##VIDEO ID:QcEfwOUUHRU## I do so consideration they do don't right e today's is Wednesday October 30 2024 pursuant to chapter 20 of the act of 2022 this meeting will be hyrid allowing participation both in person in the in the LA City council chambers and also uh remotely whoever that request the link the zoom link for this meeting was a share uh through the lawence U through the city clerk of the City of Lawrence and all this meeting is also could also be viewed uh through the lawen city council Facebook page as well as well as the L city council YouTube page uh roll call Madame CLA please Council Levy pres councelor leant here Council Lon present councelor Del Rosario present councelor Santiago present Council marmel present Council Rees pres good job Council vice president Inon pres council president Rodriguez president I would like to acknowledge the fact that most of the councilors were participating on a park dedication for one of the LA City Council one of the former LA City councilors that first woman elected uh from the Latino Community since then uh things have changed and now we have six women serving in this in this uh and these uh Chambers so please join me for the moment of silence join me for the pledge of allegion un States and the one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all so we're going to go with public participation the public participation anybody that wrote their names on the list they're going to have two and a half minutes at the 2 minute mark You're going to hear it sounds or it some type of signs indicating that you still have 30 30 seconds um the rules for the public participation are as follow you can refer to the council as a whole not to any individual counselors with that said um we're going to uh call the first person that we have yeah the first the first person that we have on the list is St mayor name address for the record please my name is Tom Meyers and I reside at 550 havil Street here in the city and I didn't want to repeat what I said Monday because I thought no one wants to hear the same thing twice but the same theme obviously is going to be uh preva valant in uh these brief remarks and the first thing that I want to do I thought was to reference a little experiment I used to do in class to talk about how democracy expanded here in our country and I'm not going to ask people to do it just because of time time but what I would do is ask everybody in the room to stand and then I would ask women to have a seat next I would ask all people who are of non-european descent to have a dis seat next those who do not own their own property have a seat Well if you look around this room it'd be myself one of your colleagues up there the City attorney former counselor and that would be it no one else would have been able to vote when this country was founded the reality obviously today is quite different and fortunately uh our chairperson alluded to that and talked about the expansion of women participating in democracy within this uh Council here which is one wonderful to hear the expansion of democracy did not happen easily you know in 19 22 you had the suffrage movement moved to get the 19th Amendment passed which allowed women to vote 1924 Native Americans and it wasn't until 1965 that you had the voter Rights Act passed which ended Jim C Crow laws such as literacy tests in order to vote all of these happened because people struggled some people died many people went to jail to fight to expand democracy and I think you know where I'm going here don't be on the wrong side of history and try to decrease participation by doing away with the ability of us citizens to elect our own school committee one other fact of history in 1933 in Germany the chancellory voted to give power to one person we all know what happened after that I don't even have to name him I think you all know enough about history in World War II to realize what I'm getting at be the right side of History don't be on the wrong side of History thank you very much thank you so much the next person is Edwin Diaz name and address for the record please ah Edwin Diaz 17 Glennwood Drive I'm going to be a try to not use up the whole two and a half minutes I'm here because of a Facebook post um was brought to my attention that I'm not into politics or the decision making all these lovely people are I've seen them before this is my first time speaking removing a vote over or versus an appointment just set off something in me that just doesn't sit right so I came here because I moved to a new neighborhood and I noticed a lot of people in my neighborhood in District D don't speak up as as publicly as they should so here I am I'm not here to point fingers or start a fight but when I hear a a uh a portion of a vote being removed so people can decide or people can vote on it instead of being in a appointment I'm just looking for the clarity cuz a lot of people are too busy living and not taking the time cuz they don't have it so here I am going to start taking the time to start getting to know things a little more intimately instead of just the top layer the top layer tells raises my Common Sense meter and it sets it off so I'm going to start doing some digging on my own but I'm just looking for the clarity of why remove a vote versus an appointment I understand decisions need to be made there's always numbers metrics details rules Etc but I'm looking for the clarity as to why because sometimes even in the black and white that can get con what is it convoluted convoluted it gets it gets weird it gets can't understand it so I'm looking for the clarity to dumb it down free Regular Joe schmuck like me that's it it's all I got thank you the next person that we have is Rich Rosell consel Rosell good evening Council Richard Russell 34 cross street somehow the last several special Council meetings have reminded me of the World Series except for the fact in the build people are there are people in this building that have changed the name of the game to we're serious will this meeting be strike three in the game of what is what is best for the citizens of Lawrence I don't in my humble opinion anyone who changes their vote at this time for whatever reason deserves to be put on the wave of wi and traded in next year's election season Pete Rose got banned from baseball for betting on his own team those that changed their votes for whatever reason deserve the same fate I will conclude by changing a little of what I have said at the past meetings one man one vote not one manager and six players to be named later thank you for allowing me to express my displeasure at this mockery of our Democratic process the next person that we have for public participation is Lenin HOA School Committee Member Roa name and address for the record please good evening Lenin Roa 36 Columbus Avenue Lawrence Massachusetts I'm here today to ask you all to vote no on the proposal to to restructure the school committee this proposal chips away at two issues that are Troublesome and are against our community well-being he proposes to change the composition of the school committee to be three elected by the people which diminishes the community representation to 50% of what it is today it also proposes three members at large which has been in the spirit of the law upheld by three different cities already besides Lawrence in 2002 havil LEL and wer this is a discrimination against minorities and we are minorities in this country but not in this city please consider this when voting and supporting this you're not supporting the community and you're not supporting my kids I have three kids in the public schools and that's what drives me and that's why I'm here the only reason why I am as school committee memb is because I am the parent of three kids that go to school here in Lawrence having said that electoral the the this the oh my God repr thank you the next person that we have is um Jonathan Guzman School Committee Member Guzman uh good evening counselors Jonathan Gusman Vice chair of the Lawrence school committee uh 39 Lin Street Lawrence Public Schools uh I want us just start by congratulating the 10 elected members of the Holio school committee who just announced they are getting out of receivership in 2025 thank you Holy Oak school committee for being a partner in our work thank you also to the Department of Education who finally initiated the transitional discussion with us we're happy to continue serving our community throughout this process I have realized one thing is that the Lawrence city council rules seem meaningless and those we have elected don't believe in them the safeguards in place for matters like a home room petition make no sense rule 11 states that uh rules cannot be suspended when an item needs more than and six votes I asked what matter requires seven votes for his passage in this city council this issue is not unfinished business and you should not be and it should not be listed under old business the October 21 2024 meeting was adjourned thank you the next person that we have is ju Mani Gonzalez name and address for the record please good evening council president good evening Madame vice president uh city councilors um please excuse my voice might be a little bit disappointing uh but it's just that I feel that this issue this item has been kicked down the road and here we are back again one more time uh I know that a lot of people say that there's misunderstandings about what it is that we're trying to do and I I actually feel that what's before you or before us today is not something that came from anyone of you nine I think that this this idea came from somebody else and of course you have a duty to act on it and it's been modified remodified voted on stricken down um but it's still alive it's still alive because we decided to reconsider this thing was voted in a way that it was voted down if you think about it we found a way to reconsider and reopen it to bring it back on the table it is unfortunate how it happened but I truly believe that bottom line is that the school board the school committee that we have in place right now the elected members the way it should be should be given a chance to work with the new superintendent they have sacrificed their time they have campaigned they have taken time out of their lives to earn the right whether it's receivership or not they were there they were dedicated and they wanted to serve and if we want better candidates maybe we can find a way to promote that more people should get involved because by doing it the way we're doing it it's almost like forcing the hand and that's just going to disappoint people to the point that they're not going to want to participate in the electoral process so I honestly I ask you to reconsider not reconsidering and that way we can have a fair process right and keep the school board the way it is now elected I see Jonathan I see my District Council lant all the time I do not see please excuse me I do not see my outar candidates in my neighborhood unless I go to a meeting so that's why I believe that District elected District representatives are important you see them you interact with them thank you and thank you for your time thank you the next person that we have is Johnny Castillo name and address for the record please good evening I'm Johnny Castillo 52 FAL Street and I'll try to be brief tonight hopefully uh somebody told me why are you wasting your time they have already made up their mind and uh there's no persuasion to be made they are just was like going straight forward with whatever they decided I say I don't think so democracy calls for change sometimes and change your mind which is adjusting yourself to what is just for others you say justice for all well it's B just to do to do what is being done so far you know if you look at the situation of the districts you have to consider this if you have one person looking after 90,000 people it is not the same as to have one person looking after 15,000 people the relation is closer the relation is better and that's why they say well we are electing our neighbor we are electing our neighbor so we want to keep it the way it is now three appointed this is this this is giving room for political infiltration you know why we lost the the school system right it's because we didn't have a leader we didn't have a superintendent on time and the political situation the politicians infiltrated the the school with polit with politics this is the two main reasons that Mr Chester announced he prescribing the decision to take education from us politics polit Pol politics in the schools and no naming a leader so now when we give the facility to somebody to name three people by finger we are bringing politics we are bring we are bringing politics into the school system I beg you please I urge you last time I'm begging you now do not do this Ste this home rule petition don't do it please right the next person is uh uh Julie TD M just for the record please good evening everyone Julie Todd 75 derso AV I'm here to support a fully elected school committee I'm here to support a fully elected school committee the basis of democracy is that we trust the people we trust the people to elect their leaders we trust the people to elect their leaders and I trust the school committee I trust the school committee that exists I moved back here in 2013 I have known multiple people on this school committee mariaa Rivera Jonathan Guzman Jim blatchford Joshua Alba Stacy Seward highly capable highly committed not only to the school committee but to this community and what I hear from them is that for year after year after year after year after year after year they have been blocked from doing their jobs by the receivers and by the city council and by the mayor I don't know the details of all of that but that is what I have heard year after year after year after year and what I hear now is that this is what is happening again with our current school committee who the people have elected to run the schools on our behalf and I trust them I don't think they're perfect I don't think they know everything but I trust them and if I lose my trust in them then I have the right to vote to elect the next school committee and I am asking you to vote for a fully elected school committee and trust us the people who so far everyone I've heard has asked you to do the same please trust the people to elect our school committee thank you the next person is uh uh naan B NE man address for the record please peace my name is Nathan Bayers I live on 182 Comm Street and it's unfortunate that I'm here again to ask you guys to vote no on this home R petition the past three meetings that have been held I have yet to hear one person come up here and agree with this proposal not one person and that says a lot it's like are you guys working for us or we do we work for you cuz this is this is ridiculous and I know a few of you have been members of the school committee or have got to your positions because you were elected not because you was pointed at your position so all we ask is that you allow the school committee to have that same right cuz at this point this is getting ridiculous and leave it up to the professionals who know about education and who know about democracy and government to to allow them to flourish and to do what they do I don't believe y'all know enough about education in the city to be making decisions on who should be appointed as the school committee members leave that power to the people thank you right the next person is uh ER Mary Guerrero name and address for the record please Mary Guerrero 149 Abbott Street thank you for listening appreciate it I'm here as a citizen of the city to say that I am I am upset that you would vote on yes on this deal I I want a fully elected uh school committee just like Julie Todd just said I also agree with Manny Gonzalez when he said that it will or basically he didn't say it with the these words but what I understand is if you're going to have half the school committee appointed and half elected it's going to become a farce and nobody will believe in it anymore because they'll see it being empowered by one set one side and I also feel like when you have um a budget for the school and you have a budget for the city you don't need the potential look of a conflict of interest between two budgets being manipulated by one group that's appointing people onto that school committee I want to elect a school committee as a citizen and I want the Democracy that we're we believe in in this city I don't want it taken away from us okay thank you thank you the next person is uh a few people that are online would like to speak so the first one that we're going to call is Luis robbles can you hear me yes can can you hear me yes okay L for the record please Luis roess 183 Abbot Street and tonight I hope I don't get beat up but I would like to show my support for the hybrid school committee model our current school committee members are awesome um but when I think of the future there is no guarantee that the F that the current members or that the future members will be as dedicated and as awesome as our current ones are I think a hybrid model provides guard rails to ensure that we have the best school committee in the future in case that people that are not dedicated run for this these positions we have heard support and opposition and we have seen democracy at work in the council chambers through public participation and during this public participation everyone has brought important and valuable perspectives from members of the community the teachers union and current school committee members and their dedication to our children I think is something that should be deeply appreciated and should also be applauded uh me myself as a community member that loves to participate in local government it does make me happy to see other members of the community getting involved even if we differ in opinion uh at the same time I think it's time to move forward and come to a final decision tonight let us show our children that we can rise above our differences and come together for the greater good I urge you all including the councilors who voted no I love you all but to please support the underlying proposal and vote unanimously and this will demonstrate our commitment to of unity and progress to our community thank you thank you the next person that we have is Bridget routing he is online the person is online can you hear me can you unmute yourself Bridget yes I'm sorry I um I passed I had not put my name on the list thank you because you say yes uh the next is is traccia are you willing to speak you say yes on the list here all right the next person that we have online is uh Kevin kis Pier all right no but nobody else online that's all right uh we are finishing up with public participation all these names are going to be submitted for the record and now then there is no public hearings at this agenda there is no communication from the mayor uh City official or City attorney uh and then we have an old business that actually invoke a rule four and pass the gabo to the vice president previously and that stay until this item uh conclude thank you council president before we continue I was made aware that the City attorney does have a few words to share with the city council tonight um uh attorney hen you have have the floor good evening Council Tim hooton the City attorney I'm not up here as an advocate for one side or the other I'm more here as kind of the rules person so I think there's people in the audience that want to understand what exactly is the procedure what's happening tonight what happened in the past um there was a vote taken on a home rule petition uh home rule petition provides that a 23s vote uh in order to pass there are nine members of the city council in order to Prevail you need six votes uh the vote did not pass which uh there were not six votes in it in it uh the the rules of the city council provide that you can have a motion for reconsideration on the same night that the um motion is made obviously this is not the same night so under the rules this could not be brought but there is another rule which allows the city council to suspend their rules and that was the motion that you heard last time there was a motion to suspend the rules um which would allow this matter to be back back forward U it was voted on and passed the next motion that happened is a is the motion which we are now going to have tonight which is a motion to reconsider in order to have a motion to reconsider someone on the prevailing party and that doesn't necessarily mean the party that that won the vote it can be the losing vote but one person um can say that they have changed their mind and wish to be brought forward in this case that is the council president which is why you see here tonight that the council president does not have the gavel he is going to be making that motion and as um council president he could not make that motion with the gavel but he can make it now uh what happens next is that that was voted on it was second at that point there was a uh a motion by one of the councils uh which delayed the vote for one week um this was u a charter objection which is allowed under the rules the charter objection had taken place so we are now here tonight so the way that this will work at this point is that there will be a a we have a motion we have a second on the motion to to reconsider we will now have a discussion if any of the councilors wish to discuss the motion it is the first motion is the motion to reconsider that's the only thing that will be talked of at that time after that there will be a vote in order for a motion to reconsider to pass there has to be six votes in the affirmative if there is not six votes in the affirmative the matter fails this meeting is over there is nothing else that happens at that time if there is more than six votes then the motion to reconsider passes so now you may go to the underlying uh item which is the home rule petition which can then be brought forward um unfortunately because it is that is very specific that is the item that is being because it was voted on we're there's no amendments allowed there's no chatter objections allowed there's nothing it is a revote of of something that has been voted on so it has to be the exact same thing that was voted on um uh at that time you will notice that one of the members of the uh city council will step aside and that is because only the people that are that voted on the original motion are allowed to revote so if you were not present for the vote you have to step aside at that point again the requirement for that is six votes if there is six or more votes in the affirmative the home rule petition will pass if there are less than six votes the home R petition will fail at that point the meeting will be over I'm available for any questions um I've also I I know the general public hasn't seen it but I know there were certain questions regarding Robert's Rules Etc which I addressed in my memo to the city council so I'm available for any questions as you proceed but procedural questions only thank you so much thank you attorney hen as stated by the attorney we're now moving to discussion um counselor Santiago you have I have a question for him go ahead counselor yes and and the the the second meeting before not the last one the the the meeting before and the conselor levy was in the in the meeting but she didn't she didn't do the vote correct if she can do the vote no for reconsidering she can do the vote for to reconsider she cannot do the vote on the underlying home rule petition I got itk because that's a the motion to reconsider is a new vote by a new Council after that the only people that can vote on the uh home R petition with the people that voted prior thank you councelor Levy um thank you Mr H I have a question if the reconsideration was taken on the same I would be able to vote if if you were present in the chamber at the time of the vote you would be able to vote well at the time of the vote but I said when I came back I asked for reconsideration of the vote so I I would I will be able to vote if the reconation was taken on that night I was not asked that you're you're asking for you were asking for a new vote on that night U but if it didn't happen at this point I would assume you could come back in later if there was emergency and ask them if you could vote happens all the time where uh Council come in later and cast their vote but there's no record of any vote at that point I well thing I asked for the reconsideration but I know that's uh uh I'm sorry the president at the moment so he doesn't want to pass the hand or or uh didn't do the vote so but I was not absent I just went I okay just to be clear that you know they consider like me absent but I was no asking I just went to uh outside for a few minutes that that's correct I no way suggest you were you were physically at the meeting we have your picture and everything thank you thank you any other counselors councelor LZ um thank you Madame chair U Madam vice president so and I I just want you to clarify this question so I'm getting a question from my constituent so the last meeting we adjourned we adjourned this meeting this meeting was continued no we adjourned you have be specific if you mean the last meeting where we took where you personally did a chatter objection the meeting was not OB did you chatter objection I'm apologize uh CH objection um that's not my question then the meeting is postponed for a next date no uh I'm sorry all the meetings we adjourn in all the meetings including the one we had on Monday we adjourned and may ior sorry coun sorry it wasn't to you it wasn't to you coun thank you m vice president yes you adjourned toj no we adjourned that meeting we adjourned that meeting to a later date no we adjourned the meeting for that day there was no continuing no recess so this meeting but the chter objection again councelor can you give me a a second sorry to interrupt you and sorry to interrup to you um City attorney uh just like the people request to be respected when they speak during public participation this is still an ongoing meeting and we're we're requesting the same respect um thank you a TR objection by itself continues the matter may I mad chair you still have the floor C it continues the matter but um we adjourn the meeting go back to the minutes we adjourn the Mee it's still continued no I think we are in two different places uh attorney if so what will be the question so if we adjourn that meeting is this meeting legal cuz we adjourned yes the last meeting because there was a charter objection the charter objection continues the matter based on that's the purpose if the CH of so I'm going to give you the technical and give me the thank you attorney okay this body has a history of using the chter objection to continue matters technically a chatter objection you should State I raise a chatter objection because this violates page 27 form 56 of the charter that has never been done in this body in the history of this body no one has ever actually given me the chatter section that's so this body uses the chatter objection as a continuance to the next it's a a continuous mechanism there doesn't need there's no need to to do anything else once you chart or object the matter will be continued and and why and I Ain going to sound repair but we adjourn the meeting we did that instead of finishing the meeting right there and leaving the you cannot finish the meeting you've made a chatter objection a chatter objection cannot be heard on that night a chatter objection must be continued till the next meeting by the person making the charter objection they have successfully continued the meeting till the next night the next meeting attorney H we have the language here from the charter and um Madam clerk can you read the the the language word for word that's currently in our city Charter thank I think what attorney hooton is saying a chart objection by its nature carries the item to the next meeting but it actually states that right now Charter also it says it's um section 3.8 of our Charter subsection C reads Charter objection on the first occasion that the question of adoption of any measure is put to the city council except an emergency measure in accordance with Section 3.7 B if a single member objects to The Taking of the vote the vote shall be postponed until the next meeting of the city council regular or special if when the matter is next put to the council for a vote four or more members object to the taking of the vote the matter shall be postponed for not less than an additional 5 days this procedure shall not be used more more than once for any measure not withstanding an amendment to the original measure very clear that for the next meeting yeah thank you um um clerk Bernal attorney no that that's councelor does that answer your question um yes yes Madam chair thank you any other councelors have questions or comments um Council marmel make sure you press your your mic counselor this isn't towards you attorney hu but thank you for the clarification because I too um needed the the specifics and the details to make sure um that the concerns of the constituents in regards to the legalities of having these meetings was actually not like were not obstructing or not violating any policies and procedures so thank you my comments that I'm about to make um you can have a seat I don't want to have you standing I'm going to do my best to exercise emotional intelligence because besides being the city counselor I too am human and listening to the critiques the attacks the concerns which are very valid and that is um why I ran for city council is to do my due diligence to hear you guys um and make decisions that I believe would be uh best for this community I'm going to do my best to to speak with so much compassion and empathy because the way that you guys have discussed your concerns do truly matter to me um however I find that so many people that have an amazing platform have taken an opportunistic opportunity to misguide and mislead people which is why so many of you that I have heard these past few meetings come before us to speak the way that you speak and I don't blame you I do not um I want to clarify that this is not the mayor's original proposal that's being discussed right now it is not the mayor's original proposal it is also not the proposal from the school committee we have given them months to figure this out months and unfortunately they have not been able to do so so now it is up to city council to be able to find that healthy balance that unfortunately we're going to have to agree to disagree um I also want to state that um I have listened and heard people make comments in terms of well that's why I don't even want to vote well you know what there's so many good candidates with good intentions and that's why they don't even want to run and I was one of those people I it took a lot for me to run for city council because you often get confused with people that run for the wrong reasons for people that run because they have something to gain out of it and I'm not one of those candidates I'm not well I'm not even a candidate I'm not one of those uh city councilors um I also want to CU I have to jot down notes in order for me to make sure that I'm kind of cuz I I have not taken the time to speak I am every meeting that I have attended I have taken my time to listen and not interrupt anyone um I'm very observant um but considering that this may be I'm not sure maybe the last meeting that we're having I thought that I owed it to my constituents to to speak in terms of the reasoning why I have voted and why I will vote the way that I will vote tonight um I've learned that as a counselor for district D that the decisions that I've made um and that I will make on this proposal does not only affect District D it affects everybody and it affects the whole city and my whole Community therefore I do not only owe an explanation to my constituents I owe an explanation to all of you I've heard some of your concerns and one of the concerns that I saw was that um that this proposal diminishes the voice the voice of the community and the elected body to which uh the constituents have the ability to elect and I decided to do my due diligence and homework in terms of you know what let me look back at previous elections and what I'm about to say by no means is a reflection of how I feel about this the the school committee members that currently serve I believe that they are educated I believe that they're very capable um and um and I've gotten to meet most of them and work with most of them and I trust in the work that they have done thus far so what my comments that I'm about to make is not a reflection of what they the ability of what they have been able to produce and contribute uh as a school committee member for the 2023 election every District ran unopposed excuse me I have the floor can can I please remind especially some uh individual in the gallery who used to be a former city council it knows the rules please respect the council during discussion and let's let's let's keep I know this is frustrating it's frustrating on both ends but again we were asked for respect on your part we're asking for respect on our end too it's our turn now to speak Council marmel so I was trying to do my homework by reviewing previous election I'm noticing a lot of the rhetoric is that we're diminishing and stripping away people's ability to choose and elect right so I looked at previous elections and 2023 every District ran unopposed which district B right now has no school committee member for my understanding um which we should look into why that district is not being represented as we speak and District D um when the the the school committee member that won for district D resigned by the time it it he had to take his oath and when he resigned we had to appoint someone 2021s election every single person ran unopposed and in previous elections um the majority based on the historical data the majority run either unapposed or they're running as a rri in there were some districts where there was competition and there was um you know some school committee members did have to uh do the grit of actually H run a campaign and and and prove them M themselves and talk to the constituents and show why they are the better candidate but nine times out of 10 from what I'm seeing based on the data school committee members are running unopposed so when you're telling me that we are stripping this proposal is stripping away your ability to elect or choose someone you're you're not choosing you're only voting for someone you're voting for the only candidate that's on the ballot excuse me um I have the ability to speak I have the ability sorry Council marel I I don't know how many times I have to repeat myself I understand there are questions um if you do have questions within each other please try try to keep a little bit more lower um because it does disrupt the discussion we can hear it from this end we're we're trying to give you guys are asking for answers you're asking for explanation Council maro's trying to provide that Council marel I'm going to I'm going to try to wrap it up and make it quick um cuz again I I feel like I am sticking out my neck to give an explanation which uh it's tough because I know I'm going to be criticized for it and most of us will just stay quiet and take a vote um so I know that uh pretty much the comments that I'm making and I welcome it because this is why I Ran So if I'm wrong in something I welcome the challenge the debate um cuz I'm making a decision based on what I know to be true and what I know that would be uh the best decision for the community um I come from a standpoint where I both I I I served both as an appointed member and as an elected member and when I was appointed it was not easy I had to be interviewed for over two hours by the Lawrence uh city council and the Lae board um so when I look at this hybrid model um uh which some people have not when when they go on their Facebook platforms um to misguide and mislead people to let people know that this uh is a fully appointed model that is incorrect that the mayor is the one appointing that is incorrect as well um the city council would be based on this proposal the city council uh would be the one uh making uh those decisions um and might I highlight the fact that the mayor did not even want that the mayor's proposal was that he wanted to appoint the mayor's proposal was that he wanted to assign someone as a designate on behalf of him so this proposal by no means is what the mayor wants as well okay so let's make that very clear um I find it very disheartening and disappointing that um as I have stuck out my neck to to be a representative of not only my district but my community and also being a former School Committee Member and we have two other school former school committee members here as well that most of you guys that are sitting right now in this chamber have glorified and praised the work that we have done in the past and what we have continue to do well after and this proposal for some reason diminishes that work and that is disappoint pointing to me um the last thing I'll say is that this hybrid model my opinion I won't speak for all counselors this hybrid model um the appointed section of it I found it to be an opportunity based on what I've heard some folks say where it's like wow it would be great to have parents to be part of the board it would be amazing to have former students former teachers or anyone within the education sector who don't feel like being politicians running because it sucks to run I don't like running it's not easy running a campaign having to convince somebody why you're the better candidate and the appointed body um that's it's it's not going to be easy as well because then there are at the women will of a constant changing elected body which as uh this this city coun uh the city council chambers um the counselors that are serving now are not the same counselors that served two years ago and two years prior to that so it's a constant changing elected body the mayor's office is a constant changing elected body so the appointed members I I I feel like yeah it's every two years but every two years they have to prove themselves as to why they should be reappointed once again and they don't have to be you know for them to convince an a constant changing elected body is not going to be easy those that are elected it's not going to be easy as well because running an election like I previously said said it's difficult and it's hard but once elected once you are elected data has shown that it is highly probable that you will continuously be reelected because it's also less Fe it's um less feasible for an incumbent to be taken out of their seat by a new by a new candidate but I digress M thank you Council Maro um C the Rosario um Rose his hand First Council the Rosario you have the floor thank you to you uh man shair I just want to pick it back right on what you said and why I'm making the decision I hear people saying that we not listen to the people I I hear colleagues say listen to the constituents I have two phones and this is a part-time with full-time responsibilities my phone has been ringing 247 in the past two or three weeks and if you guys don't know I was one of the one that sent an email to move this forward as soon as possible because the alaw committee was being criticized they couldn't get together they couldn't get the proposal together and we were running out of time with the state for the state to make a decision so in the way that I'm going to make my decision on my vote is due to I listen to my constituents they're not here against what you're saying and I don't find this political I find you guys some of you made it political there was a proposal here to put Solo panels on alington school and it went down I didn't see no school committee members I didn't see I didn't see no teachers union I didn't see anybody fighting for the education piece that that solo panel was going to bring to the to the kids of the alington school supporting that and there was it has been items here for the school and the kids and I didn't see anybody but to choose this is the only city where they with with some unions want to choose their own boss and this is the only city with some Union want to choose their own committee that is going to run what they run I I never work in a company that I can choose my own boss but when when there are items here that it comes to education I never seen anybody here fighting for those kids for really education what I see here on that side and I could be criticized to me is political but on your side and again my decision that I will make today or tomorrow whatever happens is based on my constituents calls and my emails because when you send me 10 emails I might receive 52 emails my constituents tell me the way they want me to go so this is at tonight any decision that I make is based on my constituents I run the Alon neighborhood which is one of the poorest District in this area and none most of you or none of the people go to even the alington school or go to the neighborhood to find out what's going on in schools and I do and I get all those phone calls and those and this two phone and I can show you my emails so my decision tonight whatever that is is based on listening to my constituents no unions my constituents thank you councelor Lon has a question for um attorney hen so attorney hen can you please come to the podium councelor you have the floor thank you Madame vice president um thank you attorney and and I have a question in um about the injunction I would you go over that uh people want to know if the injunction is we know the answer but I wanted people that are listening uh to hear from you an injunction just so you understand is a form in a court case go ahead it's contained in a court case it prevents or forces someone to do something during the pendency of the court case so it might be that um you are not allowed to talk about the court case during the court case you are you can no longer shut someone's off water off during the court case it's it's it's something that happens during the court Cas at the end of the court case any and all of those motions are null and void so this case is over so there is no injunction at this point okay Madame chair if I made five something and I'm going to ask maybe the cler to answer that question according to our agenda uh the establishment of the home rule petition uh defining a governing structure for the Lawrence School Board upon the exit of the state resure C sh was submitted by mayor Brian depa is that correct Madame chair oh madame Clea that is correct as okay and if I may Madame chair vice president and I I just want to make a uh an statement um yes the proposal is not completely the mayor's proposal we I agreed with my colleague marmo we what we are discussing here is the ability to our people to choose their school committee by vote that's what we are discussing here we understand that the proposal went through a trans um a transformation things were added deleted uh the council president sent two councilors to represent the council along with uh with the school committee members they work on that and that was presented back to us and and and yes the hybrid committee may be something great for the city we are not discussing that we are discussing here and I uh and I want to make it clear the ability to our people to vote for their as school committee members and in my case vote for them by districts that's what we are discussing we don't have anything against what the major is proposing cuz the mother L admitted it was submitted by the mayor's office it this is may be something good for the city but we want the people to vote for if the people want a hybrid the school committee let them choose if they want the committee to stay in the way it is now let them choose Thank you thank you love you I have a question for you s Mr atony uh please can you explain to people why I'm not able to vote on The Proposal okay again yes so I'm just getting I'm just sting a couple of council L right before I I call the vote we're going to have him explain but all right so because people are asking do you know that they here that I'm not able to vote uh you can vote let's the discussion we're having right now you can vote on which is the vote to reconsider and then when we get to the next vote I I will come back up okay M let me finish soad I want to say a couple things also and if you guys remember at the beginning when we got the first proposal that was sended by the major the major proposed was to have all the members a large many years ago I was one of the F the fighter person okay I fight for the school committee many years ago since 2096 95 up to 2002 I was involved with this with this people you know to get what you've been doing or where are you are right now with people by District we the a group of people called Council of Dominican American voters will battle all of this fighting with the justice department and getting now now the distribution of the district to make sure that we will equally represented at this school before everybody like it's uh my councelor laang explaining before everybody was a large we need representation we were fighting because as a minority we find that we we know have any representation at the school label we W the fighting and we were able to do the distribution and guys we have an school committee by this R my proposal when I saw the proposal of the major I decided to write a new proposal asking to have maybe three or four I I don't remember how many people you know appointed a lot or whatever but to keep the people for the school committee by this three and that was a a very VII discussion because somebody else have another proposal that practically was the same but it was not an agreement I tried to defend you know at some point to have people by this Tre but at no point at this time we have the H committee we have many discussion and that was practically a politician because everybody say oh the major isn't B no I'm not thinking about the major I'm thinking about the children I don't have a children at school at this moment and I has to take out my children from school at the time that I was fighting for all our children here in the City of Lawrence what happened a large didn't function when we have everybody a large we have from 2001 up to practically up to now is by hisory but in 2010 2011 the government has to take it our school because nether Fun by this Tre and agree with what uh our Council marmor say we has to keep looking for every single District who's going to be running for the school committee and some of the district some time do know have no one running for that thank since 2010 2011 the government is the one who's manager our school so as of today a large by District neither the government have able to make something good for our school or for our children it is time for us also sometime is hard I'm I'm know that I'm not able to vote on this final decision but I know my vote and I think that it's time for all to move forward and get something that maybe will work if not two year 3 year five year let's do another referendum but we need to think on our children that is the first thing that we have to think maybe I'm not here in five years but I'm going to be watching what is happening and believe me or not it's hard what we this body is trying to do is to get the best not thinking on the major the major can be today maybe not tomorrow and we're going to have somebody this body is going to be maybe something different next year but we are trying to do our best and the best is to get the school back and get the best for our children thank you thank you um I have one comment to make so I'm I'm going to pass the gavel to to our most senior member so I can make this this comment uh before proceeding with with um the rest of the I asked pass it for a it's not a it's not a fact I've never had a double pass okay so I'm just going to keep my comments to myself then so we can move it forward um counselor where's councelor the can you grab councelor the Rosario because I I don't want I know you councelor Levy was weren't able to vote and I'm a to call the question she hold the G and she can't vote yeah all right at this point at this point um I'm going to call the question the motion to reconsider which does need six votes so uh Madame clerk can you please call the role councelor Levy yes councilor llant yes councel Lan no council Del Rosario yes Council Santiago no councelor marmo yes Council Ares yes Council vice president yes and council president Rodriguez yes motion is 72 motion passes was 72 motion carries now we are going moving forward now we have to vote on the underlying lining motion uh Madam clerk can you repeat the um underlining motion that we have which was the motion that was the first that was first Charter objected um when was it the first special meeting Monday 16th the 21st was the first chart objection the on on the 21st can you please read the motion and the Amendments that were accepted for parliamentary inquiry I just want to make sure that I just before this runs out the trails that when we do the roll call vote it's my understanding that the whoever holds the gavel is the last person to vote so I just want to um make sure that in the succeeding votes that that takes place thank you councelor thank you um Madam clerk am I reading the motion to Y this was a motion that had been previously voted on by the council it um had five votes but it required six to pass the proposal that at that time was a new school committee with three elected members at large for two-year terms three appointed members appointed by the city council for 2-year terms then the mayor as a chair consistent with the city Charter with voting power and not his design um and that the appointed members would have a background in either education Finance or the law and then the final um councilor marmel had made an amendment that um the document be edited throughout to um clarify and correct to so that it's consistent with those points um and that included the deletion of sections five and six And to clarify that was the document that was sent up from the ad hoc committee the ad hoc committee yeah um so there was I made the motion there was a second the motion was seconded right but that motion failed so we need a new motion at this time uh discussion question no the motion is to be that motion so the same motion motion um City attorney can you clarify that please you are reconsidering this so you now need a you you're now allowed to bring this forward so someone needs to bring It Forward we need to make a motion to approve make a motion to approve it in second same can I can I have a motion to to and then we're going into discussion can I have a motion um to you need a motion to approve this item to approve the the under the the amend the Amendments um stated by the mo has been made by no I'm sorry mad cheer I'm sorry what's going on uh we are voting on the original motion can you repeat uh what you just said because it looks like it's going to be an amendment to that original motion we cannot have an amendment there is no if if you there was no Amendment at the at the beginning of the of the meeting the City attorney made it clear um we cannot make further amendments um to to the to the motion that originally failed so can you repeat Madam clerk can you can you repeat the motion that councelor the Rosario just made thank you just to be clear the discussing now initially made on October 21st 2024 by Council infon seconded by Council Del Rosario at that time has been the underlying motion that we've discussed throughout that motion just restated now is the ad hoc committee's Proposal with the amendment of sections 5.2 and 5.7 being further amended so that the proposal is a three this was the amendment all these amendments were made on October 21st there's no new amendments being presented at this time tonight make sure you're listening thank you thank you continue um so that motion from October 21st um was three elected at large members for 2-year terms three appointed by the city council members for two-year terms the mayor as the chair per the city Charter with voting power and not a design and that the appointed members would have a background in education Finance or the law one of each one of each and then councilor marmal had also at back on the 21st had made an amendment at that time prior to the final vote that the document be edited through out to clarify and correct and that would include the deletion of sections five and six of that original proposal because they were not consistent with those changes thank you um Madame clerk I before I so motion has been made who who seconded seconded by Council marmel discussion council president oh sorry um councelor Santiago at the at the same day we have a the chat objection or right and a ched objection give a convence to to the irland that was O ejected and the the the meeting we need to adour separately but we adj ER together in the same day so so as uh clerk Bernell um right earlier from directly from our city Charter uh we did adjourn the vote gets paused until the second meet until the next meeting whether special or general meeting so we still we contined that the motion failed which is now which is why we are now um have a new motion um to reconsider the vote and that's what's going on okay okay um any other discussions I Madame chair if I may go ahead go ahead councel the plant cuz Council the plan has hasn't spoken yeah you have you haven't spoken being very ni well I wouldn't have thank you very much um Madam vice president so just a couple of points frankly I'm very Madam vice president I'm very impressed by the debate here this evening the eloquence the the people who are providing their positions and I think uh I respect it regardless of which side of the debate you're on but I respect the fact that people are doing what they believe is right and they're doing it to the best of their abilities and I respect that so um I just thought that is important having been around this thing for a little while that it's good to see one of the points that has not been mentioned I don't want to repeat other people's points although I agree with many um I just want to reflect on things that haven't been mentioned number one and I think this is the most one of the most important parts of this that's being lost in the in the public debate of this and what's being lost is that whatever we do as a city council is not going to be the law I was actually going to mention that we're not we're not the endall or Beall what we are doing is we are offering a proposal to the state legislature we are it's the it's the state law that's being essentially the charter is a state law and they're going to change the charter now they often times as you know Madam vice president they often times look to what the locals want to do but they are not required to go ahead and do exactly what we say as a matter of fact they will sometimes make changes to things even though there's a home rule petition so whichever the side of the debate we fall on tonight and our resident who may or may not agree with us I think it should be important to note that this is not the final this is just a recommendation by leaders who have read and looked at and discussed at nauseum four different proposals that have run throughout six months since we last talked about before an ad hoc committee was formed to the credit of my district school Committee Member who's been pushing for pushing and pushing and been to his credit aggressive about this wanting to see us get out of local control and we're on the precipice of that now so this conversation has been going on for some time but it's not going to end tonight tonight no matter which way we end up voting so that's I think that's really really really important for us to remember I um I also think it's important for us to know about timing we are having all these special meetings and the timing is that if if if the legislature does not put in something by October 31st what's today the 30th by the end of business or whatever their rules are tomorrow there is no movement on this now some people say yay that's fantastic no movement that's exactly what we want we want to slow walk this thing we don't want to move fast on this I get that and that's an opinion valid got it but those of us who want to get out of state control as soon as possible who want to bring control back here locally some of us want to move on this and not all the proposals that we have looked at and not all the proposals that we've written seen we like some that we have elements that we like some not not total but I think it's important to know that that and it's also really important to know we can't amend this tonight the City attorney already mentioned this evening that even though one several who knows how many think there may be a better option we cannot debate that we cannot offer that so what are we doing we have our backs against the wall with the clock we can't offer anything differently tonight all we have is 3 3 and one that's it nothing else that's all we can vote on tonight so where do you so where do I stand on this so uh people have been asking I've been getting the same phone calls I've been getting the same text messages we we all have and I'm just I'm agreeing with everybody else who says they got it me too I'm going to raise my hand me too got them and like I think most if not all I read them I listen I talk I do a lot of listening frankly because I want to hear and one of the things that I'm learning is that there's when you have this many proposals there's a lot of confusion a lot of confusion about what's true what's accurate whose proposal is this what's the latest what's the Parliamentary rules my God we are doing things right now that we've never seen about I don't recall how many special meetings we have on this but I don't recall that being done in quite some time I can't imagine double Charter amendments a charter Amendment on a rules to reconsider I there's a lot of things that I've never seen that we're that we're dealing with uh things that I'm learning a lot more about the process um as we dig a lot deeper into uh our rules uh but we've never had to deal with it so if it's confusing to us it's definitely confusing to the people we represent who are watching this saying I have no idea what the hell they're doing no idea so I just think it's important that we acknowledge that so where do I stand so I stand on this I'm not crazy about the 33 and one I'll be very Frank don't I amove the opinion that I would like to see a majority of the individuals who are going to be elected on the school committee I think there should be four I would like to see that I think that provides what a lot of people are saying that we want to make sure that most of our membership is elected I agree with that but I can't make that motion tonight can't I'm unable to it's against the rules I also think that if we look back counselor through you madam vice president if we look back and councelor Levy mentioned it she touched on it we've had at large school committee members for some time and the reason I think and I the last time we actually had a vote on it when I say we I mean the populace the residents on the ballot was 1983 when that was part of the package and the population then said we want to have they voted for part of the package at large and we've continued and to change through what councelor Levy said earlier regarding the consent to Crea back in 1999 but the reason and this is what there's a philos philosophical difference I've got a lot of residents here and people that I represent who say I want I want to be able to vote for I want to represent I get that because they look at us and they say you got six District councilors I'd like to call down the street and I'd like to talk to that person and and I feel like I got a relationship there the reason why there was at larges for such a long time is because what you there are three elements of a school department that are responsible let me see if I can pull this up real quick real quick three jobs essential jobs and if I can't read it real quick I've committed it to memory the jobs are one as I'm looking for it selecting a superintendent of schools that's one job number two managing the day-to-day operations of the schools and number three doing the hiring of I think basically the the administrative or the maybe I'm not sure if it goes how far down it goes to teachers I'm not sure about that but at least some of the hiring and Personnel matters at the school department part of the day-to-day obligations those are the three things the curriculum not handled here it's we're told what we have to handle by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that so so what what we're looking at then are people who are able to manage and what we have and this is why I think part of me why I think manage the schools what I what I like about the this prop this proposal at least going ahead with the um at larges is this in the ad hoc and in the mayor's proposal and I think even no even more so in the school Department's proposal they have put together some of these organizations that were going to be organizations that were going to help assist a selection of the people who are going to be nominations or the nominees I don't think that the I think that if we were to let the school committee be at large where we can all select Citywide the best people who we think we want to serve us if we have a cons if we have a particular Elementary concern about something in a particular school or about your own child I'm going to read from the ad hoc the different groups out there that have the ability and we're going to empower these people there's a uh the LPS joint parent teacher organization there's the Lawrence education for justice Alliance there's the LPS special education parent advisory Council there's the LPS English learn parent advisory Council and there's probably more but those are the things that are listed what we're doing when we take this from the districts and we make it at large is that those groups are going to be empowered because they're going to be the voice of whatever the issues are to talk to the school administration that hey it's my child it's my whatever is not doing that and we have in those and they're going to have more power we often complain I hear there's no teacher there's no parents getting involved in the school system we need more we need more well now if you give them that's your that's going to be your job your my megaphone gets louder just like the school committee these organizations are going to be better or more um efficient and powerful and have more usefulness so I like empowering these organizations so that's the reason why I'm supporting it and I will tell you my last thing is this when this vote is done I need to continue this I don't want to lose the ability to make this change as much as I don't really um as much as I'm not a fan of 331 I'll be voting yes on it tonight but my NE very next step after that is I'm going to be talking to my legislators and I hope others will join me because that's the only way we're going to do it is let them know that I did vote for that only because of the reason I got to get something to your desk but here's what I really feel about it I want four elected two at Large and then of course the mayor is the ex official and that's what I want to do so that's so for those who are curious as to why I'm doing what I'm doing that's the rationale and I hope that helps explain to my res my constituents and people that I represent and I appreciate all their comments thank you councelor uh councelor Rosario you want council president hasn't spoken council president thank you thank you U Madame vice president Infante um well uh thank you everybody for definitely being here and express your opinion about public participation all different things that are going on here and then your basing your opinion the best form of government when it comes to the school committee um just to continue the conversation that mlan just said when it comes to the 4 to1 that was a proposal that was made by Council La plan which I second uh in in B in favor at that point we uh we two people voted in favor of that um and that was uh council plan and myself which I believe I believe um uh 421 was going to be U an options that we can definitely work on that was not the case uh at that point I was I was not we were not able to uh to go through with that I also uh voted in favor of um counc lon's proposal which was uh maintaining the six District um having three uh four appoint uh three two appointees and the mayor which constitute a body of of nine uh which is also a hybrid model and on that on that that occasion uh we uh councelor Santiago councel and myself would voted in favor of that which means that all of us thank you Madame vice president um so at that point um after uh the the final vote pass which is three was uh three elected uh three appointees and the mayor uh everybody at that point have voted for a hybd solution with that in mind that have keep uh this body and confirmation that we want something different listening to the constituents and um and and there were two questions raised uh at that at some point during the conversation that I respect a lot and uh we get an answer for those as far as as far as I understand that attorne I'm I'm an engineer so um I'm not an expert on in law but I listen to the attorneys uh to a point that that make me um ask for a reconsideration and both in rule 11 and and Rule 12 and Rule uh 11 rule 20 and also uh having an opportunity to invok in uh rule four which allow me to pass the gabo and make my uh make a comment on what I believe is right um I was a member of the school committee uh since 2013 to 2015 uh before that I was a member of a board of uh of a board of justise uh for an educ ation institution uh that uh was dealing with 800 982 students um I'm been a city council for n years almost going into my 10th now so I'm not an expert in education but I listen to my contition I listen to the parents I help out a lot of parents uh because of the the school committee um not that I acquire and also um I was I'm I have been able to uh discuss uh with different part of the community uh what might be a good solution for for the school system in general uh the school system is a complicated is a complicated uh system that that equation have different variant in my own equation I have different variants that I look at educ the education system of the City of Lawrence by no means a political variance I'm I'm a I'm a taxpayer I'm a parent I'm a resident of lawence I'm here to stay I choose to move to the City of Lawrence that was I was I wasn't brought up here I choose to be here to stay here to learn this the the the different uh different part of the city be proud about the city every time I go out and I say that I'm from Lawrence I make sure that people knows that uh we are a proud laurentians people are seeing like oh you're changing your vote because it's a political movement it is not I have voted consistently for a hybrid motor and that's what I'm doing I'm I believe that uh that is that is something that is uh at this point of time it it is something that will help uh the city of lamon you know and uh and essentially and essentially we have our City attorney here that would like to say something byom means I just for the record council president I know you've alluded to it you've called rules Etc but if you could you just say in plain language that you voted uh against the proposal yeah you were you were the prevailing side you have brought this motion to consider being in the prevailing side that's just for the record if you could please state that yeah of course U I brought I brought that uh I invoke R 11 to suspend rule I mean uh to work with rule 11 to suspend rule 20 because I was on the pidan side and I vot uh on the pridan side previously which means allow me that that process allowed me to reconsider my vote and we just voted in and uh a couple of minutes ago and now I'm able to discuss this at this level uh and and and be able to express what I uh what I what I have uh two doubt questions before legal questions and that allow since I have an answer for those um that allowed me to pursue with what I have done previously been consistent with the discussion of voting for a two previous hybrid model one of which was proposed for for council plan we don't agree too much and many items and when we agree remember I and then yeah and then one of which was proposed by councel Lon and I also uh V in favor those just being consistent uh and that's basically what is happening tonight thank you for the opportunity to express my opinion thank you council president um at this point I'm going to recognize Council Reyes who has not said anything tonight and after that we are moving to the roll call coun councelor Rees uh thank you Madame chair uh follow up my colle what my colleag laan mention uh through this kind of conversation uh through this day was very tough conversation uh because we have a conversation with celor Levy and also celor De Rosario and also with you uh celor president the idea to maintain our SE District the idea to add it a different kind of proposal to running additional three personal lot or three person pting but but what my colleague mention this is the proposal we have in front us and I'm not uh Engage The to have people appointing what mention celor Levy uh we have sometime people don't decide yet to run for our school district so this proposal give you us the opportunity to Appo in some people we sometime we have empty uh Spa from the school it so I want to mention that that part because this this kind of proposal uh was a little hard especially for me because uh some uh PR for different way but what my colleague mentioned I represent our constituent I'm being the union for the last 20 years I be very advocating for Education housing in different kind of opportunity we need to advocate for our community and for our people I'm fully support of f Amendment I'm fully supporting 2016 vote no and question two because we want to save our public school but sometime we need to do uh and follow and listening what our constituent Express and we received a lot of different kind of opinion iion when they want to see some proposal to maintain uh the hybrid uh a poting and also some person through the boat because they want to see something different but our my colleague mentioned see it's not working we can come back and presenting it again but today I'm fully supporting the proposal we have on the table thank you thank you at this point we are going to call um the votes uh this does require six votes Madam clar can you please call the role councelor mad are you going to make the vote now so because I just leave they asked me to leave and they were you know yes councelor Levi can you please recuse yourself thank you thank you councelor councelor Reyes yes councelor marmel yes councilor Sago no councel Del Rosario yes councel Luzon no councel llant yes Council Levy is noted as absent council president Rodriguez yes Council vice president infon yes I have six votes in favor that carries for home R six votes um the home R petition carries I am now going to pass pass the Gava back to the council president all right uh councilors uh thank you for the discussion and um make sure that we have we have we have an announcement no you want to wait for 30 days doesn't have all right and before wejoin c uh councelors I wanted to make an announcement uh that our next meeting is not going to happen on the first Tuesday of the month since we have a national election federal election our next council meeting is going to happen on Thursday the 7th that's been consistent with previous date that we have done the same uh with that say counselors are going to entertain a motion motion to Second there is a motion to adjourn properly second all those in fav please say I I the I have it all right good night e