Quincy City Council: February 2, 2026

Thank you.

I'm gonna call the February 2nd, 2026 City Council meeting to order. Calling the role of the members by City Clerk.

Ash, DiBona, Hubley, Jacobs, McKee, Riley, Ryan, Walker, Yen, President Mahoney, present. Nine members, you have a quorum.

If we could all just take a moment of silence. and if we could stand and .

To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Madam Clerk, could you read the open meeting law, please? Pursuant to the open meeting law, any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium. Attendees of the effort advise that such recordings or transmissions are being made, whether perceived or unperceived, by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible.

Thank you. At this portion, we're going to be opening up an open forum, but before we do, I know that Councilor DiBona wanted to say a few words, and then we'll come back for the rules for opening them up.

Thank you, Madam President. I really appreciate it. I just want to publicly say to everyone out here, this was given to a text message to the Patriot Ledger, Peter Bandino, as well as emailed to the Quincy Sun as well as text message to Joe Catalano on QATV AM Quincy. A few days, it was two days after the last meeting on Tuesday the 13 days ago today and this is what I wrote. I'm not against public participation or input. In fact, I plan to vote in favor of it. However, I believe we need clear guidelines regarding the procedures for the public open forum. I need more time to review those details and the matter will be discussed at the next meeting which is here tonight. So I'll let the papers know that. I want to thank the Quincy Sun for writing it in theirs. I want to thank Joe Catalano. on QATV AM, Quincy on QATV.

He had spoken about it P2B. He did not write it in his article. So a lot of the public does not know that. So I also... Madam President Mahoney, as well as Councilor McGee had gotten the same information. So just wanna let everybody know out there on the public participation, I objected to it last time, 13 days ago, not against it. I just needed some clear guidelines to the procedural input of what we do up here tonight. So with that, I want to thank Madam President Mahoney for letting me speak beforehand. and I'd like to thank the public for giving me the opportunity to speak about it tonight. So as for the other ones, we'll talk about that when we get to them. Thank you.

All right, thank you very much, Councilor DiBona. Councilor Yen. Yes.

Madam President, to ensure this meeting is conducted in an orderly and consistent manner, it's important that all councillors have a shared understanding of our rules. To date, we have not received a clear interpretation from the City Clerk regarding Rule 23b concerning objection, which was heavily used by one Councilor and contested by another Councilor at the last meeting. For councillors to follow the rules properly and for the public to understand our process, clarifying this interpretation is essential to transparency and orderly proceedings. So, Madame President, through you to Madame Clerk. the parliamentarian. Is it correct that rule 23B regarding objection applies only when a measure is being passed

all stages of legislation in a single session and does not apply to normal procedures such as a referral to committee or discussion. Yes or no?

No.

Madam President, and through you, Madam Committee Clerk, could you note down the exchange of this fully in the meeting minute as a record? Thank you. Madam President, may I explain?

Thank you. Councilor Yen, if somebody objects to something coming out, There is no deliberation. It stops immediately. And that measure gets pushed to the next agenda. That's an objection to whatever Councillors want to object. there is supposed to be no talk of it after the objection and then it goes to the next agenda.

Thank you. As the Council President, I'm going to stop because this is not on our agenda and it's not for open forum. However, I will say that for... Item number 23, when it's being voted on in the same night, that's where the objection does count. It was going into committee, so the objection wouldn't be able to stand further going forward. So moving on. Residents for open forum and public comment. First of all, I want to welcome everybody who's here this evening, and we are going to have open forum. Several of you have already signed up. There is a sign-up sheet at the at the podium out here, but we'll be calling them in order as we've gone. So we're asking people to sign in at the podium, providing your name, address, if you're a Quincy resident, and the reason, if you have a reason for being here tonight. When you're speaking, we're gonna ask you to spell your name. just for the record because sometimes we don't get the full spelling of the name. Each speaker will have three minutes and you cannot give your time to someone else. The total public comment will be about 20 minutes.

If we have more people tonight, we will extend it, but we won't be extending it for two hours. We're going to ask you to keep your comments respectful. And then we're also going to ask the council, let you know that the council will listen attentively to the people who are speaking to us, but we cannot engage in a back and forth Thank you all for joining us this evening and I look forward to hearing your comments and the first person after this person signs in will be Hank Dondero.

Good evening. My name is Hank Dondero, D-O-N-D-E-R-O, 65 Manitowoc, Quincy, obviously. First thing I would like to do is congratulate all the new councilors on getting elected. I mean that sincerely. However, I think what has taken place is that it was an election that exploited out a low voter turnout with significant input to absentee ballots, write-in ballots, and also early voting. That's a comment. I have no grounds or basis for it, but that's the beginning of it. You're gonna have to excuse me. I'm a little bit older. I have to write notes down and do things like that. I'm 80 years old, lived in the city all my life. Property that we live on has been in the family for 100 years, okay?

So I'm not a person that's just recently shown up on the scene. My credentials, those are my credentials. I am a taxpayer, as everyone likes to state. What's really bothering me is the vitriol and the bottom line nastiness that's gone on over the last two years regarding statutes, regarding pay raises. You know, it's just created some major issues, not only with individuals, but dividing the city. We see this in a national level. We see it in the state level. And now we're seeing it on the city level. and I'll tell you something, you can win the Super Bowl one year, but you sure as hell better be able to win it again the next year because there's gonna be a lot more competition.

There was a recent incident where someone injected themselves, actual Councillor injected themselves into a situation that shouldn't have taken place. My comment on that is stay in your own lane. Simple as that. There's going to be a situation where what's evolving is going to be one of these competitions where there's going to be a lot of people getting wet. And I don't mean that for joke or anything else. I do have a number of different things to say, but without knowing what we have for time left, because there's no timer up there, which there should be. Madam President, oh, oh, all right. Madam President is in charge, so we're gonna have to trust you, okay? I don't have any problems with that, but I'd like to see a timer. I'm gonna cut this short.

just a comment about this open forum with a limited number of speakers that's going to be instituted. You're gonna have seven speakers with three minutes each, ultimately 21 minutes. It's supposed to be an open forum. You're gonna curtail people's ability to speak, number one. If there are 30 people here that want to be heard, 30 people should be heard. Shouldn't matter how late in the night this whole process takes. That's your job. That's our job as constituents to make you aware of what's going on and what the situation is. And with that, I'm going to conclude. I know. Good job, buddy. Thank you. Bye.

So now we have Joe Hershey is next.

Joe Heresy, Jackson Street, H-E-R-O-S-Y. I'd like to speak in favor of rescinding the raises for the Mayor and City Council. These raises were passed without any real public mandate or democratic process. The organized opposition to these raises shows that people in Quincy are ready for serious changes in our government. I'm hopeful in the days of sitting quietly in city council while politicians talk down to the people who live here are over. Shutting down a huge raise to the ruling class of Quincy is a big step in that direction. I'm also hopeful that this opening will help us address the needs and rights of working class families in Quincy around the costs of housing. City government has largely been organized around real estate deals that have increased the number of housing units while rents and property taxes for residents have gone way up.

How many long-time working Quincy families have been pushed out by their landlords seeking to get higher paying tenants or sweet deals from developers? How many small businesses have been forced out? How many seniors have been forced to sell their homes due to property tax bills that are higher than Social Security payments? How many people from Quincy have ended up homeless just so outside interest can interest increase their capital gains? Further discussion, public input, and the cooperation of city officials who have access to the needed information will help answer these questions. We can make sure that working people of Quincy are able to stay here. I say the new city council should form a citizens commission of working class people that can collect our grievances so that the city can better respond to them. Let's unite in solidarity on these issues that affect us all. Thank you.

So the next one we have is Veronica Bertrand.

Good evening. My name is Veronica Bertrand. It's B-E-R-T-R-A-N-D as in David, 195 Copeland Street. I'm a lifelong resident of Quincy, having lived in Ward 4 for 54 of my 67 years. I am married to Susan Cullen. Our daughter attends North Quincy High School. and a retired letter carrier, spending the last 16 years of my career in the North Quincy Post Office. My spouse and I are homeowners, taxpayers, citizens who deserve to be heard with our concerns and disappointments. of our city leaders in government. So I wrote this before the last election. I was not allowed to present it to the city council because even though tonight is scheduled to be 20 minutes, it's 20 minutes longer than we ever had in the last two years to speak to the city council. This last year has been particularly hard to bear, especially the following. Our debt has grown to $1.6 billion.

That's $16,000 each of the 100,000 people living in the city, including children, and others who do not pay property taxes. Real estate taxes have increased for many. Hidden projects announced after having been decided and paid for without taxes, such as saint statues. the mayor's rewriting of history with his callous and despicable remarks regarding concerning pedophilia in the LGBT community going as far to say that the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston's abuse scandal was mostly a homosexual issue and disparaging teachers and coaches by saying they have a higher percentage rate than the church. nevermind that there were nearly 35 times as many teachers as priests in the United States in the 70s, there were 100 times as many teachers as priests today.

he made a half-hearted apology to the Quincy teachers indicating that he never meant to disparage anyone, but also added comments indicating that only 4% of the church case was pedophilia and 80% was same-sex post-puberty attraction. That statement completely trivializes the suffering of hundreds of teenage boys who were impacted, insinuating that they chose sexual relationships with their priests Those who were charged with administering sacraments, leading the congregation in worship, being spiritual advisors, and promoting the teachings of Jesus Christ further had taken a vow of abstinence. This is simply repulsive. While the last year has been especially egregious, unfortunately, the Mayor has pushed boundaries before relative to racism, homophobia, misogyny, and questionable financial issues, along with a variety of remarks, including the following. buying several properties including many by eminent domain at one price and then selling them to developers for less.

Conveniently hiring a firm just a few months before the 2023 mayoral election to analyze the mayor's pay and paying them $10,000 to do so when a Google search or a few phone calls would have found the same information and ultimately proposing a 79% raise for himself that would make him the highest paid mayor in the United States. Let me say that again, the highest paid mayor in the United States.

Veronica, you're coming up on three minutes. You've actually passed the three minutes.

I've passed the three minutes? Okay. So can I just say that I want to congratulate the new council and I'm looking forward to changes in all these matters. Thank you. Thank you.

So the next person I have on the list is Kathy Thrun.

Hi, my name's Kathy Thrun. I live at 234 Everett Street in Wollaston. First of all, I wanted to say thank you. You have a great slate of ordinances, and I'm really looking forward to hearing more about them. And I support the vast majority of them. First of all, in transparency, this public forum, easier access to information, because those FOIA requests are a pain in the butt, Supporting QATV, improving municipal website, all good transparency moves. Maybe we'll even get a decent sound system instead of gold drapes. Raises. Okay, yes, I'm in favor of repealing the raises. Now, I would like to see a process of providing raises to elected officials. because the Mayor position and the City Council positions do indeed deserve a raise, but there has to be an appropriate process.

Fiscal responsibility, okay, all of them, great. This city needs a lot more fiscal responsibility. Fiscal safeguards, strengthening of the city auditor, questioning short-term rentals, well done. However, I'd like to see the ordinance concerning the city auditor move into committee and into this chamber quickly. There is no time left. Jacob's question. Resolution, what we can learn from this year's snowstorm is a good start. I did send you all an email that I'd also like us to pay better attention to public sidewalks. As I walked here through the city hall the pathways are clear.

As I walked through the cemetery the other day the pathways are down to the pavement. I think that public sidewalks, particularly those used by children deserve the same level of attention. I would also like to have more clarity around Rule 23. I was confused two weeks ago. If we don't have a clear steps of how to deal with that particular objection, then I feel like those rules have to be amended. They should define the scope, the steps, what happens next, because I was confused. So you've got a little over 20 meetings left. So the next thing I would very, and the last thing I'm going to say. I would very much like to see is a schedule of those committee meetings.

We need that schedule so that we can start moving because a little over 20 meetings ain't no time at all. Thank you very much.

Thank you. So we just have two more people on this list. I just wanna make sure if anybody wants to speak, we just need you to come up and sign into the sign-on sheet. Joanne Collins is the next speaker.

Good evening, my name is Joanne Collins. C-O-L-L-I-N-S, I live at 88 Hillside Ave in Wollaston. Oh, my credentials. I was born and raised in Quincy, went through all of the Quincy public schools, graduated in Quincy, got married in Quincy, had children in Quincy. not that you need to, to be able to speak. I want to thank the council for allowing public comment, period, at a time when there's so much misinformation circulating online about what's happening in our city, this space is allocated for direct resident input, and it is incredibly, incredibly important. Hearing from residents helps bring clarity, transparency, and accountability to our local government When citizens' voices matter more than ever. So once again, I want to say thank you for allowing public input.

Jocelyn Setney was the next person.

Hello, my name's Jocelyn Sedney. I live at 85 Monroe Road here in Quincy. And I actually have sort of a specific question. And I'm not sure what the mechanism is for me to convey that to all of you or for me even to get an answer to my question. but it involves payments by Quarry Hills under their lease to the city of Quincy. As you may all know, every quarter Quarry Hills sends to the city a group of documents that shows how much money they have made, how much money they owe the city. They go through with a great deal of specificity as to why they believe they owe what they owe. In the fourth quarter of 2023, I was reviewing the information provided by Quarry Hills and in that year

the total rent that should have been paid to the city was $863,290.89. The city received $128,719.95 because Corey Hills deducted from that $863,000 the amount that they paid in rent for the first quarter, the second quarter, and the third quarter. And that's why we ended up with 128. Now that year, the golf course fees were in excess of $6 million. The clubhouse fees were in excess of $18 million. and yet we got paid $128,000. I can't see anywhere in the lease that allows Quarry Hills to deduct from that last quarter rent payment, the rent payments that they paid for the first, second and third quarters. I sent an email to a number of different people in the city.

I asked to have a response just to explain to me, perhaps I'm not an accountant, perhaps there's something there that I don't know. I read the lease. I can't see that it's permissible for them to deduct that. I went back and looked at the figures for 2020, 2021, 2022, and the same thing happened in the fourth quarter. I have a copy of that page where Quarry Hills sets forth their computation of their rent and I have 10 copies. I'd love to be able to send this around to each of you. so that you can see sort of what I'm talking about. At the bottom is the $863,000 rent, and then they take off the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, essentially giving themselves credit for the amount of money they paid us for rent for the first, but I don't understand it. And I never got a response from anybody from the city, and I'd love to have an answer to that question. Can I help? You can just leave it out there.

We'll get it. If you just leave it on the table right there, I'll make sure everybody gets it. Thank you. You're welcome. So I recognize Bill Zamzo came up to sign in, so Bill, you're up.

Penn is dead. Hi. William Farrell. I live at 43 Corey Street in Quincy. First of all, I would like to thank you for having the public comment period. I think it's important. I realize at some point it could get out of hand if you have a hundred people who want to speak but the process of not allowing anyone to speak or even having people who represent groups be able to bring things to the attention of the council is really, really a bad idea. And I think we have a good start here for something. If it does start to get out of control, I would hope you would have some situations so at least people could have a way to maybe sign up ahead of time to guarantee that certain people could have an opportunity to express the opinions, especially the opinions of large groups of people.

I would also like to say that I'm still very much against the idea of the raises. I'm not against raises. public employees need to be paid well and also paid well in that they're working for their constituents, not necessarily depending upon campaign contributions or gifts or friends. But the raises that went through were just ridiculous. They were just beyond belief. I think we have to have a situation we can't just say, oh, well, that's already happened. Let's forget about it. We really can't forget about it any more than we can forget about the huge debt we're up against. So I would like to say we very much push the idea that we should try and do anything that can be done to rescind those raises and also anything that can be done to prevent huge expenditures for the city from going forward that aren't necessary. I realize a lot of things are necessary.

I'm not talking about shutting down programs, especially some of the park programs, things the city does. that are good, those aren't costing us millions and millions of dollars. But I think the council needs to get control again. I see a lot of people who I think here now are trying to get control of it, and I wish you all well. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Bill Samsa, 46 Children's Circle, Quincy. First off, I'd like to thank the council for opening the floor. Historically, it's only been a couple times a year that that's been allowed, and I'd like to see this practice move along. At the same time, Councilor DiBona, I have to say I do appreciate you pointing out that you are in favor of an open forum. However, my suggestion would have been that probably your concern about particulars is really something that should have been addressed it being before the committee. I also will give you some slack and I look forward to your explanations on the five other items you decided to object to.

Can we give it to general conversations, not directing it to any one particular Councilor?

Okay, then I will readjust my comments. Next, in terms of 23B, I have to agree with the Council President on that read. 23B, as near as I can tell, is clear. It is only applicable for an objection during an attempt to move something through committee during the same meeting. Also, I found it odd looking through that 23B again and again and again. The reality is those items weren't for the council. They weren't brought in. How do you object to something that's not available to object to? And I find the supporting of that view curious to a level of reaching Alice in Wonderland and going down the rabbit hole. Thank you for your time. Thank you.

Does anybody else want to speak?

Thank you.

If you could just give us your name and spelling of your name, please.

Do you want me to sign in first or after?

You can sign in. It's okay. You can just give us...

Good evening, Council. My name is Stuart Rowe. I'm a resident of Wollaston at 53 Woodbine Street. I wanted to quickly thank you for the opportunity to comment publicly. I wanted to echo my neighbor in Wollaston just on the the comment regarding the clearing of sidewalks after a winter storm. I commend the city for the job that it did to clear the street so quickly and effectively. I will say though that snow removal or lack thereof greatly limits the mobility of Quincy residents, particularly senior citizens, children, and people with disabilities, primarily on sidewalks. I have four requests. Number one, to update the snow removal request on the city website to include obstructed sidewalks and crosswalks. Right now, it is all related to road clearance, and it just says other, so I would like specific drop downs for that issue.

I'd like to request for the increase of the enforcement of the removal requirements, particularly on businesses. Just a personal thing, my neighbor is in her 60s and she walks to work at Marshall's on Newport. and has to cross several large ice mounds due to the lack of clearance outside of Wendy's and Marshalls and the Newport Plaza and then it continues down to Stop and Shop. So I think it does talk in the code about enforcement, but I'm not sure how thoroughly it is enforced. Third, I request the publishing of a publicly accessible map of the sidewalks that shows the responsibility for clearing between the city of Quincy, private landlords, commercial companies, and the MBTA, because right now you call the MBTA, they say it's the city, you call the city, they say it's the MBTA. There's a lot of ambiguity near those boundary points.

And ultimately I would like to see this city increase the number of sidewalks and particularly crosswalks cleared by the city. Imagine if we left the, the plowing to individual citizens. We wouldn't get very far. That's basically our approach to clearing sidewalks. The responsibility is on you know a couple thousand people to do the right thing and there's always going to be people who do not follow through with that and that interrupts everyone significantly so I think there's definitely money that could be reallocated to this from won't go into those other expenditures now, but those are my requests. Thank you.

Is there anybody else who'd like to speak at open forum? Okay, it's going once, going twice. Anybody else? All right, so we're going to close this portion of the meeting, so open forum's closed. Thank you for everybody who came up and spoke, and we will be having this on the agenda going forward. Thank you. Moving on to item number two.

2026-008, order amending council rules establishing public participation procedures for the city council meetings. Councilor Mahoney.

So that was introduced by me the last time we were here. And that is simply just what we're doing here tonight. We're having open forum. So what we'd like to do is put this into rules and have a discussion in rules. to make it permanent. As Council President, I can have open forum on every agenda if I so choose, but what I'd like to have it be as part of the Council for the public in the rules book so that we will be putting into rules. Councilor DiBona, you did ask a few questions, so I'm just going to answer that. In this session that we just did, signing in, providing your name and information, speaking for three minutes on the record, not being able to transfer. being respectful and listening is pretty much the most of the things that we're asking to do. So if anybody has any, I'd like to ask for somebody to make a motion for me to put this into the Rules Committee. Councilor Riley?

Yes, I'd like to. I'd like to make a motion that we put this into the Rules Committee at the next opportunity.

Do I have a second? Second. Second by Ryan. On the motion, does anybody have any questions? Councilor DiBona.

Thank you, Madam. Thank you, Madam President Mahoney. I want to thank the entire group of sponsorship on this. It has all the rules right here. You can get it online. I was looking for this at the last particular meeting. and there was nothing in there. So I just wanna thank my fellow colleagues for putting this in writing. We'll deliberate a lot more about it in the next particular meeting, I guess. So thank you.

Is this in all those in favor? All those in favor? Anybody against? No, so the ayes have it. So that's gonna go into rules. Moving on to item number three.

2026013, order repeal of the Mayor's Raise Ordinance Number 2024-055, Councilor McKee.

City Council refer this order to the Ordnance Committee for discussion and a vote. I'm sorry, could you repeat that? Sorry, I move that we refer this order to the Ordinance Committee for discussion and a vote.

Do I have a second on that? Second. Second by Councilor Jacobs. On the motion.

So I have a number of orders tonight seeking to undo the raises that the previous Council passed for the Mayor and Council and to calculate new raises in a more transparent, data-centered process. I hope that these orders will go into committee so we can discuss them fully, but for now I want to briefly explain the reasoning behind the orders. The previous council voted the raises into law without a single public hearing and without reviewing the salaries of any similar elected positions. This process, or lack thereof, eroded the public trust and inspired several of us here to run for office. The orders I'm submitting tonight are an effort to rebuild that trust by going back to the drawing board and following the transparent and robust process we think should have happened all along.

I hope my fellow councillors will vote to send these orders to the ordinance committee so we can redo the process by which we calculate politicians' raises and thereby restore some of the faith that thousands of Quincy residents lost when their representatives ignored their concerns and pleas for public hearings.

So we have a motion on the table, and it's been seconded. And this is going into order, so we have to have a roll call for that. So all those in favor? Anybody against? Okay, so we're moving that into ordinance. Moving on. Number four, 2026.

The council raises ordinance 2024-056, Councilman McKee.

be referred to ordinance committee.

So there's a motion to move. Do we have a second? are you seconding or?

I have a comment. Okay. Okay. So I just want to explain to the the public why this order is saying starting at the beginning of the 2028 council term, this repeal the councilor's rights. because I heard some people ask why don't you repeal the councilor's raise from this time since now the councilor's pay raise already kicked in. So some interpreted that, oh, your counselors just want to pocket your own pay raise and only repeal it. start at the beginning of 2028. So here I would like to explain according to the

According to the Quincy City Charter, Chapter 43, Section 17A, salaries of mayor, city manager, and council. There is an item saying no increase or reduction in the salaries of mayor or city councilors shall take effect during the year in which such increase or reduction is voted. This is MGL chapter 43 section and Quincy City Charter is even more strict It said no increase or reduction in the salaries of mayor or city councilors shall take effect during the term in which such increase or reduction is voted. So even we are repealing the councilor's race right now, it can only take effect next year, according to MGL.

and can only take effect next term according to Quincy City Charter. So that's why this ordinance say starting at the beginning of 2028 council term. And people ask them, how about this year? This year, we counselors are forced to take these paychecks. So, for that reason, I know several councilors, including myself, have decided to donate our portion of councilor's raise to non-profit organizations. and... We made that decision even during last year's campaign. Once elected, we would donate our portion of councilor's raise to non-profit organizations. We are not eating our words.

I just feel it's important to explain this to the public to ensure transparency and gain public trust. Thank you.

So we have a motion on the table and we need a second for that motion. Councilor Riley seconds it. Is there any discussion on the motion? All those in favor of moving this ordinance? Anybody against denying? All right, that's gonna go into ordinance. Moving on to item number five.

2026-015, order repeal annual raises for elected officials, ordinance CO number 2024-090, Councilor McKee.

I'd like to refer this to committee for discussion. Oh, sorry, ordinance committee.

So it's made as a motion?

Yes, I move to do that.

Do we have a second? Seconded by Councilor Ryan. All those in favor? Aye. Anybody opposed? The ayes have it. Moving on to number six. 20-26-1-6.

Order to have the city solicitor answer questions regarding Ray's deferments.

I move that the City Council refer this order to the Ordinance Committee for discussion and a vote.

Do I have a second on that motion? Second. Council Hubley? All those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Okay, the ayes have it. Moving on to number seven.

2026-029, Ordinance Repeal of the Mayor's Raise, Ordinance Number 2024-055. Councilor McKee.

Councilor, refer this order to the Ordinance Committee for discussion and a vote.

OK, is that the motion? Yes. OK, the motion's made by Councilor McKee. Do we have a second? Ryan, all those in favor? Any opposed? Moving on to number eight.

2026-030, Ordinance Repeal of Councilor's Raises, Ordinance 2024-056.

I move that the City Council refer this order to the Ordinance Committee for discussion and a vote.

Motion made by Councilor McKee. Do I have a second? Hubley. All those in favor? Aye. Anybody against?

OK.

Moving on to number nine.

2026031, Ordinance Repeal Annual Raises for Elected Officials. Ordinance, Council Order Number 2024-090.

I move that the City Council refer this order to the Ordinance Committee for discussion and a vote.

Do I have a second? Councilor Yip, do you want?

Thank you, Madam President. I just want to explain a little bit about the objections now, now that we have them going into committee. The first orders that were done two weeks ago, 13 days ago, had not much substance inside them. the verbiage of the orders. Tonight, they're rewritten. Councilor McGee rewritten them. have a lot of factual information in these new ordinances. So just to let you know, the reason why the objections came out was their interpretation of basically having a situation, and I'm very happy that Councilor Liang just explained everything that pertained to the last council also pertains to the new council. any raises, increase or decrease cannot be done in that same term. So I'm glad you said that. Take that a step further, essentially in the order that I got some

I guess I could say factual legal advices, the repeal could have been where no one gets anything. The repeal would be the mayor would get actually nothing. the counselors up here would actually go to nothing. So they're rewritten correctly. Imagine that, going to nothing. but the interpretation of the law can be that situation. So I wanna thank Councilor McGee for rewriting and really doing her homework on this because a lot of the information that's in there is exactly that was constituted on the conflict of interest slash ethics from the state level. So I want to thank my colleagues for the rewriting and the co-sponsorship of it. But that explains it. When I object, It's end of conversation. There's no having a conversation about it after I object. So I'm explaining it now that very happy that my colleagues have rewritten these.

So that's basically my answer to a lot of folks that were not understanding the explanation behind it. So thank you, Councilor McGee, for rewriting these. They look good. Thank you.

Anybody else on the motion? but then we're gonna move that on to a vote. It's gonna go into the ordinance committee. All those in favor? Any opposed? Okay, we're all set then. We're gonna add it to ordinance. Okay, moving on to item number 11. Number 10.

I'm sorry, tell me. 20-26-032, order requiring disclosure of tenancies, lease terms, and financials of the Monroe Building. Thank you very much.

So this is an order that I put through, and I want to thank Councilor McGee, Councilor Ryan, Councilor Riley, and Councilor Yuan. The City of Quincy purchased the Monroe Building located at 1227-1259 Hancock Street in 2021 for municipal and or institutional uses. The city of Quincy has therefore become a landlord and the city is responsible for leasing, managing, and maintaining that property using public funds. Residents of the City of Quincy own the Monroe Building and are asking for transparency regarding the use, tenants, and financial performance of this city-owned property. and the City Council has a duty to provide that fiscal oversight to ensure the city property is managed transparently, responsible and in the public interest. We are asking for the Chief Financial Officer in coordination with the City Solicitor and any other Department, Board, Commission, Authority or agent responsible for the management of leasing of the Monroe Building, shall prepare and submit a written report within 30 days.

The order applies to the city-owned Monroe Building exclusively. There's also a parking lot that's part of this at 1259, which is across the street from, I just forgot the name of the restaurant. Mason's. Mason's. So that would be included as well. What we're looking in this report is for the name of the tenant, the occupant, suite and unit identification, use of space. Municipal Educational Office Commercial Storage or Other Square Footage Occupied lease or occupancy start dates, end dates and including renewal options, current base rent, rent escalation, schedule and any additional recurring charges, concessions or abatements or rent forgiveness, Security Deposits or any terms, legally exempt information redacted, any arrears or outstanding balances owed to the city, copies of the executed leases, amendments, license, occupancy agreements governing the property use.

The report shall summarize vacant space within the property, total rent received, billed and collected, operating maintenance costs by the city, net fiscal impact to the property of the city budget, all non-exempt records produced pursuant to this order shall be transmitted to the Clerk's office and made publicly available. The report shall be reviewed publicly at the City Council oversight meeting within 30 days of the submission of this tonight. If any provision of this order is held invalid, the remaining provisions shall remain effective, meaning that you can't say you didn't finish the report if you're missing one piece of it. We want it all, but we would take it in pieces if we have to. So we're going to be moving this into oversight. I need somebody to make a motion for me. Councilor Ryan, make a motion to?

I motion to move this to oversight committee.

All right. Seconded by Councilor Yuen. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? the ayes have it. Thank you.

Moving on. Number 11, 2026033, Resolved Review of Policies, Procedures, and Enforcement of Short-Term Rental Regulations. Councilor O'Reilly. Councilor O'Reilly.

Thank you. I'm introducing this so that we can take a look at the short-term rentals in the City of Quincy. I know we have some regulations in place and we have people who are operating and trying to work within the framework of those rules. We also have people who are defying them. The city recently prevailed in a Superior Court case for a repeat offender who just refused to adhere to the rules. So what I'd like to do is to bring this into oversight committee so that we can take another look at the rules, help the people that want to adhere to them do so, and perhaps even offer some improvements. So if we could, I'd like to make a motion that we move this to oversight committee.

Seconded by, motion made by Councilor Riley, seconded by Councilor Yuan. On the motion, does anybody have anything on the motion? I'm going to go for a vote. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? OK. Moving that into.

Number 12, 2026034, resolution upholding dignified disclosure and productive communication in public meeting regulations. Riley.

Councilor Riley. Thank you. This was something that many of us attended our first Mass Municipal Association conference. and the Dignity Index came as a result of the keynote speaker Timothy Shriver who put together this framework and it has been adopted by a number of communities, organizations. I didn't have as much detail in the order as I would have liked because I did have to seek copyright permission to even reference it more specifically, which I now have. So I think the best thing would be if I could motion to move this to Community Engagement Committee, and we can discuss it further, but I think it works very nicely with the open forum that's been introduced to allow us to do so in a dignified manner. I think community engagement.

Community engagement. Do we have a second? Second. Councilor Ash, second. On the motion, does anybody have any questions or comments? So we're going to take a vote on that. All those in favor? Any opposed? The ayes have it.

Moving on. Number 13, 2026035, Resolution Urging Passage of Massachusetts House Bill, House 91 and Senate Bill Hubley. Councilor Hubley.

Yes. Thank you, President Mahoney. So one note of housekeeping, Senate 41 was actually changed to Senate 2556 before it entered Ways and Means. So if we can make that small adjustment to our language. My good friend Stacey from the State House pointed that out, so thank you, Stacey. So this resolve comes actually as a, sorry, as a suggestion from one of my constituents, Jennifer McDonough. Early days, one of my first careers, I was back in cable television back in 1987, March 23rd, 1987. and back then QATV was referred to as local origination or LO for short. This is back when I first met Betty Campbell and the whole crew years and years ago. and so aside from the fact that it was spun out into its own entity, I think that was in the 90s,

it's effectively stayed the same in terms of its funding mechanism. And so I think these bills are actually right in time to evolve. the funding mechanisms for it. Basically, they get money from the cable companies and that's what funds the operation. Now, the industry itself, which I was in for about 30 years, has evolved quite substantially from pure linear broadcast television to nonlinear to a la carte streaming, all the above that we all kind of know and love today. but what hasn't changed is the funding source for that. And so a lot of these programmers, Netflix, so forth, don't contribute anything to the local production. And so these bills seek to resolve that. One thing I did want to point out is that while the industry has changed a lot, QATV without a big change to their funding has kept pace. They've adapted to the non-linear, more on-demand, more streaming infrastructure

and to their credit, they've done it without a substantial investment. So one of the things that's important to me and many people I know is that QATV really tells the story of our city. It also enables people who otherwise wouldn't be able to participate in parades and other events to bring that content right into their living room. and so it serves a very valuable purpose. It also allows people to learn video editing and all types of things. My son went through that program as well. And I'm going to be dating myself here a little bit, but much like how WJDA used to be the soundtrack of many of our mornings back many years ago with the familiar voice of Joe Catalano back in the day, some of you are nodding on this one. It has this very recognizable voice. Today, AM Quincy basically serves that same function. It's kind of the soundtrack of my morning. It's where I drink my coffee and hear what Joe has to say early in the morning.

I love their programming, although he's no longer flanked by Herb Fontaine, Roy Lynn, Don Kent, Mike Logan, and the rest. but I met with Jonathan Kaleri, the Executive Director of QATV before I submitted this and he definitely appreciates the advocacy as does some of his employees. So I would hope my colleagues could join me in this resolve. So do you have a motion to vote?

Motion by Councilor Hubley. Do I have a second? Second by Councilor McKee. Does anybody have anything to say on the motion?

Ryan. It's a good start to increasing exposure of QATV. I find that it's a great program and a great outlet for many people who are stuck at home, who can't go out. to have access to what's going on in the city.

And if I could just add one thing. Tonight's resolution will be, we'll be taking a vote on that resolution and the letter will come out from the council as a whole. What I'd like to mention to people at home, if you want to write letters to yourself, to the Senate, to let them know that you're also encouraging this, because QAT and public access is an important Testament to all communities. It's not just here in Quincy. It goes through every community. And it's getting harder and harder to be able to keep this in state with the way streaming is happening and different things are happening. So we do ask for your support, too, from home. If you could write into those letters as well, that would be greatly appreciated. So with that, this is a roll call vote. Madam Clerk, could you call the roll?

Councilor Ash. Yes. DiBona, Hubley, Jacobs, McKee, Riley, Ryan, Yuan, Mahoney, 9 members. Okay. Next is number 14, 2026-036. Resolution, ordering a review of residents' interactions with City Hall and opportunities to expand accessible online municipal services. Councilor Hubley.

Sure, thank you, President Mahoney. So the city does a really good job at providing services to its residents in an over-the-counter manner here in City Hall, as well as on the phone. but there's always areas, room for improvement in anything that we do. This resolve really asks department heads to provide a list of the top reasons why people walk in the door at City Hall and make a phone call to City Hall and then to understand how many of those same things can be accomplished online for those who choose to do business in that way. This resolve by no means seeks to eliminate in-person service, but rather to enable an online option for those who prefer to do so. and freeing up valuable resources for those who prefer or really need in-person hands-on support. So with this information, the IT team who's doing great work can explore different online options to augment what we already have.

and this is first in a series of resolves that I'll be sending into the municipal tech committee that we're going to be scheduling very soon. and then we'll provide feedback to the IT team on where the opportunities are for improvements and efficiencies. That's the intention of this. So make a motion to refer it to the Municipal Tech Committee, please.

Motion made by Councilor Hubley. Do I have a second? Second by Councilor Ryan. All those in favor? I actually didn't open up to the motion, so I apologize for that on the motion.

I have a question. I would like to suggest to send this order to the committee for further debate and discussion. It's going to the committee. I saw there's a vote.

Resolution for it to go into the Munitech committee, correct? Oh, okay. I saw there's a start vote. Yeah. So we had a motion. It was seconded by Councilor Ryan. Anybody else on the motion? Seeing none. And this is all those in favor for moving. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed?

The ayes have it.

Number 15, 2026037, a resolve requesting comprehensive briefing to the City Council by the Commissioner and Superintendent of Public Works and the Director of Emergency Management regarding the City's response to the January 24-27 winter storm and any other weather-related emergencies that may occur prior to February 23, 2026. Jacobs.

Hi, yes. As most of you know, we had a storm a week or so ago. And I think that just having the superintendent of public works and the Commissioner of the DPW and the Emergency Management Director or the designee come before the council and the oversight committee just to kind of explain what happened. what their goal was, what we achieved as a community, and how we're going to move forward and learn from what happened. So I move that the council vote on resolved 20-26-037, which requests a briefing on the city's storm response at the next oversight committee meeting.

So it's a motion on the floor to move to oversight. Do I have a second? Councilor Ryan seconds on the motion. Does anybody have anything on the motion? Councilor Ryan.

I reviewed this resolve with David Jacobs because not being in any type of public service before, I am not aware of the internal work that gets done to make sure that residents see their streets plowed and snow services provided. So it's a good education for me, and that's why I firmly believe that this is a good resolution. McKee.

Maybe we can add a couple of people in addition to the ones mentioned. So maybe the code enforcement officer. I know I've gotten some complaints about businesses not clearing sidewalks. So just to understand more about that process. And also, maybe Michelle Hanley of the Elder Services Department. I saw a mention online that there's a have community service hours for high school students be used for homeowners and residents who cannot clear their own sidewalks. So maybe a couple more people.

That is a friendly amendment, too?

Yes.

OK. Councilor Jacobs, are you OK with those amendments?

Yes. Those both seem good.

Yeah, and what did you say? Of the whole. Of the whole, yeah. Everybody's in. Everybody's in favor of the whole for those changes.

I'm sorry, Elder Services. What was the other change? Elder Services.

Code enforcement. All in favor of those changes?

All in favor of the changes? Okay, everybody says yes. Okay. This is going into oversight. All those in favor? Any opposed? All right. Okay, moving on. That concludes the regular agenda items for this evening, and we're going to be moving on to the approval of previous minute meetings for January 20th, 2026. Motion approved by Councilor DiBona, seconded by... McKee, and we have Councilor Yuan.

I will be voting no on the minute. I previously asked whether the minutes could be amended to reflect what occurred regarding Rule 23b at the last meeting. My concern is not about recording debate, but about actually recording a contested procedural ruling that directly affected how multiple agenda items were handled. Rule 23B was contested and the city clerk acting as parliamentary made a ruling that allowed the objections to stand. That ruling determined the disposition of those items and caused significant confusion among councillors and the public. We have since received multiple resident inquiries seeking clarification.

As currently written, the minutes state only that objections were made without reflecting that the rules applicability was challenged and ruled upon. In my view, that doesn't fully or accurately reflect what occurred. For that reason, I can't support approving the minutes as written and would request that they be amended to more clearly reflect the procedure action taken. I would move to amend the minutes by adding the following paragraph. Councilor Yuan contested the applicability of Council Rule 23B. The city clerk, acting as parliamentarian, wrote that the objections would stand. and all the items being objected to were placed on the agenda for the next city council meeting.

We can vote on this amendment.

Are you asking for a vote on the amendment? So we're going to take a vote on the amendment, Council UN's amendment to the minutes. We're going to do that in a roll call. So adding, saying yes, we'll be adding the amended to the minutes. Voting no, we'll be leaving the minutes as is. So roll call.

And that, get a second.

Can I get a second on that? Second by Councilor Jacobs.

Councilor Ash.

If you want to see, she has it printed. So if I'm understanding correctly, Councilor Yuan objected to Rule 23 and had some back and forth, and she just wants that to be added in.

Yes.

Councilor DiBona. Yes. Hubley, yes, Councilor Jacobs, yes, Councilor McKee, yes, Councilor Riley, yes, Councilor Ryan, yes, Councilor Yuan, yes, President Mahoney, yes. Nine members. The amendment stands.

So will you pass the minutes with the amendment? Motion to approve as amended. Motion to approve as amended by Councilor DiBona, seconded by Councilor Ryan. Any on the motion? All those in favor? Any opposed? Moving on. So communications and reports to the mayor and other offices, city and boards. None. Unfinished business and proceeding meetings. None. Reports of committees? None, because we haven't had any. Presentations of petitions, memorials, and remonstrances? Okay, Councilor Ryan?

Yes, I would like to, and I hope that this doesn't become a habit that I have to do these for Squantum people, but Andrew Smeaton, age 56 of Squantum, died unexpectedly on Sunday. although he was born and raised and educated in Liverpool, England, he's made Quincy his home for the past 23 years. He is the husband of Jackie, and he has seven children, four of them are in the Quincy Public Schools. His wake is being held tonight, his funeral is tomorrow. It's really a tragic loss for the community, and there is a fundraising effort, which people can get the information through the Sweeney Brothers Funeral Home. But it's very sad, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Thank you.

Anybody else? Do you remember? We're going to stick with this. We'll move on to new business after this. So for remembrances, I just wanted to take a moment to remember Mary Terry Pescevich. Did I say that correctly? Pescevich. Pescevich. Tonight we pause to remember the life of Mary Pescevich, who passed away peacefully on January 21, 2026, at the age of 95. And I consider that young. Terry was a woman of deep faith, quiet strength, and an unwavering love for her family. She was born in Boston, but she was a proud Quincy resident for nearly 64 years. She lived a life of rooted in service, kindness, and devotion. especially to her beloved Sacred Heart Parish where she was a longtime parishioner and active member of the Catholic Women's Club. Family was a center for Terri's world. She was a devoted mother to her daughter Susan, and she was not only a mom, but a constant source of love, guidance, and strength for Susan and her extended family.

Susan's mother's faith, generosity and grace clearly lived on through Susan. and the love that she had for her family, especially for her grandchildren and the truest reflection of who she really was. Terri's faith was lived daily, bread to bread through the rosary as she had held close to her prayers and she offered those around her to her love and anyone that needed it. She believed deeply in seeing the good in others and she shared belief in her kindness through her service, her quiet way, that she made people feel welcomed and cared for. She's now reunited with her eternal peace and her beloved husband, Walter, and her love and prayers remain with those she leaves behind. For Susan O'Connor, on behalf of the City Council, please know that we are holding you and your family in our thoughts and prayers. May you find comfort in the extraordinary life that your mother lived and the faith that she carried and the love that she leaves for the lasting legacy she lives for you. And we're very sorry that you lost your moms.

Does anybody else have anything else to say?

DiBona. Councilor DiBona.

Thank you, Madam President. Just like to add a little bit to that. Just over the years, sitting next to Susan O'Connor, on this side of the well for the last 10 years. We got to talk a lot about the vacationing that she did with her family. She did 37 straight years to Aruba. with her entire family. And she went this past year and the year before. And those are those are lasting memories. Just talking to her about the interaction with the entire family. Just you have any family members out there. Every day, every second you have is cherished. And we had a lot of great conversations about this. So she's going to be dearly missed. So thank you.

Does anybody else have any memorials? Councilor Jacobs.

About Susan O'Connor's mother. I just met Miss O'Connor recently. we've only had one conversation and it was about her mother. That's how strong a relationship she had with her. So I really feel for her and their whole family.

Anybody else? Okay, moving on. I'm sorry, Councilor Ryan, do you want to add something?

I just had some new business that I'd like everyone to be aware of. and that is a new coffee shop will be opening up in Ward 4 at 279 Willard Street. and it'll be opening up in the middle of February. There will be a ribbon ceremony with the mayor. The Chamber of Commerce has been notified and I just was hoping that everyone would embrace them in the community.

Excellent, thank you very much. So just looking around to make sure there's any more petitions, memorials, or remonstrances. Nope, and we're gonna move on to motions, orders, and resolutions. McKee.

I would like to schedule ordinance and rules committee meetings for February 23rd. 6 p.m. for the first?

No, I cannot do 6 p.m. We have utilities from 6 to 6.30, so we'll be doing early to 6.30.

6.30? Okay, 6.30.

like a dual meeting?

We can do one and then the other.

Councilor Jacobs, did you want to schedule for the 23rd?

Yeah, I did.

I just didn't know. If that one's going at 630, I mean, what time is available to us? for oversight.

The council has to start at 7.30, so we can have it presented at the, we can recess and start and go back into council and recess back into it, so.

Okay, so at seven, okay. That's good. So we'll have oversight at 7 o'clock on February 23rd.

Thank you, Madam President. I believe Rules Committee is not a committee of the whole, so how do we want to schedule those so to be cognizant of who's sitting in which committee and the time?

Um, I guess it would be nice to get rules going soon so that we can get the public comment in the rules for the council. So, but I guess if we have to start at six for the public utilities, would it be possible to do rules at 5.30 and then? Does anyone have an issue with 5.30 for rules and then we could do six for the utilities? Are you on?

We can always recess back into a regular council meeting and then come back to it.

Okay. So I guess... We can work on it offline, too. We can work on it offline. Okay. We'll schedule it then offline when we figure out what is happening.

All right, so we have on the... 23rd, starting at 630, rules, ordinance, and then moving into oversight, probably closer to the regular meeting. Is there anybody else who would like to schedule any meetings?

All right. Sorry, Madam President. Yes, the public utilities will be scheduled for the 23rd at 630. Six. I'm sorry, six o'clock. Now I'm getting confused. Six o'clock for the utilities. Thank you.

That's okay. I think we're all confused right now. All right. So we'll work out the scheduling. So that's the scheduling for the committee meetings. I think we're all set with that. So do we have a motion for adjournment? Motion to adjourn by Councilor Riley, seconded by Councilor DiBona. All those in favor?

Aye.

Thank you very much everybody.

Thank you.

Thank you for watching!