City Council 06/02/2026

Calling to order this evening's meeting of the City Council of Worcester. My name is Khrystian King, the Vice Chairman of the Council. Can we all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem.

and so on.

O say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming At the twilight's last gleaming Whose broad stripes and bright stars All the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air The Bones were singing in air We moved through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet Yenway, O'er the land of the free and the home of

Once again, welcome to the Worcester City Council. Mr. Clerk, roll call.

Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. Councilor Bergman? Here. Councilor Bilotta? Here. Councilor Economou? Here. Councilor Fresolo?

Here.

Councilor Mitra? Here. Councilor Ojeda. Here. Councilor Rivera. Here. Councilor Rosen. Here. Councilor Toomey.

Here.

Mayor Petty is not present at this moment. And Council Vice Chair, Councilor King.

Yes, for folks who are tuning in, I'm the vice chairman of the committee. Mr. Mayor Joseph Petty will resume the chair upon his return. Per the charter, the vice chair assumes the duties of the mayor in his absence. As a reminder, if in the future you need to request accommodations or interpretation, You can submit those requests in advance of this meeting by contacting the city clerk's office by email at clerk at worcesterma.gov. and please we ask that those interpretations requests be received 48 hours prior if possible. I'm gonna ask the city clerk to read the virtual attendee call information and then we'll begin with public comment. Mr. Clerk.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So anybody who wishes to participate remotely, they can do so by accessing the Zoom link on the agenda or calling the phone number listed on the agenda as well. The phone number is 646 and the Zoom access code is 1613631913. Thank you, Mr.

Clerk. We're going to first go to approval of the minutes, item 3A, in order that the City Council of the City of Worcester-Hare Prize approves the minutes of the City Council meeting of May 5, 2026. Roll call, Mr. Clerk.

Brueggemann. Yes. Councilor Bilotta. Yes. Councilor Economou. Yes. Councilor Fresolo. Yes. Councilor Mitra. King. Yes.

Public participation will begin. when you approach the mic we ask that you state your name and city of residence and Mr. Clerk if you can speak to the time allotment for folks that approach the mic as well as the time allotment for folks who are petitioners.

Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. Rule 39, items of public interest at every meeting of the City Council under public participation portion of the agenda. the chair shall recognize any person seeking such recognition for the purpose of addressing the council on any eligible item on the agenda for the meeting both in person and remotely. Any person who wishes to speak on more than one agenda item shall combine their testimony for all items to one appearance at the microphone. The time for speaking should not exceed two minutes or 30 minutes for all speakers and rule 40 petitions. On the first occasion a petition appears before the City Council agenda, the primary petitioner may address the City Council for no more than three minutes on the subject of their petition.

So if you're speaking, two minutes. If you're a petitioner, three minutes, essentially. Welcome to the City Council. Please state your name and city of residence, and please reference the item you're speaking upon.

Yes, Fred Nathan Worcester. Gonna start off with number 7A, the hospital guard. When someone gets arrested and they end up having to go to the hospital, that requires a cop who's already patrolling the city to go to the hospital to guard the prisoner. And if it happens multiple times in over one shift, that is less cops that are on the city that are out there that are able to patrol and make sure we stay safe. So that is definitely a serious item. My item 21F regarding the item I put forth

that when the city gets a grant that there is absolutely no backup information. No one really knows other than what it says in here. And I think the bigger question is, it might say one thing, but does that money then in turn actually go into the general budget? Which is a thing that people need to know. And then there's one more here on page 28. What the heck? I'm sorry. I know I had something here. Oh, there we go. As far as the item about the DCU, the state legislators have to come there and have to take a tour because there definitely are some problems in there

I know some people who were there at the convention, and they tell me it's not really handicap facilities the way it should be in a public building. So they need to correct that. and that will take money.

Thank you very much. Good evening. Please state your name and city of residence and the item you're speaking upon.

Yes. Idella Hazard, the city of Worcester. There's some question about naming the ballpark or Recreation Area behind Great Brook Valley. There was a plaque placed there for Iris Ann Ward in 1957. That plaque has been picked up and moved a couple of times to Prospect Street. and to Plumlee Village. And it needs to be placed right back where it was placed and its permanent place. It was placed there to honor her by the program, This Is Your Life.

They paid for the plaque and they paid for a playground. for the children in Great Brook Valley because there was not one. And it needs to be placed right back there. Otherwise, it's gonna get lost, just like the colored people's war memorial, the original one. And this cannot happen to her. It cannot happen to our people. We cannot repeat this. I know at seven years old, I was on This Is Your Life with her. And I played in that playground. and that plaque needs to be returned to its original place. Thank you.

Thank you.

For the public, that's item 20A and item 10Q. Please state your name and city of residence.

Hi, my name's Gary Hunter.

What item are you speaking on?

District 5. First thing I'd like to speak on is 10U. It's about increasing... The payment that would go to the affordable housing estate I'm sorry, I'm just getting my breath together. I'm in favor of the Mr. Bilotta to increase it to 5%, give more money for the affordable housing. That's about rent caps. I think we need to really look at that because I know there's a position on the ballot coming and some people here don't favor that, but we need some kind of rent control. I would like to talk about, like, there's so many things on the agenda about police enforcement, commie incidents, and there's one about

Making sure we have 500 police people that are hired for the police department. I'm all in favor for the police department, but we have an opportunity here. Most people, when they hear DeFund the police. It's ridiculous. It doesn't mean you're going to take all the money away from the police. If you don't have enough police officers now, you have an opportunity to reform the police, get some mental health workers there, and... and also refine what they're doing. You see how many times in this report calming for traffic. Now, I know that I see a lot of police on the road. They're doing their jobs, but nobody's doing enforcement of speeds. You lowered the speed limit to 25. But there's nobody there to enforce that. People are driving crazy in the streets. We need enforcement.

And in that 500 police, you could possibly get some just enforcement people to come in along with some mental health. and I think the city would be better off. Please consider that.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Please state your name, city of residence. I know you're a petitioner. You get three minutes.

Good evening, Councilors and Manager Bautista. My name is Gordon Ward. I live at 20 Dolly Drive in Worcester. I'm here to speak about the agenda item 10Q.

And 20A is the petition?

And 20A is my petition. Wow, I just lost it. It's 28. I am here to speak about RACN Ward. This item is important to me because RACN Ward is my great grandmother. She was in fact born a slave in 1862 in Bear Creek, North Carolina. She moved to Worcester in 1898 and she lived here until her death at 97 years old in 1959. She was truly a remarkable lady who lived a remarkable life and an important part of our shared history in the city of Worcester. I strongly urge this council to refer the naming of the

of the Park to the Parks and Recreation Commission for further research and discussion in a way that we as a community have a full discussion and unpack this history. We would also be following the process as outlined in the Commissioner's Parts facilities naming procedure. I want to thank Councilor King for his support in bringing up this agenda. and I want to thank you, the City Council, for your time and consideration. Thank you.

Thank you.

Please state your name and city of residence and the item you're speaking upon.

Yeah, Greg Migradician, 18 Cheyenne Road, D1, 26I. This is pertaining to the city's not request, I don't know what word to use, putting speed bumps up all over the city to try to control traffic flow. I'm opposed to that and the reason why I'm opposed to it as a taxpayer, I don't feel it's appropriate for other people on other streets to say we don't want you going down our street or we want to control the speed on our street so we're going to put speed bumps up. I thought in this country we're all innocent to proven guilty. I don't know why we're all guilty of speeding. and I think it's wrong that they're doing that.

I've spoken to many firefighters and policemen and they think it's just a big problem, just in an emergency situation, not to mention ambulances and snowplow drivers. I'm a private, I'm a snowplow contractor. I do commercial properties and there are speed bumps on some of these properties. And let me tell you something, they're nothing but a nuisance to plow. Where do we stop with this? You've made it too easy for residents to just petition to get a speed bump put in. When I looked it up to see The policy for putting speed bumps up, the state said you have to do a study to see if there's any accidents or fatalities. You just can't put a speed bump up to control speed. I think it's ridiculous and I think the city really needs to take a look at it. People are going to speed, but we're not all speeders.

and if people are using some of these streets for shortcuts and all that, they're public streets. We all pay for them and we should all use them. and a resident should not have that power or authority to have a speed bump put on their street. Where do we stop? We put them on 290 to slow down traffic? Do we put them on 122, Route 9? Route 12 to slow down traffic.

Thank you. We have the next person up. Please state your name and city of residence and the item you're speaking upon.

Thanks for the opportunity to speak. My name is Joe Johnson. I'm from Worcester. And I'm here in support of Councilor Bilotta's order regarding the Trierhaven management in Worcester Parkland, including Dodge Park. I want to begin by emphasizing something important. I'm not here to assign blame. My understanding is that the Tree of Heaven trees cut at Dodge Park were removed as part of a well-intentioned park improvement or cleanup effort. The people involved were trying to help the park. That matters, and I do not want this issue to be framed as a personal criticism of staff, volunteers, city partners, or anyone who took part in that work. The concern is that the Tree of Heaven is not an ordinary tree removal problem. It's an invasive species and the preferred host tree for the spotted lanternfly.

When the tree of heaven is simply cut before the root system is properly treated, it can respond by producing stump sprouts and root suckers. In practical terms, the cutting without a follow-up plan can sometimes turn a small problem into a much larger one. That is why I support this order. I think the real issue is not a single event at Dodge Park. but the broader need for Worcester to have a clear written guidance on invasive plant management on public land. Without adopting best management practices, even good faith work can accidentally worsen an invasive plant problem. So I respectfully ask that the administration provide written update on what happened.

what follow-up treatment and monitoring is planned, who is responsible for the follow-up, and how the city will prevent Tree of Heaven from spreading into nearby parkland, trail edges, stormwater areas, and watershed corridors. Again, I want to be clear, this is a teaching moment, not a blame moment.

Thank you very much.

Good evening, please state your name, city of residence, and the item you're speaking upon.

Good evening. My name is Fred Taylor, president of Worcester branch of the NAACP. Today I speak in support of item 10Q, requesting that the city clerk conduct research into historical commitments made by the City of Worcester. The City Council concerned naming of parks and streets after Arizanne Ward. Ms. Ward was born into slavery, as said earlier. in North Carolina in 1862 and later made her way to Worcester where she lived until her passing of 97 years old. She's an important part of this city's history. Ms. Ward's legacy lives through the generations of family members that are here today. They seek to preserve her name and honor her story. as well as to better understand commitments that were previously made in recognition of her life's contributions. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening. Please state your name, city of residence, and the item you're speaking upon.

Good evening, City Council. I'm here also on 10Q, and I would like to have research and also have the plaque returned that Ms. Ward was, the park was dedicated to her. I do live in Worcester, Massachusetts and I also grew up and Great Brook Valley in my teen years. And so I think that that's very important that you hear from the community and realize that there is, there are stories out there. You may not know them all but It's our job to inform you as citizens. Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else in the gallery? Please state your name, city of residence, and the item you're speaking upon.

Hello, everyone. My name is Joelle Ward. I live in Auburn, Massachusetts at 26 Meadowbrook Road. I am here today to speak to the committee about the agenda item 10Q, as you've heard about the legacy of R.E. Sandward. I am one of her many descendants and here today to impress upon you the importance of maintaining her legacy in the name of this park as Arise Ann Ward. She was a matriarch of our community. and survived much adversity being born an enslaved person migrating up north and settling in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her descendants continue to serve this community through many roles such as firefighters, police officers, teachers, nurses, and through many other roles that are critical to our community. I urge you today to Sorry, lost my place for a minute there.

To continue to research the history of this subject, as it is very important to the greater Worcester, but also to the black community and to her descendants. I urge you to bring this matter to the Parks and Recreation Committee to continue the process with their policies.

Thank you.

So anyone else in the gallery would like to speak on any items, please come to the podium, state your name, city of residence, and the items that you'd like to speak upon.

Christopher Crawley, City of Worcester resident. I'm here on 10Q28 items. I'm in support of Gordon Ward and not changing the name to Roberto Clemente and keeping it as Arizan Ward Park Playground.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else in the gallery that would like to speak on any item? Please approach the podium. Please state your name, your city of residence, and the item you'd like to speak upon.

Wilson, Worcester, Massachusetts, 21 Charlie. What about the potholes though?

This is Captain Mike. We have a left engine out. This is Captain Oxlong. We're going down. Oxlong, put the landing gear down. Romeo, we have to go down. We're steady. We're landing. Watch out for the pothole!

My wife's father-in-law has been training to be a training pilot for the past eight years. And sometimes my niece goes on long rides with him in the airplane. and this is my niece, Hugh. And if she ever got an accident because of a pothole, I don't think that would be nice, very nice. The city manager makes $350,000 a year. I wonder how fast the potholes would be fixed. if we took about 200,000 of that and put it towards public works. Oh, City Manager, yeah, okay. Yeah, but. I'm sorry.

Oh, sorry, Sarah, I'm breaking up with you. I'm really sorry. Okay, thank you. Thank you.

Does anyone else in the gallery like to speak? Please approach the podium. State your name and city of residence and the item you're speaking upon.

My name is John Hamilton, permanent resident of Worcester. Distant descendant of Hamilton Street. So we have Esther Allen Howland's plaque here in these hallowed halls. and we have the Ward family who have been disrespected for a long time. So that needs to be restored. Don't mean to be emotional about it. but I see their pain, I feel their pain, I hope everyone here does, anybody watching does, and I hope it's restored to the illustrious honor that it was originally given. and we don't need that kind of theatrics in these hallowed halls. So something needs to be done where that's stopped. We have a minute and a half of my time left. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Is there anyone else in the gallery who'd like to exercise their freedom of speech? Please approach the podium, state your name, city of residence, item you're speaking upon. Yes.

Chris Betancourt, Holden, Massachusetts. I own a business on Pleasant Street, belonging to Pleasant Street Business Association and TDI Partnership. Here on 10A, we had 14 historic street signs put into our neighborhood. Now there are only four left. And instead of replacing those, I'd like to see a redesign of the of the street sign in order to reduce clutter so that we can do some wayfinding signs on some of these poles. And we got support from the Crown Hill Neighborhood Association, Pleasant Street Business Association, the neighborhood as well.

Thank you. Could you just clarify what you said went missing or was taken down?

So we are a historic district, and around October 2015, 14 historic signs were put on all the poles. And today there's only four remaining. Usually you call in, they replace the signs. So we were thinking of a redesign instead of just putting up another 10 in order to combine both of them.

Understood. Thank you very much. Thank you. Is anyone else left in the gallery that would like to speak? We're going to go to Mr. Clerk, if you could go to the virtual attendees.

Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. The first calling user is Nellie Medina. I'm trying to meet the resident now.

Please state your name, city of residence and the item you're speaking upon, please.

Hi, everybody. I'm Nellie Medina, District from Worcester, Massachusetts. and to have a few items. The first one is I support Mr. Gordon Ward's request to reinstall the phenomenal Ms. Artisan's Ward plaque. which she earns in the location where it was originally placed. As a Latina, Puerto Rican, I am not in favor of renaming a park that was originally dedicated at all. And so I'm vehemently against it. I also want to speak on Councilor Chairman Porter's from the Education Committee request an audit to provide City Council with a report detailing a complete safety audit for the following issues. So one of the issues are crosswalks. And in September 2025, Majesty Morris requested the installation of a crosswalk at the intersection of Beaverton and Richard Street. City, 974 Main Street.

The vote was unanimous to install the crosswalk and to add pedestrian walking signage with blinking lights. However, before the parents and students work together to sign and to get the petition distributed, and we did that from September to October. The petition was approved by the Standing Committee on Traffic and Parking in November 2025 and it was successful. The students did it. It was their advocacy. My nine-year-old even spoke on behalf of his whole class. So the whole third grade was involved in the process. And so we want to encourage our students' efforts. With the summer break and the principal, Dr. Allen, retiring, we're asking that the crosswalk be painted before the end of the semester. While we understand that the lights and signage may take longer to install, completing the painting now would help our community cross safely, honor the students' efforts.

Tomorrow isn't promised and some of the students won't return to guard it in the fall. So they should be able to carry the experience with them wherever they go. Our students face many challenges that work hard and deserve their efforts to amount to something. And it doesn't feel right to treat this as if it were It weren't just both a safety and a responsibility issue. Our leaders are supposed to encourage students, but their efforts have yielded nothing so far. I contacted Councilman Bilotta and Ojeda. It is in this district, so please put the sidewalk and crosswalk in. And if we have to pay for it ourselves, we will.

Thank you. If you could just state where that's located.

Yeah. This is located on the corner of Beaver. Beaver, and Richard Street, 974 Main Street.

Thank you very much. Mr. Clerk, we can go to the next caller.

Thank you, Ms. Royster. The last caller in the user is David Webb. I'm going to try to mute the resident now.

please state your name and city of residence and the item or items you're speaking upon.

Can you still hear me? Good. David Webb, Still Olympia. First and foremost, I'm in support of 10I and 10Q. As for 10R, thank you, Councilor Rosen, for asking the city manager to have the Downtown Business Association walk around and figure out if there are enough bathrooms in his backyard. This is certainly something the manager himself isn't capable of, and maybe he'll listen to them since he didn't when members of the in-house community addressed this need two years ago. 8D, handling potholes in a smart manner. It would be really nice if literally anything there was handled in a smart manner. about 9A F&G retention issues with the Worcester Police Department. I guess they lost some of the perks when they were told to stop raping people in 2020 and then made to wear cameras in 2023. I'd suggest firing some of the bad apples first, but we know Tom Duffy won't let you. 26i Speed Humps are such a Worcester thing. Not just because they give you all something to talk about and pretend like you're doing something without actually solving any of the problem, but because they're neighborhood solutions instead of city solutions.

It's yet another way that the administration can maintain redlining and incentivize staying on good terms with their District Councilor and Chamber of Commerce instead of having equitable or accessible systems. Because in Worcester, safety is only for those that are deemed worthy. Those that can afford it. Certainly not for everyone. Which brings me to 5A, the Billion Dollar Budget. This billion dollar budget fuels a police department that cannot hold itself accountable and does not actually keep anyone safe. A city manager that bans people for asking questions. A DPW that cannot handle removing snow or patching roads. Propaganda campaigns instead of solutions, like funneling money to SMOC and the so-called Quality of Life Task Force. and a law department that creates job security for itself in the form of delaying, denying and charging rather than complying with the public records law and appears to serve to support various departments in illegal activity rather than ensuring they know the law. Accountability is impossible without transparency, and this city keeps moving further and further away from transparency.

Thank you. Is there anyone else on the line, Mr. Clerk?

Chairman, that's it for virtual participation.

Okay. Just for the public that may be watching, the folks in the gallery and online, we will make a motion to suspend the rules. Roll call.

King.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I mean, sorry, Mr. Clerk for counting those votes. We're going to take out of order the petition 20A that was filed by Gordon Ward and Moore and the assignees to his petition. to request the playground at greater value be returned to its original name of Aries Ann Ward Playground. I'd like to take that up first, and I'm going to step down to speak on it. Councilor Toomey, if you could assume the chair.

Councilor.

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. This particular item has come forward from the Ward family. I have a related item, which is item 10Q, which I would like to be taken up when the Mayor returns. and just for the public purposes item 10 Q reads requesting the city clerk to conduct research related to the historical commitments made by the Worcester City concerning the naming of parks and streets in the city after Aries Ann Ward, a woman born into slavery in North Carolina in 1862 who settled in Worcester where she lived until her passing in 1959 at the age of 97. This was held at the request of the family and want to thank folks for coming out today and speaking on black history in the city of Worcester. I stand just to

offer an amendment perhaps to this petition or a separate motion. so that I can vote for this in the affirmative on this petition. Arizan Ward had quite a legacy here in the city of Worcester when we reconvened. and some time there will be a video representation of some of the commitments that were reportedly made. Those commitments included the renaming of a street, on Laurel Street in Plumlee Village. There was also a financial donation to the city of Worcester in pursuit of that and also the naming of the park that's referenced. I will speak on the verification of this information when my item comes up later. But this is important.

The family approached me after our vote and we've had subsequent conversations as relates to the importance of maintaining this. Arizan Ward was civically engaged here in the city of Worcester. She was also, as mentioned, a former slave. And there's generations of public servants, some of which spoke today. I don't think any of us were aware of this fact and we need to certainly verify it before we move forward. There was some years ago, Mayor Ray Mariano had made some efforts in regards to Arizan. Ward, and we just need to sort of flush this out. You know, Professor Thomas Delwin, who's no longer with us, is also a family member. And, you know, we miss him dearly. And it's very important that we get this right.

I'm sure that we will find our way through this. I want to mention for the public that on June 11th, this particular item is already coming before the Commission. I would like to make a motion that this council supports thoroughly vetting and researching this and requesting a pause. on any efforts on June 11th to move forward with the renaming. of the Park, Aries Ann, Ward Park, to anything else. We know that Clemente Field has been there for some time. I certainly supported this when it was brought forward but we really need some more information and I'll speak to to a little bit of that when we move forward so I'd like to make that motion and if the Madam Chair would like to move the item and refer it to Parks Commission.

All those in favor you want to roll call?

Excuse me, Madam Chair, can we refer to both? Can we refer to the commission? Maybe we can get that before June 11th and also to the Parks Committee.

As amended, we'll call.

So Madam Chair, for clarification, so you want to send a bill to the Parks Commission and the Veterans and Parks, correct?

It has to go through the City Manager first before the Commission.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to again note there's a meeting on the 11th that is on the agenda. Through the chair to the manager, can you help with that?

Manager? Yeah, through the chair to the council, boards and commissions, the jurisdiction of city managers, so they will be referred to me and I will make sure that the commission will have that before them on the June 11th meeting.

Thank you. For the public, I don't know, Madam Chair, if the clerk could speak to how to get information, how to participate in any further commission meetings, what's the best route for them to go. to educate themselves on that schedule and how to access it.

Mr. Clark.

Thank you Madam Chair. So through the Chair to the Councilor, basically I can get some information to the residents if they have questions by emailing us tomorrow at clerk at worcestermaid.gov. But any of the Boards and Commission the agendas are available on our website under Agendas and Minutes. For this particular meeting, I'm not aware of the date that they're meeting, but if it's the Parks Commission, it will be listed under the Parks Commission agenda. and also you can reach out to the parks department at parks at westernma.gov. I'm sure the commission on parks will be able to provide you that information on that meeting.

All right, thank you.

Madam Chair, so point of order, could we, I'm requesting a roll call.

Yes.

Brueggemann?

Yes.

Councilor Bilotta? Yes. Councilor Economou? Point of clarification, what's the roll call on? Through the Chair, City Councilor, my understanding is it's going to be sent to the City Manager so the City Manager can bring it before the Parts Commission. and then also to the Veterans and Parks Memorial Standing Committee.

Yes.

Frizzolo.

Yes.

Councilor King. Yes. Councilor Mitra.

Yes.

Councilor Ojeda.

Yes.

Councilor Rivera. Yes. Councilor Rosen.

Yes.

And Madam Vice Chair, Councilor Toomey.

Yes. Did I say yes? Did you get me? Yes. Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair. For the public that's watching, part of the council rules are that whoever's chairing the meeting, if they're going to speak on any particular item, relinquish the chair for debate. So that's why we're doing the musical chairs. That being said, Mr. Clerk, We'd like to recess from this meeting and go into executive session once we finish the recess. What's the proper motion for that?

Thank you Mr. Chairman so my suggestion is maybe take the roll call on the executive session and then you know you can recess the meeting as well for Council. Council. Council. Mayor Weill. Mayor Weill. Mayor Weill. Mayor Weill. Mayor Weill. Mayor Weill. Mayor Weill.

Board of Mayor Joseph M. Petty of the City Council of the City of Worcester does convene an executive session at its Tuesday, June 2, 2026 meeting for the purpose of discussing the strategy with respect to litigation, which if discussed in an open meeting, will have a detrimental effect on the city's position. The city council will reconvene in open session. Anyone on this item want to speak?

If not, roll call. Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta? Yes. Councilor Economou? Yes. Councilor Fresolo? Yes. King. Councilor Smith. Councilor Smith. Councilor Smith. Councilor Smith. Councilor Smith.

So we're going to take a vote to recess to take a recess and then to reconvene in executive session. Is that correct, Mr. Clerk?

Correct, Mr. Chairman. And then once we're back to the regular session, we'll come out of executive session. King. Thank you. Roll call. Councilor Bergman.

Yes.

Councilor Bilotta.

Yes.

Councilor Economou.

Yes.

Councilor Fresolo. Yes. Councilor Mitra. Yes. Councilor Ojeda. Yes. Councilor Rivera. Yes. Councilor Rosen. Yes. Councilor Toomey. Yes. And Vice Chair, Councilor King. Yes, the meeting is recessed.

So the motion now, yes, the motion now is to come back from executive session to the Worcester City Council meeting, roll call. Councillor Bergman?

Yes. Councillor Bilotta? Yes. Councillor Economou? Yes. Councillor Rosolo? Yes. Councillor King? Yes. Councillor Mitra? Yes. Councilor Ojeda. Yes. Councilor Rivera. Yes. Councilor Rosen. Yes. Councilor Toomey.

Yes.

And Mayor Petty. Yes, so the Councilor King had an item, Councilor Economou. So motion to suspend the rules. Yeah, we're just going to move. We can move, as the chair, I can move through the agenda.

10Q?

Yeah, I'd like to take 10Q and 20A. Okay. Let me get a hang on a second. 10-Q, request the city clerk conduct research related to financial commitments made by the Western City Council concerning the naming of parks and streets in any city after was it Aries Ann Ward? Ward. A woman in the slavery in the North Carolina in 1862 who settled in Worcester. where she lived until her passing in 1959 at the age of 97. Councilor King and the other one was what? 20A by the Ward family. It's a petition. Okay, 28 petition.

28, Gordon Ward, request that the playground at the Great Brook Valley be returned to the original name of And West Playground. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We already voted that one.

Yep, okay, cool. So, I just wanted to speak briefly on this. And I'd ask the clerk if they could queue up a quick audio visual. before I begin. And just to be given context, this particular matter was brought to my attention. And I have asked the Office of the City Clerk to do some research as pertains to any commitments that the city of Worcester has made in the past by accessing archives and the like related to commitments made to Arias, and Ward. And before we begin the brief clip, I'll say that in the research that I've done and the clerk has done some preliminary, we'd like to get a report back.

by next council were able to determine that there was some action. We're trying to determine the extent of it. There was a a very famous show called This Is Your Life back when there was only a couple of TV stations. It was a nationwide show. and Arizanne Ward was a former slave who moved to Worcester with her family. I would encourage folks to go to YouTube and look it up. In addition to that, there's a small clip that we're not going to play of someone who comes to council off of Adela Hazard at the age of seven is in this as well and it really speaks to the Worcester community and when folks reached out to me they indicated that they have in their experience come to understand that the

Park down off Mountain Street, Greater Brook Valley was set to be named after Arizan Wood. There was a concern that there would be an erasure of black history if we were to rename it for someone else. So the most prudent thing to do was to try to gather further details. In doing that, we were sent this clip. In this clip, it shows what's represented as a commitment from former mayor O'Brien back in the days to rename Laurel Street after this woman. And in addition to that, the naming of the park and the playground off of Mountain Street. So we can roll this just for a minute or so and I'll let you know when to stop.

Mr. Clerk. Can you hear it? As we try to figure out the volume, I will add that Arizanne Ward was known for her civic engagement in the city. Her life is documented by the Worcester Historical Museum, I've come to learn. and so I think there's a way through this my understanding that on June 11th this particular item to rename the park after Roberto Clemente is already in play we've taken some action on the council as regards to that. I'll again call for a pause in all of that. So are we ready, Mr. Clerk?

To the Chair, to the Councilor, we have the video, but I don't know about the sound. But I can try it one more time.

You gotta turn up the volume, it says. Yeah. Mic on the laptop.

It's coming. We'd like to present you with a 16-millimeter Bell & Howell sound projector and camera, too. There's the camera over there. Now, Mrs. Ward, we've been told by none other than the Honorable James O'Brien, Mayor of the great city of Worcester, Massachusetts, that you are most certainly one of its most honored and beloved citizens. And so in your honor, Laurel Street in Worcester, Massachusetts will no longer be called Laurel Street, but upon a resolution of the entire city council will henceforth be called Aris Ann Ward Street. and Primary Concern. Now the new playground in the Great Brook Valley Gardens will henceforth be known as the Aris Ann Ward Playground. As a lasting tribute,

To your kindness and understanding and love of children, and to help provide the much needed equipment for this playground, our sponsor, Prell Shampoo, together with Mr. Don R. Grimes, president of the more than 6,000 IGA food stores from coast to coast, Okay, we can pause.

So, Mr. Chairman, the folks, the family have represented that there's a the reality that this particular location was named after Aries Ann Ward. I think we need some further and so forth. We have some reports on that so that we can verify. We also know that some time ago Ray Mariano took some steps in lieu of a street naming for Arizan Ward that was documented on local Boston media back back then. So we would like that explored. I'd like to amend this to also include to explore with the family. A honorary street dedication as well over on Laurel Street for her.

Mr. Chairman, as you know, Thomas Delton, who's also a descendant, Great Grandmother, Sir's Great Grandmother and Mr. Ward's Great Grandmother, documented black history and established a black history trail here. If there's any ability to avoid any erasure of black history, that would be great. And in addition to that, would like to really do some research here so we can verify and validate the concerns that have been brought forward. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. So we'll send that to the Clerk of Council Ojeda.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll be quick. Yeah, I agree. I agree. I'm pretty sure as a council we'll figure this out. Sorry, it's late. We'll figure this out. I know a few weeks ago I was excited because I have a lot of family history there. But for me, it's a win-win. My niece and nephew are actually wards as well, Tasi and Jose. So they're grandchildren of Nuji, who is a former police officer in the city. Ward. So it's a win-win for us either way. So, but like I said, I know the city manager, all of us, we'll figure it out. So I want to make sure that the families know that we'll do what's right. Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilor Bergman. Really quickly, Mr. Chairman, I'd like to offer A motion that DPW, particularly I should say DPW, Parks Department, in collaboration with our clerk's office, review as many orders as they can over the past Whatever number of years we keep records. I mean, it's unfortunate that this happened. It really is. I'm not blaming anyone. I mean, several weeks ago, everybody was excited about naming a Roberto Clemente field. And people are asking that representatives of the family come. And now we see clearly that representations were made decades ago to the Ward family, particularly Mrs. Ward, that the field would be named after her. It's not the first time. I myself got caught up on the ice skating rink over on Lake Ave where I wanted to name it one thing and then it turned out there may have been some past history.

So the motion would be to try to coordinate our record keeping with our parks department so that if ideas like this come forward again in the future, we're safe. that we're not upsetting either side or creating a new problem. That's all, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Councilor King.

Mr. Chairman, thank you. I certainly accept the friendly amendment. I will say that this is the importance of archiving. Clerk's office is tasked with that. I know they've taken this seriously. I know they've taken and they do actually have some information that they're going to bring forward. It was so long ago, but there is some information. I think that'll be helpful towards this end. My understanding that Roberto Clemente Field is not impacted by this. I don't know if there was you know any official designation that way or if it was or what that process was like but we can certainly you know COUNCIL, IF IT COMES TO THAT, AND CONTINUE TO RE-ESTABLISH THAT AS A COUNCIL, IF IT I look forward to working with the family and again my amendment as well was to

regarding the potential street naming, honorary street naming of Laurel Street, if that's the will of the family. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. It's nice work that we did the research, Councilor King. The clerk's office, too. Okay, so with the motions, I'll send that to the clerk. Roll call. Mr. Bergman? Yes.

Mr. Bilotta? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes, let's do the finance items real quick. That's number 22.35. My pages might be different than yours. I'm on page 22. 22.3. 22.35A through E, 22.36A through F, 22.37A through D. Councilor Rivera?

No, mine was on something else.

Okay. Also, we can do a roll call. Roll call.

Bergman, Bilotta, Economou, Fresolo, King, Mitra, Ojeda, Yes. Councilor Rivera? Yes. Councilor Rosen? Yes. Councilor Toomey? Yes. Everybody?

Yes.

Anybody else have anything else?

I just want to know Is it possible to, I don't know if we did it already, 7-8, can we send that to Public Safety Committee?

Which one?

7-8.

7-8? Yeah. Okay 7, 8, Center for Public Safety, roll call.

Bergman, Bilotta, Economou, Fresolo, King, Mitra, Ojeda, Yes. Councilor Rivera. Yes. Councilor Rosa. Yes. Councilor Toomey. Yes. Mayor Petty. Councilor Fussell.

D. 2016.

Communications, City Manager, Vice Councilor with the report concerning the current pothole repair operations. Councilor Fussell.

Through you, Mr. Chair, Chairman. I know that we've discussed potholes at length over the last few months. During our last discussion on them, I believe we left the issue at there would be two crews dedicated to potholes. with the remaining crews assigned to street sweeping, which is still ongoing but expected to be completed shortly. However, as I drive around the city I'm not seeing the pothole crews or the potholes being filled as much as they should. I'm constantly getting messages from constituents about the conditions of the road. and about how they've reported potholes and it's taking too long for them to be filled. I believe we also left the matter of potholes at crews were going to go street by street instead of the former first-come, first-served process based on 311 work orders.

However, residents are getting told that crews are still working off a list. So I'm confused and residents are confused as well about what process is being followed. It's now June 2nd. We're telling residents to report potholes that we're getting to them. but the reality is we're not and it's taking too long. At some point, it's almost like crying wolf and people don't report issues because they don't have faith that it will get done. Through you, Mr. Chairman, to the administration. How long do residents have to wait for potholes to be filled and what do we consider an acceptable response time? Can somebody answer that? Mr. Manager.

Through you, Chair, to the council. It all depending on one, what the gravity of that pothole is, but also in terms of what the department is encompassing that day. A rule of thumb that we have within our system is oftentimes 24 to 48 hours. We want to be able to repair those. But then there's a lot of factors that come into play that sometimes could delay that in that process.

Okay, thank you. Mr. Chairman, through you, another related point I would like to raise is that A while back when City Manager O'Brien and DPW Commissioner Bob Moylan, their administration, they implemented an initiative calling a pothole to 508-929-1300, which now is 311, and it would be filled within 24 hours. Why isn't this program still in existence, and how long ago did it end? What would it take, whether it's funding, staffing, or anything else, to bring it back? Mr. Chairman, I'd like to find out if we could bring it back. So is there a response from the administration regarding that?

Yeah, through the council, the program hasn't changed. It's still the same program, still same efforts. Again, it all comes down to the level and the conditions of our roads. And one of the things that we've been very clear is that Our road network has deteriorated over many years and we're trying to put an intentional effort right now as part of this budget, as part of our work right now to try to deal with the many issues that we have in our infrastructure. but the program hasn't changed and like I said earlier we're trying to the rule of thumb is within 24 hours to 48 hours we'll be able to repair those potholes but again it's the program hasn't changed we continue to go by the same Structure that was applied many years ago.

Okay. Well, Mr. Chairman, through you, I appreciate that response and I know it's late and I'll just say this, Mr. Chairman. If that's the case, 24 to 48 hours, I'd like to see People in DPW bring that to fruition. I'd like you to speak to the administration there and ask them to make that the goal, 24 to 48 hours. If that's the case, I'd like to see that happen, Mr. Chairman, and I hope it starts as soon as possible. Okay? Thank you very much, Mr. Manager. I appreciate your response.

Thank you. We've got about five minutes left. I know we have a couple items that have to be passed tonight, and that is Councilor Rivera's item and 17C. Go ahead.

What number do you want? 17B. I just reported the Committee of Public Works upon the petition of Mayor Justin Petty and Councilor Ozeva on behalf of KDDR requests Lovell Street from Columbus Street to Garland Street be given the honorary street name designation of Zella Nunez Way. Recommend adoption of the accompanying order held to be first item of business.

I'm sorry. Okay. And along with 17C, there's a petition of Councilor Gary Rosen and Robert Bilotta regarding Gordon-Hargrove Way. We need to take those together and roll call.

Bergman, Bilotta, Economou, Fresolo, King,

Yes.

Councilor Mitra. Yes. Councilor Ojeda. Yes. Councilor Rivera. Yes. Councilor Rosen. Yes. Councilor Toomey. Yes. Mayor Petty.

Councilor Bergman. We have a few minutes left.

Yes. Mr. Clerk, could you help me with that 10 U? Help me find, 10U, Mr. Chairman.

10U? Yep. Can we go to Council Bilotta after that? Yep, it's his order. Oh, he has his hand up too. Okay. 10U. Okay, 10U is stand community economic development for the public discussion just in the city's zoning book to amend section five of the city's inclusionary zoning. Councilor Bergman, Councilor Bilotta.

It's fine to go to committee. I think it's appropriate to be in economic development. I have my own thoughts about percentages and numbers and caps, but certainly Councilor Bilotta's Bilotta. Councilor Bilotta.

Councilor

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, I would love to send it to Economic Development. The city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund has done great work. I think this is an opportunity to leverage more funding to the only funding source, local controlled funding source that we have for affordable housing in the city. And I think it would be a great opportunity Again, increase our funding for affordable housing and also try to leverage more affordable units. Again, Affordable Housing Trust Fund has done great work, $19.5 million. All of that coming from ARPA and the city's CPA. According to Economic Development, there's been six six developments that fell under inclusionary zoning. Three of them decided to opt out and make payments to the trust fund, which is great. That's come to about I think 460,000 but I also know that the new development over by Meade Street you know they've contributed I think it's 1.6 I think to the trust fund

all great things, all great work that will help move the needle on affordable housing, but I think we really need to look at how can we grow that since, again, the big pots that originally went to that fund have been utilized, which is great. Let's build off that and let's improve the trust fund. Thank you. Thank you. Roll call.

Bergman, Bilotta, Economou, Fresolo, King, Mitra, Ojeda, Rivera, Rosen, Toomey, and Mayor Petty.

Yes. Councilor Bilotta, do you have your hand up for anything else, or is that it?

No, no, Mr. Chair.

Okay. Okay, so the motion now is that the City Council is going to go to recess to the June 2nd City Council meeting until June 9th at 5 p.m. Further, that the City Council cancel the regular meeting of the City Council on June 9th and instead create a joint meeting of the City Council on June 16th. and also amend item 5A on the calendar which says stand committee the rules the council request council suspend the rules towards June 9th, we have June 2nd right now, meeting to take up the Committee on Finance. That's the budget. So collectively, roll call.

Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta? Yes. Councilor Economou. Yes. Councilor Rosolo. Yes. Councilor King. Yes. Councilor Mitra. Yes. Councilor Ojeda. Yes. Councilor Rivera. Yes. Councilor Rosen. Yes. Councilor Toomey. Yes. And Mayor Petty.

Yes. Motion is adjourned. Roll call.

Mr. Mayor, I think we recessed, so we don't need to adjourn.

I'm sorry, you recessed. Yep, never mind. Thank you, everyone. It's been a pleasure with the budget. See you next week, 5 p.m.