DPW office supervisor I found that at city of Laurence website um that's where I found uh that position search SE in I've been searching to work here and I found that and I enter the city the second one uh I did go online I applied but it's also I already work here so I also heard that that position uh was open so once it was open I went online as well and that's where I found it an apply on your second question console I do not live in Lawrence now but I grew up in Lawrence I came my parents came to Lawrence in 1990 and they had three jobs before they open two businesses in Lawrence my father being maybe the second Hispanic mechanic shop in Lawrence so I grew up in Lawrence I went to every school in Lawrence elementary high school and the reason there's outside reasons why I'm I don't live here but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to move here um so yes I do not live here but my love for Lawrence my community my money comes to Lawrence I only go to businesses in Lawrence I I come here to LA Lawrence to to eat to be with my friends to my my grandmother lives in Lawrence my my family is in Lawrence so I um that's my answer to that and I have a question yes I have another question I think it's for the director or I don't know if you can answer and my other question is about H what about the car they are using they can go after another for another state because I saw in the social media people post the car was in New Hampshire do you do we have pay insurance for that so the Department of Public Works has around 125 vehicles and emergency employees we assign vehicles and they allowed to bring those Vehicles home so supervisors are required to be in the city of Lawrence we have supervisors that live in ha some of them in methan and when we call so the excusing US it's not going to be that they do not have a car that's why they the city provide them cars they emergency employees and they they need to be findables when we need them so if that respond my answer that respond your your question not quite because the the post that I saw so I I think respond with the emergency I don't think that's the answer is quite to me because the post it is in social media and many people tag me ER and send me the the city pay for that insurance if something happen over there it is in New Hampshire and I don't think the city has emergency throw there so let me tell you our employees they pick up stuff Home Depot New Hampshire Draco tberry whatever we find the items yeah let's we buy stuff in Best Buy so we buy stuff everywhere so we have vendors all over the place so I know the vehicle that you referring do not belong to the you know the deputies and they mentioned that there was one of the deputies I want to clarify here that it was not true so I had no more comments on that because you know that version started with the light and I'm not going to allow that to to grow here okay thank you thank you coun Santiago um in relationship to that uh to the specific issue it's another about the schedule that they have Cel Santiago schedule what is the regular schedule because you said emergency but I would like to know 24/7 is the schedule of DPW always director she's referring more like to the candidate what's the current schedule for that person so so as Deputy so the the the hours here are 8:30 to 4:30 but again so they have to be reachable 24/7 yeah they are unold but they regular schedule is from U regular uh City Hall hours right correct and I mean especially for this position correct not necessarily the the next position over next position 7 to three so 8:32 8:30 to 430 correct okay any other questions councelors councelor uh president councelor son uh do you guys uh Miss San I'm sorry do you get an stien plus your salary do you get uh no no stiens no there is no stiping in our um and I'm going to make a comment and it may not sound please thank you through you cons president just to remind our colleagues that we voted no I did not uh Felina cons Santiago and I we voted against the budget but uh the rest of the council voted in favor uh of the of the budget proposed by uh mayor Thea so I don't understand why we are going back uh to why do we keep mentioning the amount of money uh that they're going to be making cuz that conversation needed to happen months ago and no one asked that I recall asked any question or had any concern about the $100,000 that the two future Deputy were going to be making just to put it out there um it's it is what it is we approve it well the council approved the amount of money the council approved the amount of money the only two Council that voted against it was councelor Santiago and councelor and myself thank you council president council president councelor um just to clarify a few things on that when we approve a budget it could be that the salary that is arranged on that budget uh could be a specific but uh let's say perhaps the minimum amount but when we approve a budget for a department and the line item for the personel that it's it's it's it's not for a specific position that could be changed if they have somebody that in the middle of the year uh left the city and so far so on that money become available and then they can transfer over from one side to another side uh that the budget change a little bit in that aspect councilor thank um councilor presant thank you council president you answered 90% of what I was going to say the other 10% is these questions were asked and and these meetings were were live streamed so uh I just I just want to make sure that people know as the chair of the bu and finance committee I know these questions were asked right uh yes uh councelor councelor Rees to you Mr President uh well when we talking about who is the person to vote in favor with the budget to maintain our city ruling we're not talking about only about the salary we're talking about to maintain our city clean to maintain our street our sidewalk everything is about on our budget when we're talking about oh the another seven celor voting in favor yes we voting in favor because I want to have my community safe very simple when I go to DPW and Report every hold in our city they go to repel when we report every sidewalk they they go to repair it's talking about our budget it's not only about salary I want to be clear I want to put in a no too because we specify too much about the salary but it's a general budget it's not only salary right any other questions another comment is when we put the minimum required for depos was thinkinking because we receive a lot of concern through our youth because they say we don't have any open seat in our community for they can apply when they looking for job in our city hall they say they cannot uh cover the expectation that's why we thinking something to bring to ordinance to have a minimum require require to support our youth to support our people in our community but when we poting the position and nobody apply we need to move in forward it doesn't matter leaving here or now we prefer the people living in our city because we want to promote the people stay and working here and moving forward here but we're talking about the the requirement that one of the reason was support support our people don't have the kind of standard but have experience to the position that apply thank you right thank you councelor Rees any other counselors any other counselors any other comments I Hear No so at this point I'll call the questions all those in favor uh please say I roll call please councelor councelor Levy yes councel llant yes councel Luzon yes councel Del Rosario yes councilor Santiago yes councilor marmo yes Council Reyes yes Council vice president Infante presid council president Rodriguez yes car congratulations thank you it's an honor I also want to say that I haven't done it alone it's a teamwork thank you thank you no problem the next item that we have in front of us is uh item 58124 which is the appoint of Rosana Del Rosario as a deputy DPW director it is important to not to notice that uh councelor De Rosario have exre himself uh due to it conflict of interest uh Madame vice president Infante uh and the chair of the personal committee thank you through you council president item councelors councelors oh entertain another motion to motion to approve motion to approve uh can hear a second can hear a second second properly second uh let's open up the floor for the next candidate Mr Rana welcome again just introduce yourself and fluid good evening counselors my name is Rosana Rosario 200 com stre I've been acting as a dut W deputy director for the past 6 months and I'm going to go straight into a little information for you guys please can you get a little more close to the microphone sorry thank you for the opportunity to address you all today my name is Rosana Del Rosario and I have had the privilege of serving as the acting deputy director of pully works for the City of Lawrence over the past six months during my Turner I have worked to restrain our Department's relationship with the community and address key concerns affecting our city some of the notable achievements we've made as a team include representing the DPW director at neighborhood meetings organized by city councilors in these meetings I have listened to Residents concerns and and provided knowledgeable updates on how the DPW is working to improve the city key issues raised have included Clean cleaning L how clean the city is the issue with the homeless Community the illegal trash dumping and the need of more traffic safety measures such as installing stop signs with blinking lights I have also been collaborating with our personal with our personal Department to implement CLE clear guidelines for handling on on the job duties D injuries I'm sorry and introducing training programs focus on prevention safety is a top priority for our operations and these efforts aim to protect our workers and create a safer work environment this experience have strained my ability to connect with our community address critical challenges and work collabora to find solutions that improve the quality of life for the Lawrence residents I strongly believe that my my ability to transform the recycling department during my time there is a testament to the dedication and passion I bring to public service this same commitment drives me into dri drives me in my work within the public works department where I'm eager to continue overseeing projects assigned by the director and contributing to the department success I am also committed to over ongoing professional development to ensure that I can excel in my duties and better serve my city with this passion for progress and personal growth I am confident that I can continue to make meaningful contributions to the public work department in the City of Lawrence today I respectfully seek your support for my permanent appointment as deputy director of public work I am committed to building on the progress we've made and continuing to lead with Integrity dedication and a focus on results I look forward to working with the council and the entire Community to ensure the success of our department and the City as a whole thank you all for your time and to and the consideration uh thank you for that uh for the briefing councilors any questions council president Council Lon and then follow up by councelor m um Mr Rosario you studied medicine back in Dominican Republic how many years I did four years of med school back home is that an equivalent to a bachelors's in in United States four years I will say so but I am trying I'm going to pursue my bachelor's now and I'm going to have to start from from scratch okay but um would you I don't know if you're aware that I I sometimes people can transfer credits uh from yes they can my husband is an engineer and he is in has his equivalent uh here um I'm sorry I was responding to con FOC just focus on your intervention I will I will look into that thank you so much and my question is I'm sorry my apologies um a counselor in phant just asked me something and I kind of responded uh so um you're not aware of that that your uh four years of medicine can be used here as an equivalent of another it doesn't necessarily it's going to be in medicine but it could be in another area you're not aware of that I know there's some credits that may be transferable over here and I am already in the process of looking into that okay that was going to be my yes so thank you for letting us know thank you m councelor m I'm going to do the same line of question to be fair um with each candidate um I just notice I I believe I want to start off with the c first uh considering that um on the ordinance as I had previously asked the way I'm reading it it comes across as um so it says the deputy director shall have a minimum of five years of progressively responsible Municipal operational experience comma so it doesn't say and slash or it says as if it's required for them to have this and that so again shall have a minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible Municipal operational experience comma shall be a high school graduate so when I read this and I'm trying to interpret it I want to make sure that I am not wrong in implying when I look at your resume Miss uh De Rosario um I believe um your resume states that you started as a recycling coordinator um in the municipal level so you don't um and this was in 2022 correct correct 20 so prior to that did you work at a municipal level no I did not no so C Am I Wrong to to interpret the fact that there this is not equivalent to 5 years is less than five years okay so most of the um posting that the city always you know do always ask for five years minimum if you go and check all of them but that that you know that's that's impossible sometime to find somebody to find somebody with a five years of experience uh especially with this position that is new for the city of lawence right now the most qualified you know wom that you're going to find you have in front of you because they at least have six months you know doing the job so uh and and they are the only applicant so they are the only one that we were able to you know interview and and and and bring in front of you again I'm going to just reiterate then the ordinance needs to be changed um cuz it just comes across that we're just picking and choosing if the ordinance says that based on this position it is a requirement for them to have both the five years of experience plus a minimum of a high school uh diploma then granted this wouldn't even be a convers ation but the fact that the ordinance the wording of the ordinance has it specifically that that is what the requirement is or the minimum requirement then the ordinance needs to be changed uh I'm just going to leave it to that um just to segue into the line of questioning uh to you Mr De Rosario um and again just to keep it fair it's going to be similar to the questions that I've asked the previous candidate um looking at your resume and the previous positions that you have held what would you say that the positions that you've held um which seem very completely of TR and um from a different industry uh of the of the industry that you're in right now how does it relate and how does your previous uh you know responsibilities and priorities you know what do you bring to the table from those previous experience and now with this uh with this new role well when I started my career in the medical dental field in Lawrence about 17 years ago um I started from the bottom I started as a dental assistant I went to school I took my licenses my certifications and I became a licensed and certified dental assistant in Massachusetts and I decided to move out of the business move out of the medical field but I went all the way to management I went all the way to managing a dental office um then I went to the airline industry where I was there for almost six years and again I started from the bottom I started as a ground UPS operator um then went to the gate area or the ticket counter and then went up all the way to the tower in where I was operating operations um overseeing a snow in andout traffic with the aircraft um is a very diverse and very fast-paced environment to to to perform those type of those type of duties and again that job that career in the airline industry and also my previous background shaped me and it made me I would say Fearless to be able to overcome challenges in this position I'm able to come up with Solutions just knowing that we need to be fast thinkers I cannot just go into the into a book and ask a book what do I need to do um it's more operational it's more okay so we're having an issue on a street that a tree just fell down okay I need to send my crew over there that's not something a book is going to tell me something that I know I have to be a critical thinker and a proactive reactor when something like that happens um I believe it's my last question I don't know yet um uh what have you done currently are there any certifications or any trainings um to how uh it would fit to the role that you're you're buying for yes I am an associate um procurement officer I am I have my mcpo um credentials as well and I'm just going to read here some of the stuff that I mentioned to the to the other meeting that I I believe you guys went there so I have been also able to attend multiple conferences and in those conferences I've been able to connect with other people in my industry um specifically solid Wass because that's where I started and that's also where the director has assigned me to supervise he assigned me directly to the sanitation department as the role of the in the acting um position during some of those conferences I've taken leadership classes um specific specifically one that was very special for me because it was how to retain your labors in the public works um um aspect after the covid-19 pandemic and I think take this very seriously because we do deal a lot with our labors um sometimes struggling with our daily operation and our daily um our day-to-day operations um out there on the streets besides that I have a certification on recycling 101 and how to operate the recycling operation um to an extent of how to reduce not only the trash that we accumulated in the house but also how do we not bring the trash that we bring from outside and this has been critical to me I have been able to um educate our community on topics that they have never dealt with before and I I take highly Hye PR on that and I'm very passionate about it to be able to tell our um immigrant Community um how important it is to reduce Solid Waste how important it is to now that we have to recycle a mattress and and how to address the challenges that that we that we we're facing um with our environment and with climate changes and all of that question councelor any other questions me councelor Santiago hey M Rosario I have a question about so I know about the job because I saw it that it was posted and as the cuty mentioned it was um we was there was word um among the department that the position was going to be posted so I did apply for it and the experience I bring to the table as I mentioned at the beginning I was given the opportunity to come into into my first Municipal job as a recycling coordinator and I was able to make huge changes there and I am positive I can do the same thing or more with the Department of Public Works as a whole another question maybe is for the director H I don't know how it works the page but when some people tell me about they want to apply but they didn't get the job and I have some few case what happened with the web page people who apply for this job for this specific J I have to answer if it if it is for this kind but I that's the question that I have is it just for clarification I'm councelor Santiago is it for our department when they apply or for this specific position for when they apply for DPW yes it's part DPW so we always go through the process so every applicant that apply for a job with a DPW they they receive a call they always receive a call if you if we do if we call you three times and you do no answer so you are not qualified for the job because that's one of the main you know requirements that we ask you how to be available and the question that I have is about ER you was telling us you was in medical school I am a doctor and I can tell right here you say forg but I can tell for 27 2004 20 7 is three year and basically basically and the this college that what was University autonomous Santo Domingo they doing semester that's basically sixth semester it's not like a bachelor okay yeah that's why I did not say that I had a bachelor or that I hold any um credentials from my my time in back home in the Dominican Republic what I didn't mention is that I am seeking my bachelor's degree starting January of 2025 here in the United States okay I will sir thank you councilors any other questions councel so how long have you been the acting DPW director six months when one of the things that you mentioned as one of your attributes is that you really improve the recycling uh program in the city what was the recycling rate when you started and what was the recycling rate when you left when I started it was about 40% right now we brought it up to a 80% participation you have recycling rate at 80% are you asking me about tones or you're asking me about participation I'm asking you I mean what we deal with we deal with tonnage because what we have to bring things to tipping fees and so that's the really most important thing that's the most important secondly we want to get more people doing it so it's said that you went from 40 to 0 on tonnage no I I was clarifying the question that it was based on participation not on not on tonnages so what about t because I think that's the most important thing on tages from the back of my head I haven't been running the department for the the past 6 months so I may be a little off on numbers but I believe we went up about 20% and I can send you those numbers no that's good I mean I what I want to do is is verify when you make that claim because one of the reasons that you think that you can be a the DPW assistant deputy director is because of your your qualities and your track record and this is an important part of the track record I just wanted to know that's like the most important part of the track record is making sure that's up on that particular item [Music] um 6 months right so I don't really have any concerns or questions regarding the qualifications they are what they are the ordinance is what it is I understand there's a desire that maybe a dog ordinance perhaps but I see my colleague my one of my favorite District D colleagues of all time making faces so I I understand there's issues there but um so so but maybe she can make those changes but but I think the idea here is is um what I have is the concern is with the appearance of a conflict um the DPW from my experience is an amazing what the one of the most important departments that I lean on as a district counselor most of my calls are DPW related and it is in a DPW a good DPW Department can sink a counselor or can raise a counselor if you don't get things done calls return things happening it can sync a counselor because you're not looking like you're responsive you may call that person back right away but if but if nothing happens if that recycling tote doesn't show up if that portal doesn't get done is that if that list for the sidewalk improvements doesn't get done and it goes on and P it goes on and on right if that trash doesn't get picked up then it's it's it it reflects it reflects especially I mean I can't speak I've never been in that large counsil but I do know that it reflects District counselors so it's really important so my concern is is the appearance of a conflict and I I say that because because of the relationship that you have I'm not going to mince words here it is and I'm not by the way I'm not saying that you have used your I going to make sure I'm clear I'm not saying that you ever have used your position to to favor one individual District counselor over another I'm not saying that at all I want to make sure I'm perfectly clear on that I'm not saying that but there's an appearance that you could be doing that and that's a concern to me because if I'm asking for monies and things to happen in my district and I'm not seeing it happen I'm thinking to myself well all it's going somewhere else and I'm going to look over here and I'm going to think is it going there and maybe that's an unfair place but but but that's a reality that I've got to start thinking why am I why why am I not getting the things that I'm asking for in my district so it's an appearance question and because of that that really that really concerns me that concerns me and being very candidate and upfront and transparent with you the other thing that uh that uh concerns I'm not sure of concerns but it say so let me go back to that before I move on number three on the job qualifications is this maybe it's number four number four plan prioritize and allocate resources for Public Work projects and initiatives in accordance with Department goals and objectives that's pretty important when you're planning and prioritizing and then allocating resources that's important that's really important to me because I want to know where that planning that priorities and resources are because I need to make sure the folks that I represent are getting their fair share so there's that the other part that that just as I'm reading the stuff is number eight represent the DPW director in their in their absence and serve as a leaon with elected officials Community groups and the public on matters related to Public Works earlier said he' been to some neighborhood association meetings and in 6 months is probably at least one or two that I have I didn't know you were doing that and there wasn't any presence there at the neighborhood association that I go to and in all cander while we have seen each other on social events and I enjoy spending and talking with you at these events um there really hasn't been much professional going back and forth about what is it that I'm looking for what are the things that I'm trying to do what are the priorities for the folks in my district so that lay aison component at least with me now maybe with others that's happening but but not with me and that's um that can be improved upon of course so we can if you're in we can go past that and we can move on and we can develop that professional Rapport where things are are better so I think that's a fix that can happen so I'm I'm less concerned about that but there's the track record there is a little spotty right now so anyway so that's the concern I have have and and because of those concerns I don't think my vote's going to be there tonight for this position it has nothing to do with who you are as an individual the development that you have for the city the love that you want want to be able to do things I don't question that I don't question that you're committed to our city you live here you got your children here you got everything You' you're a committed and that's not even a question but I've expressed my concerns and that's um and I hope you can appreciate that and I do appreciate the work that you're doing thank you um um Mr lean and please invite me to those meetings and I I'll be more than happy to attend and serve your constituents as well councilors any other questions ccil president oh uh Council but before Let's uh let's uh let's allow the DPW director to um to say councelor as the DP director I can assure you that there will be no favoritism with the department so we're going to continue providing the good service that we always provide to your District we always going to be fair with every one of you consors because we don't see the city as as a political you know piece of cake let's say like that but see as a whole as the community that we live that we drive every day where our kids are raising and as a DPW director I can assure you that Rosanna is not going to use those powers you know to go in favor of one of the consors here so if you can reconsider your vote so I ask you to give me that help so I had to be I had to be honest with you that will help my department a lot all right councel um thank you council president it's it's not fair uh if I don't mention the um collaboration that I get as a city counselor from um DPW and and yes I email uh Mrs Rosario I email uh director heit and ICC the others the others deputies and I also need to remind the colleagues my colleagues that they need to invite uh then and they need to send a formal email to their departments cuz they don't read minds and there's so many events happening in the city that they can forget unfortunately a neighborhood meeting celor La plan uh I he's uh I I what I have from my experience of working um as a city counselor and DPW and the DPW department is a positive experience and thank you director for mentioning that it's not a political um that is not political yeah if if oh thank you because many of you know that uh I'm not a favorite counselor for this Administration and I always get resp candidate please coun thank you and I always get a positive respond because they are there to serve my constituent I called I have called and I will continue calling Rosana uh Mrs Rosario directly and my constituents they respond back immediately cuz she responds she attends uh the their needs I also sent requests from other part of the city and she's aware of that for yeah for other part of the city that I don't serve but I always get a positive respon starting from the director uh for Heyman and for others and as I mentioned in the other meeting I had not had the opportunity to uh work closely with Mrs Santana unfortunately but the director explain it explain why because one is dealing with the administration and the other one is dealing with uh with us with the city councilors and the and constituents I think that this is going to be the first time in history that the city is going to have two women's as Deputy if we approve Mrs Rosario's appointment tonight I know this question about their um experience but I also know and I speak from my own experience that when you get to the city you don't know everything you have to learn a step by step there's no college degree that is going to prepare you to what this city what you have to deal in the city and take it seriously uh this is from my personal experience because I work here for seven years you have to learn it day by day and take your trainings and take it from there um I believe that this is an opportunity that we can give to this we already gave it to Mrs Santana speak to the candidate to the coun miss Rosario M Rosario and I ask my colleagues to give her an opportunity as well we it's not our um the ordinance has the ordinance as you mentioned before has a mistake well should I call her mistake something that needs to be corrected it's not our fault that they are they require a higher school diploma and I think we in the past we have directors with high school diploma if I'm not mistaken so keep that in mind when voting tonight give this woman an opportunity to keep proving herself and to give her an opportunity to keep doing what is best for the city uh that's what I have to say thank you council president C presant thank you something that my colleague just mentioned that um does not say right with me um I understand we're we're one Council and we we work together to to move the city forward but what I don't respect is when other counselors are in other districts doing work of an elected District city counselor and they're not told about and what I also don't respect if these requests are going to DPW from a counselor that's not an at large or that District counselor and the District counselor is not being in formed that's not okay I've mentioned this multiple times to my colleagues and a big advocate of that there's a reason why District councilors were elected and there's a reason why at large councils were elected all right thank you Council vice president now we're going to proce I'm not saying council president is I'm not saying that that is that it's in my my district not the conversation between me and you don't for forget about that side no I'm I'm going to respond to that forget I'm not I'm not the only counselor that has mentioned that so I'm not I'm not talking specifically about my district I'm talking in general that is not okay I'm not the only I'm not the only counselor that has voiced this before so I'm going to voice it again if something happens in each other this District I can tell you I'm the first one to call the District counselor hey this is and that is happening all right please it's it's not in my District Council lone but to set an example to set how leadership is supposed to be that's that's why I'm saying president to here all right now we're going to proceed and we are going to read for the record uh the so mention ordinance that we are talking about ordinance 26480 and Madame CLA please uh read the ordinance for the record so people um have a better idea of what we're talking about um ordinance 2. 64.8 is the ordinance for the deputy director sub a is a position established appoint ments and duties there is established in the Department of Public Works the position of a deputy director the deputy director shall be appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council under the direction of the Public Works director the deputy director shall supervise waste collection and Disposal building maintenance maintenance and repairs of roadways sidewalks grounds keeping Landscaping snow removal equipment maintenance including Vehicles water operations repair and construction sewer operations repair and construction and at the director's request participate in the administration and planning of long and short-term projects of the department including Capital Improvement budget and shall participate in the preparation of the operating budget of the department monitor Financial operations assist the director in the formulating and implementing of departmental policy and in general perform such tasks are assigned by the director the municipal services manager actually the deputy director shall serve at the director of the department in the absence of the director salary and qualifications the salary of the deputy director shall be set as the Grade B of the non-union classification plan the deputy director shall have a minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible Municipal operations experience shall be a high school graduate shall possess specialized knowledge of Municipal Public Work operations and shall be familiar with the financial operations of the department thank you mad clerk with that said councelors if it is motion to approve there is a motion to approve and with that said if it is no other question I will I will call the question that is a motion to approve made by councel Rees and second by councel Lon um all those in favor roll call yes all please say I I no Ro Madame cler Council Rees yes Council Mamu present Council of Santiago obain councelor Del Rosario is noted as having recused himself councilor Luzan yes Council llant no council Levy yes Council vice president infon presid Council Rodriguez I vote no must the count um three in favor to no um two present and one so what is U the minimum requirement is five the motion fails thank Youk you have a good evening all right we're going to proceed with item 5822 24 which is the appointment of AA pimel as the Director of the planning and development uh Department Madame vice president Infante and the chair of the personal committee please give the report I forgot my lapt item 582 d24 the appointment of a w pel as director of Planning and Development was sent up to the full Council as a favorable recommendation and I make that a formal motion second there is a motion in front of us uh and that was sent with a favor recommendation and that's a motion so it uh uh before we call the motion I going to open up uh the opportunity to councelors to ask question or for the candidate to come in front of us to uh discuss as of why councelors any questions any question to the candidate councel president just add a share fairness and following what we just started this evening we should at least hear a few words from the applicant welcome and name for the record please oh before you do that counselor I mean before counselors you we entertain what we allow uh um the appointment uh or item 582 for the record we wanted to read the previous two candidates address so we can have it as part of that uh of for the people to know so m please read read those addresses and with their names with regard to document 580 was Ida Santana as deputy director with an address of 311 L Street Andover Mass 01810 with regard to the candidate of Rosana Del Rosario which was document 581-2442 Juniper Street Lawrence Mass 01841 all right so uh now we going to proceive item 582 name and address for the record so we reading the address so please provide it to us good evening counselors AA pimento 360 merac Street and what's your current Anders um well actually I was displaced um of a fire so I've been back and forth um but it's 460 River Road at this moment on and over okay all right we are allowing um Mr Mel to give us um the wise as of why you you should be appointed thank you counselor um and guests and my team who is here and thank you for for taking the time um so I I appreciate your support because you the reason why I do every day um I am again answering my call to once again serve as the Director I have been responsible for the development implementation evaluation reporting and ongoing assessment of various Grant programs and Department projects I have demonstrated my leadership and responsibilities with my executed projects the number of people I supervise decision-making Authority the judgment and complexity the nature of personal context and budgetary responsibilities I have been responsible for supervising and overseeing these projects in my department as well as ensuring all HUD Housing and Urban Development projects are in compliance which they have been as we follow the Federal Regulations while fostering inter agency Partnerships and government relations my combination of skills expertise my perspective strategic planning decision-making my ability intuition and ability to execute while leading my successful team and my unique experiences brings me to this calling today to serve my community where I grew up I am the responsible ible official for these projects in the community development department and I have led all the millions of dollars that we have brought in to the City of Lawrence during my tenure just to illustrate some projects quickly um that we're currently working on the Gateway project the return of the Gateway lot and its Revenue to its rightful owner the City of Lawrence our homar construction revitalization and elimination of Slum in blighted areas the sergeant malany Hancock Park the multi-purpose Park adjacent to the Boys and Girls Club that we're currently working on the Julia silia Park the winter protocols the displacements of hotels and project Partnerships that we currently have with our nonprofits like Lazarus house the New England Arts and Cultural Hub partnership the opioid project the cdbg the Community Development block grants the mayor's Health task force the lead Department the activities that are in delting and creating healthy homes in the city of lws the housing department and the eviction prevention the emergency business grants the responsible housing Productions the funding allocations from home funds to Island parksite 1 Island parksite 2 ston Mill and Mariner the new Arts and Cultural Gastronomy that we will bring into the City of Lawrence the youth develop scholarship program the cesu partnership and thank you Mr Dan hollerin for being here means a lot the food security projects the meal distribution the bodega meal vouchers we have provided the Market Basket gift cards distribution into our community directly to our people and it is not about what I have accomplished for our city with my team nor the decades that I have actually fought for our city whether in Boston and be Hill or in Washington DC in Capitol Hill but what I am yet about to do with my team for the City of Lawrence and it is about the hard work the dedication the sacrifice the tenacity and the True Grit that every director in the City of Lawrence has to endure nothing beats hard work the work that is ahead of us and with my extensive management experience my proven trajectory unique life experience and my dream team as I call them my strong understanding of my people together we will do great things for our city and Dr Martin Luther King once stated in the drum major Instinct you don't need a title to serve I have performed the process of planning organizing overseeing all these projects in my department with my team lastly it is the greatest honor to answer the call to serve again as a leader to have my team here to support and to really want me to lead them now we will continue to get to work we will finish what we started and we will bring a new together the City of Lawrence and I'm a believer of action speak louder than words I get the work done and I will not substitute words for Action I have included some pictures for all of you to take a look at and see the projects that we have done and we have accomplished whenever you have a few seconds um of the projects we've have accomplished so thank you very much Council no she doesn't have a package did you get it sorry it should be there the Madam clerk right we brought it into the M clerk I yes there's some there should be some pictures attached as well of all the projects so that's important unless they're still back in the clerk's office oh they are okay ah and I did also attach just for your own review um just several of the grants that we have brought in here adding up to the millions of dollars counselors we're going to open up for question and the first uh counselor we have is councelor inan thank you uh director pel this is something I'm I'm just catch and I would have asked her in the Personnel committee meeting if I would have caught it but on under your education an slor military training I do see that your your law degree or your law studies was not completed but what does the one L mean uh one year in law school got it thank you yes and I did have to take a pause for uh familial obligations thank you don't know what the they call it 1 L2 3 councilor leant thank you first of all I was surprised to hear about your personal situation with the fire and I hope that you're doing well and that you're and that you can get settled as soon as possible because I can't even imagine what you must be going through just to try to relocate so thank you you're welcome um I'm not going to go through the rec you've got an amazing resume um a lot of really interesting and fascinating experience that I think play as well to the to the job my question is a little different but not so housing is continues to be I think one of the most critical issues in the city because everything revolves around it parking resources education everything revolves around housing it's critical I know that the administration is supporting a lot of the new growth that we're seeing throughout the city whether through that or through the Lawrence R Development Authority so I know that that's happening I know where the mayor stands on this but what I would like to know from your perch from your position now how long you've been doing this now the acting job oh the acting position's been several months okay in this and other positions um can you would you be at Liberty to to tell me that the advice and counsel that you're giving to the administration to the mayor is also giving the other side I'm hopeful that he hearing not only why New Growth is fantastic and be should be supportive and why this is a good thing for the city but is he also hearing from people like you in the position that you're in the other side because when he's as a decision maker I know I would want to hear from all sides before I make a decision is he hearing that from you all sides when he's making when the administration is making decisions based on things as important as housing can you speak to that at all um what I will say um cu the mayor is not the one here being appointed but what I will say is that I do give my recommendations to the mayor as far as the the matter that I work with directly and I think all directors do at the end of the day is that you know it's in the mayor's decision whatever decision he makes let me be clear I'm not asking you to defend the mayor's position what my question was is are you from your position providing him you providing him as this director the information that he needs to make whatever the dec I'm not claiming the decisions I know what the decisions are I see them I've been talking about them but what I want to know is is he hearing from people like you who really have an important an instrumental part of that and other things this is one part of your portfolio you have other things I I know understand that but this is really important I was not only to me but I to the people that I represent I can speak to that so and you're telling me that you are giving him advice and Counsel on things that this is we all understand why the good things are but he's also hearing from you why this may not be such a great idea because there's always the two sides to the question right correct um yes I do give my recommendations to him I do have an independent voice um and I completely speak on what I see um what I see the community experiencing when I have all the people coming in to our office on a daily basis and I do make those recommendations and I explain to the mayor on whatever topics whether is Community Development public infrastructure it's also another major um issue in the city but um I do tell them exactly what's going on and also the need I think the need and how can we at least solve a little bit because we all know we have a housing crisis in the nation but parking I mean yeah I grew up in Lawrence I lived in Lawrence my whole life life and if you drive at night you know the situation with parking and that's also one of the reasons why our Gateway is so important because maybe we can develop a multi-story garage there parking garage I do believe that housing units that are developed in the way the City of Lawrence is today not when I first came to Lawrence in 1983 it's a very different Lawrence um and we need parking if we're going to propose housing thank you councelors any other councilors yes councelor um C it um just for clarification when developers come to the city is parking required by sonning cuz we noticed that you know we are getting a lot of new projects but I mean it I don't it doesn't look like that is a requirement I don't think right now it's a mandatory requirement but Dan Dan here he can probably elaborate a little further to that um as far as what the ordinances are right now for the parking but what I do know is that I recommend what's favorable to me and for me to make a favorable recommendation I want to see parking with that unit or with that development because then where are we going to park okay and I just want to say thank you um for always being available thank you and returning calls and not only um uh because you were a director not the human piece that you act to to any uh conversation or meeting that I have um requested or I I had with you I think it's important uh and I just want to say thank you for what you do thank you so much there certain things are not uh they're not out there that people don't know but that uh we appreciate what you're doing I would like to see more of reports from especially when um when money is giving out give certificates and things like that I think transparency is important for the city and I know it you have your department has good intention uh and it's a uh great team some more than I know and I had the pleasure of working with them uh but I think uh we need to see more reports especially when you organize when your department organizes uh events um we get a lot of questions on that but thank you so much for your leadership and and yes you can come with my support thank you so much councelor I appreciate it and I'll make sure that your recommendation is noted and we will move forward that way uh councel thank you from bringing the reports as you know the requirement for reporting I believe that your department will will have it a quarterly report so we expect to see something soon absolutely thank you thank you uh councelor Santiago yes just I want to say thank you for doing a wonderful job you are doing and keep your pendent voice that's we want in in our city to work with the city but independent boys to do the best for the city thank you so much and thank you for your preparation you have great resum thanks a lot thank you counselor and again I will say it is my team back there um can you please stand up for a second so they can see you guys it's not me it's you guys thank you Marisol who's been here forever Community Development block grants her whole life thank you all of you guys thank you councelors any other questions um in regard to the this appointment before we call the questions I would like to extend that opportunity to uh to the expert expert and and when it comes to parking requirements mcarthy to clarify the question that previous councilors have Mr mcar good evening everybody just uh answer the question that councel have before when it comes to the requirement for for parking for new development was that the question the question was in regard to new development the how many parking is required per apartment perhaps uh or the question uh how it was Lon C Lon yeah so the there's there's there's several different levels of of answers to that question so we have an underlying zoning District which requires a very specific amount of parking for every projects is for for residential development you for one in two bedroom uh for one in studio apartments it's one parket space for two and more it's two parking spaces uh for every unit of housing in that uh category the different commercial the um projects have uh parking requirements based on square footage of the business so a retail sales business requires three parking spaces per th000 square ft uh restaurants are based on the number of seat in for for one parking space for every four seats so there's a variety of of done and that's part of the underlying zoning um we have three um overlay districts within the city which have a more uh Progressive parking requirements um those are based on um the Department of Transportation standards and if you if you build under using those kind of Permitting categories you get some parking relief from that we also have um coming up we're going to have a new state law that's being impacted in February uh for accessory dwelling units that's going to have even a a a greater um effect on the parking because um the requirement and this is a state mandate the requirement for anything within um a half a mile of a Transportation Hub which is pretty much the entire city um these new units don't require any new parking so that that that's a um something that we're the city's going to have to face we're going to have to look at um variety of solutions to parking uh it's it's as long as I've been in the city parking has always been an issue for the for the people in the community it's uh it's a it's a important subject um I believe we need some assistance from the state in in the form of structured parking if the state wants us to build all this housing they have to provide us some relief with funding to provide more parking for our citizens so that's there a plan here that's that's my thank you thank you so much thank you for the answer at this point if there is no questions for item 5822 24 I'll call the questions all those in favor please say I I any nay pass 10 motion uh motion carries now we're going to entertain a motion pass 10 there's a motion by sanago second by inant thank you so much thank you city council thank you and I hope to really continue to work together thank you we're going on top of the agenda we going to committee reports uh Madame vice president and the chair for the budget and finance committee item uh 23424 I mean sorry uh 56924 item and finance um item 56 56924 the transfer in the amount of 50,000 from retrain earnings to FY 25 airport budget fund was sent up with a favorable recommendation and I make that as a formal motion there's a motion on the table properly second discussion on the matter uh all those in favor please say I I the eyes have it Madame vice president inant item 570 item the last item from the of the budget Finance item 5 70-24 authorization to pay prior year invoices in the amount of $346 to cover travel SL reimbursement cost was sent up with a favorable recommendation and I make that as a formal motion there a motion on the table please second discussion on this matter there is none all please say I I guys have it the bottom sorry page all right we going so we're going to the top of the agenda which is uh I believe the ordinance houses there is no report uh ordinance committee U Cel the chair of the ordinance committee 49624 the speed limit pilot project act that was sent up to full council with a recommendation to withdraw make that in the form of a motion there's a motion on the table second discussion counc council president U I asked my colleagu to send this up to withdraw in all cander um since I put that on there I received several phone calls and Communications saying I I want my area to have the speed limit and so council president as you know under table matters you have an item with former city council president Vasquez document 12517 yep I'm looking forward to supporting that um robustly and um of course making whatever amendments that need to be required not all streets are created equal but where are we on that is that where are we moving on that just as a process question thank you C we send that up to uh to the to the DPW director as well as that U the engineering department and they reach out to the company that put the report together um we expecting to see something soon how soon we can find out as of when that's going to happen but they definitely working on getting that this report up to us to make sure that we can uh work with the other department that are um that are working with us to make sure that we we have everything we need to get this approved so just my my quick take on that council president is this I'm going to be hopefully we can get that sooner rather than later people I'm going to presume throughout the City I know in my district they're frustrated by the speeding and I can only presume that that's not the only place where it's happening uh but uh they would like to see something happened and they also understand that if we can have the best all the greatest laws in the world but if we don't enforce the laws what difference does it make we're wasting our time here but uh if we can get half of that loaf and then we get the other part then we'll get a full Loaf and then we're doing something okay so I'm going to be supporting and giving that a shot so that's thank you thank you C there's a motion to withdraw properly second any discussion I hear say the I hit item 550 24 Mr Mr chair for the ordance committee I five this is a renewal of the old gold dealer license for Brothers Jewelry sent up to the full council with a recommendation to approve and make that in the form of a motion there's a motion table properly second any discussion I hear please say the I have it item 57224 this is the convert lenck Street to a oneway uh this was sent up to the full council with a recommendation to withdraw and make make that in the form of a motion motion to withdraw properly second discussion on the withdraw are hear none all those in favor please say I I guys have it um item uh 5772 24 last item is to remove handicap parking at 880 Trenton Street U this was set up to the full Council to order a public hearing and to make that in the form of a motion there a motion to order a public hearing when it comes to the removal of the handicap parking on 8 Trenton Street uh there's a motion prop Poli second discussion I hear all say there have it we go on top of the agenda which is Public Safety Committee that is NN Committee of the hall that is known old business we're going to Old business entertaining item 5 2724 which is the removal of handicap parking signs at the address located on 153 Willow Street second this is for withdrawal can you hear a motion motion to withdraw yeah the whole business motion to withdraw motion to with uh there's a motion on the table properly second discussion on the withdraw there is none all those in favor please say I I any n there have it item 5782 24 modification of the council Rule 25 adding section F to create a two years of subsetting provision that was uh sent out to Council of plant um we are now changing the rules councelors uh adding section F to the the rule I make a motion that we adopt this rule adoption there is a um a propos or I propose uh language for uh section F which read as follows any agenda item which has been uh tabled during the uh during the twoe STS of the city council must be removed from the agenda if not brought up forward before the last meeting in December uh of the second year of of the city council terms this should be this should not apply to any items that are at committees uh councelors any questions in regard to this section section F of the uh of the Rule 25 uh it is important to recognize that this this language or this idea was also brought up by councel of the Rosario this year when we would dra a bunch of items uh thank you for councelor planning councelor the Rosario for bringing this up I I think it's a good idea and yes that's my opinion councelors uh any questions on this I have a question ccel Levy so this um this item this was sended to the it has to be oh yeah to be honest with you it have to be but it's not a requirement it is as us three Council sign for it and we can uh deal with it at the next meeting with proper notice last year uh the ordinance committee so we Tred to clean the agenda because about it was about five pages you I don't know if you guys remember we try to clean that we C just trying to deleting most of the item that were in there for years and years and years what I would recommend that we actually start doing this not only one meeting because the one meeting might take forever all right any other questions on these I he no I'll call the questions all please say hi hi any n there I have it do we need a call for that um all right uh we going um table matters councilors any table matters that we want to discuss I just want to take a few the plan I'm sorry want to go first okay I I just want to move some of these items off I can't not doing them all just doing a few um I like to for the purposes of withdrawing the second item U 27615 review of the museum Square parking garage and mik to make a motion to withdraw so what was that item 27615 27615 there is a motion to withraw for 27615 properly second discussion on this um I he say hi the eyes have itan 23722 which is a resolution and recognition of anel anela Montano Pina that was back in 2022 still on the agenda uh that was the person was recognized um there is a motion can I get a motion to withdraw so moan 23722 ontable and withraw there's a motion uh to untable and withraw properly second any discussion I he n all please say hi hi guys have it we also have a ccors one more item which is uh the item that so why Mr Mar is here today uh item 29724 which is the last item on the on the on the table matters which is the declare of property S Plus uh 389 Water Street um it is just to the CL S Plus but as part of the requirement of the Surplus we receive the the um RP to be able to for the council to approve the RP yes so so can you hear a motion to untable M this matter so move there's a motion to on table properly second discussion on tabling oh no discussion all please say I guys have it Mr Marti now we have the floor so I I I had sent a correspondence down last week asking that this table this matter be taken off the table I know this had come up in uh back it was tabled in July of 24 uh at the time there was uh the the city council wanted some more information about the RFP I know it was verbally committed that this project the city uh Administration the planning department are looking at um utilizing this parel of land for a recreational project in the city um trying to uh utilize some support for for nonprofit uh um Sports um Orient ated educational programs and that was the intention I I think the uh the we worked on putting together an RP um this was put together by our um our property uh specialist it was reviewed by both myself and by janeli um who is our uh procurement officer uh for for correctness and we've supplied the copy of this to everybody here uh showing that there's this is a commitment the only intention uh for the city for the development of this project is for our recreational uh so there are no other there are no other third third or second or third options on this the uh if they if if we don't get this as a recreational um development on uh uh any rfps submitted on this uh we'll withdraw this and come back to the the the drawing board for this but the city's been working very hard in this neighborhood in the lower Tower Hill area with several Transportation plans uh working with a boys club um some parks meany Park and um and we have a grant for Safe Streets of school so we're looking to increase the um recreational options in the lower to Hill Neighborhood uh we see this is a neighborhood that's long been neglected as far as these resources go so we'd like to um put this out for bid and again I you have the RFP in front of you if you have any questions I'll be gladly answer them question councelors any questions in regard to this matter this is uh to uh declare Surplus with the um RP as part of the Declaration this RP main mainly is to use this parcel as a recreational or use only that's correct councelors any questions on this oh councelor marmo um hey correct me if I'm wrong um if if I'm not reading it in the appropriate page um is it required in this RFP um whatever is going to be proposed the parking um is it going to be built within this development because I know that that's going to be you know if there is no parking that's being factored in um it might be an issue considering that it is a a highly residential area it is it's a it's a limited power um it's a limited parel as far as area wise um this is more um the charal organizations that are interested um provide educational opportunities as much as the sports um so this will be classrooms it'll be mainly for the kids it'll be more of a drop off type of situation uh the city's already looked at it if you if you're familiar with the area it's right across from the old Treatment Center um the city has assessed that there's substantial parking available around that treatment area on that side of marble and that could be a pro drop off area but those are um options we've looked at but the idea is that it'll it'll the parking will probably be limited to the amount needed for staff and for um and and and uh maybe a few parents who want to watch the kids participate in sports but for the most part this is a classroom type educational thing the the parents won't the kids will be getting dropped off for the most part or walking or driving their bikes and as as need be so the parking is a requirement they every applicant needs to show us a parking plan council president you counc so Mr McCarthy so this is going to be um an now I mean me put it I mean uh the it's going to be put out there for nonprofits to apply based on what you described I don't know that it has to be for nonprofits it's for a recreational program intended for the city's youth I think that's the main goal I think profit or nonprofit is is not the goal I think it's it's to look at a program that will be uh in the best interest of the children explaining the process for the people that are watching so and very short CU I know time is i s yep so what we do is we um we look at um we create what's called subjective criteria the state procurement requirements are pretty strict that we must we should follow the law the law as far as the the the bidder that proposes the most payment is usually what gets real estate when the city wants to go to to to Target a specific use for that they we think the city needs they create what's called a subjective criteria so if you go to page six it's got what we call the comparative criteria and if you look at it um the the first one is um is the proposed use or business activity and it says the highly advantageous is a youth sports program serving Lawrence Youth and college preparation with over five years of experience Su doing it successfully the next the next advantageous would be 3 years and so on and so forth uh goes down it's all limited to um these this this this idea of a youth program uh there's no third option for somebody who wants to put residential housing or put put in an auto repair shop or something like that this is targeted just for that and so this is and that is going to come back to to the council for approval it will not it will not it's going to be up to the May to Mayor Brian depa to decide who's going to get it no it'll it'll go to the real property task force who will make a decision based upon the criteria here uh which which who who is meeting who is meeting the criteria set before you no no no hold on one second cons what is the value of the property excuse me the value of the property um $270,000 so that triggers the next step on the process which is you need to you need to post it yes and then for the for the for the uh we're doing the Surplus declaration and then we need to do the disposition correct so we need we need we need to approve this yes for for budgetary purposes yes so the answer to council Lon yes we need to approve this is not going to be just the mayor correct when we when we come to the disposition okay oh thank you council president thank you Mr mcarthy for uh your answers uh councelors we are declaring this as a surplus within um with the um request for with the RFP in place the request for proposal uh documentation in place uh any questions in regard to this matter Council Maro I just want to make sure that for the record um the any proposals um that are submitted um the ones that will be taken into consideration are only if they're based on like Youth Sports programs academic programs so if if there's a proposal that's submitted and it has to do with some sort of industrial manufacturing business they would not have qualified based on the CR criteria like we're following this criteria that I'm seeing in page eight that is correct that's correct okay that's correct CU if you look at the last category it says not compliant so if you if you're not mean that condition if you're not complying with the conditions then you don't then you can't qualify yes that's uh that's the the RFP that we appr proven which is part of that requirement um councilors any other questions when it comes to this item council president C we get to see the proposal as yeah he he he sent it to us we are approving The Proposal actually not the proposal we are approving the request for proposal request for proposal and then once the request for proposal get posted they going to receive um candidates perhaps or proponents okay uh that they going to apply for that property uh we are going usually even though um they going to recommend us so body we're going to see the the proponents the the proposers and then we're going to be able to determine it usually that's how it's been done like a couple of a couple of people apply for it and then we see uh the task force will kind of like you know see if they if they U if they meet all the criterias and if they do they present it to the council oh yes I know where you're coming from coun thank you uh all said no other questions all those in favor uh all those in fav pleas say I hi any n let's do a rock off for the record please even though it's Anonymous all right thank you very much thank you so much um sorry Council yes Council Mamu yes Council Santiago yes Council Del Rosario yes Council yes coun yes Council yes yes I woulde yes councelors there is a few items that I would like to for this Council to take and withdraw for the purpose of We join and this is from the table matters this is item 1118 which is the creation of a city uh city council standing subcommittee and education so I will I will entertain a motion to withdraw that tow there's a motion to withdraw properly second any discussion U all those in fav please say I any names 118 uh the next item is item 3919 which is the handic parking at two benon Street um I don't think this is a need since 2019 um it 3919 president Council Council Le president I have a question regarding item 2620 oh wait I'm we on 39 19 oh we I saw that we already approve oh okay yep so any questions on U on 2918 I entertain a motion to withdraw second there's a motion to withdraw properly second discussion that is done all say I have it now it 6120 which is the Corona vir allance allowance prep preparedness by council president vquest uh can I get a motion to withdraw move uh there's a motion to withdraw say the I have it item 28321 which is U together with item 28521 which is the Christmas decoration at the compan common and the other one is Christmas decoration at the W House Square um can you get a motion to withdraw those two second there's a motion to withdraw both of them as a package uh properly second please say hi hi any nce the I have it Ian 17122 which is adding a planning director position on the Planning Development we already have create that so can I get a motion to withdraw second there's a motion to withdraw perly second all please say I I the ice have it uh counc Le you have a question yes as uh I think so that we should okay it's item 60 I'm sorry 2620 so we did a review of the city chatter on the 2020 and I know that we spent a lot of time doing this but we have never here back regarding this item we can definitely get you an day on that so we should bring it back this item and see where we are yes we can uh we can definitely consult with the city of chiny to see what we add on that and we can give you an update on that because there's we spend a lot of hours doing the review of this of the so maybe it is time for us now that we are making some amendment to some of the uh the ordinance so to add it and be part of or whatever that we have been doing here yep okay no problem thank you for bringing this up councelors any other uh matter from the table matters that we want to either withraw want to discuss I Hear No so at this point I'll go to the new business top of the agenda and Iran 5832 uh 24 which is the appropriation transfer for $36,000 from the stabilization resered uh for litigation judgment account this is going to the budget and finance committee item 584 for which is the authorization to spend $500,000 back Grant uh from E uh EO EA as an award to Our Community Development Department this is going to the B finance committee this is for the renewal of the compion park uh item 585 24 which is the appointment of De McCarthy as planning director uh this is going to the personal committee this document item 5842 24 have a 30 days limit and I need to to be voted uh voted by the council by January 10 councelors so take note of of that date uh item 5 8624 contract renewal for the first assistant City attorney uh kin fall uh fully this is going to uh personal committee item 5 8724 is stop sign at Jefferson Street and monner Street this is going to ordinance committee item 5882 24 h parking at 53 uh 359 L Street this is going to ordinance committee item 58924 handic parking on 70 71 F Street this is going to ordinance committee item 59024 no parking anytime Water Street Southside from the from M uh from M Street to L street this is going to ordinance committee item 5 9124 the approval of adoption uh of the Regional Hazard mitigation plan this is going to ordinance committee um councelors any other items committees uh next week councelor we have short week council president um yes let me let me get the schedule very quick to clarify one more one little thing before so Madame clerk next week is a is a short week and we can only meet the 26th or the 27th well the 27th is Friday we don't usually meet on Fridays yeah what's the day that we can meet uh Thursday the 26th Thursday 26th and we really can't meet on Monday the building we can't we can't meet on Monday because the building is going to be closed um and then Tuesday is going to be you do Monday Christmas Eve Wednesday's Christmas Day and then and the 26 is Thursday how many meetings we have we have budget and finance personal and ordinance president Cel Vice presidant thank you I'm going to schedule Personnel for this Thursday wait you do the 26 this Thursday we can't we can't do this Thursday because we needed 70 48 hours notice we can do Friday Friday we can do next this Friday we can do this Friday or next Thursday or next Friday the 26 30th and by the way counselors uh that meeting doesn't have to happen at six personel does personel does just has to happen before before the time before the 7th yeah um um and we can uh councelors if if if we look at the items right now if we look at the items right now counselors I just uh something that can happen counselors is that we can pull those item from committee if if if it is no time to meet and then and then we can pull it from committee at the full Council I know it's not ideal we can we can either meet on Friday meet Thursday the 26th meet Friday the 27th or pull it from committee on the first meeting of of personel is going to meet this Friday the 20th at 5:30 Personnel we meet personel we meet uh this Friday at 5:30 at 5:30 budget and finance will meet this Friday at 6 I'm not next week I'll give you everyone will be free next week uh budget and finance councel before we do budet and finance um let's ask the councelor to see if they available on Friday this Friday so it's either I mean we can get it over with this Friday and I mean I'm already hearing comments about next week and and the week before the full council meeting so either way it's it's a problem so we can get it over with this Friday and not worry about it for the next two weeks would you want to yeah people work the earliest I can do is but then it's Friday the building will be closed early who's going to be here yeah we need to have a custodian I mean I could I could four4 this the same situation councelor let's do it let's do it on Thursday early or we just pull it from committee Thursday early which Thursday you referring to cons plan yeah you have order so um probably not going to although the only wild part is is that mitigation say I need to talk I need to talk to director McCarthy just to make sure it's not any time urgent I'm expecting that it's not if it's not we're meeting until after the next city council but if it is on the call of the chair I'll let you know and then we'll we'll figure something outse but I don't think we're going to have to meet Council Council councelor vice president inant you have the 26 All For You Can the 26 I already have obligations I'm deciding to pull from committee okay no problem we'll do that then yes a schedule one for the uh for the for that uh no for because we need to schedule one but I mean Thursday next Thursday I already have I have family obligations and I'm not rescheduling that for this I'm not no you're not rescheduling I say just schedule one for the everybody I propos this Friday this Friday at 5 we we we posting the for for this Friday if it's cancel cancel so I I can do this Friday time what time did I say 5:30 and 6 personel 5:30 and buet at 6 5:30 and 6 yep any other committee that wanted to meet hear none at this time I entertain a motion to unjo motion motion to adjin can I hear a second prop second please say hi thank you counselors Merry Christmas [Applause] counselors for