##VIDEO ID:ko73jPUXQLI## [Music] spe fore spee speee [Music] spe if anybody would like to if anybody would like to participate in public participation this is the time to write your name please I'm sorry did I made the announce my apologies I no problem okay okay your favor my glasses hope I don't have to read too many things e I'm gonna go get it right now I'm sorry is Jonathan here he's going to be he's gonna be called multiple times I know I'm here I could always tell them my Christmas list listen here my favorite restaurant go um Last Chance anyone anyone yes sir okay I'm going to take it you're [Music] May let's go good evening and welcome to the special public meeting of the L city council today is Monday October 21st 20 24th pursuant to chapter 20 of the act of 2022 this meeting will be hybrid allowing participation both in person in the city council chambers and remarkly anybody that request the me the zoom link uh for this meeting was provided to the city clerk office this meeting Al also view uh through the digital platform for the lawen city council which is the Facebook law city council page as well as the YouTube la city council page roll call Madame CLA please councelor Levy pres councilor lant pres Council Lan present councel Del Rosario present councelor Santiago present councel marmel present Council arz present Council vice president Infante present council president Rodriguez present uh Roo I mean uh please join me for a moment silence now join me for the pledge of allegion I pledge of Al States of America the repu for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all we are going to proceed with public participation uh anybody that uh wishes to speak they have the time to uh write their name um the public participation uh go as follow everybody's going to have two and a half minutes the two minute mark You're going to hear a bip indicating that us still have 30 seconds please refer to this Council as a whole not to any individual counselors also if you want to celebrate the comments please hold it for the end of public participation the first person that we have on the list is Francisco Brea name and address for the record please thank you Mr President Francisco Brea B for the record 85 Colonial Road and I just want to uh apologize again when I invited everybody to sign out this Chief when you the one actually who have to do that but because we all group together so I take that that responsibility but we are here tonight Mr President member of the council to let you know that we totally disagree with this home Ru petition that come from the third floor to you and we would like to see if you actually can kill this thing here tonight before you go to the to the state house also we find out that this thing is not even is required for the state or for Washington DC from anywhere so I do not see why they want to make some changes when excuse me we have people who actually been working for a long long time and and and actually they've been giving they've been given their own time to represent the student and represent uh their District so I believe this is a total total disrespect and anti-democratic uh uh move and we want to make sure that this thing don't pass tonight um again I just want to let you know that community they are listen they know what you guys doing it and they will respond when the time come thank you very much Mr good evening councilors and name is Richard Russell 34 cross street uh I'm a firm believer in the Constitution of the United States one man one vote uh not one man six votes the last time somebody tried one man and six six million Jewish people lost their lives I don't need to see another blood bath caused by what can be caused uh with this Charter going up to uh Charter change going up to the uh Beacon Hill I'm against it unfortunately I'm a taxpayer but I still have to pay my portion of uh my taxes towards the school uh something I don't like doing if this is going to happen thank you the next person that we have is R Rob Luis robes name just for the record please good evening consuls um if you guys read my long letter uh sorry for making it so long but if you didn't I just want to make name address for the record oh sorry Luis Roes 183 Abid Street um if you didn't get to read it then I just want to make one point which is this there's been a lot of concerns about districts and representation of minorities um if you decide to go with an atlarge Council um if you guys could consider that one of the appointed members uh be from a minority group be it white black Asian middle eastern Etc from the community that way we can at least alleviate some of the concerns about minority representation in the community um and that would be it thank you thank you the next person that we have is Juan Mani Gonzalez name an address for the record please good evening council president Rodriguez Madam vice president Infante my name is Juan Mani Gonzalez Juan Colonial Drive and uh we're here tonight because the one of the biggest questions that's still popping up is the rationale Behind these changes what specific issues are challenges are we trying to address with this change for the school committee especially as we already heard that this is not mandated Governor Healey Town Governor uh Drisco the commissioner no one has called or at least we haven't made aware that somebody's calling and knocking on the door that if we want to take control of our schools that you need to reformat the school board I stand with the school committee board as it stands right now I think that these people are dedicated they professionals they're educated they taken time from their families they campaign they they go through the whole process to get a chance to serve and they should be commentated not disrespected because it's not every day as you can see that even going by the last election the turnout was so poor and when you have individuals like this that serve even to receivership and now that we have a superintendent in place and they want to get a chance to get up and work with them now we're trying to take that opportunity away from them so what is this going to do for uh participation in the future people are watching and they're probably going to say this is why we don't run for office this is why sometimes we we have spot that doesn't get filled because they don't believe they're losing trust in the process and I truly believe that this is a very important before you take this vote tonight vote your conscience look at the whole issue I know that it's been a while since you guys going back and forth but I truly believe that for candidate attraction I know that we're looking for better we got to be careful what we mean with that because we can go from the top of this building down to this chamber and said what's better what does that mean uh so I want to recognize the actual school committee members that are here serving and um I stand with you respectfully and I thank you Council for allowing me the chance to speak before you all right the next person that we have is Pedro payano name just for the record please evening Pedro payano finally six H Hill um congratulations for for the productive meeting you had on Wednesday I hope tonight there is not an attempt to delay the process tonight you have in your hands a very important decision to make that is going to impact in the future of our children keep what's best for our children at the front of your decisions thank you for your leadership and I hope that tonight you will have a very productive meeting thank you all right then the next person that we have is Victor Martin name and address for the record please Victor Martin M Street I would like to have someone to I prefer to say what I want to say to say in his Spanish I don't know any people can uh translate for the M you money do you mind yeah say this guy everybody no no I just say translate from him because I think everybody here know span know yes but what I'm saying is make sure that you don't refer to any individual counselor refer to the council as a I don't I don't going to say anything good to go well the first thing I want to say is that I've been living in this community for 35 years and I have been part of process that been happening in this community in particularly in the Hispanic community of this community and in the 1990s as a community that we are as Hispanic Community we celebrated the wins and successes of our community and seeing this process play out today will be something within our community that will take us back within the Hispanic community and and one of the things that will hurt the most is to see a majority elected Hispanic counil to take away the voting rights of the majority Hispanic Community I [Music] hope and I hope that the decision made today is one in where it keeps the power of electing our school committee members yeah to be elect by the by the city by the V to be elected by the vot in the city gracias thank you so much um the next person that we have is anel Mendes name and address for the record please oh sorry it was Jonathan but that's fine uh good evening uh my name is sel Mendes 16 L ter us uh I don't want to be standing in this place because for me uh it is a shame because the last time that I had to be fighting for the school system the threat come came from outside now it's coming from inside I feel powerless this proposal lack paternity is Orphan is coming from the state no the state created a mess it's coming from the mayor's office who has the experience around the mayor's office to be just creating this mess creating this division in this community you as a champ now you have the power of taking care dismantling the school committee that was elected like you shame on you if you don't think about about it who is the person responsible for this we are supposed to be United working together being careful because our kids are roaming around doing terrible things and nobody's taking care of that we have too much violence around us people just in those places doing wrong things and we don't have authority now that we are planning to take this control from the state now we are creating this turn oil this mess who is the person responsible for that who is advising the the major about this terrible thing we have a brand new superintendent we have the school committee that was prevented by the state to do the job and now they are responsible for the mess that we have allow them to work by the contrary we are supposed to be extending that the amount of year that they need to be working because they want to work have a great respect for them like I have for you who is responsible for this mess thank you right the next person that we have is uh counselor I mean uh Mr Jonathan Gusman uh School Committee Member Guzman good evening counselors uh as always Jonathan Gusman from 39 ly stream and the first thing I'm I'm going say is I'm going keep saying it we don't have to do this in order to start the process of taking control back of the Lawrence Public Schools this has been said multiple times by the commission of Education in multiple occasions that the process can start but in the contrary what we see from the executive office is that we have to do this in the local level in order for them to come to the table and have discussions so we're choosing to not start the process Lo uh at the City level because we want to do this the other piece of you know is is I want you to remember those that if you were in a school committee once to remember how will you feel if when the time comes for us to do our job if you were sitting here or standing in front of you and then somebody rather than working with you tries to strip the power away in a way that can remove us from this system if that doesn't make you think otherwise thinking about the piece of moving from our large races back in in 1999 as a city to per District to ensure that we have full representation at the table the other piece is making sure that when we take on the things in front of you you have a comprehensive adha committee proposal that that we fought at that point it was a success do not place the city through this process in where it will open a lot of doors for concerns uh in many levels of government we want to make sure that we can serve our students our parents and our community 30 seconds give us the opportunity to do so nothing should happen thank you all right and then and the next person that we have the next person that we have is uh May Ortiz School Committee Member Ortiz good evening um my ores 45 noris Street Council ores school committee ores coach ores uh my accolades go on and on and on I was speaking with the city clerk and wondering what can I what is there left to say what is there left to talk about what is there left really to land with this Council my partners in government that would change their direction of their mind and then I thought to myself I don't know what's on their mind because we haven't had a conversation I haven't spoken to any counselor here except for the one that represents me and when we're Partners in government that means we have conversation I'm the expert in this space I'm the expert on what the school committee needs I'm the expert in this space because it's where I served it's where I'm serving and therefore La Vista should be learned from me because I'm also a stakeholder a grandmother and a mother a taxpayer and I've knocked doors for many of you I've signed your papers I've met mentored some of you so in that we haven't had a conversation to say look what's in front of us what does democracy mean what does it mean to this this body what does it mean to our city what does it mean to work as partners in government we've talked about holy o and Southbridge that's what it means to be a partner in government there's no fighting over there they said and they meant it and they meant it we move forward together with unido one voice because it's our kids that are in public schools not Charter Schools not private schools that are being impacted the equity is not there this is racist this is a racist act when you take away voting power from people that can't afford to go to private schools that you have to enter a lottery for an education appr sh oh Hala you get into a charter school because you win the right to an education I don't want to gamble with our kids I don't want to gamble with our democracy and I don't want to gamble with our relationship thank you thank you the next person that we have the next person we have it's online we have uh Dennis ly ly G you hear me Den is leing now is the time hello can you hear me yes yes excellent thank you very much good evening counselors uh my my name is tennis Lily I'm a resident of Lawrence I live at 40 Spruce Street in Lawrence um I am also the head of the Conservation Commission where I've served for the past 23 years like all of you I am a public official unlike all of you I am an appointed official and we we generally have two types of public officials we have folks who work in the regulatory realm people who enforce environmental laws or zoning laws or um handle licensing and permits you know these are the folks like myself on the Conservation Commission the zoning board the Board of Health Etc and then we have other government officials who represent the people government officials who have an oversight role government officials who legislate or make policy government officials who make major hiring decisions government officials who have the power of the purse who vote on budgets or authorize spending that is an area where in not just here in the Commonwealth but throughout the United States voters have had the opportunity to choose their representatives the people send their representatives to act in their place to do this work here in Lawrence we have an elected school committee just as most communities throughout the country do we have an elected City Council that represents the people in managing the Affairs of the city the same voters who elected all of you and I can only assume you were all satisfied with the outcome of the last election I don't think any of you jumped up and said wait a minute I think the voters got it wrong those same voters also elected members of the Lawrence school committee to act as their representatives now the members of the school committee don't manage the schol okay we hire people to do that we trust the voters to send their representatives trust the people trust the voters don't take their voice away and if all of you do come up with a plan that does that have a referendum put it on the ballot if you're going to make such a drastic change to the ch harder let the people vote don't make that decision for them thank you thank you sir uh now public participation is closed all these names are going to be submitted for the record so now now counselors we have item 14824 which this the establishment of the home R petition uh defining the governing structure for the allance school committee uh we the last thing we have is was a chle objection at that point uh we call for a vote and it was sh objected uh before we calling the vote again and open for any type of discussions the councilor want we have a few things uh to put everything in order uh we need to uh clarify one question that was in regard to a special election and the clerk we will make that a statement the um one of the councilors proposed a motion to have a three-year elected term for the school committee and I stated at that time it would require a special election and maybe I misspoke we we do have elections every year on the um even years like this year we have state elections and federal elections on the odd years we have our city elections we would have City elections on the even years if we did a three member um a three-year term excuse me for the school committee members it would not necessarily require an additional election however it would require an additional ballot the ballot that we get for state and federal elections is put out by the state and it's run through the machine I don't have an answer for you if that machine could handle two different ballots one for the state and one for the city my first thought just based on the issues we had with the primary this year is that it could not and that would have to have you'd have to cast two separate ballots and two separate ballot boxes which we would have to go out and get more ballot boxes but it would be one day you could have the elections on the same day I just don't logistically I don't know how we would handle a city and state election on the same day so that would be something we'd have to research if that's something that the body wanted to consider but as you make that decision I want it to be properly educated that it's not a we do have an election every other year for state and federal um but that's a ballot that we get from the state it's not a ballot that we print ourselves so that printing at a minimum would be part of the process it would be mailed out separately as part of the process the staff would be managing two different elections at the same time which I do think would be a lot but I just want people to be understanding it's not necessarily a separate it probably be on the same day but I think the amount of work involved would be a lot I just want to make sure people make an educated decision but also I didn't want to misspeak so I I want to make sure understood where I was coming from that's all thank you mad cler um we have we have the mayor's office here that uh before they they didn't have an opportunity to speak if you would like um now this is the time good evening Octavian spanner senior advisor to the mayor uh the the ask of the mayor uh in your consideration is to consider uh if the mayor during his absence that he can um have someone represent him a delegate or someone to represent uh I can give several scenarios in which there might be an emergency uh where in which the mayor let's say for instance there's a national emergency or a state emergency and the mayor needs to attend the meetings uh let's say with a governor or state delegation whatever it may take and there a uh a school committee I mean there's a meeting the body uh is meeting then he would be without representation uh I would like the uh the legislative body to consider that uh in addition to the other ones is based on your decision as a whole um what you will consider to be the best option um council president councelor uh L can I ask uh senior advisor a question sure if I may um senior advisor how many times have the major attended the uh committee meetings the school committee meetings I cannot respond to that I why not we don't keep attendance probably he doesn't have the number at this point I didn't have that question otherwise I would have ccil President can I ask a Committee Member how many times have the maor attended the school committee meetings counc L he will he can probably provide you an answer but I mean if we don't have the sub count we canot take it as a fat it's an opinion so but you can definitely ask thank you council president the school committee through the city Charter through its own rules meets every first Wednesday of each month the mayor only participated at the inauguration meeting to choose the vice chair other than that the mayor has not come to neither of to none of our meetings thank you Committee Member Gman thank you council president any other questions yeah council president um the the current status of the the school uh the Lawrence Public School is that the LA board is the is in charge and control it's the state is State controlled uh and in defense of the mayor I mean we don't have the data and I don't want the public to be confused I can provide you with that information if it's if if the council the body so wishes I can do that and I can provide the city councelor with the response C president thank you uh thank you U Mr advisor just a fact about the Le board and the receiver I was I was part of the school committee back in 2013 and uh the current maor at the time we met every month so it's it's a it's the same thing so it's a matter of just uh visiting the meeting and or being part of the meeting that that was the question yeah thank you uh Cel Lon thank you thank you consc president you answer um counselors at this point before I call uh the question it is important to recognize that we have an underlying motion Madame CLA read uh the underly motion please the underlying motion before this body is to adopt the ad hoc committee's recommended Proposal with two changes one was a change to section 5.2 regarding the composition that' be changed to three elected atlarge members for 2-year term terms three appointed members for two-year terms and the mayor not his design that was what the body was discussing that was a motion made by councelor infon uh was seconded by Mr Del Rosario councelor Del Rosario and the had been two friendly amendments one was a changing of the number of terms for the appointed and um one was for the um mayor to clarify not the designate so it just um I don't know if you want to change any of that but that's what's before the body at this time yeah Madame CLA uh just a quick clarification on that the current uh the current um um the current uh home R petition that we have in front of us with these two specific changes that is being made the current petition have to reflect these two changes yeah uh because throughout the documents the this this changed the entire document counselors um it changed the uh number especially yeah especially provision five which now something to clarify is that on the amendment yeah on the amendment we have that now the body that is going to elect the appointees is going to be the city council so section five therefore is not longer going to be part of that uh of that uh of the home RO petition and other than that there is other minor changes throughout the document that need to be reflected with this amendment so we want to make sure that we have that for the record um any other councelor marmel did at the last meeting that we had I believe that was your recommendation that was accepted was to make those edits throughout the document yeah and any other any other um motion questions or discussion at this point council president Council Lan motion to withdraw the document there is a motion to withdraw second can hear a second there's properly second discussion on the v no discussion all Us in favor please say I I roll uh any NS n roll please this is on a motion to withdraw the document Council Reyes no council marmel no council Santiago yes Council Del Rosario no councelor Luzon yes councel llant no councel Levy no council vice president fonte no council president Rodriguez I vote no uh this point c r uh thank you to you I would like to offer uh V uh inant a little Amendment on on the on the motion um after he the discussion and also hearing the um the school Committee Member Jonathan I think we should add the day say need for the mayor so they can have representation if the mayor never been in a meeting now maybe the Des should be in for the mayor and what I like to add to that is that we put a time close into it uh about this Des should be assigned by the mayor for at least two years of the term of the school committee members elected why is that because we don't want somebody going into every meeting a different person so if if uh the vi chair SE that friendly amendment that should be added to uh The Home Room petition than M no is is that a friendly Amendment first uh Madame Vice Infante do you accept the friendly amendment I accept you ass said the friendly Amendment okay uh the the friendly Amendment from the uh from uh the Council of Vice President Infante is to have the mayor design uh and the way that it was presented it was uh to have that as an appointee uh the question will be now that you have said that friendly Amendment C vice president the process for that Des going to be just a major Des because is is this Des at this point or it's going to be as a regular appointee as we have the others council president yeah counciling fund thank you through you council president the way that I'm seeing this um and this is I mean I'm only one counselor this is this is my my counselor opinion I do not want to see the mayor having different people and it's I would like to add strictly for emergency purposes only if there is a a pressing issue that the mayor's office or the mayor needs needs to attend because it's I I I see that as a mayor certain things come up um then the way I'm seeing it user doesn't need the same person in order to continue the the business of the school committee I don't I don't I'm not seeing it as every single time that the mayor you know the mayor send someone only for pressing um situations and um okay so basically just to clarify V from the mayor that is going to be assigned for two years period and only is going to be considered when the mayor is it's out or it's an emergency council president sorry for you council president and that's um an example that the senior advisor did present that sometimes things come up and and I think the senior advisor may I call him through council president senior advisor I I want to make sure that the office understands my my my stance on this um I think it's important for the mayor to be there um I don't agree of the mayor not being there only not attending um but I think we all seem to be on the same page that this is this is an important um topic and in an important situation um and I'm I'm Fair this is why my proposal is something I'm trying to meet in the middle for everyone um for those who are actually paying attention can can see that cuz I've had received messages from from the public stating that um so I just I I just want to make sure that you understand where I'm at in response uh through you Mr chair uh I think that's a reasonable ask it's fair consel pres uh C Madame B infant do you finish with the questioning yeah thank you Council LAN counc president is it not the Major's responsibility to be part of the school committee uh that's part of the chatter yes part of the chatter so um as of right now he's going to be the shair but it is important to recognize councel Lon that um as far as that is qu uh the body uh the committee the school committee functions is like any other committee when we have quum we continue business so those those U emergencies that is been defined uh it's is is uh something that doesn't doesn't La the quar I I understand but I think we should uh we need to start making excuses for the Major's responsibility and I know this motion if it gets approved is going to change the the chatter because that's what we're doing but uh if the major is not attending the school committee meetings he's not attending the school committee meetings so that's one also when you said uh to to When you mention I think uh councelor uh Rosario mentions um that or infant uh is one this that to uh to send one the sign it that means that let's say that the the mayor uh attends a meeting and that does he need can they both be at the meeting that would be to vote no no that's not the case can we clarify the case is as follow as is presented is a Destin for two years and as as per the petition of the senior adviser and message from the mayor is that in case of an emergency he won't attend and he will send that he need to maintain the presence of the mayor and cons president not to vote and thank you for explaining that and and thank you for the intention of making the clarification but I think not only for this mayor let's think about any future mayor we have to uh they have to know that it's a their responsibility to be present at every at at the school committee meeting so it's about the education our our children of of you and and it has to be there we we need to keep that in mind they this mayor or any other future mayor has to be part of the school committee meetings yeah no C I understand and U and your message was uh passed uh to the senior advisor and subsequently to the mayor uh this this modification change people's mentality but that's what we here to discuss councelor LL thank you very much I not in favor of this amendment that's been now part of the new Amendment the infant Amendment uh I just think that it adds a level of complexity that's unnecessary previous speakers already talked about the May's responsibility we have gone through Wars in this country we have gone through pestilence we've gone through a lot of different things um that would require I can't imagine that we're going to be facing something that we haven't faced before that this that this city and its mayor has to deal with I just don't think it's necessary if the mayor can make it we elected the mayor we elected this mayor we'll elect the next mayor and we'll let the Mayors for as long as we continue to have Mayors in the city and it is part of the respons responsibility of the mayor ex officio to be a member of the school committee whether the mayor decides to attend or not to attend over the course of time has been the prerogative of that mayor I know that the vice chair have been very active as leading these meetings for many many many years on and off when Mayors have other things other obligations other responsibilities other conflicts uh scheduling conflicts for example so or would be showing up late so we've always we always had a hand at the rudder at the school committee leading the meetings so I don't think frankly I don't know if this is going in my estimation going to kill this proposal but I don't think that this propos that this is necessary I also want to um yeah I'm not going to say that so we no that's okay no no it's it's not that so I've been while I wasn't so crazy about the harder objection to be quite honest uh we kicked the can down the road a few a few days not a huge fan of that but the counselors have their right to be able to do that and can exercise their rights and that was exercised having done that the good news behind that has given me potentially a little bit more time to consider and reconsider some of the ideas and some of the discussions that have been taking place and listening to constituents who have called or texted or emailed me and let me know what their thoughts were and I think that's important so a little bit of a little bit of distance U right frankly was a little little helpful you're welcome um having said that I I want to offer I want to offer a substitute amendment to this just to see where we all stand uh will that be order council president we will decide if it is in order so if I make the motion if someone seconds this motion then it would be in order is that how this would work uh if it is in order we'll let you know but I mean put it on sure so this the motion that I have is to remain at 7 6 school committee members that are elected six that are elected and the mayor who's ex official so is that is large and at large at large large this and I'll explain myself in if this gets a second I can explain myself a little bit more go ahead that's the motion oh six at large and the mayor six at large and the mayor everyone's elected I need a second second thank you discussion there is a motion wait wait wait there is a motion on the table it's in order properly second by councel Lon and now we open this for discussion Cela plan thank you you know learning a little bit more I'm I'm not a history expert I'm not a historian I love history and I like to read about people that were in our seats before we were here I love reading about the mayors that were here before us I love reading about and understanding and learning how we got to where we are today because it's with that context I think all of us become better leaders so while I'm not a historian and I don't know everything about the city I do enjoy listening and learning having said that here's a little bit of history about our city and how we got to this particular point I'll keep it brief there's only two times there are two Charter changes that we've had in the last 100 years one was in 1913 and with that we had we had six at large and one mayor right seven when we decided in 1983 to change the charter again the people voted for it and what was it six at large and one mayor so what changed well in 2000 or 1999 someone I think said earlier around the you you were there and you remember 2000 we get at the time frame right in that time frame the Department of Justice had what was the right term the Justice had a um a require what an injunction against the city because of voting right acts violations and wanted us to make sure that our minority population was rightfully represented at all levels of government it it changed our district seats substantially I had all of Tower Hill back in the day like the entire Tower Hill now it's up in two and the school committee went from at large to districts I think we've taken care of the problem that the doj was trying to take care of back in 1999 I look around us here I look around the school committee I think I think what that injunction was looking to accomplish was accomplished so I want to go back to where we were before we needed to change things in 1999 which was an at large school committee across the board so as res we talk about democracy we talk about how great it is to have de Democratic action right if I love three people from counselor from District A's area or the counselor from District D's area or wherever wherever it is in the city I can vote for those three people or whoever I want to vote for it opens up the entire city to a voter as as to who I would want to vote for in that and the hope the hope the hope the hope is that we are all educated voters we have done our research as voters and we've selected the person or people who we think is going to represent and do the best job for our children and for for the city that's the reason why I'm offering it there's always a counter to the argument and I'm well aware of it I'm well aware of the counter but if you start we had success for for nearly a 100 years on this before we had a change before we had a change we made a change and the change that we're supposed to do so thank you for seconding my motion any other discussions around this uh this motion which is six or large and one and the mayor no appointees so seven members any other discussions on this Madame CL all in favor please say I any n uh please uh Roo please um counil Levy no counil lant yes counil Lon yes Council Del Rosario no council Santiago yes Council mam no council Rees no council vice president Inon no council president Rodriguez I vote Yes M Fair motion fails can I make one more comment if it's okay not on this matter but on the underly motion in regard to the underly mo underline motion okay so um council president I I've heard from people who don't know where we stand on this issue I'm going to tell people where I stand so there's no confusion I think I just offered what I would be if I was King for the day what I would offer right but I'm not King for the day or any day [Music] um but compromise is difficult compromise is challenging we live in an imperfect world there's a lot of things that we like there's a lot of things I like about the infon amendment there's some things I'm not crazy about to be quite Frank with you but we need to work on a compromise I don't I want us the overriding thing is I want us to have control of our schools again that's what I want I want to make the decision I don't want to do it by default I don't want the governor I don't want the legislature I want to have our voices heard so that we can make sure that the people that we represent have their voices heard at the state legislature so so that's that is where please respect coun so the reality is is that it's not perfect but but we need to work toward getting to a place where unless something was overridingly awful overridingly awful and by the way this is not controlled by the mayor under this particular motion it's actually going through the council I'm not all that crazy about that idea to be honest with you I like the way that we do it with with respect to department heads when things come down appointments are made and then we ratify them up or down I like that better but that's not what this amendment is this amendment is apparently we're going to be getting names from individuals and going through resumés and determining who the appointments are going to be that's council president pretty I'm pretty close to wrapping this up and then I'm going to be quiet for a long time I you them okay so anyway that that's the reason why and I just I just want and and the other thing too one last thing while I've got the floor real quick there's been talk about and I and this is frustrating council president this is very frustrating and I share on the other side of this barrier right here many of the comments from the people who spoke or have spoken regarding where is the state where is the state on this and and it it it it troubles me that um that we don't have I'm not looking for them to tell us what to do I'm looking for advice and counsel and things we can bounce things off of that's what I would like and that's not necessarily what's happening and so we're left to do use our own best judgment on this and to me the process could have been better had we had if we had some folks from the states where we can say listen what's the number how effective is a nine person how effective is having all these other things what have you seen in other communities asking questions like that would have made this process just a little bit more improved thank you uh I want to a motion for the propose yeah take out the mayor like a president because correct clear like like the Consular by both chair and vice chair yeah to uh CL from this uh as of as as of how we have right now the mayor is not a president of the school committee by default it will be chosen it could be the mayor but it's not it's not by default he got to be elected by the members of the school committee as what I can read on this proposal Madame Vice pres infant uh uh can you based on your Amendment and based on your uh experience in the I committee there is anything that indicate otherwise Council council president I I want to there's there's there's a lot of conversation about the responsibility of of the mayor um so if if we're so I have chair person yep thank you and I also would like clarification from the charter too there's been back and forth there's a strong there's there's a strong point about holding the mayor whether this today's mayor or or mayors of the future accountable so I do have under Section a um the first uh section 5.2 section A subsection 3 chairperson the mayor Shall Serve as a seventh member of the school committee and at his chair person with full with full power to vote which right now also reflects our city Charter and if we're going to and if we're going to discuss the mayoral responsibilities then then we should be consistent so the mayor is uh is is considered as as the chair of the school committee as as for your Amendment yes all right so the friendly amendment is to remove the the the mayor as that uh as that uh as the chair and to be elected uh as part of the process and also that again that's that's sorry to you council president do you accept that Amendment no okay that's not it's not being accepted ccil president Council and at this point also with all the discussion I would like to remove my am if you accept for the mayor so no you removing your friendly Amendment that's correct if she accept it uh Madam Vice pres uh councelor Rosario have removed his friendly Amendment so you're going to have to modify the amendment if you want that part if he's not the mayor will have uh to be on the meeting I accept like like I mentioned council president if if we're going to be speaking about the M responsibilities then let's stay consistent so I accept um counter Dev Rosario's removal okay Madame Madame Madame Madame Madame CLA do you mind reading the the motion as stays just for the record was there is is the L three elected at large for twoyear terms three appointed for two-year terms the mayor and not his design so we're back to that and the mayor will be the chair of the committee yeah ccil president thank you Cil president uh I would like to uh ask Committee Member Sandra Edwards Edward attorney Edwards to uh to please go ahead I I just had a quick question uh Council llant I appreciated your history lesson but I want to speak specifically to the settlement agreement between the Department of Justice in the city of Lawrence that you referenced I believe that that went into effect on February 25th 2002 you referenced the injunction to your knowledge or anyone else on the the panel's knowledge has that injunction been lifted so I I I respectfully I don't think that it's fair the reason that the that the injunction was in place was because the Hispanic community was disenfranchised it was an act to reinfrank and I don't think it's fair to cavalierly say that we're looking at what appears to be diversity now within the city council and that means that we don't need it anymore I think that what we need to do is see if the injunction has been lifted I don't believe that it has been I did my research over the weekend in addition to doing my research I wrote a letter you also mentioned advice and counsel and I couldn't agree with you more as lawyers we know that that's important I wrote a letter to our city council asking him two specific things the first thing I asked him was whether or not he knew if the our counselor Tim hton I asked him if he knew whether or not the injunction had been lifted additional I asked him as this is drafted from the Department of Justice does the proposed construction of the school committee violate the actual settlement agreement that was entered into on February 25th 2002 I respectfully ask that we give him a chance to opine and offer his opinion on whether or not it it was and if the injunction was indeed lifted I think that in a sense we're putting the cart before the horse say we find out that the injunction wasn't lifted so we have to adhere to the settlement agreement and then we find out that as this document was written this settlement agreement was written we are required to have six elected members of the school committee then we're wasting our time and I care too much about this city to be embarrassed I think that the the problem is that we'll we'll be doing all of this and we'll we'll look like we don't even know what we're doing and we're embarrassing ourselves so could we just take a second to see what Tim hton the City attorney has to say on this we aren't we scheduled to to meet again tomorrow can I I asked him if he could give me an opinion by 7:00 tonight but in all fairness to him I sent him my missive at about 9:30 10:00 last night that's not fair to anyone to give them a day but I ask if we could just give him a minute to opine on the injunction and whether or not the settlement agreement from February 20 2002 has been violated by our proposals all right uh councelors we have uh we have a question a question that was raised to the city solicitor not to the council to the city solicitor Tim hton and uh and the school Committee Member Edwards attorney Edwards is asking the council to um to get an answer to to get our attorney's opinion on this is such a cogent issue we cannot proceed without a directive we have to know yes council president thank you school committee Edwards I think based on oh thank you councilor president I think based on and and um the participation of the school committee we should consider uh table this matter until we get an answer uh from our legal from our attorney I think is is it's logical and and I'm suggesting oh should I make a motion that we should table this and tomorrow hopefully it is important to recognize that tomorrow we have it already an scheduled special meeting for this specific mod uh the meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. the mayor the yeah uh the at that time we won't be able to have that meeting because we have early boarding that is going to go all the way on until 700 p.m. uh it's an hour delay uh but in case that this councel deite one way or another way or the hard way we we have an scheduled meeting for tomorrow but ccil president can I make a motion to table this matter or there is a motion to table second properly second no discussion on the table matters all those in favor please say I I any n roll call the roll call please I call the r um councilor Reyes no to table so you saying no motion to table until tomorrow motion to table until tomorrow until we get until we get the legal advice no to table what notice councelor marmel yes councelor Santiago yes Council Del Rosario no council lzone yes Council plant no council Levy no council vice president no council president I vote Yes count four to five four to five motion fails uh councilors president Council Council I just wanted to you know that I'm I'm glad that the school committee member has done some research and and has provided some information and made the request the question for me is timing it's the 11th Hour we've had this proposals now for a while there's been meeting for a while and while it sounds fantastic that we need to have this process answered uh by our City attorney um I don't understand why we're waiting until right up until the last minute to take a vote that we're going to have this discussion because I think for those of us who've been following this discussion and at least talking to folks um timing is of the essence on something like this and I realize we're going to say it's just one more day it's just one more day and council president like to have some order in the in the chambers please thank you so just one more day well it's it's it's it's part of this is the delay council president and so it's not an easy decision and I I think all of us can agree with this I think there's some counselors who on the front lines we're all on the front lines some more than others right because some have St stuck out their necks and put out an amendment or stuck out their necks and try to tweak something and try to find some sort of compromise and I respect that I really do and so but but we need to make a decision cons president take cons uh and I'm going to respond to half of just just focus on The Mod yes uh we are we were presented with a legal question and I think it's in the best interest of this um item to get a legal answer from our attorney uh thank you for um school committee Edwards that actually did a research but I was personally not aware of that I knew about the history and I knew about the injunction but I didn't know it was uh it was not live I don't know if it's lifted so if we don't get an answer it we are wasting our time because basically besides taking the vot away from the resident of Lawrence we also maybe doing something looks like it's illegal or something that we're not supposed to be doing as a city council uh members SO waiting one day it's not going to kill the motion because the motion is still at the table but at least it's going to give the council a legal answer thank you council president all right no problem if there is no more uh questions U I'm ready to call the the call the questions councelor Council M um this is out of curiosity there was already a Motion in the table and we continuously accept other motions so I'm just trying to understand the process as to why do we continue to delay the first motion that was presented before us and yet we're accepting other motions without an issue that's uh that's actually in order you can put a a motion on top of a motion and then on top of the motion uh and then there is also friendly amendments those are part of the process we're making decisions on those other motions and yet um which is basically a modification of the underline motion and instead of just doing as a friendly Amendment if the proposed then is not um is not accepting it as a friendly Amendment and then the council will have the right to amend a motion by a vote we ready to call the Motions if it is no other questions councelors allos please say I I any Nam well but I mean she's not here we I call the question any Nam no okay roll call councils this is on the underlying motion for the three elected three appointed in the mayor um made by Council Infante and seconded by Council Del Rosario quite a long time ago um I'm going to start with Council Levy who is not here I note her as absent um Council yes Council no council Del Rosario yes councilor Santiago no councilor marmel yes Council Selena Reyes yes Council vice president fonte yes council president Rodriguez I vote no what's the count the count is 5 to4 53 no it couldn't be 5 to4 because it's 531 yeah so motion carries but you're doing a home rule petition home rule petion two3 of your vote councelor coun Lev vote call the call call for counc ly the underline motion parliamentary procedure you can be objected councelors just to uh go on the parliamentary procedures that is a a motion to um to to counciler you want to make a motion to reconsider anyone on the prevailing side any anybody on the prevailing side to reconsider no the prevailing side would beone anyone that voted no you're on the prevailing side because the motion failed there'll be Council lzone Council of Santiago council president any of you could make a motion to reconsider and would have to be seconded um I can make a motion you cannot make a motion you're right I apologize yeah um so Council Lan or Council Santiago if you would choose to make a motion to have that item reconsidered but otherwise Council Levy was absent and her vote is recorded as absent any counselors that would like to reconsider no counselors that would like to reconsider all right motion [Applause] fails councelor at this point at this point the amendment and the proposal that was presented in front of us has failed any other motions any other motions motion to adjourn it's that's there's a motion on the on the floor [Applause] second there a motion on the floor properly second all please say I guys have it for e e e for